Customer Reviews

Five Books Of Miriam: A Woman's Commentary on the Torah

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As the title states this is a commentary from a woman's point of view. It is not a feminist manifesto. Although the author is knowledgeable this is not a traditional, learned Torah commentary. The author has created various female characters (named for biblical or other traditional women) to create her commentary as a form of dialogue, almost talmudic at times. The flavor is modern but there is little use of external texts. It is a very personnal work compared to more standard modern commentaries such as Plaut or JPS's own excellent 5 volume commentary. The text of the torah itself isn't included but there are summaries of each section.

The author's pleasure in writing this book comes through on every page. It can be a good source for a Bat Mitzvah girl who needs to do a dvar torah and is looking for some non standard ideas that won't be offensive to anyone who doesn't find a Bat Mitzvah itself offensive.

I enjoyed every page of this book of commentary on the 5 books of Moses. I even tried the recipe for red lentils that was offered as the meal that Jacob might have fed to Esau in exchange for his father's birthright.

Ms. Frankel is a noted Jewish scholar, and this book should not be taken lightly, or as a pure exercise of fiction. She is trying to find the voices of Jewish women that were lost in history, whether sad, bitter, or even humorous.

Reading this book, which is broken out into the individual Torah portions, with encapsulations of the Biblical texts, was a wonderful treat. It not only gives its own differing perspectives, but encourages one to think for onesself, to go a different road if that's where your thoughts take you.

This book is well written and lots of fun. I recommend it to everyone with an interest in Torah (or Old Testament!) studies.

I have read and re-read this book and find that each reading prompts me to return to different parts of the Tenach. These women invite me to look at different perspectives and make weekly portions review exciting. This work is not meant to be a Rashi commentary and shouldn't be selected as such

This is a creative approach to analyzing the Torah with a unique concern for the ways the texts speak to the experiences of women. Frankel, Ph.D., has concocted a playlist of biblical characters (and a few extra-biblical characters) who then essentially read the Torah together and discuss it.

The conversation rolls along dialogically, with various characters proposing various interpretations and discussing the text. It is a wide departure from most exegetical books which attempt to "tell" the reader what the text says. Frankel invites the reader to be a participant in the interpretation, siding with or disagreeing with the various participants. The strongest advantage of the book is not the empowerment of women but the empowerment of students of the Bible.

As a woman's commentary, it is interesting though perhaps a bit obvious. They protest the things you expect the caricatured feminist reader to protest. Their internal disagreements are not so widely divergent as modern feminist writers'. There is, to my mind, no particularly new or creative contributions to the women's movement or egalitarianism. On the other hand, there is nothing here to find particularly offensive, either.

Cryptic is the hermeneutic that Frankel, Ph.D. uses. Somehow "Lillith the Rebel," an apparent alternative to Eve, is given a voice equivalent to Miriam's. From where she chooses her authorities (or dialogue partners) is vague. There are both more and less extreme voices she could have chosen. Similarly, God is called, among other things, "Ha-Rahaman, the Womb-of-the-World" (p. 59), an uncited neologism. I presume this is just Frankel's attempt to be creative, although it feels awkward when she's through. Again, there are stories of Old Testament characters which are not in fact in the Old Testament, such as the story of a serpent swallowing Moses (p. 100). The overall effect is to give the book the sense that some of the conversation about the Torah is not to be taken seriously.

Finally, the text itself is clunky. We have a very creative vehicle of conversation, but all of the characters seem to have essentially the same voice. While there may be preferred themes and complains of each, they all sound like they were penned by the same author. It makes the reader wonder if an even more creative vehicle might have been a recorded conversation between several female scholars, thus further emphasizing the sense that the Torah is to be discussed rather than "told." This, of course, would require Frankel to step down from her position as Ph.D./authority-on-the-matter.

Overall, I like the direction, but I might have sent it back for another editing.

While this is an entertaining book, I found it to be disappointing as a commentory on the Torah. Questions asked seemed to be rhetorical, because they were certainly not answered, especially the questions (asked several times) "why does God treat us this way, why is He an unforgiving God?" Some grave instances in the book seemed to be schlepped over, for instance, why does God kill two of Aaron's sons for offering fire? The fire was given in offering for the love of God? So why would God kill His children for offering love? Yes, I understand that this book offers insight to the amazing women in our Torah, but I felt we could have been far more rewarded with a more critical view of the Torah.

This is an intriguing, enjoyable and sometimes moving read. Not for the biblical scholar or the historian, but great for the lay person. It was not what I expected: I'm a lay preacher and bought it hoping for useful sermon material. I have always approached the Torah seriously, with awe and puzzlement (and sometimes frustration); this book showed me joy and fun and poetry.

If u are like me, and curious, it may be hard to put down this book. Told from the woman's point of view, the old testaments' first 5 books and then some appear in such a stark contrast to the original story (as written in the Bible/Torah) that I read this book practically in a day at Borders! After that, I knew I had to have it! It really has opened up a different world of study for me, one, as an immigrant to this country, never knew how deep it is for women of Jewish faith and profound Jewish character!

The "Five Books Of Miriam: A Woman's Commentary on the Torah" was a book I picked up strictly because of the title. I had hoped to find something of interest that I would be able to read to my very best friend who was blind. She and I both had an interest in finding information on the women of the Torah.

The book became a nightly read for the two of us along with a discussion on the section that I read to her. The way the book is presented, with various writers taking the persona of a biblical woman and what the writer felt that woman's point of view might be and then expressing it, is very unique.

Altogether, it makes for a fascinating read - as strange as it may sound. Most nights I only stopped reading because my voice gave out and I could read no further. My friend and I only were able to begin Leviticus together before she passed away but I've recently started to read the book for my own pleasure. Although I miss the discussions we shared, just reading the woman's viewpoint on the Torah has brought much more meaning to the narratives and the characters in them.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Torah and wants a different type of commentary on the Torah portions. There is as much meaning and clarity given in this book as can be found in any of the Torah commentaries written by men.

The title grabbed my attention, so I bought the book. Unfortunately, I was very underwhelmed, however, it is interesting. I would say Jewish women should like to at least read the book, as it and books like this can open the mind to new possibilities. It is always good to get other perspectives.
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I'm a woman seeking ordination as a Lutheran pastor, and I bought this book because Old Testament commentaries usually bore me to tears. This is creative while reverent, provoking while reasonably orthodox, and just a great read. I'm really enjoying it. Not overly scholarly, no footnotes, but very good.