Customer Reviews

Jewish Women Speak About Jewish Matters

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jewish Women Speak is a fabulous wealth of women's writing andinspiration. It is interesting, deep, thought-provoking and even alittle controversial and ground-breaking in its analysis ofstereotypes and common misinformation. ....

I found this book to be very helpful in understanding Judaism from many different aspects. It helps me gain a better appreciation about Judaism and its foundations.

there are many books out there about women and Judaism but this one is undoubtedly the most informative and inspiring I've seen. it gets past [preconcieved ideas] and into deep issues and teachings.

highly recommend it to all jewish women. now I really want the first book in the series too!

This book gives some very nice depth and insight about women in Judaism. I found it very worthwhile reading.

I found this book to be very interesting, informative and very well written. It is both easy to read, easy to understand and all women will get a lot of knowledge from it.

Jewish Women Speak is a wonderful sequel to the popular Jewish Matters. JWS is both educating and inspiring, about being a Jew and a Woman.

I highly recommend it!

D.E.

I've been waiting for this to come out and it was worth the wait! Every Jewish woman should read this book

Frances

Although not a woman,I have reviewed over 400 books for the Jerusalem Post,as well as a number on women-related themes for B'Or HaTorah. The editors wrote their book to "inspire Jewish women about their identities as Jewish women" by inviting Jewish women to write on subjects that revolve around " the value,importance,contributions,and personal journeys of Jewish women."

I would classify this book as ideal for the intelligent,not so knowledgble baal teshuva who has problems with the Jewish attitude towards women. Amongst the 24 famous authors who hammer home the importance of women are Rebbetzin Tzipora Heller,Rebbetzin Dina Weinberg,Dr Lisa Aitken,Gila Manolson and Rebetzin Feige Twerski.

Anyone who has read Gila Manolsons books will not be surprised that she has written an excellent well argued defence of avoiding touch between the sexes before marriage. Touch can be used to comfort or to manipulate. It is crucial to maintain your objectivity,avoid emotional scarring,and build a genuine spiritual bond with your partner. Refraining from getting physical accomplishes this.

Sarah Rigler and Stephanie descibe their personal journies of becoming religious. Both now live in Israel having previously been influenced by the spiritual life of India,or by Messianic Jews.

Another section briefly examines the messages to be learnt fdom Sarah,Leah,Rebecca,Miriam,Ruth and Esther. For example Natalie Douek,a tutor for Ohr Somayach in London,writes that Rebecca' legacy to us is that despite coming from a town of swindlers and a home of extreme selfishness,she nanaged to develop a sense of righteousness. So today,we have the ability to withstand and even grow in a negative harsh environment and still have a strong love for kindness no matter what the circumstance.

Other Chapters look at the Jewish marriage,women and work,mikveh,Shabbat,and why women dont need to pray in a minyan.

Despite the editors entreaty,I do not think this book will be be of much interest to men,but will appeal to their wives or girlfriends who have a Jewish feminine identity crisis and want to read an Orthodox perspective.

There are a lot of books out there on women and Judaism, and, what can I say, this one is not going to break any new ground. Blanket approval of Orthodoxy isn't interesting enough, and the essays collected here are not original enough, to make this book worth your while. On the plus side, it's cheap.