David Stromberg

Sep 20, 2023 | kirkusreviews.com | Isaac Bashevis Singer |David Stromberg |David Grann |Elie Wiesel

by Isaac Bashevis Singer ; translated by David Stromberg ; edited by David Stromberg ‧Sheds light on the early, developmental years of the young, passionate writer. Stromberg, translator and editor of the Isaac Bashevis Singer Literary Trust, collects 25 intriguing, emotional pieces by the Nobel Prize–winning author (1903-1991). They were published from 1939 to 1945 in New York City’s Forverts, a Yiddish newspaper, during a period of great turmoil in Singer’s life.

Sep 12, 2023 | qoshe.com | David Stromberg

For millennia, Jews have existed as minority communities in countries ruled by people of other religions, cultures, and ethnicities. So a core part of the Jewish experience is being among others who are not only different but, quite often, hostile toward your kind.

Aug 2, 2023 | qoshe.com | David Stromberg

More than once, members of the People of Israel have been struck down by God—usually when they are busier with their personal power than with the life of the spirit. Moses’s central lesson as a leader was that direct rule and concentrated power is never good. He himself had to learn the lesson from Jethro, who saw him in the role of supreme leader—not only answering all of the Israelites’ questions but also adjudicating their disagreements—and suggested setting up a court system.

Jul 16, 2023 | qoshe.com | David Stromberg

For nearly five years, I taught English language and American culture in Jerusalem. One work I featured regularly was an illustrated essay by Maira Kalman, “E Pluribus Unum,” which means “Out of Many, One”—and which happens to be the motto of the United States of America. One of the main themes of the essay, in Kalman’s words, is that “the system is supposed to be cumbersome. Not subject to the whim of the moment.” Democracy in the modern world is meant to make governing hard.

Jul 13, 2023 | qoshe.com | David Stromberg

This week, after picking up my three-year-old from kindergarten, road closures led our bus to deviate from its usual route. We jumped off at the last possible stop and began to walk toward home. My daughter asked me why we’d gotten off and I explained that the police had closed some of the roads because of the protests. She asked what a protest was and I explained that it was when people tell the government they don’t agree with what they’re doing. “So why are they closing the streets?” she asked.