Rosenblatt, Naomi H.

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Rosenblatt, Naomi H.

(Naomi Harris Rosenblatt)

PERSONAL: Born in Haifa, Israel; immigrated to United States; married; husband's name Peter. Education: Catholic University (Washington, DC), M.S.W.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Miramax Books, 77 W. 66th St., 11th Fl., New York, NY 10023.

CAREER: Writer, lecturer, and psychotherapist. Leader of Bible study groups for senators, congressional representatives, and business professionals in New York and Washington, DC. Military service: Served in Israeli Navy.

WRITINGS:

(With Joshua Horwitz) Wrestling with Angels: What the First Family of Genesis Teaches Us about Our Spiritual Identity, Sexuality, and Personal Relationships, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 1995.

After the Apple: Women in the Bible: Timeless Stories of Love, Lust, and Longing, Miramax Books (New York, NY), 2005.

ADAPTATIONS: Author's works have been recorded on audio cassette and released by Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group (New York, NY), 1995.

SIDELIGHTS: A practicing psychotherapist, public speaker, and author, Naomi H. Rosenblatt is known for the Bible study groups she conducts for prominent senators and congressional representatives. In an appreciation on the Library of Congress's Thomas Web site, U.S. Senator Larry Pressler commented that Rosenblatt "is a splendid teacher, but more importantly, a fine, insightful person. I wish that time would allow me to attend more of her classes." Her weekly Old Testament classes have attracted many of the nation's most prominent politicians, including senators Pressler and Arlen Specter, as well as journalists such as William Safire and Marvin Kalb, noted Jonathan Groner in the Washington Post.

Rosenblatt's published works also deal with religious and biblical themes. Wrestling with Angels: What the First Family of Genesis Teaches Us about Our Spiritual Identity, Sexuality, and Personal Relationships evolved from her teaching sessions on Capitol Hill, Groner noted. "It's Rosenblatt's first book, and what a fascinating effort it is; part biblical interpretation, part self-help treatise; a book that adopts an unmistakably Jewish perspective yet remains accessible to readers of all backgrounds," Groner commented. Rosenblatt "presents the biblical stories in a way that a contemporary audience steeped in the drama of talk shows and gossip columns can understand," observed Marci Whitney-Schenck in Christian Century. She examines the fundamental stories of Genesis, such as that of Abraham and Sarah, an elderly couple who long for children, and couches their situation in terms of a troubled marriage in need of help. But Sarah is also selfless, as when she offers up her maidservant to be the surrogate mother of the child she and Abraham want so badly. Rosenblatt interprets Jacob's nighttime struggle with the angel to be representative of three segments of his personality; his conflict with his brother Esau, his own darker side, and Jacob's own fear of mortality. Perhaps the most famous biblical story of all, that of Adam and Eve, is interpreted to show Eve not as a temptress, "but an individual who wanted to share her wisdom," Whitney-Schenck commented. In Wrestling with Angels readers are "reintroduced to the people that have shaped our lives, only to discover that, as adults, we more clearly understand their strengths and flaws, because we now recognize the same in ourselves," observed a Publishers Weekly reviewer. "Rosenblatt's thoughts often echo and extend some of the interpretations already found in Jewish tradition," commented Groner. "The result is as if one were seeing the old stories with new eyes."

After the Apple: Women in the Bible: Timeless Stories of Love, Lust, and Longing contains Rosenblatt's retellings of the stories of fifteen notable women from the Bible. Applying her expertise as a relationship therapist, she offers professional insight into ancient stories that many perceive only as inspiring tales taught in Sunday school. Rosenblatt examines the role of gender in the lives of well-known biblical women and considers the effect of that gender on husbands and sons. Better-known biblical matriarchs such as Eve, Delilah, Jezebel, and Rachel are considered alongside lesser-known women such as Michal, Shulamite, Tamar, Abigail, and the queen of Sheba. "She elaborates on the narratives, placing issues such as rape, polygamy, and genocide in contemporary context," noted Library Journal contributor Joyce Smothers. Rosenblatt "dispels the pervasive notion many have that biblical matriarchs were weak and ineffective," observed a Publishers Weekly reviewer. Instead, these biblical women were tough risk-takers whose efforts "catapulted the struggling Jewish nation to survival and prominence." The Publishers Weekly critic concluded that Rosenblatt "teaches her readers not just to study but to imagine."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 1995, Ray Olson, review of Wrestling with Angels: What the First Family of Genesis Teaches Us about Our Spiritual Identity, Sexuality, and Personal Relationships, p. 115; March 1, 2005, Ellen Loughran, review of After the Apple: Women in the Bible: Timeless Stories of Love, Lust, and Longing, p. 1116.

Christian Century, December 6, 1995, Marcy Whitney-Schenck, review of Wrestling with Angels, p. 1186.

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2005, review of After the Apple, p. 43.

Library Journal, March 1, 2005, Joyce Smothers, review of After the Apple, p. 93.

Presbyterian Record, September, 1996, review of Wrestling with Angels, p. 44.

Publishers Weekly, August 14, 1995, review of Wrestling with Angels, p. 29; August 27, 2001, Jon F. Baker, "Bible Women for Burnham at TM," p. 13; February 14, 2005, review of After the Apple, p. 72.

Washington Post, October 15, 1995, Jonathan Groner, "The Bible Tells Us So," review of Wrestling with Angels.