39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The "Joy Luck Club" meets "The Chosen", December 17, 2001
This review is from: Around Sarah's Table: Ten Hasidic Women Share Their Stories of Life, Faith, and Tradition (Hardcover)
What Amy Tan did for the world of Chinese women in "The Joy Luck Club," this book does for Hasidic women's culture. Riva Zakutinsky and Yaffa Leiba Gottlieb (both Hasidic themselves), have given the public a highly-readable, intimate window into a world that would otherwise be inaccessible to most outsiders. The result is an excellent book that will make you laugh, cry, and truly realize how the common humanity we all share can shine through outward differences. I plan to recommend this book to my neighbors, my local libraries, and readers of my Hasidism FAQ. Like "Joy Luck Club," it would make a great movie, too. If I were a film producer, I'd jump at the chance!
The ten women who gather around Sarah's Table every Tuesday for lunch and Torah study are very religious Jews, but definitely not plaster saints. (Is that a mixed metaphor?) They struggle daily with the same types of life challenges facing women (and men) the world over: caring for developmentally challenged children, coping with a serious illness in the family, becoming a step-parent, balancing home and personal life with a career.
Oh yes, some of these women DO have careers outside the home. For example, there's Shaina, author of a series of Jewish children's books. And Reva, Shaina's publisher, whose husband encouraged her to start her business. Not to mention Klara, the attorney, whose strict Hasidic observance led her to open her own law firm rather than "sell out" to pressures to conform.
Of special interest to the outside world will be the chapter on Tamar, who is seeking the right "match" for her older daughter. As you will learn from her story, Hasidic matchmaking is not the same thing as an "arranged marriage." Naturally, Hasidic parents expect their children to marry Hasidim, and a matchmaker may help introduce a prospective couple to each other. But the man and woman decide for themselves whether to marry or not. This dates all the way back to the biblical story of Rebecca, who was asked if she wanted to marry Isaac. (See Genesis 24:57-58) Everyone, according to Hasidic teachings, has a destined match literallly made in heaven. Sometimes, however, we make the wrong choices here on earth. And sometimes, finding one's true soulmate can mean going to the ends of the earth -- as Klara's Polish mother learned in a tiny town in Russia.
One problem with the book is that the glossary assumes too much Judaic knowledge on the part of non-Jewish readers. While the more obscure Yiddish and Hebrew words are defined in the glossary, common ones like "Shabbos" (Sabbath) and "yeshiva" (academy of Jewish study) are not. And there is no pronunciation guide. Maybe these terms can be taken for granted in Brooklyn where the authors live, but they require explanation in areas where there are few Jews. (I myself live in a Midwestern town where people think my first name is "Robbi" and have no idea what a RABBI is -- until I say "Jewish minister.") I was also annoyed to see the late Lubovitcher Rebbe (Menachem Schneerson) defined as the "most recent leader of the worldwide Hasidic movement." He might be leader of the worldwide LUBOVITCH Hasidic movement (to which these women belong) but he's not my Hasidic leader -- I'm a Breslover Hasid. (Different group. There are over 150 other Hasidic groups besides Lubovitch. The biggest, by population, is probably Satmar.) Hopefully these glossary shortcomings will be corrected in future editions.
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25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, January 22, 2002
This review is from: Around Sarah's Table: Ten Hasidic Women Share Their Stories of Life, Faith, and Tradition (Hardcover)
About me: I am an orthodox jewish woman, not from a chassidic community or lifestyle.
The title of this book led me to believe that this was non-fiction, and I was looking forward to reading about life in different chassidic communities from the women's point of view.
Instead, this is either a work of fiction or real people have been fictionalised. A group of women collects around Sarah's table for words of Torah and wisdom, a break from their struggles of the week.
The characters and their situations are believable, but the dialogue is poorly written, as if for a play. This group apparently breaks into applause when one of their members says something they approve of - does that happen around YOUR table? I found Sarah's continuous stream of optimism and platitudes annoying and unrealistic.She always had an answer; I wanted to tell her to stop comforting and explaining and just let people BE. I found her explanations of Torah over-simplified. I also didn't agree with all the conclusions the characters drew from the Torah - which is okay, there are many different ways to learn the same verse, but the explanation was presented as The Truth, as opposed to A Truth.
