Ruth F. Brin
Ruth F. Brin developed her personal approach to writing through her liturgical poetry, which reflected her experiences as a woman and a modern American Jew, beginning in the 1950s. Most Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist prayer books now include her prayers and poems. She also published four books of poetry, a novel, five children’s books, dozens of scholarly articles, and librettos for cantatas and two operas. She founded a Jewish literary magazine, Identity, in 1966, through the Minneapolis Jewish Community Center, editing it for five years. She taught Jewish studies at two universities and served on the board of directors for the League of Women Voters, the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Hadassah and the Urban League, and helped found Mayim Rabim, a synagogue in Minneapolis. She chaired her area’s Head Start program through the NCJW and Urban League.
Career Overview
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Early Life and Family
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Selected Works by Ruth F. Brin
Bittersweet Berries: Growing Up Jewish in Minnesota. Duluth, MN: HolyCow!Press, 1998.
"Can a Woman Be a Jew?” The Reconstructionist, 1968.
David and Goliath. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner, 1977.
Harvest: Collected Poems and Prayers. Wyncote, PA: Reconstructionist Press, 1986; revised edition HolyCow!Press, 1999.
The Hush of Midnight, with Cantor Charles Davidson, a LP recording and a prayer book by Adas Israel (1967).
“Letters from a Mystic.” The Reconstructionist, January 12, 1968, pp. 15-22
The Most Beautiful Monday in 1961: A Novel Minneapolis, MN: Lerner, 2008.
A Rag of Love. Minneapolis, MN: Emmett, 1971.
The Shabbat Catalogue. Brooklyn: KTAV, 1978.
The Story of Esther. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner, 1976.
A Time to Search: Poems and Prayers for Our Day. Middle Village, NY: Jonathan David, 1959.
Contributions of Women: Social Reform. Minneapolis, MN: Dillon Press 1977.
Gersten, Lana. "Ruth Brin, 88, Whose Prayers and Poetry Grace Siddurium." The Forward. October 7, 2009. Web.
Greenberg, Sidney, and Jonathan Levine. Likrat Shabat. Bridgeport, CT: Prayer Book Press/Media Judaica, 1981.
Harlow, Jules, ed. Bond of Life: A Book for Mourners. New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1975.
Meier, Peg. Wishing for a Snow Day, Growing Up in Minnesota. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2010.
Plaut, Rabbi W. Gunther, Bernard J.H. Bamberger, and William W. Hallo, eds. The Torah: A Modern Commentary. New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981.
Riemer, Rabbi Jack. Wrestling with the Angels: Jewish Insights on Death and Mourning. New York: Schocken Books, 1995.
Silberman, Charles. Introduction to Harvest: Collected Poems and Prayers, by Ruth F. Brin. Duluth, MN: HolyCow! Press, 1986.
Specktor, Mordecai. "Ruth Brin, acclaimed poet, liturgist and American Jewish World book critic, dies at 88." American Jewish World News, October 1, 2009.
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