This collection of essays dealing with Zionism and Exile is a timely addition to a necessary discussion to be had to re-think key terms in Modern Jewish thought, most notably the term of exile and it's relation to Zionism.
Not all essays are as convincing, but I share many of Magid's assessments of the demise of liberal Zionism, the influence of R. Kook's thought on religious Zionism. A long-time reader of the works of R. Shagar, I mostly enjoyed the theological chapter on rethinking exile in a post-zionist framework that deals with Shagar's thought. Politically, I don't see a real possibility, but I found the theological reframing from a kookian towards a nachmanian field of discourse on the question of Zionism and exile to be extremely valuable.
The collected essays surely show the diversity within Judaism with regard to essential terms that define Jewish life today.
Eine kritische Analyse der deutschen Erinnerungskultur: Klug und polemisch seziert Bestsellerautor Max Czollek den Wandel im deutschen Selbstverständnis.
Max Czolleks …
Usually, I don't read much poetry. After attending a talk between Peter Cole and Iman Mersal, both writers I deeply admire, I decided to give Cole's new collection "Draw Me After" a try and I deeply enjoyed it.
He opens the first poem, "Edensong", with "Wanting song\ in the beginning\ beginning to end" and ending with "as we're falling\ as Eden is calling\ earth and heaven\ wanting song". (Evoking in me Deuteronomy 32:1, among others) The motive of song is running through the whole collection, small wonder that the book "Song of Songs" came to my mind several times. Even the title of the collection is drawn from a kabbalistic commentary on "Song of Songs".
The collection is made up of poems describing/interpreting each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, them being in the kabbalistic imaginative no less than the building blocks of the world. Other poems are translations of other …
Usually, I don't read much poetry. After attending a talk between Peter Cole and Iman Mersal, both writers I deeply admire, I decided to give Cole's new collection "Draw Me After" a try and I deeply enjoyed it.
He opens the first poem, "Edensong", with "Wanting song\ in the beginning\ beginning to end" and ending with "as we're falling\ as Eden is calling\ earth and heaven\ wanting song". (Evoking in me Deuteronomy 32:1, among others) The motive of song is running through the whole collection, small wonder that the book "Song of Songs" came to my mind several times. Even the title of the collection is drawn from a kabbalistic commentary on "Song of Songs".
The collection is made up of poems describing/interpreting each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, them being in the kabbalistic imaginative no less than the building blocks of the world. Other poems are translations of other poets, whereas others are inspired by works of art by Terry Winters.
I admire Cole's ability to masterfully weave together the entire Jewish tradition and modern sensibilities, even politics. The poems work great without deep knowledge of Jewish traditions, but I enjoyed the word-plays evoking Hebrew meanings of letters/words and references to Tanakh and mystical/philosophical sources. I still have the book on my desk and read one per day.
My favourite in the collection is the one on the letter Ayin. He plays with meanings, the visual shape of the letter (ע) and kabbilistic concepts.
The eye, spring, source (ayin in Hebrew and Arabic) reflecting facets without end is probably the most poetic rendering of my understanding of Judaism. Here is the poem:
Ayin