Read this for enjoyment, but not for enlightenment.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wisdom, sisterhood and lasagna, April 6, 2006
This review is from: Around Sarah's Table: Ten Hasidic Women Share Their Stories of Life, Faith, and Tradition (Hardcover)
Around Sarah's Table (2001) is a set of 10 vignettes about Lubavitcher Hasidic women in modern American society. The ten women featured in this book are participants in a shiur (Torah class) held at lunchtime on Tuesdays in Sarah's home within Borough Park in Brooklyn. These women read a weekly parsha (portion), containing one or more quotations from the Torah and some commentary, and then discuss the lesson.
Shaina is a convert to Hasidic Judaism from a Reformed family and has not had much contact with other Hasidic women. She and her husband have adopted two Down's Syndrome children and Shaina is running herself into the ground trying to do everything for her children. Shaina is a writer of children's stories and Reva, her publisher, strongly suggests that she spend some time away from her children, so Shaina arranges for a sitter so that she can attend the shiur.
Reva started a small publishing house to provide stories suitable for instructing her own children in Hasidic values and has since expanded to an international operation. Her husband has always encouraged her efforts, but lately he has been much troubled by his diabetes. His condition is serious enough to require shots and other medical assistance and the burden of his care has fallen mainly on Reva. She is feeling overwhelmed by her responsibilities.
Tamar is a mother and homemaker who is concerned about a husband for her daughter Abigail. Her older children have been successfully married to compatible mates, but Abigail has not yet met a man that suits her. Moreover, a suitable mate for her younger son Ephraim has been found, but it is not appropriate for a young man to be married before his older sister.
Rachel is a resident of Williamsburg, the oldest Jewish community in Brooklyn. Her husband is a world-renowned authority on mikvahs (pools for ritual immersion). Rachel travels with him and teaches simple matters to young women who know little about mitzvahs (commandments). After years of performing such teaching, she suddenly realizes that there is much more that she can do to educate these young women.
Glika was born and raised in the only Torah home in Milan, Italy. Hasidic Jews from all over the world stayed with their family when visiting Milan. Due to this exposure, Glika's name and character were known to many people in many places. When it came time for her to marry, her family chose a man from Toronto, Canada, and she went to live with him in that city. They were happy and had many children, but one day the family business failed and they had to move to New York. Glika feels helpless and wonders what she can do to help her family.
Levana is a good wife to her husband, mother to her children, and daughter to her mother. Lately she is being overwhelmed by the demands put on her by her family, but she feels that she should try to do as much a possible for them. Her friends tell her that she should let them do more for themselves and she wonders if she should take this advice.
Klara is an exile from her homeland, Russia, having gotten out well before the first wave of immigrants arrived. She becomes a lawyer and eventually starts her own practice. Although she can usually set her own hours, sometimes circumstances cause scheduling conflicts. She wishes that she had more time with the grandchildren, but she has responsibilities.
Erica was widowed with a young daughter. She marries again to a divorced man and becomes the step-mother to two boys. She is moving from their old house in Borough Park to a larger one in Lawrence, Long Island, where the boys will have a large yard in which to play. She is pleased with the new house, but she feels uncertain as to her role in the new community.
Ora had a life-threatening illness in her twenties and she has since been determined to make the best of her opportunities. She has been teaching young Russian women their heritage as Jews and looks upon them as her own spiritual children. She also writes poems, not very great poetry yet uplifting, and sends them to friends that she thinks could use some brightness in their lives. She believes that she is a lamplighter, but doesn't believe that she is a courageous woman.
Sarah is the leader. Unlike other Hasidic women, she accidentally meets her future husband on an airliner, they fall in love, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe gives special permission for them to marry. Her husband becomes the principal of Beth Jacob Schools for Girls in Brooklyn. At first Sarah is caught up in a whirlwind of activity, but then she begins to lose energy and can't do anything right. She and her husband take some time away from work and children to discuss her problem and, after this discussion, she resolves to start a shiur for women.
These ten vignettes are beautifully written and depict a wide variety of events and circumstances in the lives of Hasidic women, including death, divorce, and illness. Since these stories are written as extensions of the Torah lessons, they always end with an answer or resolution. Thus, these are not stories of tragedy and major crises, but the everyday problems of normal human beings.
This book contains many Hebrew and Yiddish terms, but most are immediately explained, are understandable from context, or can be ignored. A glossary is provided at the back for other terms, but it is probably better to ignore this appendix the first time through so as to maintain the flow. However, it is handy for perusal when re-reading the book.
Since I am not Jewish, this book answered some questions, but also opened up many more. It does seem to be a good starting point for study of Hasidic Judaism and contains a bibliography of more scholarly works.
Recommended for anyone who is curious about the role of women in Lubavitcher Hasidic Judaism.
-Bill Jordin
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