Merle Feld

Merle Feld is a playwright, poet, community activist, teacher of writing and longtime feminist.

She has lectured extensively on spirituality, Jewish feminism, the lifecycle, contemporary readings of Biblical texts, political activism and Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. She frequently gives writing workshops, poetry readings and has taught at universities, synagogues, study institutes and retreat centers throughout the country, in Israel, and most recently in the former Soviet Union.

Publications:

Feld's poetry has been widely published and anthologized, appearing in three recent prayerbooks in the United States and Great Britain. Her poetry and prose can be found in many contemporary anthologies, including Reading Ruth (Ballantine Books), Lifecycles, Vols. I & II (Jewish Lights), Four Centuries of Jewish Women's Spirituality (Beacon Press), Sarah's Daughters Sing (Ktav), and Worlds of Jewish Prayer (Jason Aronson). Her work has also appeared in magazines like Tikkun and Lilith.

Plays:

Feld's best known plays are Across the Jordan and The Gates are Closing.

In Across the Jordan, an Israeli lawyer and her young Palestinian client wrestle with their histories and each other against a backdrop of Biblical drama - the passionate struggle between Sarah, Abraham, and Hagar. This play was published in 1997 by Syracuse University Press in the first anthology of Jewish women playwrights, Making a Scene.

The Gates are Closing, takes place on Yom Kippur as ten characters reflect on their spiritual lives and their Jewish identities over the course of the Day of Atonement. The play has been seen in more than 100 synagogues and on college campuses across the country, as well as in communities in Mexico, Australia and Canada. The Gates are Closing was signed at a High Holiday presentation at Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf in Arleta, California.

The Gates are Closing is featured in a new publication by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Reaching for Holiness. The UAHC suggests use of the play by congregations in preparation for the High Holidays. The play lends itself well to community theater production and is often done by JCC's, synagogues and campus groups during the High Holiday season, with performances followed by animated audience discussion.

Feld is a member of the Dramatists Guild who trained with playwright Jean-Claude Van Itallie. She has taught writing at Princeton University, Brookdale Community College and the University of Illinois.

Awards:

Feld has been the recipient of a number of playwriting awards, including two fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and grants from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and from the Dorot Foundation.

How does it all come together?

Merle sees her playwriting and poetry as often flowing from her work in the world: during a sabbatical year in Jerusalem, she helped to found and facilitate ongoing dialogue groups for Israeli and Palestinian women on the West Bank. While living on the Upper West Side she was Director of Beyond Shelter, a coalition of Manhattan synagogues which does advocacy and fundraising on behalf of New York City's homeless and low-income population. While at Princeton University, she was a co-founder and facilitator of an interdenominational discussion group for undergraduate women, Women of Faith. Recently Feld was privileged to travel to the former Soviet Union where she facilitated writing workshops and read her poetry (translated into Russian) for an intensive training seminar on Jewish identity, spirituality and community organizing sponsored by Project Kesher for Jewish women leaders of Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and Moldovia.

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