Publisher's Synopsis
Martin Greenfield, the middle-aged professor in "A Teacher of the Holocaust," enters into a romantic relationship with Rachel Klein, a therapist with children and a Holocaust survivor. Gradually, Greenfield confronts the unhealed wounds of the survivor and--more disturbing--the limits of his own compassion. In another story, Michael Arnold, returning to Jewish observance after an aimless life, fills his days with acts of loving kindness, and then makes a decision that costs him the wife he loves. Indifference to human suffering, guilt and repentance, the loss of a son in war and its impact on family, the failed attempt to repair broken intimacy--these are some of the themes that receive moving expression in this collection of stories. Teichman's characters feel the pull of Jewish values. They have good intentions and want to lead good lives but, like many of us, often lack the inner strength to become their best selves. "Milton Teichman speaks to us as a modern day Bernard Malamud. . . . In these stories, Teichman raises issues of shame, fear, love, failure and courage, and the deep personal challenges that lead to understanding and growth. . . . A Teacher of the Holocaust is a thinking person's page turner." --Kathleen Spivack, author of With Robert Lowell and His Circle and Unspeakable Things.
