Seekers of Meaning 9/20/2024: Poet Alden Solovy discusses his latest book, “Enter These Gates”

Jewish Sacred Aging Podcasts

On this week’s episode of the Seekers of Meaning TV Show and Podcast, poet and liturgist Alden Solovy discusses his latest book of poems, Enter These Gates: Meditations for the Days of Awe.

Summary of the conversation generated with artificial intelligence

In this conversation, Alden Solovy discusses his new book, ‘Enter These Gates: Meditations for the Days of Awe.’ He talks about the inspiration behind the book, which was the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault on Israel and subsequent war. Alden shares some of his powerful poems and meditations from the book, including ‘Ela Azkara’ and ‘At the Gates.’ He also discusses the themes of history, memory, and mortality in his writings. The conversation concludes with a reading of Alden’s poem, ‘Walking Toward Sunset,’ which reflects on the journey of life and the acceptance of mortality.

About the Book

Enter These Gates is a High Holy Day companion for our times, with more than one hundred new poems, prayers, and meditations for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.

Poet-liturgist Alden Solovy draws from his unique spirit to blend today’s struggles and joys with classic themes, layering a contemporary voice into beloved motifs. Enter These Gates is a vital resource for individual prayer, study, and communal worship. Themes include confession, repentance, forgiveness, and memory, as well as frailty, seeking holiness, and what Solovy calls “the ancient journey.” A companion to the machzor, Enter These Gates offers a fresh yet deeply rooted approach to heightening our experience of the Days of Awe.

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About the Guest

(Michele Chabin Photo)

Alden Solovy

Alden Solovy is a modern day piytan, a traveling poet/preacher/teacher who uses Torah and verse to engage and inspire.

Alden embodies the intersection of scholarship and heart. A new voice for ancient yearnings, his writings resonate with the soul and his presence is sought after in Jewish spiritual spaces around the world.

A liturgist, lyricist, and educator, Alden offers a fresh Jewish voice, challenging the boundaries between poetry, meditation, personal growth, and prayer. His writing was transformed by multiple tragedies, marked in 2009 by the sudden death of his wife from catastrophic brain injury.

Solovy’s teaching spans from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem to Limmud and Leo Baeck College in the UK, and synagogues throughout North America.

He is the author of four volumes from CCAR Press: These Words: Poetic Midrash on the Language of Torah (2023), This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day (2017), This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings (2019), and This Precious Life: Encountering the Divine with Poetry and Prayer (2021).

The Jerusalem Post called his writing “soulful, meticulously crafted.” Huffington Post Religion said “…the prayers reflect age-old yearnings in modern-day situations.”

Solovy made Aliyah to Israel in 2012, where he hikes, writes, teaches, and learns. His work has appeared more than 25 collections, including Prophetic Voices: Renewing and Reimagining Haftorah (CCAR Press, 2023), Mishkan R’Fuah: Where Healing Resides (CCAR Press, 2012), L’chol Z’man v’Eit: For Sacred Moments (CCAR Press, 2015), Mishkan HaNefesh: Machzor for the Days of Awe (CCAR Press, 2015), and Gates of Shabbat, Revised Edition (CCAR Press, 2016).

He is a three-time winner of the Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism. His writing appears on Ritualwell.org, ReformJudaism.org, Ravblog.ccar.org, TimesofIsrael.com and tobendlight.com. Alden is also the founder of ManKind Project Israel.

The post Seekers of Meaning 9/20/2024: Poet Alden Solovy discusses his latest book, “Enter These Gates” appeared first on Jewish Sacred Aging.