From Publishers Weekly
Schwartz writes this book as a scholar—she is a professor and dean at Jewish Theological Seminary—but also as a rebbetzin herself; for nearly 25 years, she was a rabbi's wife. (Her husband died in 2004.) Here, she examines the complex rebbetzin role in America over the past century, demonstrating how marriage to a rabbi could sometimes provide women with an accepted ministerial identity when they could not be openly ordained themselves. Schwartz rescues important but heretofore unstudied rebbetzins from historical obscurity and assesses their contributions as educators, organizers, charitable fund-raisers, writers and public speakers. Overall, this well-written book successfully uses the rebbetzin as a window into larger issues: the evolution of Judaism in America, the opening of new possibilities for women in the late 20th century and the changing mores of the institution of marriage.
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Review
“The first book to study the evolution of the role and the women who have filled it, The Rabbi’s Wife not only honors many unsung heroines but provides a significant contribution to American Jewish history. In this well-written work, the women are no longer footnotes to their husbands’ careers.”
-Jewish Week
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“This well-written book successfully uses the rebbetzin as a window into larger issues: the evolution of Judaism in America, the opening of possibilities for women in the late twentieth century and the changing mores of the institution of marriage.”
-Publishers Weekly
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“[It] will certainly entertain readers with personal stories about many of the well-known rabbis’ wives (and their husbands) who have graced American Jewish history”
-Jewish Book World
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“Schwartz adds a new and important dimension to the history of American Judaism, to the history of American women, and to the history of American religion. She has introduced a new set of actors to the historic drama of religion in America.”
-Hasia R. Diner,author of The Jews of the United States, 1654-2000
“This is the definitive work on the American rebbetzin. At once well-written and well-researched, it makes a notable contribution to the history of women in American Judaism, and puts forth a highly persuasive thesis: that many rabbis' wives in America married what they wanted to be. A landmark study.”
-Jonathan D. Sarna,author of American Judaism: A History
