Customer Reviews

The Maiden of Ludmir: A Jewish Holy Woman and Her World (S. Mark Taper Foundation Imprint in Jewish Studies)

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This is a beautifully written and comprehensive investigation into the intriguing personality of the Ludomirer Moid. Deutsch not only thoroughly investigates the literary and documentary evidence of her story, but sets both in thoughtful cultural contexts, both historic and contemporary. This involves mastery of an impressive range of disciplines, ranging from Hasidic / kabbalistic theology to radical feminism and gender theory. His investigations in Ludmir itself are poignant and elegaic. An excellent book.

The Maiden of Ludmir was a woman who took on all the duties of a male Hasidic Rabbi in the Ukraine in the early 19th century. She had a court, wore tefillin and tallis, and had her own study house. The Maiden left no written work, and for a long time she was considered mostly a legendary construct. Deutsch's instructive investigation explores the oral history of the Maiden, the scant written sources, and new documents like census records from Hasidic communities in 19th century Palestine. The latter is the most exciting part of this work. Deutsch apparently found the first real reference to the Maiden in a public document, where she is called a female rabbi and holy woman.

For anyone interested in the unwritten stories of Jewish women before the modern period, this book is essential. Deutsch explores the nexus where gender, power, memory and history meet.

This book is worth every penny. I had searched for years for a complete biography of the Holy Maiden of Ludmir, based on sound scholarly sources. The biography of the first independent Hasidic woman rebbe is well-written, fascinating and based on sound historical research. Chana Rochel Verbermacher functioned as a rebbe, a Hasidic spiritual leader and as a woman rabbi, over 50 years before the ordination of Rabbi Regina Jonas in December, 1935 in Germany. The Holy Maiden is a true role model for any Jewish woman seeking a greater connection with her spirituality and culture, and an encouraging example for any Jewish woman or man with innovative views that may be meeting with opposition.

If you are interested in a comprehensive document of kabbalah and mystical schools of judaism this book is a good start.