A Tale of Love and Darkness

Amos Oz

I can think of no better book to introduce a reader into the layered, fragile, complex, and painful truth of what it means to be an Israeli. Amos Oz, already an intellectual hero, taking his own people and his own history to task over the past 30 years, elevates his writing to a level that very few get to experience over centuries of writing. His storytelling is sharp and clear. This beautiful book offers an extraordinary insight into the Israeli psyche, painting it as feverishly idealistic, mortally wounded, and bitterly optimistic. One comes away changed after reading A Tale of Love and Darkness, swearing that the scent of Jerusalem has been seared into their souls forever; knowing Israel in a way never known quite that way before. I feel a sense of tremendous pride and joy that I am part of a nation that gave birth, witnessed, and nourished such a writer, and that has embraced such writing.

Born in Israel to American parents, Danny Maseng first came to the United States to star on Broadway in 'Only Fools Are Sad.' A playwright, actor, singer and composer, Danny has served as Evaluator of New American Plays/Opera-Musical Theater for the National Endowment For The Arts. Danny has also been the Director of Hava Nashira for the URJ, the Artisitic Director of the Brandeis-Bardin Instittute in California and the Director of The Spielberg Fellowships for the FJC. Danny has was named the Patron Artist of the Avraham Geiger School for Cantorial Arts in Berlin, Germany, from 2005 – 2007.

Danny is also one of the most popular and respected composers of contemporary Liturgical and Synagogue music. He has been the invited guest of the American Conference of Cantors, the Cantor's Assembly, as well as the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. When Danny is not appearing on show's like Law & Order or narrating Wild Discovery, he is a frequent faculty member of The Wexner Heritage Foundation, Synagogue 2000, The Whizin Institute, Limmud and many other national and international institutes and conferences. A much sought after Scholar/Artist-in-Residence, Danny travels the world, inspiring, teaching and rekindling the love of Judaism through Torah, Kabbalah, Jewish culture and the arts.