Leon J. Weinberger – författare

Of all the Hebrew poets of the 'Golden Age' in Spain, Samuel Ibn Nagrela (993-1056 A.D.) remains perhaps the most fascinating personality. A leading statesman in the kingdom of Granada, he was as successful in court as on the battlefield, maintaining a position of power for several decades while walking a political tightrope. Endowed with great literary talents, he opened up new paths in Hebrew poetry, and his mastery of its metrical intricacies was as consummate as his political and military skill.

“Weinberger offers the reader a rare opportunity to become intimately acquainted with… Abraham ibn Ezra, [who] also was known and admired in the non-Jewish world, and has been immortalized in Robert Browning’s ‘Rabbi Ben Ezra.’ Weinberger is to be commended for making his poetry available in English, and for authoring a most valuable introduction to ibn Ezra’s life and work.” – Menorah Review

Twilight of a Golden Age offers a selection of poems by medieval Jewish scholar Abraham Ibn Ezra. Ibn Ezra (1089–1167) was a scholar, poet, and philosopher from Al-Andalus. Renowned for his biblical commentaries, he also made significant contributions to philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and astrology. His works influenced Jewish and non-Jewish intellectual traditions alike. He was also the first to realize the need to translate the theoretical works of Jewish scholars in Al-Andalus from Arabic to Hebrew. As a sage-teacher he traveled in Spain, Italy, France, and England, where, according to certain researchers, he died. Also considered among the most famous Jewish poets, he penned verse that exemplified high Hebrew-Spanish culture in the Middle Ages. This volume of his work is a welcome addition to lovers of and newcomers to ibn Ezra''s work.

Leon Weinberger draws on a wealth of material, much of it previously available only in Hebrew, to trace the history of Jewish hymnography from its origins in the eastern Mediterranean to its subsequent development in western Europe (Spain, Italy, Franco-Germany, and England) and Balkan Byzantium, on the Grecian periphery, under the Ottomans, and among the Karaites. Focusing on each region in turn, he provides a general background to the role of the synagogue poets in the society of the time; characterizes the principal poets and describes their contribution; examines the principal genres and forms; and considers their distinctive language, style, and themes. The copious excerpts from the liturgy are presented in transliterated Hebrew and in English translation, and their salient characteristics are fully discussed to bring out the historical development of ideas and regional themes as well as literary forms.Professor Weinberger’s study is a particularly valuable source-book for students of synagogue liturgy, Jewish worship, and medieval Hebrew poetry. It provides new perspectives for students of religious poetry and forms of worship more generally, while enabling the general reader to acquire a much-enriched appreciation of the synagogue services.