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How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household [Paperback]

Blu Greenberg (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)

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Book Description

September 15, 1985
Filled with practical advice as well as history, Blu Greenberg's book is a comprehensive guide to the joys and complexities of running a modern Jewish home.
How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household is a modern, comprehensive guide covering virtually every aspect of Jewish home life. It provides practical advice on how to manage a Jewish home in the traditional way and offers fascinating accounts of the history behind the tradition. In a warm, personal style, Blu Greenberg shows that, contrary to popular belief, the home, and not the synagogue, is the most important institution in Jewish life.
Divided into three large sections–"The Jewish Way," "Special Stages of Life," and "Celebration and Remembering"–this book educates the uninitiated and reminds the already observant Jew of how Judaism approaches daily life. Topics include prayer, dress, holidays, food preparation, marriage, birth, death, parenthood, and many others.
This description of the modern-yet-traditional Jewish household will earn special regard among the many American Jews who are reexploring their ties to Jewish tradition. Such Jews will find this book a flexible guide that provides a knowledge of the requirements of traditional Judaism without advocating immediate and complete compliance.
How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household will also appeal to observant Jews, providing them with helpful tips on how to manage their homes and special insights into the most minute details and procedures in a traditional household.
Herself a traditional Jew, Blu Greenberg is nevertheless quite sympathetic to feminist views on the role of women in Jewish observance. How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household therefore speaks intimately to women who are struggling to reconcile their identities as modern women with their commitments to traditional Judaism.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household + To Be A Jew: A Guide To Jewish Observance In Contemporary Life + To Pray As A Jew: A Guide To The Prayer Book And The Synagogue Service
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Blu Greenberg writes and lectures on contemporary Jewish subjects. Her first book, On Women and Judaism, was published in 1981 by the Jewish Publication Society. Married to a rabbi, she is the mother of five children, active in communal affairs, and yet manages to run a traditional Jewish household. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 526 pages
  • Publisher: Touchstone (September 15, 1985)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0671602705
  • ISBN-13: 978-0671602703
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #331,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

28 Reviews
5 star:
 (21)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (28 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Holiness of Everyday Life, October 3, 2003
By 
This review is from: How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household (Paperback)
What impressed me most about Mrs. Greenberg's book remains the high regard for which even the most mundane tasks receive in the traditional Jewish household. Most everyday activities have a blessing ascribed to them, and this elevation of the mundane to the divine causes one to reflect upon daily life as a worshipful experience.

In addition, I felt impressed by the female-centered nature of Jewish life as depicted in the book. The wife/mother is no bystander in the religious household but a vital actor as the drama of life plays out. Preparing meals gains importance--not as a way to merely satisfy one's appetite for food but as a central expression of Shalom. The Sabbath celebration in the home centers around women as they kindle the candles and prepare the requisite meals.

Mrs. Greenberg explores and explicates traditional values of modesty, honesty, love, and charity without being judgemental or "writing down" to her reader. She sprinkles her work liberally with selections from Torah, the prophets, and the sages, to say nothing of the charming anecdotes of her own family's experiences.

As an aside, I've prepared all of the recipes over the years, and every one is delicious!

Highly recommended to all.

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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating even for non-observant people, November 9, 1999
By 
. "Adelie" (Grass Valley, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household (Paperback)
I was raised in a completely non-observant household; we were "Christmas Tree" Jews. I never set foot inside a synagogue until my late 40s. I stumbled onto this book at the beginning of my search for information and my place in the greater Jewish community, and found it fascinating.

I have no intention of becoming Orthodox, and have found my own home in the Jewish Renewal movement, but turn to this book often for information. I especially appreciated the explanations of some of the rituals and traditions that don't "make sense" and was touched my the author's frank acknowledgement of her struggles and disagreements with some aspects of her practice - and her commitment to the preservation of those same traditions. In fact, I have come to believe that the greatest value of this book is just that - she clearly struggles with some aspects of her faith but is absolutely commited to its complete preservation - she doesn't pick and choose at the cafeteria of observance. Here is commitment writ large!

I didn't agree with everything she said - her statement that the women at the beach in the modest swimsuits are probably observant Jews struck me as a tad smug, since most faiths value modesty and the orthodox of all religions practice it. But overall, I found the book invaluable as I began my process of sorting out the holidays and practices. The practice I have found for myself is much more personal and spiritually oriented, I believe, but it's important, and valuable, to know about the roots of that practice.

So I recommend this book - I even gave a copy to my mother for Christmas!

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35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful introduction to traditional Jewish practice, September 23, 1998
By A Customer
This review is from: How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household (Paperback)
Growing up in a Classical Reform home, where observance was minimal, Conservative practice considered dated and pointless, and Orthodoxy completely alien, I would never have expected to read this book, much less love it. But Blu Greenberg's writing describes modern Orthodox practice with such warmth and charm that we have actually taken on new observances after reading it. Furthermore, even practices we are unlikely to adopt have become understandable and something to appreciate. Highly recommended!
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Time. Jews have an amazing way with time. Read the first page
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Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Orthodox Jews, Adonai Elohainu, New York, Tisha B'Av, Bat Mitzvah, Holy Temple, Simchat Torah, Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Shemini Atzeret, Sheva B'rachot, Shmoneh Esreh, Simchat Habat, Birkat Hamazon, Chol Hamoed, Hoshanah Rabbah, Birkat Hagomel, Lag B'Omer, Rosh Chodesh, B'nai Brak, Brit Milah, May God, Ten Commandments, American Jews
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