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Loading... Accidental Grace: Poetry, Prayers, and Psalmsby Rabbi Rami Shapiro
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Spiritual teacher, writer, rabbi, and poet, Rami Shapiro has taught thousands of people in workshops across North America for a quarter century. His books have sold in the hundreds of thousands. But before he did any of those things he was writing poems, psalms, and prayers that were anthologized in the Jewish siddurim of several different denominations. He did most of this work while he was a pulpit rabbi in Florida. Still today, every week at services, Jews in the Reform and Reconstructionist movements read Rami's verse in their prayer books. Now, those spiritual teachings have been gathered into one volume, incorporating all of Rami's poetic work over the course of his long and varied career. The result is startling - as if we've discovered a new spiritual teacher of great importance, all in verse. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)204.32Religions Religion Religious experience, life, practice Worship, meditation, yoga Devotional literatureLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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As I thumbed through this book, my first question was "What the heck is a Zen rabbi?" This is a curious blending of religious traditions, to say the least! Shapiro writes:
Shapiro blends traditions, sounding Jewish one moment, the next like an Eastern mystic. His source material remains the Hebrew scriptures and extant writings ('everything has a hook in traditional Jewish texts,' xi); yet he deconstructs much of this, sending it through his 'Zen shredder.' He rages against text and tradition but speaks reverently of the ineffable God who cannot be named.
Shapiro's poems (proper) are bordered by his treatment of two types of texts from the Ketuvim(the writings in the Jewish Tanakh). He begins with the Psalms, offering poetic paraphrases and meditation on twenty psalms. The word "God" doesn't always appear in these Psalms and there is no version of the tetragrammaton (YHWH). Shapiro most often refers to God as "You," with occasional titles like, "Holy One of Being" and "Ground of all ground"(Ps. 90, p.14). References to "Israel" and "Zion" are excised from most of his rephrasings. The exception, is Psalm 137, which describes the Jewish experience of their exile in Babylon. Here Shapiro says with the Psalmist, "I sat down by the rivers of Babylon. . ."and "If, I forget you, O Jerusalem. . ."(22). But he modifies the psalm's baby-killing conclusion to read, "Please, God, silence the vengefulness within me/that justifies battering the babies of my enemies/on the rocks of their city until their bodies dissolve in pools of blood and fat"(23). He pays homage to the psalms, but also critiques, and rewrites them to reflect his own understanding of the God described in the text.
In the final section of this book, Shapiro presents a parabolic and dramatic retelling of the book of Job. His first act describes the wager between God and Satan and the havoc this wreaks on Job. The second act presents Job's argument with his three friends about the cause of his suffering. Act three appears in two scenes: scene one has God appear in a sandstorm; scene two describe an aftermath conversation between Job, Satan and God. Shapiro touches on the ambiguities and absurdities in the Job narrative, offering a humorous, if irreverent conclusion.
The poems in the middle of the book vary. Some reflect on particular scriptures or liturgical settings. Some talk about spirituality: Sabbath, Torah, the Holocaust, pain, death, joy. Some poems are prayers to God, while others describe the divine in significant and mundane moments of life. There are poems which rage, and poems that praise.
When a Christian publishing house (Paraclete Press) puts out a book of poetry from a 'Zen Rabbi,' it is worth taking notice. It is not every day these traditions converge amicably without something of their particularity being sacrificed. I am a convinced Christian and no relativiser of the world's religious traditions, but I can appreciate insights from other traditions. I found myself appreciative of Shapiro's playfulness with Scripture and his imaging of the God "beyond imaging." Many of his poems on the spiritual life are quite moving. I loved his description of the Spirit, and how we don't just "breathe," but "are breathed" (Attending, 36). At some points, his spirituality was too vague for my tastes, but overall, I appreciated this collection. I give this four stars.
Note: I recieved this book from Paraclete press in exchange for my honest review.
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