Photo: Catherine Chung

DOERS’ PROFILES

Elaine Rose Glickman, J92

HOME: Sarasota, Florida

PROFESSION: Rabbi, writer

HOT OFF THE PRESS: Her book The Messiah and the Jews, which brings together three thousand years of messianic teaching and explores what it means for people today. “Since I was a teenager I’ve struggled to reconcile the suffering and evil in this world with the omnipotence and the goodness of God, and in the past decade or so, I’ve studied and come to embrace the concept of the Messiah—the promise that things will get better than this, that redemption is part of the divine plan.”

IN THE WORKS: A novel featuring a golem—a clay automaton from Jewish folklore. The text is “a mixture of upmarket women’s fiction and esoteric Judaica.”

PUZZLES OVER: The biblical story in which God orders Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac but then stops him at the last minute. “The typical interpretation is that God is testing Abraham. But does Abraham pass the test by obeying, as is often assumed, or does he fail? Also, a traditional Jewish reading of the tale suggests that Isaac was an adult at the time—why did he go along? And finally, where was Isaac’s mother, Sarah, when all of this was unfolding?”

CHOKES UP OVER: Serving as a rabbi at ceremonies for family members. “About two years ago, I co-officiated at the wedding of one of my cousins—I was sixteen when she was born and had watched her grow up into a brilliant, beautiful young woman. We were all fighting back tears under the wedding canopy.”

DRIVEN CRAZY BY: The practice of calling God “He.” “I don’t want kids to start thinking of God as male. A student in my sixth-grade Bible class once proposed that God should be called neither ‘He’ nor ‘She’ but ‘The.’ There was something so sweetly earnest and profound about that.”

DEFINING TRAITS: Dynamism, a hunger for scholarship, and a joyous acceptance of her place in the larger scheme of things. “It’s both humbling and exhilarating to realize that my own experiences, which seem unique, are actually just part of a history stretching back thousands of years.”

HER EDUCATION: B.A. (English, religion), Tufts; M.A. and rabbinic ordination, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion

Photo: Matthew Modoono

Dan Flannery, G13

HOME: Portland, Maine

WORK: Children’s singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist best known as half of the Flannery Brothers—a duo he started with his older brother, Mike, a New York City music producer

NEW BUSINESS VENTURE: Muddy Boots Music, also started with Mike. “It’s a children’s jingle house. We supply app developers, book publishers, and other businesses with music or sound effects for products aimed at children.”

NEW ALIAS: Danny Lion. “I was chatting with a preschooler whose middle name was Lion, and we realized that I would sound like a flower if I had that name. How could I resist?”

NEXT UP: A solo album. Check out two playful preview numbers—“Snail Hide and Seek” and “Banana on the Head”—at dannylionmusic.com.

RECORDING SESSION TO REMEMBER: Making the “Banana on the Head” video. “Mike and I walked to Union Square in New York City with a camera, a pile of release forms, and a few bunches of bananas. We then asked every person in the park to wear those bananas like a hat—and many did it. I love New York.”

HIS MUSICAL ROOTS: “I’ve been playing piano since I was four. Mike, my dad, and I had a family band by the time I was six, and I sang ‘Johnny B. Goode’ with them at the Clearwater Festival in New Jersey. More recently, though, I’ve enjoyed studying old French and Italian tunes in my octogenarian accordion teacher’s basement.”

HIS ADVICE FOR FOSTERING KIDS’ CREATIVITY: Get out of the way, and steer clear of children’s TV shows that spread their brand through consumer items. “Children are brilliant. The best curriculum is one that lets them use their imagination. But it’s hard for them to do that if they come to preschool wearing their favorite character on their shoes, pants, shirts, backpacks, and lunch boxes. The script from the show often takes over their play.”

DEFINING TRAITS: Inventiveness, an inexhaustible sense of fun, and a boundless respect for his audience

FAVORITE HANGOUT: The Maine woods. “I run barefoot and forage wild foods. A while ago when my shower broke, I went and sat in a waterfall.”

HIS EDUCATION: B.A. (English), Rutgers University; M.A., Tufts, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development