Poetry
A collected selection of POETRY from Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis
COLLECTED POEMS OF RABBI HAROLD M. SCHULWEIS (Z”L)
Poet in the Pulpit
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.
“The philosopher George Santayana once defined prayer as, ‘poetry believed in.’ The phrase struck the right balance. The prayer I sought had to be creative and credible. Poetry without belief is empty; belief without poetry is tepid. These poems remind us of a personal past that informs the present, inspires the future and points to the reality of Godliness in time that is hidden in space, place and things. These poems interrupt the impersonal flow of time and ceremonies to remind us that we are more than atoms and molecules.
We are the light and language of God.” —Harold M. Schulweis, from “Enkindling the Imagination of Poetry,” Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis: From Prose to Poetry
Family
Humanity
Judaism
Life
Mourning
The Wedding
Wisdom
Black Into White, a Poem for Havdalah—Words by Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis, Music by Aminadav Aloni
- A Video containing an Audio Excerpt from “Passages in Poetry” with text accompaniment.