Book & Events

A long-awaited collection of essays, memoir, and poetry by rabbi, former drag queen, and self-proclaimed "hope-monger," Irwin Keller. In Shechinah at the Art Institute, the author leads us on dazzling journeys into Jewish mysticism, love, loss, memory, gender, AIDS, and the Milky Way itself. Buckle your seatbelts.

 
 

Recordings of Past Appearances

Upcoming Events

  • Wednesday, May 14th at 7pm

    A book reading hosted by Congregation Shir Shalom in Sonoma, where I will be in conversation with Susan Levine. Join us at 252 W. Spain Street just off the Sonoma Square.

  • Monday, June 9th at 6:30pm.

    Join me at my synagogue of origin, Temple BJBE, for a conversation and book reading.

    1201 Lake Cook Road in Deerfield.

  • A book reading and conversation at the San Francisco Public Library – 6pm. Watch this spot for more details.

Enso Village, Healdsburg. Photo by Jessica Tunis

  • Reading and book launch event, held by Congregation Ner Shalom, with host Diane Frank of Blue Light Press.

    Watch it here.

  • A conversation about cracking open Jewish wedding ritual, followed by discussion of Shechinah at the Art Institute.

    Listen here.

  • An interview with Suzanne Maggio on her podcast “From Sparks to Light.”

    Listen here.

  • A beautiful conversation between Reb Irwin and Commonweal founder Michael Lerner.

    Watch it here.

  • My March 12, 2025 web conversation with Rabbi Jacob Staub, editor of “Evolve: Groundbreaking Jewish Conversations” about my essay, “Joseph’s Womb: Gender Complexity in the Story of Joseph.”

    Click here to view.

Commonweal in Bolinas. Photo by Oren Slozberg.

Book Reviews

“Shechi­nah at the Art Insti­tute is part mem­oir and part poet­ry col­lec­tion, all imbued with a sense of won­der about the uni­verse. Keller is a rab­bi, and his writ­ing often sounds like para­bles or ser­mons — but instead of preach­ing to us, he tells us sto­ries that reveal his attempts to learn from his lived expe­ri­ences. . . . Keller’s writ­ing is clear, engag­ing, and reflects the wis­dom of a learned rab­bi.” Stuart Florsheim, Jewish Book Council, Dec. 9, 2024. Read the review here.

“The Shechinah dances her way through this dreamy, mystical, nonlinear memoir filled with stories and poems about angels, ancestors, coincidences, music and prayers. Along the way, [Keller] folds in his insights into Jewish life with the aim of helping us heal our damaged world.” Eli Ramer, JWeekly, Nov. 19, 2024. Read the review here.

“[Keller] takes an incident and expands it, rabbinic-style, into a parable, a moral lesson, a life lesson. They are mini-essays. They are sermons. Throughout, he explicitly invites comparisons with the funny and wise Chelm stories from European Chassidic Jewish shtetl life: there’s an element of the fanciful, myth and enchantment. There is wisdom.” Charles Rammelkamp, CompulsiveReader.com, October 21, 2024. Read the review here.

Advance Praise


  • It has been said that God made people because God loves stories. In which case Irwin is one of God’s most beloved. The stories in Shechinah at the Art Institute have many sources. Some are from the life experience of the  author. Others  have been passed from hand to hand for a thousand years. Still others are familiar as they are kin to the stories which shape our own lives. The wisdom, humor, and perspective in them all will enrich you and gently bind you to other lives both ancient and modern. A good story heals the loneliness which is the hidden wound of our time. Bravo Irwin. What a gift you have offered  to us all.  –Rachel Naomi Remen MD, author of Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings

  • I am not religious. But this book makes my heart sing. There’s music in Irwin’s words. Wisdom, too. He reminds us that in this darkened world, there is still light. And there is love. It’s what makes this book not just entertaining, but important. –Linda Ellerbee, journalist and author of And So It Goes

  • Quirky, playful, steeped in classical Jewish learning, Keller unveils long-suppressed queerness in Jewish tradition and encounters the sacred miraculously appearing in the secular world. –Rabbi Dr. Rachel Adler, author of Engendering Judaism and Tales of the Holy Mysticat

  • A few pages into reading Reb Irwin Keller’s luminous book, Shechinah at the Art Institute, I began mentally compiling a list of people I wanted to give a copy to. My father. My stepmother. My sister. My aunt. This friend who is Jewish. That one who is not. This is what Irwin does in his writings and in his life; he enlarges the circle, invites everyone in, mingling the secular with the spiritual with the skeptical with the bawdy with the beautiful. It’s all there in this book, a record of a spiritual being having a very human experience and savoring the all in all of it. Pull up a chair, feast, enjoy. –Alison Luterman, author of In the Time of Great Fires and Desire Zoo.

  • In these beautifully written meditations, Irwin Keller records his dialogue with sacred texts of his Jewish tradition. Ay, absolutely wonderful, so refreshing, hopeful in a world so desperate for peace. –Greg Sarris, author of Grand Avenue and The Forgetters. 

  • Irwin Keller, his ear trained on “the crosstalk of the Universe,” knows when angels are about: in  chance encounters, odd coincidences, dreams, and memories; even in the teeth of a vicious dog or the barrel of a gun. In Keller’s luminous writings, these divine messengers reveal both the radiance within the everyday and the clouds that subdue the sacred. With this dazzling book, Keller takes his place among the messengers. –Esther Schor, author of Emma Lazarus and The Bridge of Words

  • In Shechinah at the Art Institute, the wondrous Rabbi Irwin Keller inhales all the world he inhabits and savors the details of all the miracles and realities of life. Rabbi Keller is one of the most kind, compassionate, brilliantly philosophical, thoughtful and hilariously funny human beings. –Lily Brett, author of Too Many Men and Lola Bensky


Book cover and Shechinah Emblem by Sasha O’Malley.