Negative CoronationKings and Priests have a common unction of holy oil, a common spirit of sanctification, a common quality of benediction … whatever they do…May 4, 2023May 4, 2023
Song of Songs 4–5.5: Translation and CommentaryIn my senior year at Oberlin I was asked to prepare a twenty-verse section from the Hebrew Bible as the final assignment for a translation…Mar 28, 2023Mar 28, 2023
Forms of Life: Poetry and ReligionIn his essay “Pascoli and the Thought of the Voice” Giorgio Agamben treats a linguistic impulse in the poetry of Giovanni Pascoli toward…Mar 22, 2023Mar 22, 2023
Of a Veiled SovereignRoyalty on earth is like royalty in heaven. (Berakhot 58a)Mar 16, 2023Mar 16, 2023
Getting Serious About RevelryAn unseasonable confession: I hate drunkenness. I hate being drunk and drunk people in turn repel me. Drinking isn’t something I…Mar 5, 20232Mar 5, 20232
Monarchy and MetaphorThe Holy One, Blessed be He, said: Sing to me on Rosh Hashanah verses of kingship […] that I might be your king. (TB Rosh Hashanah 34b)Sep 28, 20221Sep 28, 20221
You Pour Me Like WaterIn the haftorah of Rosh Hashanah we read of Chana, an apparently barren woman who would come miraculously to conceive and give birth to…Sep 6, 2022Sep 6, 2022
Kabbalah Studies and the Woman Question“Woman makes a hole in language … we fail to say her.” (Pierre Naveau)Aug 16, 2022Aug 16, 2022