It has been said that God made people because God loves stories.
In which case Irwin is one of God's most beloved. The stories in
Shechinah at the Art Institute have many sources. Some are from the
life experience of the author. Others have been passed from hand
to hand for a thousand years. Still others are familiar as they are kin
to the stories which shape our own lives. The wisdom, humor, and
perspective in them all will enrich you and gently bind you to other
lives both ancient and modern. A good story heals the loneliness
which is the hidden wound of our time. Bravo Irwin. What a gift you
have offered to us all.
--Rachel Naomi Remen MD, author of Kitchen Table Wisdom and
My Grandfather's Blessings
I am not religious. But this book makes my heart sing. There's music
in Irwin's words. Wisdom, too. He reminds us that in this darkened
world, there is still light. And there is love. It's what makes this book
not just entertaining, but important.
--Linda Ellerbee, journalist and author
Quirky, playful, steeped in classical Jewish learning, Keller unveils
long-suppressed queerness in Jewish tradition and encounters the
sacred miraculously appearing in the secular world.
--Rabbi Dr. Rachel Adler, author of Engendering Judaism and Tales of
the Holy Mysticat
In these beautifully written meditations, Irwin Keller records his dialogue
with sacred texts of his Jewish tradition. Ay, absolutely wonderful,
so refreshing, hopeful in a world so desperate for peace.
--Greg Sarris, author of Grand Avenue and the forthcoming
collection, The Forgetters
Irwin Keller, his ear trained on "the crosstalk of the Universe," knows
when angels are about: in chance encounters, odd coincidences,
dreams, and memories; even in the teeth of a vicious dog or the barrel
of a gun. In Keller's luminous writings, these divine messengers reveal
both the radiance within the everyday and the clouds that subdue
the sacred. With this dazzling book, Keller takes his place among the
messengers.
--Esther Schor, author of Emma Lazarus
A few pages into reading Reb Irwin Keller's luminous book, Shechinah
at the Art Institute, I began mentally compiling a list of people I
wanted to give a copy to. My father. My stepmother. My sister. My
aunt. This friend who is Jewish. That one who is not. This is what
Irwin does in his writings and in his life; he enlarges the circle, invites
everyone in, mingling the secular with the spiritual with the skeptical
with the bawdy with the beautiful. It's all there in this book, a record
of a spiritual being having a very human experience and savoring the
all in all of it. Pull up a chair, feast, enjoy.
--Alison Luterman, author of In the Time of Great Fires and Desire Zoo
In Shechinah at the Art Institute, the wondrous Rabbi Irwin Keller inhales
all the world he inhabits and savors the details of all the miracles
and realities of life. Rabbi Keller is one of the most kind, compassionate,
brilliantly philosophical, thoughtful, and hilariously funny
human beings. He understands that the past is always present. He
understands that the past is part of us. This is something we should
all understand.
--Lily Brett, author of Too Many Men and Lola Bensky
