Women and Judaism
Ebook
Contributors to Women and Judaism describe the many ways in which women are claiming a place in and changing the face of this ancient religion.
"Women and Judaism," the editor writes, "carries an intention to do more than bring the reader new ideas to ponder. For Jewish women, it's a charge to claim and re-claim their rightful place in their tradition … For non-Jewish sisters, we hope that it encourages you to bring change in your traditions as you learn of our effort to be counted as full members of an ancient spiritual community."
In this all-encompassing exploration of Judaism for the modern woman, readers attend the first the Bat Mitzvah 70 years ago, hear an imagined response of biblical mothers asked to give up their children, and learn how each holiday contains an ecological message. Readers explore the power of women within a patriarchal tradition, including the story of the first woman rabbi. Readers see demonstrations of how women keep body, mind, and spirit alive, read a new view of biblical women as heroic role models, and enter the memory of women Holocaust survivors. Some contributors write about sexuality, power, and vulnerability, while others present the newest women's rituals, including Rosh Hodesh and mikveh.
Contributors to Women and Judaism describe the many ways in which women are claiming a place in and changing the face of this ancient religion.
An introduction by Rabbi Malka Drucker
Suggestions for further reading
Acknowledgments
IntroductionRabbi Malka Drucker
Part I. WOMEN, FAMILY, AND ENVIRONMENT
1.Unwrapping the Gift
Rabbi Sandi Eisenberg Sasso
2.The Ecological Message of the Holy Days
Ellen Bernstein
3. Sacrificing the Son
Alice Shalvi
Part II. SOCIOECONOMICS, POLITICS, AND AUTHORITY
4. Woman Rabbi in Spiritual Leadership
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
5. Circles of Healing in the Time of Old Age
Rabbi Judith Edelstein
Part III. BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT
6. Biblical Heroes as Role Models for Jewish Women
Rabbi Hara Person
7. Women of the Holocaust: Whispering Heroes
Pamela Treiber Opper
8. How Women Integrate Judaism with Other Spiritual Technologies
Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg
Part IV. SEXUALITY, POWER, AND VULNERABILITY
9. Women in the Double Life of The Song of Songs
Debra Band
10. The Book of Ruth through New Eyes
Joy Silver
11. Becoming a Jew from a Womans Perspective
Judith Willmore
Part V. WOMEN, WORLDVIEW, AND RELIGIOUS PRACTICE
12. Miriams Well: Unearthing the Sacred in Jewish Womens
Groups
Shelly Fredman
13. The Transformative Nature of the Rosh Chodesh Experience
Rabbi Jo David
14. A Renewed Mikvah
Suggested Reading
About the Editor and Contributors
In introducing this collection of 14 essays on Jewish women's spirituality, Rabbi Drucker, founding spiritual leader of HaMakom: The Place for Passionate and Progressive Judaism in Sante Fe, draws on a Talmudic metaphor to present these midrash (new readings of ancient texts) on the 'often-ignored feminine in the Divine.' Women scholars explore how
modern Jewish women navigate familial and ecological relations; leadership roles; spirituality (drawing on female biblical and Holocaust role models, and other spiritual traditions); sexuality in diverse forms; and empowering rituals). The volume includes suggested reading.
The book is a collection of essays that address topics that are both diverse and broad. . . It is an ambitious book, a brave attempt to cover so many aspects of what it means (and has meant) to be a Jewish woman.
This volume rewards the reader and challenges us to consider issues that lie ahead.
- Title: Women and Judaism
- Author: Malka Drucker
- Publisher: Praeger
- Print Publication Date: 2009
- Logos Release Date: 2024
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBN: 9798216166245
- Resource ID: LLS:9798216166245
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-04-15T17:56:13Z
Rabbi Malka Drucker is the founding spiritual leader of HaMakom: The Place for Passionate and Progressive Judaism, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Ordained at the Academy for Jewish Religion, Rabbi Drucker has written 21 books.