Reading Ruth; Contemporary Women Reclaim a Sacred Story » (REPRINT)

"The Book of Ruth is one of Western civilization's great narratives of women's relationships. This collection of modern-day interpretations brings together the wisdom, sensitivity, and spirituality of the biblical story with the struggles and insights of contemporary women. Readers will be moved and inspired by these essays."
—Susannah Heschel Editor of On Being a Jewish Feminist With Reading Ruth, two creative scholars have brought together an amazingly eclectic group of Jewish novelists, essayists, poets, rabbis, psychologists, and scholars—including Cynthia Ozick, Marge Piercy, Francine Klagsbrun, and Nessa Rapoport—to explore one of the most beloved stories in the Bible. In lively essays, poetry, fiction, and personal narrative, the gamut of women's experience in the modern world is illuminated by this ancient story. Whether the essayists explore relationships between sisters, the complex bond between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, the place of the "other" in society, the heartache of loss, the limitations of loyalty, or the elaborate connections of family, they give voice to an exciting array of thought and interpretation that endows this sacred tale with new life.
"[A] rich, diverse, and thought-provoking collection."
—Judith Plaskow Author of Standing Again at Sinai

"Filled with passion, humor, insight, and just the right combination of irreverence and awe, Reading Ruth puts the Book of Ruth right where it belongs—in the hands of women. All of us are the richer for it."
—Ari L. Goldman Author of The Search for God at Harvard
"The book of Ruth is a gem in its own right. Through Reading Ruth the gem becomes a multifaceted diamond that reflects and refracts a multiplicity of images....Read this book."
—The Rocky Mountain News

Library Journal

The subtle mixing of voices to create a cohesive whole is accomplished with some success in this work. Academics Kates and Reimer have brought together the voices of female Jewish writers, rabbis, teachers, wives, and mothers such as Cynthia Ozick, Merle Field, and Nessa Rapoport to offer insight into the biblical tale of Ruth the Moabite as daughter-in-law, childless widow, stranger, and loyal friend. The essays that work best are those that steer clear of what one writer calls "imaginative reconstruction." The dynamism of Ruth is found when it answers Field's challenge: "What happens when people, when women, stand at a crossroads? How do you find your true path in this world?" The new ground this book plows lies in the reclamation by Jewish women of this ancient, female-centered drama. Footnoted with abundant Hebrew and English translations; recommended where greater depth is needed in feminist religious writing.-Sandra Collins, SLIS, Univ. of Pittsburgh