Customer Reviews

Jewish Women: A World of Tradition and Change

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Joan Roth is a photographer whose goal here was to capture the many faces of Jewish women from around the world. By displaying snapshots of the women engaged in daily activities and during special occasions, she gives us an extended glimpse into the wide range of people who fall under the umbrella of "Jewish Woman."
There are photos of women from Ethiopia, Morocco, India, Samarkand, Russia, Ukraine, Yemen, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. For most, life has been hard, even for some considered successful. In most cases, the women suffered from two sets of discriminatory conditions. They were discriminated against as a woman within the Jewish community and also as a Jew within the broader community.
Roth only took photos of women and in several instances the men could not understand why she was doing that. Some of the comments were along the lines of, "Take some pictures of people." Working under difficult conditions and sometimes considered an outsider, Roth still succeeds in capturing a great deal of the essence of what it means to be a Jewish woman in many parts of the world. Especially poignant are the photos of people in Eastern Europe, where the memory of the holocaust is still strong. Some of the survivors kept their Jewish heritage from their children and grandchildren for fear of putting them in danger. A few display objects they have saved from that horrible time.

The book was amazing. Buy it and treasure it!

4/20/99

Never have I seen photographs of women engaged in "ordinary" tasks of life so passionately portrayed as I've seen them in Joan Roths book. I have had the honor of meeting this talented woman and was fortunate enough to have mine personally autographed as well.

(Tzirah)9:55 PM