Erik Ross, at The Blogs

Jun 5, 2023, 6:08 AM

At an interfaith conference in Geneva, the Spirit of God moved in air redolent of cinnamon, as an outlandishly diverse group 'schmoozed' into the night

May 13, 2023, 3:12 AM

Shostakovich and the sex-sick society

Wouldn't it be titillating if we sang this in our underwear? That seems the first and the last question asked of themselves by the visionaries of the Grand Theater of Geneva when staging Dmitri Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk,...

May 4, 2023, 5:06 AM

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The Jewish lady who dressed Milwaukee’s kids

Part of Florence Eiseman's Children Clothing 'collection.' (via Facebook)

In Middle America, in the middle of the 20th century, an anxious new mother took up sewing and changed children's clothing in all the ways that matter

Apr 27, 2023, 11:43 PM

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Abroad with Mordechai Gebirtig

The plaque commemorating Mordechai Gebirtig at 5 Berek Joselewicz Street in Krakow, Poland. (Feigeles-Olko, via Wikimedia Commons

The songs of a Yiddish poet and songwriter from Poland killed long ago resonate with me so deeply that I must thank him publicly

Apr 19, 2023, 9:21 PM

When Jews play Nazis for Jews

Less than a week before the first night of Passover, I was stuffed with many others into a little theater in Geneva to see a bonafide community show. Community theater is its own special genre. It has undeniable charms. I...

Nov 29, 2022, 2:53 PM

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Gad Elmaleh made a film about becoming Catholic; this priest went to see it

If, as the comedian says, choosing Christianity brought him closer to Judaism, turning his life into fiction on the big screen just may help him understand reality

Nov 22, 2022, 3:47 PM

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Klezmer was my rock

Who is punk if not they? Unidentified Russian klezmer band. 4 March 1923
(National Library of Israel via Wikimedia, author unknown)

It's a hybrid music, as Yiddish is a blended tongue, made to trespass and wander over boundaries. But it surpasses all its components.

Nov 9, 2022, 7:21 PM

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Antisemitism and Europe’s God problem

In the courtyard of Synagogue Hekhal Haness in Geneva, last night, November 8, 2022. (photo by the author)

When a Kristallnacht commemoration documented the rising violence against Jews in Europe but didn't explain it, I had no choice but to figure it out myself

Apr 16, 2019, 8:20 PM

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Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame

Smoke is seen in the interior of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Monday, April 15, 2019 (Philippe Wojazer/Pool via AP)

Today the cathedral is a stinking black trench. But the void is cross-shaped: cruciform. Who can look away?

Nov 6, 2018, 7:49 PM

What Dad does

Every boy wants to know what Dad does. For me, the answer was: Dad sells business machines. (Later: fiber optic cable.) Firefighting or astronaut-ing it wasn't. Alas. But that's not the story -- not the real story. Because what Dad does, Dad does in...

About Me

Born in Wisconsin, Erik Ross is a priest of the Dominican Order who lives in Switzerland and comes often to Israel. For many years, he was stationed in Poland. He has long been active in Jewish-Christian conversations. He writes here with the permission of his major superior.