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Hadag Nahash: Hip-Hop, Cultural Critique, and Social Change

A public talk by Azzan Yadin-Israel, Rutgers University

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
UCLA Campus, Bunche Hall 4357

Professor Yadin-Israel will discuss the vigorous and self-aware use of the Hebrew literary canon, including bibilical and rabbinic references, in the lyrics of Hadag Nahash - a band known for its intense invovlement in Israeli and Hebrew culture. The words and phrasing in their songs combine literary and religoiusly-infused language with the modern, secular language of the Israeli street to powerful effect.

Azzan Yadin-Israel

Azzan Yadin-Israel's main scholarly focus is the relationship between tradition and midrash in early rabbinic literature. His first book, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash, is a study of the interpretive assumptions that underlie one of the main schools of tannaitic midrash—that of Rabbi Ishmael. He is currently in the process of completing a second book, this one focusing on Rabbi Akiva. In addition to his work on rabbinics, Prof. Yadin-Israel has published on a wide range of other topics as well, including articles on biblical studies, Kabbalah, and the secularization of modern Hebrew. He has served as the head of the rabbinics division of the Association for Jewish Studies for the past three years, and is co-editor of the book series Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism.

Professor Yadin has a B.A. from Hebrew University and received his Ph.D. from the University of California Berkeley and Graduate Theological Union. An Associate Professor of Jewish Studies, he teaches courses on classical Jewish philosophy, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and examining “Prophets, Priests, and Rabbis.”