‘To you, G-d, silence is praise’

I had never heard of the biblical verse, “To You, G-d, silence is praise” prior to this assignment — but it immediately appealed to me. I felt like I stumbled upon a poetic line that simultaneously puzzles and clarifies. I was hooked. When I began asking people to reflect on this counter intuitive statement, they accepted the challenge with gratitude and excitement. It’s hard to turn down a chance to investigate a haunting conundrum. Although I am a novice at analyzing Biblical ideas, I have studied poetry since high school. This affords insight into how conflicting ideas co-exist. I adore Robert Frost. He embraces paradoxical concepts inside a singular, sublime sentence. His epitaph — “I had a lover’s quarrel with the world” — is a […]