Joy Comes in the Morning

Excellent book. Very well written. A beautiful love story with a few twists and turns. Really enjoyed reading it.

All too often, many of us have expectations from our clergy that are unrealistice. Although the are trained as spiritual leaders, they are, after all is said and done,-just human like the rest of us. This novel explores how it feels to be a female, Reform Rabbi. If you would like to know what it is like to be in a position like that, this is a good book to read. Many "issues" are dealt with-Mental illness, aging, dying, love, families, and spiritual crises. It was difficult to "put it down."

Jonathan Rosen derives the title and theme of his inspiring novel from the Book of Psalms. It is the promise of hope after despair that animates his elegant "Joy Comes in the Morning." Each of Rosen's characters is suffused with pain: the pain of Holocaust memories, the pain of thwarted dreams, the pain of an unfulfilled life. Each major character wrestles with loss of faith and a dwindling belief in life's possibilities. And, true to the counsel offered in Psalm 30, each struggles to realize that however daunting and long a night's pain can be, a new day dawns with promise. "Joy Comes in the Morning" adheres to a conventional plot and does not break any new ground stylistically. Its towering strength is how its characters grapple with the timeless problems of existential anguish, search for meaning and rediscovery of purpose. Rosen confidently imbues the three crucial characters of his novel with a universality that binds them to us. Henry Friedman, victimized by a debilitating and humiliating stroke, assiduously plans his own suicide. His skeptical son, Lev, lacks focus and confidence in the wake of a failed relationship and the mental breakdown of his best friend. Both men find comfort in rabbi Deborah Green, whose strength and compassion belie her own crumbling faith. The interplay between Henry, Lev and Deborah becomes the leaven through which Rosen probes questions of faith, family and love. Each character's humanity includes faults, and Rosen's willingness to permit the three to struggle, without roadmaps or guarantees, is one of the best aspects of his writing. Before his abortive attempt to end his life, Henry, whose wife describes him as a "wounded, loving, mercurial man," writes a final letter to his son. In this deeply moving letter, Henry enjoins his son to "submit" to "things larger than ourselves." These "obligations sustain us," Henry writes, but he is unclear as to what these duties are. Lev, "shy, empathic and self-conscious," sets out to discover what his father's cryptic command entails. Lev's quest takes him to Deborah, whom he meets as she comforts the comatose Henry in a hospital room. Both Lev and Deborah are recovering from failed relationships; each slowly, irreversibly is beginning to redefine the place of religion and spirituality in their respective lives. It is no accident that they are drawn to each other, despite their glaring surface differences. As a rabbi, Deborah is a risk-taker; her earthy sensuality symbolizes her humanity just as her emotionally-liberating, free-flowing tears counterbalance her astonishing capacity for rational study and intellectual rigor. Ironically, doubts and uncertainties provide the mortar for a lasting relationship between the two. Although Jonathan Rosen's novel features Jewish characters, it is universally appealing. "Joy Comes in the Morning" captures the fears many of us experience in times of crisis and the terror we may feel when traditional faith-based

JOY COMES IN THE MORNING is a novel that I purchased to read on vacation. That was in July of 2005. I had every intention of reading it sooner. The jacket summary seemed interesting. It looked like it would have vivid characters, a lively plot, and I knew its religious undertones would capture my interest, but it stayed on my shelf for all that time. It was not until a book club I belong to select the title that I actually read it, but when I opened the book and began reading, I had to finish it. The novel tells the story of a rabbi, Deborah Green and a science writer named Lev Friedman. Deborah is a hospital chaplain who visits a patient, Lev's father Henry who has had a stroke which occurred while planning his suicide. Deborah is an interesting mix of personalities. She's somewhat unpredictable, rather independent though not always confident, and would probably characterize herself as spiritual rather than religious. She was born Jewish but not raised in the most Jewish of homes, and discovered her faith while searching for what was missing in her own life, something not unlike many of her contemporaries. She meets Lev and the initial meeting is strained at best. Eventually the two begin a relationship. In what could be a somewhat trite and predictable story, the lives of the two characters enfold and we see the ways in which these two quirky yet sincere people come together and form a strong bond with one another. The spiritual aspect of the book is probably what separates it from other love stories. Rosen is very knowledgeable about the Jewish faith and he paints a wonderful picture of the varieties of ways Jewish faith is practiced and Jewish life is lived, yet while the book is about Jewish characters, so much of what he has to say is universal. I've seem Catholic versions of Deborah and Lev, sincere people searching for answers and struggling with faith. I've also seen evangelical examples, Univesalist/Unitarian examples, and I'm willing to bet there are similar examples in all religious traditions. His precision as well as his ability to engage a large audience can only be praised. Anyone in ministry will recognize Deborah. I've read more than my share of books with priests, rabbis, ministers, and pastors as main characters and in most cases authors have to rely on clichés in order to make the characters seem real. In Deborah we see a dedicated religious leader who is also one hundred percent human which is not something easy to create in fiction. A few days ago I was in a small bookstore where Jonathan Rosen spoke a few months ago. I saw the book and commented to the bookseller how much I loved the book and wished I heard him speak. He told me I was not the only one who enjoyed it. Many customers who read the book loved it and returned to buy more copies as gifts for friends. So read this book and enjoy it, but be prepared, you may enjoy it so much you can't wait to give someone else a copy.

This is a wonderful page-turner. The reader is privy to the inner thoughts of a woman rabbi. She struggles in her religious and personal lives especially facing the difficulty of being authentic to herself while having to perform for a congregation. We also get very real depictions of end-of-life issues, aging parents, mental illness, all while being held together with a plot that propels the book forward briskly. Rosen has succeeded in describing and developing the inner life of each one of his characters. Note that there is much specific reference to Jewish liturgy in the novel as two of the characters significantly struggle with its meaning and power. Though I am familliar with Jewish liturgy and was refreshed with this kind of commentary-in-a-novel, my hunch is that people not familliar with Jewish liturgy will also find it compelling because it isn't forced. The spiritual struggles the characters are facing are real and their reference to and dialog with the liturgy is authentic given who they are. I couldn't put it down.