Contents

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter 1 Passover

1. A Passover Love Song (ShBM 1)

2. Moses Confronts the Sea (ShBM 2)

3. The Exodus Retold (ShBM 4)

4. A Mighty Redemption (ShBM 5)

5. The Enemy Speaks (ShBM 6)

6. Who is Like You? (ShBM 7)

7. The Lord Will Reign (ShBM 8)

8. None is Like Him (ShBM 9)

Chapter 2 Shavuot

9. Ruth Retold (ShBM 10)

10. Moses is Summoned to the Summit (ShBM 11)

11. Moses and the Angels (ShBM 12)

12. No Idols: Daniel’s Friends Counter the King (ShBM 13)

13. Honor Your Father and Mother: The Akedah (ShBM 14)

14. You Shall Not Murder: The Death of Joab (ShBM 15 and 15*)

15. Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife (ShBM 16)

Chapter 3 Tisha b’Av

16. The Fall of Betar (ShBM 17)

17. Reasons to Weep (ShBM 18)

18. Zion’s Lament (ShBM 19)

19. Woe is Me! (ShBM 20)

20. I Shall Go Forth Weeping (ShBM 21)

21. By the Rivers of Babylon (ShBM 22)

22. A Poet’s Plea (ShBM 23)

23. Witness to Destruction (ShBM 24)

24. Ancestral Intercession (ShBM 25)

25. A Poet’s Lament (ShBM Appendix)

Chapter 4 Purim

26. A Poetic History (ShBM 26)

27. Esther’s Entreaty (ShBM 27)

28. Esther’s Sacrifice (ShBM 28)

29. A Dispute among Trees (ShBM 29)

30. A Prelude to Purim (ShBM 30)

31. Esther and Zion (ShBM 31)

32. Zeresh’s Lament (ShBM 32)

33. The Whole Megillah, in Brief (ShBM 32*)

34. The Enemies of Israel Hold Forth (ShBM 33)

Chapter 5 Rosh Hodesh Nisan

35. The Foremost Month (ShBM 34)

36. A Lyric of Redemption (ShBM 35)

37. A Poem of Portents (ShBM 36)

38. Nisan’s Declamation (ShBM 37)

39. A Cosmic Sense of History (ShBM 38)

40. A Dispute among the Months (ShBM 39)

Chapter 6 Concluding the Torah

41. Moses Confronts Mortality (ShBM 40)

42. Mourning Moses (ShBM 41)

43. Jochebed’s Search (ShBM 42)

44. A Psalm for the Psalmist (ShBM 43)

45. On Chronicles (ShBM 44)

Chapter 7 Epithalamia

46. Wisdom for the Groom (ShBM 44*)

47. An Address to the Groom (ShBM 45)

48. A Groom’s Tribute (ShBM 46)

49. Marriage Takes Three (ShBM 47)

50. A Poet’s Advice (ShBM 48)

51. A Groom’s Teaching (ShBM 49)

52. A Wedding Homily (ShBM 50)

Chapter 8 Eulogies

53. A Lineage of Mortality I (ShBM 51)

54. A Lineage of Mortality II (ShBM 52)

55. A Lineage of Mortality III (ShBM 53)

56. A Farewell for a Priest (ShBM 54)

57. A History of Mortality (ShBM 55)

58. A Farewell to a Woman (ShBM 56)

59. Body versus Soul (ShBM 57)

60. A Farewell to a Child I (ShBM 58)

61. A Farewell to a Youth (ShBM 59)

62. A Farewell to a Child II (ShBM 60)

63. A Graveside Eulogy I (ShBM 61)

64. A Graveside Eulogy II (ShBM 62)

65. A Graveside Eulogy III (ShBM 64)

66. A Graveside Eulogy IV (ShBM 65)

67. After the Farewells (ShBM 66)

Chapter 9 A Poetic Miscellany

68. A Song of Solomon (ShBM 67)

69. A Threefold Torah (ShBM 68)

Bibliography

Index of Ancient Sources