The Intercessor

The Intercessor is the novel we need for these times of despair and divisiveness. Through interconnected tales, you’ll experience the humor, mysticism, compassion, inclusivity, and hope of a little-known aspect of Jewish life: the Jewish Renewal movement, combining 18th century Hasidism with 20th century feminism. Goldbard’s characters prize justice and equality side-by-side with spiritual introspection. Theirs are stories of continuous growth in the embrace of community, exactly what we need now. Just like the old ads for Levy's rye bread, you don’t have to be Jewish to love Arlene Goldbard’s latest book! You'll learn a lot, even if you are! —Rabbi Phyllis Ocean Berman

In The Intercessor seasoned author Arlene Goldbard spins a tale of mystery, magic and healing in the visible and beyond-visible worlds. We meet Sharon, a diminutive, salty private investigator who finds herself serving as spiritual advisor to an unlikely assortment of folks in her small Jewish community. Allowing her characters to speak in their own voices, Goldbard reveals their redemptive journeys with wry humor and psychological savvy, weaving a rich tapestry of Jewish mystical lore and ultimately challenging readers to open our minds to the possibility of unseen powers guiding us all. A delightful and engrossing read! ––Rabbi Diane Elliot, author of This Is the Day and Traces.

A wise meditation on identity and values in today’s polarising world, The Intercessor is rich in powerful narrative and vivid characters. Rarely have the spiritual and the everyday been brought into dialogue so convincingly. Though it is rooted in a distinctive culture, The Intercessor is universal in its sprit. I highly recommend this thoughtful novel to every reader with an open and curious heart. —François Matarasso, community artist and author of A Restless Art

If Jewish renewal, and indeed our human species, survives and flourishes over the next thousand years, Arlene Goldbard’s book will likely be part of the canon. —Barry Barkan, Ashoka Fellow, Founding Co-Director, Elders’ Guild

The Intercessor is a novel made of linked stories, each narrated by a different character. It asks how we make community. As the book unfolds, seven diverse members of the Jewish Renewal movement set out to refresh tradition to benefit the living, showing up in multiple worlds: physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. They tell their stories of seeking love and healing, facing ethical and social predicaments, knowing when to join hands and when to walk their own paths.

Sharon Marks is a private investigator with a sideline in mystery, magic, and healing. The six other people who each narrate a chapter seek her help in wrangling the thorniest challenges they’ve faced. Nomi Riordan is a blonde, blue-eyed former Baptist who was plagued in childhood by nightmares that end up inspiring her to convert. Jonathan Fox is a much-beloved Jewish Renewal rabbi who died of COVID in 2020 and shares his story from the world to come. Isamu Goodman is a young half-Ashkenazi/half-Okinawan man whose life is shaped by questions of identity, especially as the Israel-Gaza war unfolds. Along with the other characters, they face and overcome dilemmas including abusive leaders, malicious online gossip, and relationships gone terribly wrong, bringing the wisdom of the past and their own experiences to the needs of the present. They are very different, but even in times like these, all desire the same things: to live in truth, to offer care, to receive love, to experience true presence.