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“Rachel Barenblat’s Torah poems open the doorway into sacred text so that we can walk
in and make it our home. She invites us to bring all of our passion, doubt, humor,
humility and chutzpah as we encounter
these ancient words and bring them to Life. Through Rachel’s skillful, joyful, playful and profound poetry, the Torah opens her
secrets to us and invites us into an intimate conversation with Truth.”
Rabbi Shefa Gold, author of Torah Journeys
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“These poems are so out there, so radical,
and at the same time so gentle and inviting. Barenblat manages to do work that has
passion and truth behind it, without ranting.
I love the simple and confident way she deals with the akedah — and I love the final poem
in this collection — gliding right past heart-
break into renewal, which is what her poems all seem to do.”
Alicia Ostriker, author of For the Love of God:
the Bible as an Open Book and The Book of Seventy
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70 Faces: Torah Poems
by Rachel Barenblat

Phoenicia Publishing is proud to publish this collection of contemporary spiritual writing: poems written in response to the Torah in the longstanding tradition of midrash, by a gifted writer, teacher, and spiritual leader who brings to her work not only deep thought on spiritual life and belief, but the experiences of daily life and society that we all share in the 21st century. In keeping with our cross-cultural focus at Phoenicia, we are certain that 70 Faces will appeal not only to Jewish readers but all "children of Abraham," as well as those who come to these texts with serious questions, enlarging our understanding and deepening our own thought about a body of writing that lies at the root of the Abrahamic religions, and of western literature.

Each of the poems in 70 Faces arose in conversation with the Five Books of Moses. These poems interrogate, explore, and lovingly respond to Torah texts - the uplifting parts alongside the passages which may challenge contemporary liberal theology. Here are responses to the familiar tales of Genesis, the liberation story of Exodus, the priestly details of Leviticus, the desert wisdom of Numbers, and the anticipation of Deuteronomy. These poems balance feminism with respect for classical traditions of interpretation. They enrich any (re)reading of the Bible, and will inspire readers to their own new responses to these familiar texts.
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“In the poetry of 70 Faces, Rachel Barenblat continues the work of translation and commentary that has occupied her for years as the Velveteen Rabbi. She is as young as our century and as old as Judaism. Her poems have the classic cadence of the scriptures and the fresh wonder of a new mother. These are old words for the modern mind. This is ancient wisdom we can feel and know.”
Pastor Gordon Atkinson, author of RealLivePreacher.com and Turtles All The Way Down
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Rachel Barenblat holds an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. She is a Jewish Renewal rabbi, ordained in January of 2011.

This is her first full-length poetry collection; she's the author of four chapbooks of poetry: the skies here (Pecan Grove Press, 1995), What Stays (Bennington Writing Seminars Alumni Chapbook Series, 2002), chaplainbook (Laupe House Press, 2006) and Through, a self-published collection of miscarriage poems (2009.)

Since 2003 she has blogged as The Velveteen Rabbi; in 2008, her blog was named one of the top 25 blogs on the internet by TIME. She is perhaps best known for The Velveteen Rabbi's Haggadah for Pesach, which has been used in homes and synagogues worldwide.

Rachel is a contributing editor at Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture. Her poems have appeared in a wide variety of magazines and anthologies, among them Phoebe, The Jewish Women's Literary Annual, The Texas Observer, Confrontation, and Brilliant Coroners (Phoenicia Publishing). She serves on the Board of Directors of the Organization for Transformative Works.

She lives in the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts with her husband, Ethan Zuckerman, their son Drew, and their creamsicle cat. Find her online at velveteenrabbi.com.

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