It’s the Bat Mitzvah of the writing of your article on Browning’s Rabbi Ben Ezra and I just came across it and enjoyed your description of the inconvenient yet manageable memory lapses common to all of us septuagenarians and octogenarians. I’ve become a real fan of the poem and refer to it frequently. I recall reading that on his deathbed Thomas Hardy asked for a copy of the poem. I often wonder whether he was familiar with any chassidic texts because I find the poem resonates with the radical positivity inherent in the works of Rav Nachman and Sefat Emet. It would be my pleasure to chat with you regarding the poem . Jerry Wolf
It’s the Bat Mitzvah of the writing of your article on Browning’s Rabbi Ben Ezra and I just came across it and enjoyed your description of the inconvenient yet manageable memory lapses common to all of us septuagenarians and octogenarians. I’ve become a real fan of the poem and refer to it frequently. I recall reading that on his deathbed Thomas Hardy asked for a copy of the poem. I often wonder whether he was familiar with any chassidic texts because I find the poem resonates with the radical positivity inherent in the works of Rav Nachman and Sefat Emet. It would be my pleasure to chat with you regarding the poem . Jerry Wolf