Martin Bidney

Wordsongs of Jewish Thought Martin Bidney

WHEN A THOUGHT BECOMES A WORDSONG, its transformation into verbal art is an imaginative one. My candle flame emblemizes transformative imagination. "When one learns from a master one becomes connected on a deep level. This surely happened in your case, as you not only learned but integrated the teachings to the point where you could generate your own."-Rivkah Slonim, Education Director The Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life at Binghamton University. THE LATE RABBI ADIN EVEN ISRAEL STEINSALTZ (1937-2020) was indeed a master-a prolific author, translator, and scholar who as interpreter of Judaica is unsurpassed in modern times. The import of his work is universal. Among his commentaries on spiritual treasures was an interpretation of the Tanya, by Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1813), the great moralist and mystic. THE STEINSALTZ TANYA (THREE-PART VERSION in English 2003, 2005, 2007) is extraordinary in prose style, in fullness of elucidation, in wisdom of both mind and heart, and in spiritual depth and scope, as it abounds in a wealth of anecdotal and philosophic traditions from the entire range of Hasidic mystical literature. Reading it, I was seized with a kind of fervor and in 13 days wrote 108 poems, interpreting passages I admired from all three volumes. WHAT I OFFER YOU IS A BOOK OF MUSICAL compositions that happen to have words rather than prescribed pitches. Every poem in the book will show you my care for craft and joy in musical rhythm.