Women and Judaism »

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.

"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."

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