Peter Cole at YU

After a long hiatus the Sephardiphilia blog is back. I have been awaken to write anew in this forum by the arrival of Peter Cole to Yeshiva University last week. As the other posts in this very infrequent blog show, his writings have inspired me on multiple levels. His writings have helped me enter into the world of the medieval poets armed with nuance and rigor and at the same time an appreciation for the scholarly structures framing and illuminating (pardon the mixed metaphor) the complex world within which these poems were written.
Cole gave an electric reading of his translations and some penetrating thoughts on the poetry and the poets. He also gave the room packed mostly with students- both undergrad and grad- an inkling of the living soul of this poetic tradition. Cole's own passion and dedication to language is palpable and contagious. He is also a mensch. After talking to many students after the presentation there was one student who had some specific questions that he hoped Cole could answer- they were deep, pressing questions partially enmeshed with the student's readings of Cole's "The Invention of Influence". This was at the end of a long day. Cole needed to still catch a train back to New Haven but he gave this young man the time he needed, with patience and grace.
Below are the remarks I wrote down as an introduction to Peter Cole. I welcomed Cole with a rough version of these lines.

Welcome to Peter Cole- November 3^rd

From my first semester at YU in the fall of 2009 Peter Cole has been here- his “Dream of the Poem” was a cornerstone of my courses on medieval Spain

The inclusion of poetry into the course came much to the delight and dismay of my students—“why are we reading so much poetry in a history class”?

While others quietly expressed relief: “Finally some poetry”- they were the minority

By the end of the units on Hispano Hebrew Poetry, however, most students felt like they just visited a hitherto unknown continent of Jewish culture.

Peter Cole’s translations transform the poems of Hanagid and Ibn Gabirol into accessible- contemporary mirrors reflecting back into our lives

At the same time that his careful and layered scholarly annotations lead the reader back into the world that produced the poetry

Aesthetic vibrancy and historical and linguistic nuance,

sophistication and depth

All at once!

With the “Dream of the Poem” we were able to shuttle between our own contemporary search for meaning – what the past can say to us- do for us

And at the same time, assume the humility and curiosity necessary to engage the past on its own terms

And with this it is my deep honor to welcome Peter Cole to YU

His wide ranging publications cover everything from a history of the Cairo Geniza- Sacred Trash co-authored with his wife Adina Hoffman, to translations from the medieval Hebrew poets- from Yanai and Kalir to the sweet singers of al-Andalus- to his own award winning poetry.

There is a reason he is a sought after lecturer internationally and a Mac Arthur and Guggenheim fellow

Without any further delay, lets explore “Angels in Al-Andalus” with Peter Cole