Chassidic Poet Reads for Web

The Chabad.org multimedia portal, Jewish.TV, has teamed with award-winning poet Yehoshua November to produce a series of videos that feature him reading and explaining some of his poems.

November is the young Lubavitcher whose debut book, G-d’s Optimism, has been making waves throughout the literary world since its release last year.

The book was lauded by critics and won the Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award as well as being named a finalist for the Autumn House Poetry Prize and the Tampa Review Prize for Poetry.

The videos were directed by Mendel Kalmenson, editor of Chabad.org’s Parshah Section, who worked previously with November to use his poetry to explain ideas in the Torah portion.

“There are lots of Jewish artists out there, but very few are frum or write positively about their religious experience,”said Kalmenson, who serves as a rabbi at The Besht Center in Crown Heights, where the series was filmed.

“I once heard a famous Jewish writer say something like, ‘To be creative you have to be transgressive.’ I think November proves otherwise. That being frum and highly creative are not only not contradictory but can be complementary. I think his work will inspire more aspiring artists to find their niche.”

Each video begins with November giving a short introduction before reading one of his poems. The intros provide background behind the writing of the poem as well as clarifying some of the words and ideas that may be unfamiliar for a wider audience.

VIDEO: November reads a poem