Frogpond 34.3 • Autumn 2011 (pdf) - Haiku Society of America

Richard Zimler. Love’s Voice, 72 Kabbalistic Haiku. New
York: Tarcher Cornerstone Editions, 2011, 88 pp., perfectbound,
8.5 x 5.5. ISBN 978-1-58542-893-9, $10.
by Bruce Ross, Bangor, Maine
A Master of the Universe as Haijin
On the front cover of the early paperback edition of Zohar,
the primary text of Judaic Kabbalah, edited by Gershom Scholem,
the scholar who reintroduced Kabbalah to the modern
world, is a woodcut by Hans Burgkmair (1473-1531) of an old
bearded man in a meditative state. He is holding a scaffold.
Superimposed on the scaffold by the cover designer are ten
brightly covered circles. These are the sefira, the codified
symbols of God’s attributes. I once met a group who used
these emanations as guides to balance their internal states.
The author of this collection is best known for his historical
fiction, often with a focus on some mystery to be solved, most
notably The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon. In his short introduction
Zimler traces his connection to Kabbalah from finding
a copy of Scholem’s Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism on
his mother’s bookshelf. He goes on to acknowledge the influence
of a number of familiar names in modern Kabbalah
scholarship. He includes a short glossary of terms used in this
collection.
Why haiku and Kabbalah? Zimler explains: “In large part because
the idea of bringing together two such disparate traditions
seemed an exciting challenge, and one that would force
me to find poetic ways of expressing mystical ideas.” He then
discusses the haiku form which “often depends on astonishment
and insight for its charm and beauty.” Does he do what
he says? Yes and no. First, all of his three line “poems” are
in the 5-7-5 format. Secondly, he is using this “form,” really
statements, to express often amusing comments on the ways
and means of Kabbalah, not unlike the understanding of haiku
as wise sayings by the first haiku translators in the West.
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