Book Launch Event In Montclair: ‘American Torah Tunes 2’

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Bnai Keshet. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

The community is invited to join Bnai Keshet’s Jane and Harvey Susswein for a book launch of “American Torah Tunes 2” by author, artist and former Jewish Currents editor Lawrence Bush to be held at their home Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m. To sign up, email Bnai Keshet president Jessica de Koninck at jessicadek6@gmail.com.

Bush will read from his new volume, share his processes of relating to the Torah through visual art, and guide attendees through their own processes of finding points of connection. Poet and liturgist Marcia Falk said the book is "an illuminating and fabulously entertaining collection," and the Religious Action Center’s Rabbi David Saperstein found it "funny, insightful, offensive, thought-provoking."

In his book, Bush springboards from each of the fifty-four portions of the Torah into deeply personal and provocative artworks that respond to the text with humor, ethical conscience and social and self-awareness.

Bush edited Jewish Currents from 2003 to 2018, and has been a longtime creative force, as both writer and artist, within the Reform, Reconstructionist, and secular Jewish movements. His essays, fiction, and art have also appeared in the New York Times, MAD magazine, Tikkun, Moment, the Forward, and other publications, and his numerous books include “Bessie: A Novel of Love and Revolution;” “Waiting for God: The Spiritual Explorations of a Reluctant Atheist;” and a novel, Hyman, forthcoming in March, 2023.

Bush, Bnai Keshet’s de Koninck and Esther Cohen are co-editors of the mixed genre ALTE, https://www.altegettingoldtogether.com, on Substack at https://alte.substack.com and on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/groups/639209340146175/member-requests. For more information, call Bnai Keshet at 973-746-4889

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