In one of his many poems about Jerusalem, Yehuda Amichai explains, "This is a city where my dream-containers fill up like a diver's oxygen tanks." Amichai lived in Jerusalem most of his adult life. A city that inspires strong attachments, Jerusalem was for Amichai more than subject matter, even more than a screen on which to project his inner life. In Yehuda Amichai's poetry, Jerusalem is the protagonist in a tragic drama – both victim and source of conflicts, whose cultural expressions range from delusion and cruelty to yearnings for the sublime. The instructor will provide selections from Poems of Jerusalem and Love Poems a few days before class begins. Enrollment for this class is limited to 15 attendees.
Text: Yehuda Amichai, Poems of Jerusalem and Love Poems
The Sheep-Meadow Press, 1988. ISBN 1-8788818-19-8
Leonore Gerstein was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and spent many of her formative years in Israel, first at a kibbutz, and then in Jerusalem, where she earned a bachelor's degree in English and Philosophy. Leonore is passionate about poetry and is always eager to explore a variety of works with veteran and new Elderwise members.