Hello to all the readers of A Big Jewish Blog. I've been an avid reader of this blog since Eric started it, and as some of you may have noticed, I've put in my two cents from time to time. Now that I'm an official contributor (and hopefully others will join us soon), I'd like to thank Eric for starting the blog and running it faithfully. We've had some lively discussions in the past; let's keep the ball rolling!
Ideally, I would like to offer a relatively substantial post about twice a month, more often if things get lively. Like Eric, my sense of this blog is fairly broad. Our central interest is Jewish poetry, but I think we should also consider Jewish literature and culture in general, the relationship between poetry and Judaism, the relationship between poetry and "spirituality" (I distrust that term, but I've never found a good synonym), and the contemporary poetry scene. No doubt I'll have something to say about all these matters sooner or later. Stay tuned. My first real post will be arriving shortly.
Norman Finkelstein
2 comments:
I deeply share your mistrust of the term spirituality. Recently I was listening to a podcast of some Jewish popularizer of Kabbalah--and he objected to the term because it implied that its opposite, materialism, materiality, was inferior, fallen, demeaned. And his sense of Judaism denied that dichotomy. Gotta avoid/fight all those manichean tendencies. I think his point was that there could be a Crhistian spirituality, but not a Jewish spirituality.
Norman,
Your contribution will enhance an already terrific site. I look forward to reading your work as ever, whether as a stanza, an essay, or a blog. Alas, that last term is the least mellifluous. Someone one should propose an alternative. Hope to see you soon!
best wishes, jon curley
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