Customer Reviews

The Rabbi's Wife: The Rebbetzin in American Jewish Life

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"The Rabbi's Wife" is wonderful! Shuly Rubin Schwartz has achieved magic by writing a work of true scholarship that is so readable. She helps us to see what has been, for so long, invisible- the unheralded role of the Rebbetzin in making the American synagogue tick. She introduces us to unforgettable characters, and enables us to see the progress that women have made in this country over the last century. Most interestingly, she shows us marriages that were true partnerships in every sense of the word.
Michael Katz, Westbury, New York

The Rabbi's Wife is not only first rate scholarship, it is a great read. Dr. Shuly Rubin Schwartz has given us a peak into the private lives of very public women, who dedicated their lives as helpmates to their clergy spouses and in the process helped shape American Judaism in the 21st Century. But this is not a book just for Jews about their own clergy and their spouses. It is a story that needs to be read and pondered by all faith communities who look to their clergy and their families as the center of their faith community and congregations. In addition to being a first tier scholar, Dr. Schwartz tells us amazing tales of women who rose above the restraints of their time and place in modern American history to lead, model, and persevere as visionaries and religious leaders in their own right. We are also permitted a glimpse into the complex, fishbowl existence of our clergy experiencing the hope, commitment, tensions, and pressures which surround their lives of service to the faithful. This is a must read for anyone who belongs to a church, synagogue, or mosque led by married clergy.