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Short Bios of Ten of our Authors

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First Row: Left to right:  Berta, Ralph, Marvin, and Carol (R)
Second Row: Left to right:  Carol (B), Max, Richard and Joyce
Third Row:  Jamie and Daphne

Ralph

Ralph Graff chose to go into academia following his surgical training. Writing is a critical piece in teaching. Ralph has used his writing skills in preparing lectures, powerpoints and publishing in the scientific literature. As a life- long member of the conservative Jewish community, he started applying his teaching skills to Judaism about 25 years ago. A critical piece of that teaching has been writing. The New Jewish Thinker has offered an excellent opportunity for sharing his written thoughts.
Some of his The New Jewish Thinker articles are:
* About Verein
* My Theology
* What About God in 2019
* “The Wisdom of Israel"
* Crohn's Disease
* Good and Evil
* A Jewish Boxer 

Berta



Berta Hyken, a native St. Louisian, was an editor at a dotcom company in San Francisco called Looksmart. She also worked as a technical writer at a telemedicine company called Medweb, again in California.
Berta was an active participant in the Jewish community in San Francisco and a member of Temple Emanuel SF.
Upon moving back to St.Louis Berta has been looking for a way to connect to her Judaism and found The New Jewish Thinker as an entrée into the community. She is excited to bring you Jewish Arts and Culture so you too can further unite with your Jewish roots.

Daphne

I am honored to be the founder of The New Jewish Thinker. I like to think of myself as a Jewish glue. I bring everyone on the editorial board together at weekly meetings and make assignments, deadlines and plans for the online publication. I love to write - I always have - and I welcome writers from all walks of life, as long as the writing has a Jewish theme.
My relationship to Judaism stems all the way from childhood; i took a natural break and revisited Judaism during college and stayed active since. "The New Jewish Thinker" was developed starting in December 2018.
We plan on becoming a 501 (c3).
If you are a Jewish themed writer, please email Daphne or Richard ; we look forward to hearing from you. Even previously published work will be considered, 

Carol Rose

Carol Rose a writer, spiritual counselor, and educator. 
She holds an MA in Theology, as well as degrees in Religion and Cross Cultural Studies. 
She received certification as a Mashpi’ah, (Minister/Spiritual Director) & Maggid (Preacher) from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. 
Carol is the creator of Walking the Motherpath cards (a unique deck that uses Biblical Women as archetypes for personal growth & change) & she has conducted workshops based on the cards in Canada, the US, Denmark & Israel. The cards have now been published in a book entitled Path of the Mothers (see below). 
Carol’s poetry & essays appear in literary journals & anthologies in the United States, Canada & Israel. She is the mother of five adult children & SIXTEEN (recently updated) grandchildren. 
Her books in print include: 
- Path of the Mothers, (Biblical Women: poetry & inspiration for growth & transformation), Albion-Andalus Books (2015) 
- From The Dream (poetry) published by Albion-Andalus books, Boulder, CO, (2013) 
- Behind the Blue Gate, (poetry) Beach Holme Publishing, Beach Holme Press, (l997) & reprinted (2010) 
- Spider Women: A Tapestry of Creativity & Healing (co-edited with Joan Turner) J. Gordon Shillingford Publishing. 
- A Free Hand; a coloring book for children & adults, Wood Lake Publishing. 


Jamie

My name is Jamie Glaser.
I has been a writer for as long as I can remember. Ever since I could write I have. I also love to read which I believe helps inspire my work.
I have also loved Judaism for as long as I can remember and while not everything I write is Judaism themed, Judaism has inspired a great deal of my work.
I love working with children and have recently written some children's stories about Jewish holidays as well as Jewish values.
A good deal of my work is poetry but I have also written short stories, essays, and articles. I enjoy all different types of literary expression and look forward to perfecting my craft as I continue to pursue it.

My work can be found here.

Marvin


Marvin Marcus has served on the Washington University faculty since 1985, as a professor of Japanese language and literature.
He is an avid traveler, photographer, and writer.
Marvin’s Jewish roots run deep and continue to both confirm and challenge his understanding of the world.
Marvin has shared many poems as well as his recollections of his trip to Israel many moons ago.


Max

Max Brown is a St. Louis native. He has a degree in Business Communication. He had a 15-year career in fund development, raising funds for several not-for-profits in the St. Louis community. Later, he was a writer/editor in the marketing department of Edward Jones, the financial services firm.
Since retiring, Max has become a docent at the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center where he frequently leads tours for middle school children. The museum serves school districts throughout the St. Louis area and surrounding counties in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois.
Max is serious about his Judaism and is hungry to learn as much as he can. Although he is an observant Conservative Jew, he says that he studies from all streams of Judaism. One of his most moving experiences in Israel was a Kabbalat Shabbat service at an Orthodox shul that met in an abandoned bomb shelter in Jerusalem.
That experience will appear on The New Jewish Thinker soon as a memoir.

He writes short story fiction. Max has dabbled in poetry and may someday share some with The New Jewish Thinker. In addition to his Jewish-themed short stories, his other stories are often tales of the supernatural.

Max's Short Stories. 

Joyce

Joyce Olshan has a degree in Judaic Studies as well as in Occupational Therapy.

She found a connection in helping families with raising children who are different learners based on our valuable tradition of love of family and respect for all. That is what inspired her to write her article.


Carol Battle 

Carol Battle (nee Graff) is a product of Mrs. Margaret Farrar, her English teacher at University City High School who would end all her tests requiring her students to write a paragraph. Consequently she majored in English composition, literature and Drama at Northwestern and Washington University and subsequently taught English in the junior and high school scene. She switched fields to medical technology and specialized in Blood Banking and worked in that field until she retired. Carol’s involvement with Judaism includes being one of 5 women who had adult bat mitzvah in 1976 at BSKI under Rabbi Benson Skoff. She is a staunch member of the Grammar Police and singing in one key unless otherwise indicated by musical notation. Her full name is Carol Rose (sound familiar) Graff Battle and she is the mother of three and grandmother or three.


My Theology

Richard

Richard Gavatin, a native of Sweden, has always been interested in writing, poetry and essays and has contributed to many Newsletters, Magazines and books.
He is especially interested in Judaism and Science, and the relationship between "faith" and reason.
He maintains that the expression: “God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him” (from B’reishit, Chapter 1, Verse 27) really means that 'the image of God' refers to the "faculty of reason". 


Management Team
  • Founder:
    Daphne Drohobyczer 
  • Website Designer:
    Richard Gavatin
Board:
  • Max Brown
  • Daphne Drohobyczer 
    Richard Gavatin
    Jamie Glaser
    Ralph Graff
    Marvin Marcus 
  Team Members and Writers 
  • Carol Battle
    Max Brown
    Daphne Drohobyczer 
  • Larry Friedman
    Richard Gavatin
    Jamie Glaser
    Ralph Graff
    Berta Hyken


  • Margaret Israel
    Roz Kohen
    Ben Levin
    Lottye Lyle 
  • Marvin Marcus
  • Joyce Olshan
    Carol Rose
  • Paula Sparks 
  • Marla Zimmerman
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