THE LINGUA FRANCA:

In "Leonard Cohen: The Mystical Roots of Genius," author Harry Freedman focuses on one element of Cohen's work: the ideas drawn from Judaism and Christianity that helped shape Cohen's identity and the way he made sense of the world.

Freedman, Britain's most prominent author of popular works of Jewish culture and history, keenly stresses how Cohen harnessed biblical and religious traditions for his own artistic purposes.

"Cohen grew up in a very religious environment and saw the Bible as a common definition of truth that everybody could relate to," the 71-year-old Freedman tells The Times of Israel via Zoom from his home in London. "So when he wanted to write metaphors, or write about life in general, he always returned to the Bible as a [primary source]."

Cohen was always reluctant to describe his work as having a religious or theological purpose, says Freedman, but a spiritual quest for meaning clearly exists in his music and poetry.

The author claims Cohen's religious outlook was not bound up in formal ritual observance, nor did he make a point of publicly advocating virtues such as justice and charity. Rather, Cohen's religion "was introspective and experiential, and used as a way of engaging with the yearnings of his soul, and as a space for self-examination," Freedman says.

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