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Life on the Fringes: A Feminist Journey Towards Traditional Rabbinic Ordination
 
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Life on the Fringes: A Feminist Journey Towards Traditional Rabbinic Ordination [Hardcover]

Haviva Ner-David (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)


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Book Description

0966430670 978-0966430677 July 2000 1st
Part memoir, part commentary, Life on the Fringes charts a startling Jewish feminist journey both solitary and engaging. Haviva Ner-David draws us into the many facets of her life's story: a complex modern Orthodox childhood (including a battle with anorexia); adherence to a unique combination of Jewish observances; the emergence of her feminist commitments and support of gays and lesbians in Jewish life; a serious engagement with Jewish texts -- and now, studying for rabbinic ordination with an Orthodox rabbi in Israel, where Ner-David and her family have made their home.

Over time, we see Ner-David take on both traditionally male practices -- donning a tallit and tefillin every day, wearing tzitzit at all times -- as well as those of traditional Jewish women -- covering her head, and observing in great detail the laws of niddah which govern a woman's separation from her husband in the days surrounding her menstrual period. Her personal wrestling and her halakhic analysis help us see Jewish tradition in new, more textured ways -- and lets us see new possibilities for our own lives.

Writing with warmth, vision, and passion, Ner-David unwraps her often startling package of Jewish choices, inviting readers into her many worlds, even as she challenges us to examine and deepen our own allegiances and Jewish feminist journeys. No one who takes seriously the intersection of feminism and traditional Judaism will be able to ignore this book.



Editorial Reviews

Review

The Orthodox rabbinate is all-male--but, if Haviva Ner-David has anything to say about it, it won't be for long.

Ner-David grew up in an ordinary Modern Orthodox community in Westchester County. Her parents kept a kosher kitchen but fudged a little when they went out, eating pasta and kosher fish in non-kosher restaurants. Her mother wore a hat only in shul, despite many Orthodox Jews' belief that married women must cover their hair all the time. In synagogue, Ner-David sat with the women, watching men chant from the Torah and lead the prayers.

In college, Ner-David began attending egalitarian Jewish services, where women were able to lead worship and sit with men. She immersed herself in Talmud study, and eventually applied to the ordination program at Yeshiva University, which ordains most of the Modern Orthodox rabbis in the US. (She was rejected.) Ner-David now lives in Israel with her three children and her husband: she covers her hair, but also wears tzitzit, the ritual fringes Jewish law requires men--but not women--to wear. And she is studying for rabbinic ordination with an Orthodox rabbi in Israel.

"Life on the Fringes," the story of Ner-David's reconciling Orthodox Judaism with feminism, is a must read for anyone who wants to understand contemporary Jewish life. (Beliefnet, May 2000) -- From Beliefnet

From the Publisher

This is an important and moving book for anyone who takes seriously the relationship between feminism and traditional religion. It belongs on every Jewish feminist bookshelf.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 255 pages
  • Publisher: Jfl Books; 1st edition (July 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0966430670
  • ISBN-13: 978-0966430677
  • Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #506,582 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful writing, beautiful life, August 31, 2000
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This review is from: Life on the Fringes: A Feminist Journey Towards Traditional Rabbinic Ordination (Hardcover)
Haviva Ner-David is living a life which is entirely informed by her understanding of her spirituality. How inspiring this is, whenever someone is able to write a fluent, beautiful book which depicts such a shining achievement. But this book is even better, because her spiritual path is on the border between traditional Judaism and modernism. This precarious journey walks straight through the most important questions a Jewish woman can ask herself.

This is a starkly honest book, which shows her struggles and her triumphs. The prose is clean and direct. The power of this book comes from the power of the author's heart: she writes with love of the life she is trying to lead, and of the conflicts she faces, within herself and with the world around her. This woman wrestles with herself, on the pages of this book. And she makes her world vivid enough that the reader can enter, can understand how she got where she is.

Once I started reading, I could not stop until I finished. Sleep on one night seemed less important than soaking up these words.

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Universal questions and a unique life..., January 2, 2002
This review is from: Life on the Fringes: A Feminist Journey Towards Traditional Rabbinic Ordination (Hardcover)
This is a book I could never before have read with an open mind.

Fifteen years ago, I'd have dismissed Ner-David as an apologist for Orthodoxy, trying to cram modern sensibilities into a hopelessly outdated mold. Ten years ago, during my own tumultuous "return," I'd have sneered at her willingness to entertain thoughts of mixed seating, uncovered hair and egalitarian prayer.

It's only now, I think, that I'm ready to hear the honest questions Ner-David and others like her are asking and to understand that the Judaism we share is resilient enough to answer to -- and thrive from -- challenge and diversity.

Ner-David's narrative, interwoven with threads dealing with her own physical frailty, tells a story not of a senseless rebellion against Orthodoxy but of a young woman's awakening to a deeper, more genuine love of her tradition.

I wish Ms Ner-David a Yasher Kocheich -- may she never stop asking.

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars powerful journey through spiritual struggles, March 17, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Life on the Fringes: A Feminist Journey Towards Traditional Rabbinic Ordination (Hardcover)
For the beginner or the advanced scholar, this book offers a fresh and sometimes revolutionary viewpoint on the balance between tradition and modernity. While this book focuses on Jewish law and culture, also very relevant for anyone struggling with spirituality and modern life.
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