Why Rain Comes From Above: Explorations in Religious Imagination Book Event
Join Hebrew College Rabbinical School faculty member and author Dr. Devora Steinmetz in conversation with Dr. Lynn Kaye, in celebration of the release of Dr. Steinmetz’s book Why Rain Comes From Above: Explorations in Religious Imagination. Their conversation will explore one of the six essays from the book, and dive into the question of how imaginative engagement with religious text might transform our relationship to the world around us.
About the Book
In Why Rain Comes From Above: Explorations in Religious Imagination, Devora Steinmetz invites the reader into the imaginative space created by deep engagement with biblical and rabbinic texts. Each of these six poetic and scholarly essays leads us through a web of texts, drawing us into stories, images, and experiences that open us to new ways of thinking and to new worlds of meaning. Steinmetz’s explorations show us how imaginative engagement as a form of religious reading can transform our relationship to the world around us, awaken us to the ethical commitments to which we are called, and give us ways of thinking about our lives, our world, and God.
This event is cosponsored by Hebrew College, Hadar Boston, Lehrhaus, and Mandel Institute.
About the Author
Devora Steinmetz serves on the faculties of the Hebrew College and of the Mandel Institute for Nonprofit Leadership. She has taught at Drisha, Yeshivat Hadar, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and Havruta: a Beit Midrash at Hebrew University, and was the founder of Beit Rabban, a Jewish day school profiled in Daniel Pekarsky’s Vision at Work: The Theory and Practice of Beit Rabban. She is the author of scholarly articles on Talmud, Midrash, and Bible and of two books, From Father to Son: Kinship, Conflict, and Continuity in Genesis and Punishment and Freedom: The Rabbinic Construction of Criminal Law.
Legacy: A Woman of Two Worlds
Frances Miller, born in 1921, was a daughter of an eminent orthodox rabbi, dedicated to her Jewish identity, and a creative, artistic woman integrated in the modern art world. Her family life was grounded in tradition, practice, and study. In high school, she attended Prozdor at Hebrew College, where she completed four years of advanced training. She also graduated from Massachusetts College of Art, where she was trained in fine arts and technical design.
Anat Halevy Hochberg 
Jessica Kate Meyer `14, Hebrew College Rosh Tefillah & Artist-in-Residence, is a prayer leader, storyteller, vocalist, and rabbi, who served as rabbi-hazzan at Romemu in NYC, and most recently, at The Kitchen in San Francisco. She has studied sacred Jewish music with masters from Ashkenazi and Mizrahi traditions and has performed as a vocalist with ensembles in the United States and Israel. In a previous life, Jessica appeared in film, theater, and television projects in Europe and the United States: most notably, as a principal role in the Oscar-winning film, The Pianist.
Fabio Pirozzolo is an Italian drummer, multi-percussionist and singer currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. Originally from Terracina, Italy, he started his career as a folk percussionist, playing Italian frame drums tamburello and tammorra, in one of the most famous folk groups in his area. Fabio performs in virtually any genre of music from jazz to world music to rock. He’s the co-founder of the world music ensembles 
Multi-instrumentalists and vocalists 
Ira Klein
Beth Bahia Cohen