A Purim-themed poem from the first rabbi of the New World.

“Had there been bicycles in ancient Israel, I suspect we would find a bicycle simile somewhere in this book.”

“How can any man be the mayor of a city like that?”

Leah Goldberg’s “Songs of the End of the Road”.

“In exile, not only is history unfinished, but so is poetry.”

Israel of Najara.

Immanuel of Rome.

Solomon Ibn Gabirol and Moses Ibn Ezra.

Two poets and their argument over the sacred language.

Yedaya ha-Penini’s Book of the Orchard.

And its great soldier, stateman, poet, and rabbi.

“I write because reading has wounded me.”

Yannai’s “It Came to Pass at Midnight.”

The author of Yah Ribbon and his many influences.