Women and Water: Menstruation in Jewish Life and Law (HBI Series on Jewish Women) [Hardcover]

Rahel Wasserfall (Editor)

Book Description

Series: HBI Series on Jewish Women | Publication Date: November 1, 1999

Provocative essays address the question of women's menstrual rituals in Jewish law, history, and culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Part of the publisher's new series on "Jewish Women," this interesting book traces Jewish law on the purifying effects of water on women. Addressing a basic tenet of religious Jewish family life, the book also describes ethnographic and anthropological variation in adherence to water purification traditions. The Middle Ages saw a rabbinical expansion upon the rationale of the purification process, detailed in the codification of Jewish law in the first century. With the spread of the Jewish Diaspora, the populations of different geographic areas added local custom to traditional rabbinical law. The shifts in these populations, due to the Holocaust and the birth of the State of Israel, make for interesting historical, ethnological, and anthropological studies. Each article is annotated and has a bibliography. Recommended for academic libraries and for larger public libraries where Judaic studies, women's studies, anthropology, and ethnography are collected.
-Idelle Rudman, Touro Coll. Lib., New York
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A wonderful point of entry into the laws and practices of Niddah, or Jewish family purity. What makes this collection both usable in the classroom and an interesting read is its clear focus as set out in its wonderful introduction . . . This is a wonderful text for courses on Jewish law, ritual practices, and gender." --Religious Studies Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 290 pages
• Publisher: Brandeis (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874519594
• ISBN-13: 978-0874519594
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,287,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good information from an academic POV, March 28, 2000

By 

Elisabeth Riba (Melrose, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Women and Water: Menstruation in Jewish Life and Law (HBI Series on Jewish Women) (Paperback)

This is an anthology of scholarly papers, so it doesn't *flow* evenly. It also presupposed at least some preexisting knowledge with the Jewish laws of niddah and family purity. However, if you're interested in the subject, this paints a fascinating mosaic of information. From the way certain talmudic arguments about the colors of stains may have disenfranchised women in ancient Judaism to the way some African Jews turn a bride's first mikveh visit into a party (and how parts of the Israeli establishment are trying to shut this down) this book gave new insights in what the mikveh means/meant to different people. The best segment, IMHO, is the last article which interviews modern American women on why they go and the advantages/disadvantages they have found. So much of that piece reflected my own experiences, that I insisted my husband read the article as well.

But, again, this is a scholarly work on mikveh history and practice, so if you're looking for a general overview or how-to, this may not be your cup of tea.