Stories,photos

198 results total, viewing 151 - 160

“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

A psalm of the winter solstice

“SHE: What happened to Psalm 88? Why did you skip it? “HE: I don’t think you could take it tonight. I am not sure I could. No: I am sure I could not. “SHE: Please read it, for me ... I need that kind the most.” … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 4/23/15

‘Not the death but the life’

Alan Metnick’s photography exhibit, “Silence and Stones/Captured by Memory,” continues at gallery (401) at the Dwares JCC through Thursday, April 16. If you haven’t had a chance to visit, it is a must-see. If you’ve already been there, … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 4/13/15

A prophet in our midst

H. Philip West Jr., executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island from 1988 to 2006, is a prophet in our midst. Like such Biblical prophets as Amos or Isaiah or Jeremiah, West is not so much a “foreteller” … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 3/26/15

Questions raised by ‘The Finkler Question’

Howard Jacobson (b. 1942), the well-respected British author, begins his speech at the B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem in the fall of 2013 with three succinct and depressing sentences: “The question is rhetorical. When will Jews … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 3/12/15

Remembering Stanley M. Aronson, M.D.

For many years, an essential part of my Monday morning ritual had been reading Dr. Stanley M. Aronson’s wise and erudite words on the op-ed page of The Providence Journal. In his well over 1,000 weekly columns, his topics ranged far and wide from … more

Rabbi James Rosenberg | 2/26/15