“Yesterday I dreamt how the Nile rolled over its banks / and I saw the Delta inscribed upon the waters.”

It takes a year to read the entire Torah in synagogue, and on the holiday of Simchat Torah we finish the reading and begin again with Genesis.

“A beautiful scent arose from the etrogs and hadasim, which masked the smell of old books, most of which had come from the apartments of poor folk…”

“Ever since my pious mother ate earth on Yom Kippur, ate dark earth on Yom Kippur, mixed with fire, I, a living man, must eat dark earth on Yom Kippur”

“To start love like this: with a cannon shot / like Ramadan. / …That’s a religion! That’s a love!”