Tangle of Matter & Ghost

A sophisticated but accessible fusion of theory and critical popular culture of Leonard Cohen’s mystical songbook in relation to post-secular thinking and Kabbalah, Hasidism and Rinzai Buddhism. This volume presents a unique inter-disciplinary approach to Jewish philosophy and literary studies that will touch diverse audiences and readership.

Glazer Aubrey :

Aubrey L. Glazer is senior rabbi of Congregation Shaare Zion and director of Panui, an incubator for contemplative practice and conscious community building. Aubrey’s most recent books include Mystical Vertigo (Academic Studies Press, 2013) and Tangle of Matter & Ghost: Leonard Cohen’s Post-Secular Songbook of Mysticism(s) Jewish & Beyond (Academic Studies Press, 2017).Aubrey L. Glazer, Ph.D. (University of Toronto) is rabbi of Congregation Beth Sholom, San Francisco. His latest books dedicated to exploring Jewish philosophy in different contexts: Mystical Vertigo: Kabbalistic Hebrew Poetry Dancing Over the Divide (Academic Studies Press, 2013) and A New Physiognomy of Jewish Thinking: Critical Theory After Adorno as Applied to Jewish Thought (Continuum, 2011) recently translated into Hebrew (Resling Press, 2015).

Adeena Karasick, Professor of Global Literature, St. John’s University, New York, award-winning author of seven books of poetry, including most recently, Amuse Bouche: Tasty Treats for the Mouth (Talonbooks, 2009):
“Weaving an intertextilic elixir of the sacred and the secular of both religious hermeneutics and contemporary cultural theory, Glazer’s formidable Tangle of Matter and Ghost is a pioneering study of how Cohen, as Canadian kabbalist buddhist, saint, mystic poet, a prophet with priestly lineage, helps us realize that the Shekhina is indeed dwelling inside and between every letter. Establishing an alchemic cirqumfrission, it compellingly cuts into all that is connected and cracked, rigorously detailing how and where the light gets in.”

Daniel Matt, translator-editor of the Zohar-Pritzker edition:
“This bold, imaginative book enables us to appreciate Leonard Cohen as a Jewish mystical humanist, a post-secular troubadour who wrestles intimately with his own tradition. Cohen emerges as a prophet who realizes our brokenness and inspires healing.”

—James A. Diamond, Joseph & Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies, University of Waterloo:
“In the first extended encounter with Leonard Cohen’s complex and demanding legacy since Cohen’s death Aubrey Glazer profoundly attunes us to the prophetic, mystical, and Jewish registers of Cohen’s voice and music that are normally an octave too high for our ears. This book reflects a rare combination of erudition and poetic sensitivity needed for the task to guide us along a musical scale ranging from Isaac on the altar to Jesus on the cross to Joan of Arc on the stake; from the medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides to a Hasidic Rebbe against the backdrop of Quebecois culture to the Zen master Roshi; and from the Zohar to Yiddish humour. Cohen’s passing leaves another crack in the world and Glazer’s study allows the light to come streaming through.”