Michal Mendelsohn
Current City, State, Country
Birth City, State, Country
Biography
Michal Mendelsohn is a rabbi, an attorney, a trained vocalist, poet and author. Her first book of poems CHASING MOONBEAMS is on Amazon. Her memoir, RABBI, YOUR CLEAVAGE IS SHOWING is on Amazon, Barnes&Noble and Bookshop.org. She has had 20 poems in various journals and was nominated for a Pushcart. Her memoir contains 20 poems that concern topics and issues raised in the memoir. While some topics must be sober in tone, Mendelsohn thrives on humor and strives to write about humorous subjects as well. Rabbi Mendelsohn was the third woman ordained in America, the second from Hebrew Union College and the first from its New York school, once referred to as HUC-JIR (Jewish Institute of Religion). Much of her experience is in university teaching where she taught at Santa Clara University, San Jose State, Benedictine University and College of DuPage. She developed courses such as \\\”Faith and the Holocaust,\\\”\\\”Re- examining Exodus with Midrash,\\\” \\\”Sociology and Law,\\\” \\\”Legal Ethics,\\\” \\\”Biomedical Ethics\\\” and \\\”Philosophy.\\\” While in her 70\\\’s, she spent 5 years teaching neurodiverse students at a privat school in Oak Brook, Illinois. She sings with 3 choruses in the Chicago area and is currently at work on a second book of poetry, tentatively called \\\”Drowning in the Desert.\\\”
What is the relationship between Judaism and/or Jewish culture and your poetry?
Many of the poems that rabbi Mendelsohn writes concerns Jewish issues, history and culture. The places visited, the monuments, midrash on various biblical themes and persons all appear in her work. She writes narrative poems describing encounters in life, school, or work and deals with issues that concern her such as \\\”wrestling with faith\\\” as a rabbi.
Published Works
Rabbi, Your Cleavage is Showing (Atmosphere Press, 2025) memoir with poetry
Chasing Moonbeams (AuthorHouse, 2007) poetry
Links to Sample Works
\\\”The Last Fig Tree of Judea\\\” in Memoir
\\\”Cratering\\\” from Poetica
\\\”Botany Betrayal\\\” in Memoir
Current Title
Education
Hunter College of the City U. of New York
Hebrew University in Jerusalem
New School for Social Justice
Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion
Santa Clara Law School