Avraham Ibn Ezra (c. 1093 – c. 1167)

With the departure of Yehuda HaLevi for the Land of Israel and, several years later, the first wave of invasions by the North African Almohads, the Golden Age of… More

Shelomo Ibn Gabirol (1021/22 – c. 1057/58)

Philosopher, misanthrope, and spectacular fly in the ointment of the refined eleventh-century Andalusian-Jewish elite, Shelomo Ibn Gabirol, the second major poet of the period, comes down to us as… More

Shmu’el Hanagid (993 – 1056)

The major poets of the period emerge in the third generation, and they are masters of their art in every respect and giants in the history of Hebrew literature.… More

Todros Abulafia (1247 – after 1300)

A distant relative of Meir HaLevi Abulafia, but no relation to Avraham, Todros Ben Yehuda Abulafia was born in Toledo in 1247 and spent most of his life in… More

Yehuda Halevi (c. 1075 – 1141)

An unrivalled master of Hebrew and its prosody, Yehuda Halevi is perhaps the most famous and certainly the most revered of all the medieval poets. “The quintessence and embodiment… More

Dancing in the Dark

Act One(1873-1903)It is February 1903 and at present he is impersonating Shylock Homestead in the musical In Dahomey, but only after dark. He shambles about as though unsure what… More

Transmigration of Souls

Transmigration of SoulsIt's hard for you to believe in reincarnationbut you're willing to try,considering the alternative.If only someone would explainwhere the souls are, in a city or a townor… More