Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America [Hardcover]

Letty Cottin Pogrebin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 3, 1991

A leading feminist activist, author, and nationally known lecturer writes of her struggle to integrate a feminist head with a Jewish heart.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A founding editor of Ms magazine here casts a wide net, chronicling her family history and her feminist and spiritual awakenings and tackling issues that concern Jews and feminists. Her mother, who died when Pogrebin, now in her 50s, was 15 and is somewhat sentimentalized in this telling, served bacon in her "kosher" home and kept secrets regarding a previous marriage, abortions and money. Pogrebin's father denied a daughter from a earlier marriage, neglected his family to be a big shot in Jewish organizations and, following the letter of the law, barred the author from the minyan saying kaddish for her mother. Linking patriarchal Judaism with her emotionally withholding father, Pogrebin in adulthood was an unaffiliated Jew until she served as cantor of a Fire Island prayer group in 1970. Spiritual seekers will find a wealth of alternative Jewish rituals here, of varying worth. Pogrebin's assessments of anti-Semitism in the women's movement and of clashes between blacks and Jews and between feminists and establishment Jews are trenchant. Her film critiques are facile, however, and a commendable account of Middle East peace initiatives is diluted with details of organizations and meetings.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Pogrebin, a founding editor of Ms. magazine whose books on feminist thinking include How To Make It in a Man's World ( LJ 4/1/70), here reconciles her Jewish background, which she rejected for almost 20 years, with her feminist ideology. Scenes from her faith-observant home are described poignantly. The break from observance came at the time Pogrebin's mother died and she was not allowed by the patriarchal structure to recite the kaddish , a prayer for the dead. She learns in time to embrace both feminism and a reexamined Judaism, describing how she celebrates Jewish holidays, and which rituals have special meaning to her as a woman. Chapters on the secular sphere include a feminist perspective on Jewish and black women, the treatment of women in Israel, Palestinians, and feminist attitudes toward South Africa. This well-written, vigorous, and challenging look at Jewish traditions and values from the worldview of a leading feminist thinker is recommended for most libraries.
- Molly Abramowitz, Silver Springs, Md.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 396 pages
• Publisher: Crown; 1st edition (September 3, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517575175
• ISBN-13: 978-0517575178
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,594,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Jewish Feminist Reconciles With Her Faith, July 6, 2003

By 

Jana L. Perskie "ceruleana" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America (Paperback)

Letty Cotton Pogrebin was born in 1939 in Jamaica, Queens, New York. She was raised in an observant Jewish home, and studied Torah and Talmud. When she was fifteen, her beloved mother died of cancer, and Ms. Pogrebin, because she was female, could not be counted to form the necessary "minyan" to say the traditional mourner's Kaddish, (prayer), for her own mother. Her father, who never seemed, or apparently cared, to understand how marginal and rejected she felt, called the synagogue and had another man sent to their home, where they were sitting shiva. Time has brought change to the Jewish religion. Today a woman can form a minyon, the group of ten Jews necessary to recite formal prayers, in Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist Movements. But these changes did not happen in time for Letty. A few years later, while she was still in college, her issues with her father, and with the male dominated Jewish religion, became intertwined. Her feelings about her "father and her faith merged." She writes, "I also cut off my formal affiliation with Judaism. Merge the Jewish patriarch with patriarchal Judiasm, and when you leave one, you leave them both."

"Deborah, Golda, And Me," is Letty Cottin Pogrebin's story of her struggle to reconcile her feminism with her Jewish faith. She writes with intelligence, passion, honesty, and eloquence about her determination to fight against being a marginal person in her religion, and in her life. This book, in a sense is a record of many of the battles waged in her war for personal and political power.

She was active early on in the women's movement and was the founding editor of Ms. Magazine. When she reflects on the broad purview of feminism in the 1960s and 1970s, she cannot explain why she felt no curiosity about the status of Jewish women or the problems of Jewish girls in less hospitable environments then those in which she grew up. "I don't know why I wasn't motivated to investigate religious sexism, or to integrate some of my private spiritual insights into my general feminist framework. Even if I did not choose to act as a Jew in the Women's Movement, why didn't I at least act as a feminist among Jews? Why didn't I join forces with Jewish women who were fighting for gender equality in the synagogue, where I was aware of the gender inequities?"

She fought for equal rights for women, all over the world, and against anti-Semitism. In 1975, at the first of three United Nations "International Women's Decade" Conferences, the delegates passed a resolution that effectively identified all Jews as racists. The "Zionism is racism" resolution - called the Declaration of Mexico, (the conference was held in Mexico City), took Letty by surprise. "I could not believe that supposed feminists who had been entrusted with the inauguration of a ten-year commitment to improving the status of all the world's women - and who were pledged to address the monumental problems of female infanticide, illiteracy, high mortality rates, abject poverty, involuntary pregnancies, domestic violence, and so on - could allow their agenda to be hijacked on behalf of this unspeakable PLO slogan."

This is a deeply personal account, told with much love. I especially appreciate Letty's anecdotes of Jewish holiday celebrations with family, while her mother was still alive. Ms. Pogrebin also demonstrates her knowledge in Torah and discusses worthy Biblical women from the Tanakh. As she grew older, she, along with women friends, began to create Jewish rituals around life cycle events meaningful to women.

Letty Cottin Pogrebin continues to struggle for the rights of women in society. She was always a woman who I admired. Now that I have read "Deborah, Golda And Me," I am truly a fan!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important books in woman's studies., February 18, 1998

By 

Maureen Earl - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America (Paperback)

This book, which was a bestseller, is certainly one of the most important books in both women's studies and Jewish studies. Written with love, with force, seamlessly incorporating meticulous research with the author's insightful wisdom, it is a book that will be read for many years to come. I bought 6 copies of this book for friends, and all agreed it was probably the best book of this ilk that they had read. Ms Progebin is an extraordinary writer, with a great heart, and the abilty to weave love into the most hardened or bitter of facts. To all women, and most especially to all Jewsish women, READ IT! You will be greatly helped.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An eye opening book, February 8, 2000

By 

Shayna - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America (Paperback)

This book was eye opening. As an Orthodox Jew and a feminist, there were many aspects of the this book I found hard to deal with. However, I have found that overall I was very impressed with the content of the book.

The author spends a lot of time reflecting on her own experience as a Jewish Woman in America, which was often very different from my own. However, when she got down to the nitty-gritty of being a Jewish woman, and the problems and issues therein, she hit the mark. I found myself reading excerpts in discussions with both male and female friends about the way women are treated in Judaism, especially in Orthodox circles.

As a mother, I found this book especially important as I raise my daughter to become a, G-d willing, enlightened Orthodox Feminist Jew.