Israel In Translation

On this week's episode, host Marcela Sulak returns to the work of Ibn Gabirol, one of the outstanding figures during the Jewish Golden Age in Moorish Spain. She reads a new edition of his work called Vulture in a Cage, published in 2016 by Archipeligo Books. The translation by Raymond P. Scheindlin interestingly adheres to Gabirol's original rhyme scheme and rhythm of the Hebrew. Here is an excerpt from one of his poems depicting the relationship between God and the speaker as an erotic relationship: "Greetings to you, red-cheeked friend, greetings to you from the girl with the pomegranate brow. Run to meet her—your beloved— hurry out to rescue her! Charge, like David, valiant king when he took Rabbah, the city.” He: “Why, my beauty, why just now do you choose to rouse my love, set your lovely voice to ringing like a priest’s robe hung with bells? When the time for loving comes, then you’ll see me hurrying. Then I will come down to you as on Mount Hermon drips the dew." Born in Málaga in about 1022, Ibn Gab