Women and Jewish Law: The Essential Texts, Their History, and Their Relevance for Today » (REPRINT)

How has a legal tradition determined by men affected the lives of women? What are the traditional Jewish views of marriage, divorce, sexuality, contraception, abortion? Women and Jewish Law gives contemporary readers access to the central texts of the Jewish religious tradition on issues of special concern to women. Combining a historical overview with a thoughtful feminist critique, this pathbreaking study points the way for "informed change" in the status of women in Jewish life.

Jewish Book World

Provides access to the central texts of Talmudic and medieval literature which discuss legal issues of special concern to women, including: marriage, divorce, family purity laws, sexuality, lesbianism, and contraception. Biale offers a thought-provoking and thorough textual analysis of the traditional role of women in Jewish tradition coupled with a feminist critique of the sources she examines. In so doing, the author enables her readers to become informed participants in the changing status of women in Judaism today.