From Library Journal
When her father died seven years ago, Broner (The Telling, LJ 4/1/93) wanted to honor his memory as well as deal with her loss by doing a traditional, 11-month-long kaddish, or daily public prayer. She went to her neighborhood Orthodox synagogue, which was, a friend told her, like going to a fish store to buy chicken: she was forced to sit in a segregated section behind a curtain, was considered "half-a-man," and did not count as part of the minyan (the ten men required to say the most sacred prayer). She fought for equal treatment just as the handful of mostly elderly men fought to maintain their Orthodox traditions. This journal of her experience recounts her struggles as well as her deepening awareness of her relationship with her father; her account is honest, angry, and at times even humorous. Highly recommended as both a feminist critique of Orthodox Judaism and a personal look into the grieving process.
Marcia Welsh, Guilford Free Lib., Ct.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Marcia Welsh, Guilford Free Lib., Ct.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
After her father's death, Broner, a feminist writer, sought to fulfill the Jewish requirement of saying kaddish, the prayer for the dead. The Orthodox synagogue nearby offered a daily kaddish, but, in order to participate, Broner was forced to sit behind a curtain separating the men from the women. This journal records Broner's almost yearlong struggle with Jewish tradition in which she attempted to carve out her own place in the male-dominated community. The book is at its best when it describes the tumultuous goings-on at the synagogue: the characters (and they are characters) who make up the congregation, the rancorous moments, and the small victories. But when Broner goes outside the shul, her story becomes unfocused and relatively uninteresting. Perhaps to establish her bona fides, she con tinually drops the names of her feminist friends; one can barely turn a page without tripping over a Bella Abzug or Letty Cotton Pogrebin. Despite these distractions, the subject makes for compelling reading and will clearly strike a chord with women, both Jewish and Gentile, who have been forced to question where they stand in their own religious traditions. Ilene Cooper
