Raised in a Ladino-speaking family of Bulgarian Jewish immigrants, Pinhas-Cohen fuses the ancient Sephardic chant of her childhood with the contemporary rhythm of Israeli life. This singular talent for bridging the ancient and the modern sets her apart from most other Hebrew poets of her generation. Secular in style and spirit, yet rooted in the life cycle of religious Judaism, Pinhas-Cohen’s poems portray everyday life in modern Israel through a sacred yet personal language. Awarded the coveted Prime Minister’s Prize for her poetry, Pinhas-Cohen is a poet whose verse in English translation is long overdue. This bilingual collection offers readers a careful selection of poems from each of her seven published volumes. Hart-Green has worked closely with the poet herself on these translations, several of which have appeared in journals such as the Jewish Quarterly and the Toronto Journal of Jewish Thought. Her lively translations display the dazzling breadth and depth of Pinhas-Cohen’s oeuvre, making Bridging the Divide not only the first but the definitive English-language edition of this vital Hebrew poet’s work.

Sharon Hart-Green's profile page

Hava Pinhas-Cohen is an Israeli writer and poet. She is the editor of Dimui, a journal of literature, criticism, and Jewish culture, and the author of several poetry collections. Pinhas-Cohen was awarded the Prime Minister's Prize (1996), the ACUM Prize (1998), the Kugel Prize (2000), the Alterman Prize (2002), and the Rishon LeZion Prize for Creativity in Hebrew Language (2015).
Sharon Hart-Green has a PhD in modern Hebrew literature from Brandeis University and has taught Hebrew and Yiddish literature at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Not a Simple Story: Love and Politics in a Modern Hebrew Novel.

The poetry of Hava Pinhas Cohen inhabits a lush imaginative terrain where the texts and myths of Jewish tradition and the mundane world of diaper changes and breastfeeding mingle and give meaning to one another, where a yearning for spiritual transcendence winds through the sheer physicality of sexual desire, where past and present embrace, and grief and loneliness and longing and love walk arm in arm. In this superb bi-lingual collection, Sharon Hart-Green takes on the challenges of the poet’s resonant Hebrew with judicious restraint, offering translations that stand in elegant simplicity beside the Hebrew originals—all in all, a welcome introduction to an important contemporary Israeli poet.

Michael P. Kramer, Bar-Ilan University

Sharon Hart-Green’s translation is to be commended for providing English readers long overdue access to Pinhas-Cohen’s prominent work.

Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature

Comprehensive and wonderfully translated, this collection is a spiritual and intellectual gift for lovers of poetry.

Ilana Szobel, associate professor, Brandeis University