Poet in the Pulpit
BRINGING SACRED MEANING TO ORDINARY MOMENTS—The Poetry of Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis (z’l)
“Harold Schulweis believed in programs. He believed he could invent a program to address every spiritual problem he met…[but in later years] he came to recognize that the loneliness of the Jew … demanded a different kind of Judaism” * which reflected the fullness of the human experience, writes Rabbi Ed Feinstein.
Said Rabbi Schulweis himself, “There are two sanctuaries in us: the mind and the heart . When they are split apart, the twin tablets are shattered. When they are united, mind and heart give birth to wisdom – Jewish wisdom. ”
And then, this powerful orator, theologian/philosopher, this intellectual of intellectuals, made a change to his writing style. For “beginning in 1986, Schulweis began to write poetry,” as Rabbi Feinstein chronicles,* leading Rabbi Uri D. Herscher to dub him ‘the poet of the pulpit.”
Now – NEW! – on display in the VBS Ellie and Mark Lainer Beit Midrash, “POET IN THE PULPIT” features a variety of Schulweis poems and poetic prose, offering a glimpse into his insights on Jewish life, conscience, Judaism and wisdom. Curated by the Harold M. Schulweis Institute, access to the Schulweis poetry collection, in English and Hebrew, even set to music, can be found at here at HMSI.INFO.
*In Pursuit of Godliness and a Living Judaism: The Life and Thought of Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis by Rabbi Edward Feinstein
Now on display in the VBS Ellie and Mark Lainer Beit Midrash are over 25 examples of poetry and poetic prose from the pen of Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis (z”l), including
A POEM OF FAITH:
A POEM ON RITUAL:
AND A POEM ON RELATIONSHIPS:
