Raising the Sparks

Raising the Sparks, Jennifer Wallace’s sixth poetry collection, is inspired by the alignment of Christian and Judaic traditions. The idea of raising the sparks, tikkun olam, comes from 16th century mystical Judaism—the belief that, if people worked to “gather or raise the sparks” from the sacred vessels that shattered at the moment of creation, a repair of the world from its initial splitting would be complete. It is the duty of each one of us to raise the sparks from wherever they are impr...