Let's meet Saturday, March 7, 2026: Joy Comes in the Morning by Jonathan Rosen

NOTE: This will be a joint meeting with the Lesbian Spiritual Book Group--Portland.

What a wonderful and rich discussion we had on February 7 when we discussed Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine by Eric Weiner. Thank you so much to the 7 of us who logged onto Zoom and joined in, creating a very intimate discussion. The strength and commitment of this group make it possible for us to connect deeply even online, and I so appreciate this remarkable group of women.

Our next meeting will be on Saturday, March 7, 2026, from 4:00-6:00 pm PDT. We will discuss Joy Comes in the Morning: A Novel by Jonathan Rosen. The book is widely available in print and audiobook, new and used and electronically from www.amazon.com, www.alibris.com and other sellers. Please contact me if you need help locating or purchasing the book.

You are welcome whether you have read or listened to the book or not--the conversation will be rich and intimate regardless. Each time we are joined by some who have not read the book, and I think they can attest that our conversations start with the book and roam freely into the rest of our lives.

We have had a problem with uninvited disruptors. Please note that all members will be held in the waiting room and only admitted if they respond to messages or are known to us. All members must be willing to appear full face on screen throughout the meeting. If you have not RSVP'd, you will not be admitted if you are not known to the group.

About the book:
"A rare and vibrant portrait of a contemporary rabbi who is Reform, female, and complex. . . . negotiates the balance between the spiritual and the comic." —San Francisco Chronicle

Deborah Green is a woman of passionate contradictions—a rabbi who craves goodness and surety while wrestling with her own desires and with the sorrow and pain she sees around her. Her life changes when she visits the hospital room of Henry Friedman, an older man who has attempted suicide. His parents were murdered in the Holocaust when he was a child, and all his life he's struggled with difficult questions. Deborah's encounter with Henry and his family draws her into a world of tragedy, frailty, love, and, finally, hope.
"Rosen's touching novel of Jewish manners thoughtfully addresses the question of whether piety can teach us faith." —The New Yorker
"In shimmering prose and with uncommon empathy, Rosen creates a cast of characters plagued by profound spiritual crises . . . Not since Saul Bellow has an American novelist created characters so unabashedly determined to unleash their souls." —The Miami Herald
"Rosen's radiant novel is a welcoming and satisfying inquiry into matters of inheritance, compassion, faith, and free will." —Newsday
"Not since E.L. Doctorow's City of God have we seen such a literary effort to plumb the nature of belief. . . . [Rosen is] irreverent even in the middle of the most reverent of scenes, like a Heller or a Roth complete with sardonic social commentary." —The New York Times Book Review
"At its core, a love story . . . with suave prose, delightful narrative inventiveness and compelling idea." —Chicago Tribune

About the author:
Rosen graduated from Yale and began graduate studies working towards a PhD in English at the University of California, Berkeley. He dropped out of graduate school to become a writer.
In 1990 Rosen was hired by Seth Lipsky at The Jewish Daily Forward to create an arts section of the paper's then newly editorially independent English language edition. He held the job for 10 years. As of 2007, he was editorial director of Nextbook.
In April 2023, Rosen published The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions, a memoir about his friendship with Michael Laudor, a Yale Law School graduate with schizophrenia who killed his fiancée in 1998 during a psychotic episode. The book was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and has received high critical acclaim.
In August 2024, Rosen was hired as an editor with The Free Press. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, a Conservative rabbi, and their daughters.

Here is the link:

Andrea Bride is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Lesbian Spiritual Book Group--Seattle/Eastside/Portland
Time: Mar 7, 2026 04:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86587198106
Meeting ID: 865 8719 8106