Mata'ei Kedem al Admath Tzafon / Morgenländische Pflanzen auf nördichem Boden [“Eastern Plants upon Northern Soil”: Poetry]

Cohen, Shalom ben Jacob

Wolf Heidenheim

Rödelheim

1807

FIRST EDITION. Hebrew and German translation. Title in Hebrew and German

Vinograd, Roedelheim 39

Shalom ben Jacob Cohen (1772-1845) was born in Mezhirech, Poland. As many a young man in search of knowledge, he gravitated to Berlin, where he became a lifelong friend of Naphtali Herz (Hartwig) Wessely, perhaps the most gifted Hebrew poet of the day. Wessely infected Cohen with his passion for Hebrew poetry. The present volume of poetry attests to that passion. During the years 1809-11 Cohen served as editor of the literary journal Ha-Me'asef. In 1821 he established the literary review Bikurei ha-Itim. Like his mentor Wessely, Cohen might be considered the traditionalist element within the burgeoning Haskalah movement. He was opposed to the liberties taken in the Hamburg Temple, beachhead of the Reform movement. It was none other than Cohen who translated into German the responsa of leading rabbis in condemnation of the Hamburg Temple that were included in the well-known Eleh Divrei ha-Berith (Altona, 1819). Equally significant is the fact that he wrote a book, Shorashei Emunah, in defense of the divinity and immutability of both Written and Oral Laws (London, 1815). Mata'ei Kedem consists of three works: 1) An epic poem on Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees; 2) Several poems portraying incidents in the life of David; and 3) A drama in two acts based on the story of Naboth ha-Yisraeli. See M. Waxman, History of Jewish Literature, Vol. III (1936) pp. 153-8; EJ, Vol. IV, pp. 154-5; JE, Vol. V, cols. 685-6