Writing as Rabbi Paul Moses Strasko
Die deutsche Ausgabe erscheint im 2024.
Demnächst erhältlich!
“. . .Of course, these other men and women had their own stories—perhaps even their own Torah. Since the histories written by one tribe have little to do with history and everything to do with politics and relationship, what does this Torah look like that came from this man sitting near the campfire—from that woman on the other side of the mountain range? As with all Torahs, the holy texts begin with people living the actual lives they lived, telling the stories that had been passed on to them that probably had no intention of influencing our lives millennia after the ashes of their campfires had mingled with the forgotten realities of their lives.”
Forthcoming in 2025
Every Jewish holiday, ritual, and Torah reading contains within it archetypal questions that can be repeated each year as part of our spiritual growth. On Pesach we ask to what we are enslaved as well as who we are oppressing, and as the Torah opens we wonder at how we are a part of the dialogue of creation. Each volume of “A Year In Elevation” breaks down each of these elements of our yearly calendar into tangible and usable questions infused with both the humor and sobriety our journey requires.
Part 1 available for the High Holy Days, 2024
2nd Edition Now Available Worldwide!
It is not “what” is Judaism, but rather “why” is Judaism. The 20th century presided over the death of nearly every grand narrative, yet like every other time period that sought in one way or another to annihilate Judaism, Judaism remains. Understanding this requires not only understanding the narrative of Judaism, but as well how it has been able to constantly remake itself for millennia as a tiny minority religion. “Jewish Narratives and Origins," the first volume of a planned three-part series "Gateways Into Judaism," is not an introduction to Judaism. Rather, it is a case arguing that we can fully embrace religious narratives while retaining our intellect and rationality. Moreover, it is an exploration of infinite strangeness, an unflinching look at the difference between history and narrative, and a love letter to a religion that should not still exist, yet does.
Writing as P. A. Moses
When Andrea Lewy, a Chinese girl adopted by a Jewish family, begins her Fulbright year in Germany, she expects to have a good time, improve her German and write about contemporary Antisemitism; what she doesn’t expect is to become embroiled in a corrupt Russian mafia-like synagogue. WOMEN, CONVERTS AND AZERBAIJANIS NEED NOT APPLY is set in a fictionalized synagogue in modern day Germany. The narrative weaves together with poignant hilarity the xenophobia, Russian-mafia influences, death threats in community meetings and fist fights in services that ridiculously but truthfully make up some of the every-day reality of Jewish communities in Germany today. Through Andrea’s humor-filled first person narrative, we are appalled by, confused about and fall in love with these real people facing the challenges of reengaging in Judaism after three generations of Stalinism.
On Sale Now
There it remains, the great brick and mortar smokestack of the Anaconda Smelter. It stands vigil, a lonely reminder of “better times” and the slow poisoning of square miles of soil with arsenic. What happens when we do such violence to the land? Do the once pristine forests and sweeping vistas of the Pintler Wilderness have a say? Are those that live on this land infected by its legacy? What does the life of a family look like when touched by the ash and arsenic of what once was the life of the small town? What would the family have been otherwise?
