Stories,photos

193 results total, viewing 141 - 150

“My So-Called Enemy” is a feature-length documentary, available on DVD, that speaks to my mind, my heart, my soul. Lisa Gossels, director and producer of the feature-length 2010 film, explores the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 10/15/15

On the uses of violence in fiction

Providence-based novelist Jon Land writes the kind of action-packed books I can’t put down. Once I begin a Land novel, I accept the fact that I will be staying up late the following few nights, turning pages in order to find out what happens … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 10/1/15

Giving the Arab his name

“Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure. The telegram from the Home says: YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY. FUNERAL TOMORROW. DEEP SYMPATHY. Which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday.” … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 9/17/15

Ta-Nehisi Coates cri de coeur

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ recently published “Between the World and Me” (Spiegel & Grau, 2015) is a cri de coeur, an outpouring of heart, an unburdening of soul. Coates, a 40-year-old national correspondent for The Atlantic, has … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 9/3/15

How to talk about the Iran deal

On June 9, the Israel Task Force of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island sponsored an interactive program titled “Can We Talk About Israel.” According to promotional material, the purpose of … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 8/21/15

The stain on T.S. Eliot

“April is the cruelest month, breeding/Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing/Memory and desire, stirring/Dull roots with spring rain.” So begins T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” (1922), not infrequently cited as the most influential … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 8/6/15

In the company of undying texts

If all goes well, next May I will be attending the 50th reunion of the Columbia College class of ’66: half a century since my graduation! In preparation for this once-in-a-lifetime event, I have recently reread the six diaries I kept during my … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 6/18/15

Free speech and hate speech

Paul Berger begins his May 5 online article for the Forward with this sentence: “Long written off by mainstream critics as an Islamophobic crackpot, Pamela Geller is winning increasing sums from financial backers with her blood-and-thunder … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 6/5/15

The authority of the written word

Michael L. Satlow’s “How the Bible Became Holy” (Yale University Press, 2014) is an audacious book. Satlow, professor of Religious Studies and Judaic Studies at Brown, spells out his intentions in the introductory pages: “This book … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 5/22/15

What the photograph demands of us

At the end of January, not long after returning from viewing an exhibit of 42 black-and-white photographs by Gordon Parks (1912-2006) at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, I had the opportunity to share my enthusiasm for Parks’ work with my … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 5/7/15