P.A. Moses - Fiction
P.A.Moses is the pseudonym for Bainbridge Island
author and local Rabbi Paul Moses Strasko. Prior to moving to the island,
Strasko served as rabbi for the Jewish communities of Duisburg, Mülheim, and
Oberhausen in Germany. Drawing on his personal experiences, his novel
Women,
Converts, and Azerbaijanis Need Not Apply (2017) is set in a fictionalized
synagogue in modern day Germany. The narrative weaves together with poignant
hilarity the xenophobia, Russian-mafia influences, death threats in community
meetings, and fist fights in services that ridiculously but truthfully make up
some of the every-day reality of Jewish communities in Germany today. Through a
humor-filled first person narrative, we are appalled, confused, and enchanted
with these real people facing the challenges of reengaging in Judaism after
three generations of Stalinism. Strasko is also an active musician playing
clarinet and piano, has two hairless sphinx cats, and is currently a doctoral
candidate at the University of Potsdam, his Ph.D. thesis entitled: "The
Evolution and Transformation of a Law: Speaking with the Dead in Torah through
the 20th Century."
