The holiday of Shavuot is approaching. This year on the secular calendar it begins on Saturday evening, May 19. On Shavuot, we celebrate receiving the Torah, the foundational text of the Jewish people. "Torah" has multiple meanings in Jewish tradition. Most folks know it as the Five Books of Moses. But “Torah” in a broader sense is much more. It’s the collection of each and every generation’s engagement with sacred text and with our efforts to live lives of holiness and connection—to each other and to the divine.

In that expansive spirit, we are bringing you a two-part podcast series leading up to Shavuot. In this episode, I speak with Rabbi Jeremy Schwartz about modern Hebrew poetry, a recent expression of Jewish text. We talk about how modern Hebrew poets take apart traditional language and ideas and create something new from ancient building blocks.

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This podcast is produced by Reconstructing Judaism. Visit us at ReconstructingJudaism.org.

Special Guest: Rabbi Jeremy Schwartz.

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Links:

• Ritualwell: 5 Resources to Inspire Your Writing
• Soul and Gone: Hebrew Poetry
• Poetry International
• "The Jews" by Yehuda Amichai (PDF)
• Tourists - Yehuda Amichai
• Our eyes are open but we cannot see the unbelievable - Books - Haaretz.com
• Amazon.com: Open Closed Open: Poems : Yehuda Amichai
• The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse (Penguin Classics): Various, T. Carmi: 9780140424676: Amazon.com: Books
• From Jerusalem to the Edge of Heaven: Dr. Ari Elon
• Amazon.com: The Book of Words: Talking Spiritual Life, Living Spiritual Talk (Kushner) (9781580230209): Rabbi Lawrence Kushner: Books
• Shabbat Celebration and Services - Temple Bnai Israel