Poetry

Award-winning poet Yehoshua November offers his thoughts on the connection between mystical intimacy and poetry.

The death of Nadav and Avihu is difficult to explain, perhaps even impossible to approach through the medium of language. In a composition crossing the boundaries of original drashah, Breslov thought, poetry, visual art, and historical fiction, Akiva Weisinger renders the tragedy of Nadav and Avihu as a reflection of the Vacated Space beyond human language.

Poet Yehoshua November notices a defining characteristic of contemporary poetry—fixation on the ordinary. In light of Hasidic theology, November argues that appreciation for the holiness of the ordinary underlies Megillat Esther and the celebration of Purim.

Zohar Atkins weighs in on contemporary anti-Semitism “culture wars” through the unique lens of poetry.

A poem on parshat Korach by Zohar Atkins

Zohar Atkins shares a few poetic excerpts in honor of Tishah be-Av

A Talmudic poem about Holocaust appropriation.

Levi Morrow provides an all-new translation of Rav Elhanan Nir’s “Kavvanot for Rosh Hashanah,” and analyzes how these theological poems speak about our relationship with God and prayer on Rosh Hashanah.

Tikva Hecht’s moving elegy for her mother, a lyric essay told in verse and art, reflects on the fragility of life and the final confession we recite in the Yom Kippur Amidah.

Yaakov Jaffe examines Yehudah Ha-Levi's High Holiday poem "Yashen, Al Teradam"