The Ben-Yehuda Project, in collaboration with the Sapir Center for Jewish Culture and Education, has launched a writing competition inspired by works from the project’s repository. The Ben-Yehuda Project uploads Hebrew and Israeli literary works that are available for free use under copyright laws, making the cultural and spiritual treasures of Hebrew and Israeli culture accessible to all.
In 2024, the first competition took place, receiving approximately 500 diverse and impressive submissions. The winners’ announcement ceremony was held on “Public Domain Day” (January 1st), the date when works whose copyright has expired are released to the public without cost.
Objectives:
- To encourage contemporary writers to read historical works, delve into them, engage with them, and see their own creative work as another link in the chain of Hebrew literature’s history.
- To expose the wider public to the project’s existence and specific content in an inspiring and creative manner.
- To promote active consumption of texts from the project’s repository in a way that invites response, thereby helping to position the repository as relevant and dynamic, for those who might otherwise view it merely as an “archive” or heritage project.
The competition announcement was accompanied by promotional activities across various channels including social media, academic and writing programs, the Writers’ Association, and others, creating significant awareness of the Ben-Yehuda Project’s content.
Additionally, two creative writing workshops inspired by literature were held as online sessions open to the public. These workshops aimed to generate interest in the competition and provide participants with tools and inspiration to take on the challenge. The first, led by Roy Chen, focused on engaging with classic works through prose and playwriting. The second, led by Shani Poker, explored the art of writing a letter to a poet. Both workshops were recorded and made available for free on the Ben Yehuda Project’s YouTube channel.
Competition Winners:
First Place: Carmit Rozen, who wrote a piece inspired by Abraham Mapu’s “Ahavat Tzion” (“Love of Zion”), about a college teacher who teaches Jewish Enlightenment literature to Arab women students.
Second Place: Adi Livne Loger, who wrote a poem about her son’s death in the Gaza conflicts, inspired by Rabbi Solomon Ibn Gabirol’s poem “Ma Lekh Yehida” (“What Is It With You, Solitary One?”). The new poem’s title and opening line are identical to Ibn Gabirol’s original.
Third Place: Ruth Feuerstein, who wrote a piece inspired by Ahad Ha’am’s letter “Torah Shebalev” (“Torah of the Heart”), structured like a Talmudic page: with poetry “mishnayot” in the center, and poetic prose around it that, like the Talmudic text, interprets, expands, and processes the inner text.
Several additional works received honorable mentions. To read the winning pieces and other selected works, click here.
We hope the competition will become an annual tradition that encourages reading and creating from the written treasures of Jewish-Israeli culture.