Life in the Present Tense: Reflections on Family and Faith [Paperback]

Rifka Rosenwein (Author), Tova Mirvis (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2007

For seven years, Rifka Rosenwein voiced the pleasures and frustrations of her life in "The Home Front," a monthly column in The New York Jewish Week. Whether discussing religion and family, her torchbearer perspective as the daughter of Holocaust survivors, or the tensions between motherhood and career, Rifka's storytelling always struck a chord with readers. Rifka captures the details of motherhood - from the first love in kindergarten, to the first painful separation of overnight camp, to the discovery that her daughter might just need a doll after all. After her diagnosis of terminal cancer, her columns describe life on "cancer time." She generously shared with readers the steadfast support of friends and community. Together, the 64 columns collected in Life in the Present Tense are a death-defying celebration of life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Before her life was cut short by cancer at age 42 in 2003, Modern Orthodox writer and editor Rosenswein had been a beloved columnist for seven years for the New York Jewish Week, reflecting once a month on child-rearing, careers, love, holiness and Jewish tradition. With equal parts humor and heartache—with heartache leaping from the page in the columns written after her cancer diagnosis—Rosenswein deals with aging parents, challenging modern schedules, timeless holy days and the joys of raising her three children. The columns address the quotidian concerns of a suburban Jewish family as well as more global issues: the fear and sadness after 9/11 and the sense of anxiety that some American Jews have about Israel. Sometimes, the order of the short essays is distracting—her daughter is four, then a newborn. Since the essays are so heavily autobiographical, a chronological order would have better suited the collection. Still, this is a treasure trove of wisdom from one of American Judaism's most beloved and lamented voices. Rosenswein's husband, Barry Lichtenberg, provides a touching afterword, and novelist Tova Mirvis (a former intern of hers) the foreword. (Dec. 11)
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Review

"A treasure trove of wisdom from one of American Judaism's most beloved and lamented voices." -- Publishers Weekly, 9/19/2007

"Dispatches from a life unfolding... unwaveringly honest, wry, gentle, and reflective." -- Tova Mirvis, author,The Ladies Auxiliary

"Rifka Rosenwein writes with energy, passion and a clear-eyed sense of perspective." -- Steven Brill, founder, American Lawyer

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Ben Yehuda Press (November 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0978998049
• ISBN-13: 978-0978998042
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Judaism > Movements > Orthodox

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The blessings of daily life, November 8, 2007

By 

Jonathan Groner (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life in the Present Tense: Reflections on Family and Faith (Paperback)

Rifka Rosenwein was a writer and mother of three who lived in Teaneck, N.J. She died in 2003 at age 42 of cancer.

Rosenwein wrote for the Wall Street Journal and later for The American Lawyer and for a host of other periodicals. In 1996, Gary Rosenblatt, editor of the New York Jewish Week, asked her to write a monthly column about daily life in an Orthodox Jewish community -- its joys, sadnesses, triumphs, and frustrations. This book is a compilation of those columns, which she wrote for seven years, almost up to her death. Barry Lichtenberg, her husband, wrote a touching afterword, and Tova Mirvis, the well-known novelist who was once Rosenwein's intern, wrote a brief preface.

Rosenwein touches on many subjects, but the one that resonates most for me is time. Professionally, she intentionally chose the "mommy track," choosing to combine her journalistic career with the demands of three young children. Her time, as she points out over and over again, was under constant stress. She found carpools, soccer, homework help, and birthday parties occupying much of her time; she found the Sabbath and Jewish holidays an indispensable respite; and she would not have had it any other way.

Time, sadly, became a part of her life in a different way. Once she received her cancer diagnosis, she wrote: "If I had a problem with time, it was that, between my job, my family, and my community, there was never enough of it each day. But I never questioned that there was an order to life, one thing following another, always moving inexorably forward ... No more. I am now on cancer time. Cancer time puts an end to this kind of thinking."

She faced her illness with strength and occasionally with humor. She was unafraid to share it with the readers of her column. After all, she was writing a column about her life and her community, and her cancer was part of her life and affected her community most deeply.

As Rosenwein writes, her "close-knit homogeneous suburb where everyone knows your business" was never stronger and more important than during her illness. People she hardly knew dropped by to visit, to baby-sit her children, to bring food or say a prayer.

Life in the Present Tense shows how daily life can take on meaning, how the generations can come together, how a community can unite to help others. This is an inspiring book and an enjoyable read as well.