SPRING BOOK TOUR!

The 70 Faces book tour kicks off in mid-March

In Boston / eastern Massachusetts:

* "Lunch and Learn" reading/discussion after services at Bnai Or, the Jewish Renewal congregation of Boston, March 12. Andover Newton Theological School, 210 Herrick Road, Newton Centre.

* Reading/signing in the parlor of the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, sponsored by the Jewish Connections group, March 13, 2:30pm. 630 Mass Ave, Arlington Center.

In Berkshire / western Massachusetts:

* Reading/signing at Congregation Beth Israel, March 16, 7pm.

* Lunchtime reading at Knesset Israel synagogue, March 21 (presented as part of Jewish Federation of the Berkshires' celebration of Women's History Month). 16 Colt Road Pittsfield, MA 01201.

* Torah Poems Writing Workshop at the North Adams Public Library, March 24 (part of the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers). 74 Church Street, North Adams.

Reviews of 70 Faces: Torah Poems
by Rachel Barenblat

An ongoing compilation of reviews, the most recent first:

• Lilith: Independent, Jewish and Frankly Feminist: The reviewer, Marina Blitshteyn, writes: "Barenblat turns through the old characters and narratives of the Torah as though she is holding a prism in light: her modes are distinctly personal and shine with her understanding of life as a woman, rabbi, wife and mother. She places herself in the predominantly male tradition of midrash (exigetical stories that seek to understand scripture), and she asserts her own voice in this rich lineage. What unfolds is a set of poems, one for each Torah portion, that speaks to body, ritual, complex familial relationships, and the very act of writing..."
  The Palace at 2:00 am (Marly Youmans): Marly Youmans recommends 70 Faces to her readers, asks a number of questions that came up as she read it herself, and concludes: "What I like best about these poems reminds me of Joseph Epstein in his grand essay on I. B. Singer, “What Yiddish Says”: 'What makes Isaac Bashevis Singer's fiction so immensely alive is that its author understood that nothing has successfully replaced this drama, with its sense that one's actions matter, that they are being judged in the highest court of all, and that the stakes couldn't be greater. No contemporary human drama has been devised that can compare or compete with the drama of salvation, including the various acquisition dramas: those of acquiring pleasure, money, power, fame, knowledge, happiness on earth in any of its forms.' ”
• An audio review of 70 Faces is at Radio 613, with readings of a few favorite poems. "radio613′s Tu Bishvat show for 5771 ends with a review of the recently published 70 Faces: Torah Poems by Rabbi Rachel Barenblat. 70 Faces eloquently blends feminism and classic traditions of textual interpretation. Listen for readings from parshas B’shalach and Yitro."
• "Read this book" at Awkward Offerings: "Reb Rachel engages head-on with a question that nags — what is the downside to this whole taking over Canaan business? There is nothing heavy-handed or polemical here. She could be talking about the ancient Israelites, the modern Israelites, or any of us caught in the situation of getting the better of someone else. In my humble, really good poetry tackles big questions in such a way as to leave the reader with more questions, shaking our collective heads heads in wonder. The good stuff – and here I'm quoting another poem from the book - builds a structure to house what you long for."
• "70 Faces" at Tasting Rhubarb: "Here are characters and landscapes of old, familiar stories from the books of Moses retold, repainted in startlingly vivid thoughts and images - the flood wreaked by a God with post-partum depression, the investigation and conjuring of the often absent woman's perspective, the rueful wondering how these stories might have been less harsh and vengeful, how their harshness might serve now as a lesson in compassion. // And so the old stories come right into the texture of our own lives."

• "Daily Faith and Poetry" in The Berkshire Eagle: "[The poems in 70 Faces] take time to think about daily things -- a bottle of milk, talismans on a desk -- and ongoing things -- the names of animals, the urge to make -- and lifelong things -- a baby born in danger, a difficult reunion at a funeral. // They chronicle the round of the year and the quiet, continual effort to walk forward, to think about work and family and the light on the ridge lines."