Joy Comes in the Morning

Rating:
Summary: Another "charming" book for high school readers
Review: I bought this book after reading a very positive review in the New York Times, especially since I thought a lot of Rosen's book, The Talmud and the Internet. What I got was a book appropriate for a "sensitive" 10th grade Jewish girl or a Jewish grandmother. (By the way, I am Jewish.) Given the significant number of well-written books, it is somewhat distressing that a clunky book like this is treated as adult literature. There is an audience for this book, just as there was an audience for Barry Manilow records. If Barry's singing touched you, you likely will enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Rabbis are people, too
Review: I loved this book. I loved that the main character was a woman rabbi. I loved that the author allowed her to be a human being and not a cardboard stereotype. I loved the "coincidences" in the story, and especially that some of my own beliefs and even quotes that I love were in this book. This book resonated in me on several levels. The only part I had trouble with was when the rabbi's boyfriend conducted a funeral, but that was mild. I felt this book had a lot of spirituality and love, and was, in an everyday way, very mystical. I couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: "Weeping May Endure For A Night..." Psalm 30
Review: The first thing that the reader notes is the book is impossible to put down. Mr. Rosen builds a special rapport with the reader that makes his story compelling. The reader is left each time the book is put down, with the irresistible urge to find out what will happen next.

Rosen tells a wonderful and realistic tale of a Reform Woman Rabbi in Manhattan. The book describes her relationship to the Jewish faith, from a Reform Perspective. This perspective is a difficult one, as the concept of Reform Judaism has at its core, the same beliefs as all Judaism, but tempered by a modern interpretation of the scriptures that lends itself more easily to the combination of civil and religious life in the vast Materialistic and Capitalistic and Cacophonous reality of modern society.

Yet Deborah, the lady Rabbi who is the protagonist of Rosen's story, does not in any way lack spiritualism or connection to her faith. She has a great and mighty dedication to her beliefs. And she does her utmost to convey that feeling to her congregants and to all that she may meet. Some would say, that she made some very rash decisions and took some very unorthodox actions within Rosen's story. But this is for the reader to evaluate in the privacy of the mind.

One thing is clearly true. The book shows the stark contrast and the interesting co-existence of human Joy and human Sadness, as they live within us, all the time, yet most of the time, they balance within us to make us a whole person. When that balance is no longer within our control, we lose our ability to moderate that and we also lose our ability to operate in regular day to day society.

Rosen is acutely wonderful at illustrating this dichotomy in his book. For all who have struggled with the concepts of the different forms of Judaism, this book offers a new perspective; a perspective that puts the power of decision and free choice back into the individual's mind and heart, and not into anyone else's.

The book is highly recommended for all with any interest whatsoever in theology and the concept of God. Regardless of one's religion, one can related to the stark, yet gentle realism of Rosen's work.


Rating:
Summary: A beautifully crafted novel
Review: The parallel stories of Deborah and Lev do not scape surfaces; they plow into the emotional history of two very complex individuals and their families. Additionally, Rosen creates some of the loveliest metaphors I've read in years. For anyone who appreciates rich prose and a well-developed story, this is the novel to read.