The Library of Everything: Poems and Torah Commentaries is one of the most unusual books in Beit Knesset Hanassi’s collection. It consists of a set of creative and imaginative items, in prose and verse, by Rabbi Dr David Ebner—Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshivat Eretz HaTzvi, Jerusalem. According to the publishers, ATID:
This collection of original
poetry on Jewish and religious themes will enlighten and stimulate readers to
an array of issues-Jewish learning and teaching; textual understanding and
interpretation; prayer, salvation and repentance; and the Holocaust.
Each of the twenty-one poems is
accompanied by a short essay, notes, or an excursus, through which the author
unfolds the genesis of the poem: how it was distilled from classical Jewish
sources, or—moving in the opposite direction—drawing the reader's attention to
implications and applications of the poem to contemporary religious life and
experience.
Rabbi Ebner has taken an active interest in integration
between Jewish studies and English literature. This is apparent to the reader
of this slim (94 page) tome, from which the author’s warm and engaging
personality can be instantly discerned.