Naomi Harris Rosenblatt
Naomi Harris Rosenblatt has had a distinguished career in Washington, D.C. as a psychotherapist and Bible teacher. Born in Haifa, she lived in Palestine during the time of the British Mandate and witnessed first hand the birth of the State of Israel. After her marriage to Peter Rosenblatt, a Washington attorney, she moved to the United States, which has been her home ever since.
Naomi’s identity as a Jew was formed during the historic and tumultuous years of World War II and the 1948 Israeli War of Independence, when she attended the highly regarded Reali School in Haifa, and where the values of sacrifice and responsibility were instilled in her. She recalls identifying from an early age with the Biblical heroes she studied in her history textbook, the Bible, and how she found their stories much more meaningful than the European figures she also learned about.
Naomi traces her twin interests, in Bible and psychotherapy, to her upbringing. In her interview, she discusses how these two seemingly disparate subjects are closely intertwined. Naomi also talks about the Bible study class for Senators and Congressman that she taught for many years on Capitol Hill. She relates as well a psychotherapist’s view of the Bible’s heroes whom she wrote about in her two books, Wrestling with Angels, and After the Apple.
Finally, Naomi reflects on her concern for the future of the Jewish people and her hope that more Jews will learn their history from the Bible and its protagonists and that this will lead to a stronger identification with and pride in being Jewish.
