Around Sarah's Table: Ten Hasidic Women Share Their Stories of Life, Faith, and Tradition »

Rivka Zakutinsky, lecturer, author, educator, and founder of Aura Press, a religious-book imprint, holds a teaching degree from Beth Jacob Seminary in Brooklyn and a graduate degree from Hofstra University. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

In the tradition of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club and Holy Days by Lis Harris, Rivka Zakutinsky and Yaffa Leba Gottlieb show the inner workings of a fascinating community of women that few outsiders will enter on their own. With humor and sensitivity, Around Sarah's Table focuses on the lives of ten Hasidic women and on the insights each gains from the weekly Torah reading, illustrating the ways in which each woman's life is infused with Judaism.

Brooklyn, 1991: A few Hasidic women begin meeting once a week for lunch and intimate learning with friends. The few soon grow to many, from backgrounds as diverse as those of any other segment of the Jewish population. Gathered together by Sarah -- mother of thirteen, girls' high school principal, facilitator, connector, and hostess -- they called themselves the "Women's Tuesday Torah Luncheon and Study Group." From Reva the publisher to Rachel the mikvah maven, Klara the lawyer, Levana the rebbitzin, and others, the daily joys and sorrows of each allow us to see through the stereotypes to truly connect with the real women who lie behind those images.

With the eyes, ears, and hearts of storytellers, Zakutinsky and Gottlieb generously introduce us to their very personal spiritual realm. Amidst a world filled with spiritual unrest and anxiety, Around Sarah's Table offers inspirational Hasidic and biblical interpretation gathered by women, for both women and men to follow. Less concerned with an academic approach to Bible study than with the traditional methods of "learning," the authors never seem to lose sight of how the ancient texts apply to their contemporary lives.

Fast paced but reverent, Around Sarah's Table introduces us to the unique experience of living life as a Hasidic woman, and reminds us that beyond all the labels that tend to keep us apart, we are all very much alike.

Publishers Weekly

This book tells the stories of 10 Hasidic women who gather "around Sarah's table" each Tuesday for lunch and Torah discussion. The women are quite different from one another: all live in Brooklyn, yet they come from Italy and Russia as well as the U.S., and not all were raised in "Torah homes." Some are housewives, while others balance demanding careers in law or publishing with home responsibilities. All are united in their devotion to faith and family, and in their determination to live their values. Each chapter blends the group's weekly parsha (Torah portion) with one of the women's life stories. They discuss the dark times, such as dealing with near-fatal nephritis or the challenges of raising special-needs children, alongside the blessed events: a long-awaited pregnancy, a shidduch (match) made for a daughter or son. Readers will come away with a deep appreciation for the resiliency of these women, as well as important details of the world of kosher-keeping, modest dress, mikvah attendance and the rejuvenating cycle of holidays and Sabbaths. The book is well-written (with a slight overuse of exclamation points and italics), its conversations natural and revealing. The first two chapters give the impression that they are the biographies of the authors themselves, though this is never stated outright. While not as analytical as Lynn Davidman's Tradition in a Rootless World or Lis Harris's Holy Days, both of which explored the lives of Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish women, this book offers a rare insider's perspective. (Nov.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.