Rabbi James Rosenberg

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An unquenchable and enduring love for America

“These are the times that try men’s souls,” wrote Thomas Paine in December 1776, during the dark days of our Revolutionary War, our fragile nation only 6 months old. Today, … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 12/3/20

‘The angry hopeful soul of America’

The day after William Jefferson Clinton was inaugurated as our 42nd president, on Jan. 20, 1993, I wrote a poem beginning with these words: “Maya Angelou read a poem/Yesterday, not any … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 11/6/20

‘For my sake was the world created!’

I have been a fan of Thomas L. Friedman ever since I read his 1989 book, “From Beirut to Jerusalem,” a perceptive, nuanced look at Israel’s involvement in the seemingly infinite … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 10/2/20

Edgar Allan Poe foretold COVID-19

“The ‘Red Death’ had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal – the redness and the horror of … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 9/3/20

A miracle of intimacy

My wife and I had known for well over a year that our granddaughter Clara was going to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah at Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, in Newton, Massachusetts, this past April 18, just two … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 8/7/20

Fixing broken America

America is broken; our country has become the “Dis-united States.” We routinely pledge allegiance to “one nation … indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 7/3/20

Our three Israels

Many, if not most, of us American Jews carry in our heads and hearts a sense of three separate but interrelated Israels: Am Yisrael, the people of Israel – that is, all Jews everywhere; Eretz … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 6/5/20

The privilege of social distancing

This past March 3, the day of the Super Tuesday Democratic primary showdown between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, I made my final diary entry in the volume I had begun more than two years earlier. It … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 4/30/20

‘Crossing the uncrossable barrier’

In his 1985 book, “Time and Again: Autobiographical Essays,” Dan Jacobson (1929-2014), a well-respected South African and British writer, tells of growing up white and Jewish in a … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 4/5/20

An examination of Yehuda Amichai’s ‘Jewish Time Bomb’

Those of you who have found yourselves in the main lobby of Providence’s Temple Beth-El have probably noticed a striking art installation just to the left of the doors leading into the … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 3/8/20