Where and how do we learn to love? Drawn to both Jewish stories she can relate to, as well as stories of other Jewish cultures (such as Iraqi Jews) that are not her own, writer Nessa Rapoport describes the paradox of particularity. She argues that the more we are immersed in your own culture, the more deeply we can understand other cultures and people. Rapoport’s goal is to return to love by embracing and accepting our differences while still seeing ourselves as one people.
Nessa Rapoport is the author of a novel, Preparing for Sabbath, and a collection of her prose poems, A Woman's Book of Grieving. Her memoir, House on the River: A Summer Journey, was awarded a grant by the Canada Council for the Arts. Her essays and stories have been widely published and anthologized. Her meditations are included in Objects of the Spirit: Ritual and the Art of Tobi Kahn; Tobi Kahn: Sacred Spaces for the 21st Century; and Embodied Light: 9-11 in 2011. With Ted Solotaroff, she edited The Schocken Book of Contemporary Jewish Fiction. She speaks frequently about Jewish culture and imagination.
