Spiritual teacher, writer, rabbi, and poet, Rami Shapiro has taught thousands of people in workshops across North America for a quarter century. His books have sold in the hundreds of thousands. But before he did any of those things he was writing poems, psalms, and prayers that were anthologized in the Jewish siddurim of several different denominations. He did most of this work while he was a pulpit rabbi in Florida. Still today, every week at services, Jews in the Reform and Reconstructionist movements read Rami’s verse in their prayer books. Now, those spiritual teachings have been gathered into one volume, incorporating all of Rami’s poetic work over the course of his long and varied career. The result is startling—as if we’ve discovered a new spiritual teacher of great importance, all in verse.

When one meets a True Seeker, one’s heart “skips a beat" like it did when we were teenagers in love for the first time. When I read these poems, my heart flutters, seeing the footprints that my Beloved has left for me to follow. —Krishna Das

“But am I a poet?” asks Zen rabbi Rami Shapiro in the introduction to this collection of psalms, poems and prayers. Grounded in his native Jewish liturgy, wrestling with the eternal religion-transcending truths of what it means to be a human being, the answer to his question can only be a resounding “yes.” I look forward to using his words in the context of progressive Christian worship. —Rev. Dr. Polly Moore, Editor of The Liturgy Project, progressivechristianity.org