SHIRIM: A JEWISH POETRY JOURNAL

Over 40 years publishing poetry of Jewish Reference

30th Anniversary: (Vol. XXX No. II (2012) & XXXI No. I (2013))

Sources of Jewish Poetry: A Thirty-Year SHIRIM Retrospective

In this thirty-year retrospective of poetry from SHIRIM, Merrill Leffler has brought together poems on “sources” that Jewish poets draw on naturally: Whether raised Orthodox or Conservative, Reform or Reconstructionist, Secular or Atheistic, Jews grow up with a body of inherited traditions, values, and attitudes. While the extent of those influences differ from one poet to another, they include a basic knowledge of Biblical stories from Genesis and Exodus, rituals, whether practiced or not, liturgies, folklore, and for many a sense of the spiritual that derives from the Kabbalah and other mystical texts. Ever since Gershom Scholem’s groundbreaking research on the Kabbalah, many of its texts have become available in English translation – and poets like Jerome Rothenberg and David Meltzer have drawn on them in uniquely distinctive ways. They are two of the nearly fifty poets represented here.

Here is the table of contents from that issue:

Section Author Title Page
Merrill Leffler, Editor Introduction 7
TO BE A JEW Myra Sklarew what is a jewish poem 11
Rodger Kamenetz Anyone 13
Morton Marcus Defender of the Faith 14
Robert Mezey To Levine on the Day of Atonement 16
Ruth Fainlight Vertical 17
Joanne Limburg Seder Nights with My Ancestors 18
Leonard Cohen Born in Chains 20
Else Lasker-Schiller To God 22
TORAH Moshe Dor Abraham 29
Chana Bloch Sacrifice 31
Haim Gouri Inheritance 32
Barbara Goldberg Sarah Reflects 33
Merrill Leffler Hagar and Abraham 34
Leah Schweitzer Rebekah's Dream 35
Lawrence P. Springarn Jacob and Rachel 36
LITURGICAL Harry Rand, translator The Beginning of Things 39
Miriyam Glazer, translator Psalm 6 42
Miriyam Glazer, translator Psalm 94 43
Michael Diamond, translator Song of Solomon 45
William Pillin Saying the Shema 47
William Pillin Yohrzeit 48
Gail Dendy The Mourning Rituals 49
JUDAISM Maurycy Syzmel Sabbath 51
Peter Lawson Shabbat 51
Rivka Miriam Fastening the Light of the Sabbath Candles 52
Zelda Light a Candle 53
Philip K. Jason When This Man Prays 54
Daniel Mark Epstein The Cages 55
FOLKLORE/AGGADAH Rodger Kamenetz Pilpul 59
Herman Taube I Am a Resurrected Golem 60
Barbara Goldberg Dybbuk 62
Chana Bloch Disquisition 63
Dannie Abse Of Two Languages 64
Maurya Simon Master of the Wondrous Name 65
Riva Rubin Message from Bratslav 66
Carl Rakosi Poetics from Chelm 67
Robert Manaster Eastern Wall 68
SPIRITUAL/MYSTICAL Deena Metzger Priests and Magicians 69
Bert Meyers The Dark Birds 70
Jerome Rothenberg Ninth Gematria 71
David Meltzer Tree for Reb Zvi 75
Leah Goldberg And Will They Ever Come, Days of Forgiveness and Grace 77
Myra Sklarew In the Event of a Natural Disaster 78
Haim Gouri Before 79
Merrill Leffler Beginnings and Ends 80
Contributors Notes 81

A pdf of the table of contents from the original issue is available here.