Synopsis
"Exceptional, vibrant anthology"
--Jewish Book World
Finalist, National Jewish Book Awards
Sixty inspiring and provocative adult-level mitzvah stories crafted by leading Jewish storytellers, rabbis and authors from across the full spectrum of Jewish life. These juried, newly-minted tales reveal how each mitzvah, when carried out with understanding and creativity, becomes a rich source of spirituality and meaning. For reading and retelling across the generations.
Contributing authors: Yossi Alfi, Noa Baum, Joel Ben Izzy, Yisroel Bernath, Renee Brachfeld, Rosyln Bresnick-Perry, Barry Bub, Phil Cohen, Anita Diamant, Helen Engelhardt, Ed Feinstein, Ellen Frankel, Mark S. Golub, James Stone Goodman, Dan Gordon, Janie Grackin, Eva Grayzel, Bonnie Greenberg, Tina Grimberg, Dan Grossman, Miriam Grossman, Fred Guttman, Sharona Halickman, Jill Hammer, Richard Joel, Amichai Lau-Lavie, Benji Levene, Herb Levine, Syd Lieberman, Doug Lipman, Cindy Rivka Marshall, Melvin Metelits, Goldie Milgram, Lynnie Mirvis, Nadia Grosser Nagarajan, Steve Nathan, Caren Neile, Leon Olenick, Yoel Perez, Peter Pitzele, Jack Riemer, Carol and Neal Rose, Gail Rosen, Barbara Rush, Sandy Sasso, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Peninnah Schram, Rebecca Schram-Zafrany, Howard Schwartz, Cherie Karo Schwartz, Rami Shapiro, Danny Siegel, Laura Simms,Corinne Stavish, Naomi Steinberg, Arthur Strimling, Carla Vogel, Shohama Harris Wiener, Diane Wolkstein, Debra Gordon Zaslow, Steve Zeitlin, Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff
MORE PRAISE FOR MITZVAH STORIES
"The power of mitzvah as a primary lens for meaningful Jewish living is revealed in this most stimulating volume where every branch of Judaism is represented with creativity, integrity and moral imagination."
--Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author, Jewish Literacy and Hillel: If Not Now, When?
"The vision, voices, views and values of the full spectrum of the Jewish people are respectfully reflected in these spirited, challenging, re-tellable contemporary mitzvah stories. A rare, precious and inspiring opportunity for many ways into learning and living a meaningful Jewish life. The perfect gift for every Jewish occasion."
--Arthur Kurzweil, author, From Generation to Generation
"These stories, so varied in style and Jewish orientation have the capacity to evoke wonder."
--Blu Greenberg, author of On Women and Judaism and How to Run a Traditional Household
"The simplicity and power of [some] stories take one by surprise...a solid purchase."
--Jewish Library Association
Free downloadable 44-page discussion guide & companion deck of 52 professionally illustrated Mitzvah Cards also available at (http://reclaimingjudaism.org/node/243)
About the Author
Dr. Ellen Frankel served for eighteen years as the Editor in Chief and CEO of The Jewish Publication Society, and currently serves as its first Editor Emerita. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Princeton.
She is the author of ten books, among them The Classic Tales; The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols; The Five Books of Miriam, also available in Hebrew as Midrash Miryam; The Jewish Spirit: A Celebration in Stories and Art, and The Illustrated Hebrew Bible. She contributed to the ten-volume commentary series, My People's Prayerbook; to Three Testaments: Torah, Gospel, and Quran, edited by Brian Arthur Brown; and co-edited Mitzvah Stories with Rabbi Goldie Milgram.
Dr. Frankel has also published three books for young people--Choosing To Be Chosen, a collection of stories for Jewish pre-teens, and a sequel, Tell It Like It Is: Tough Choices for Today's Teens. Her JPS Illustrated Children's Bible, won the 2010 National Jewish Book Award.
Dr. Frankel travels widely as a storyteller, lecturer, and scholar-in-residence. She has taught literature and writing to undergraduates, gifted students, business professionals, and educators. She has received numerous awards and honors, including Hadassah's Myrtle Wreath Award and Brandeis University's Bernard Reisman Award for Professional Excellence.
Several of Ellen Frankel's portraits of biblical women were set to music by composer Andrea Clearfield in her oratorio, Women of Valor, which premiered in Los Angeles in 2000, and she also wrote the libretto for Clearfield's oratorio, "The Golem Psalms," which premiered in Philadelphia in 2006. Dr. Frankel's first opera, Slaying the Dragon, with music by composer Michael Ching, had its world premiere in Philadelphia in 2012. She is currently at work on a new opera with Andrea Clearfield, The Golem at MIT, and "The Esther Diaries," with composer Haralabos Stafylakis.
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