The Choosing: A Rabbi's Journey from Silent Nights to High Holy Days

Author’s Note

Author’s Note Biblical translations cited in this book are based on those of the New Jewish Publication Society (NJPS) Tanakh. Rabbinic translations are based on those provided in the Soncino volumes of Midrash and Talmud, and in Bialik and Ravnitsky ’s Book of Legends. The Baal Shem Tov quotation in chapter 4 can be found in The Vision of Eden, by Rabbi David Sears, and the Anton Nobel quotation in chapter 10 comes from David Ellenson, After Emancipation (Cincinnati 2004), 263–264, with permission. Liturgical translations are mine. Transliterations are based on the Library of Congress Hebrew table and the YIVO Yiddish transliteration chart, with a few exceptions due to familiar usage. As this book is a memoir, the events described here are true, transmitted as I remember them. Some names and identifying details have been changed, but names of family members and public figures have remained the same. xiii The Choosing ...