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In this collection of poems, Rabbi Bernstein-Goff invites you to laugh, cry, kvetch and kvell as he celebrates a lifetime of encountering unforgettable characters, both real and imaginary, along with his perceptions and insights into events and issues that defined the 20th century. Some of these poems like Doors of Perception deal with encountering ones´ death in the course of a psychedelic experience, which in turn evokes the memory of the last significant words his father spoke before his death ten years later. The rabbi shares his memories of how confronting one´s own death can be a healing experience, and shares with the reader insights into the painful, sometimes funny ways by which we acquire the elusive skill of learning how to lose. Other poems like Hedi Schiff and Swords in the Sanctuary present the reader with a very Jewish Jesus who desperately wants to reconnect with family and friends. The poems also reflect many of the issues and problems the author struggled with from childhood on: Jewish identity, Jewish and Christian relations, antisemitism, Zionism, and the never-ending questions of meaning and purpose.

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Ron Bernstein-Goff retired in 2016 as Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa. He was a chaplain in the U.S. Navy, Hillel Director at Florida State University and has served congregations in Philadelphia, Peoria, & Wheeling. He and his wife Sheli have seven children and currently live in Wheeling, WV.

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