The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions [Hardcover]

Elyse M. Goldstein (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2000

Less than 30 years ago it was unheard of for a woman to be a rabbi. Now, not only are women being ordained as rabbis; they are changing the way all people—not just women, not just Jews—think and feel about Judaism.

In this ground-breaking book, more than 50 women rabbis come together to offer their own inspiring commentaries on the Torah, following the traditional weekly reading. For the first time, women’s unique experiences and perspectives are applied to the entire Five Books of Moses, offering us the first comprehensive commentary by women.

Included are commentaries by the first women ever ordained in the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative movements; women from across these denominations who are congregational leaders, Hillel college campus rabbis, community service professionals, academics and chaplains; women from the United States, Canada, Israel and South America. This book offers a women’s perspective and a feminist perspective, to inspire all of us in gaining deeper meaning from the Torah.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It was only in the early 1970s that the first woman was ordained a rabbi by the Reform branch of Judaism. Now women are making their mark on Torah commentary, bringing their own unique interpretations to the religion's most important writings. In this book, women rabbis write their own commentaries on the 54 Torah portions. As editor Goldstein admits in the introduction, some feminists feel that the Bible is hopelessly sexist and encourage women to disregard its teachings. Other women become "skilled apologists," fixing the blame on the reader not on the Bible itself. These rabbis try to understand the writings in a new way. Employing midrash, the traditional rabbinic use of parable and metaphor to extend the text, they explore the lives and motives of Biblical women, including Leah, Tamar, Dinah, Miriam, and others. With sometimes very little to work with, the rabbis "write ourselves in, reinterpret ourselves in, or critique our absence." Throughout, the ideas raised are worthy of discussion and the writing is uniformly high in quality. The women rabbis give new life to ancient sisters. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Inside Flap

Here, for the first time, women’s unique experiences and perspectives are applied to the entire Five Books of Moses, offering all of us the first comprehensive commentary by women.

In this ground-breaking book, more than 50 women rabbis come together to offer us inspiring insights on the Torah, following the traditional weekly reading. Included are commentaries by the first women ever ordained in the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative movements, and by many other women across these denominations who serve in the rabbinate in a variety of ways.

This rich resource offers new perspectives to inspire all of us to gain deeper meaning from the Torah and a heightened appreciation of Judaism.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 474 pages
• Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing (July 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580230768
• ISBN-13: 978-1580230766
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #531,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The must-buy for any Bat Mitzvah and everyone else, October 23, 2000

By 

Larry Mark "editor of MyJewishBooks.com" (nyc) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions (Hardcover)

When you picture a rabbi, do you picture a young, beardless, mother of three? You should. As Rabbi Goldstein writes in the introduction, Abraham Geiger wrote in 1837 that "our whole religious life will profit from the beneficial influence which feminine hearts will bestow upon it." Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, a 1983 HUC-JIR grad, is the leader of the Kolel Adult Center for Liberal Jewish Learning program in Toronto , a program that is so successful that they are building their own building. She wanted to be a rabbi since the day of her Bat Mitzvah ceremony. She knows that divrei Torah by women provide a unique perspective. I predict that her book will be the bat mitzvah gift book of choice in this decade. Over fifty, YES FIFTY, women rabbis teach the reader with inspiring commentaries, and NOT JUST feminist commentaries on the parsha's that deal with the Hebrew matriarchs. No, this is in the weekly Torah portion format, starting with Bereshit/Genesis' first chapter (Bereshit) and ending with Davarim/Deuteronomy's last chapter (Vzot Habrachah/The Death of Moses). The week by week format is an asset, and makes it an excellent resource. And not only does the book contain enlightening commentaries, but there are nearly half page biographies for each of the rabbis who provide the commentaries. These bios provide as much enjoyment as the commentaries, since they provide a profile of each woman's path to the rabbinate. The Foreword is by Rabbi Amy Eilberg (JTS, 85). In it she lays the groundwork for women in the rabbinate (beginning with Regina Jonas in 1935, Sally Preisand in 1972 and Sandy Sasso in 1974) and its feminization. Some of my favorite commentaries were Rabbi Lori Forman's (JTS, 88) Bereshit discourse on the creation of Eve; Rabbi Rebecca Alpert's (RRC, 76) Shmot drash on Tziporah; Rabbi Karyn Kedar's (HUC, 85) Ve-era commentary on the many names on God; Rabbi Ilene Schneider's (RRC, 76) Shemini discourse on Kashrut, Food, Women , and Eating Disorders; Rabbi Gila Colman Ruskin's (HUC, 83) insight into Ekev- Circumcision, Womb, and Spiritual Intimacy; Rabbi Barbara Rosman Penzer's (RRC, 87) commentary on Serach daughter of Asher in Vayechi; and Rabbi Helaine Ettinger's (HUC, 91) drash on Tazria, niddah, and brit milah. And, of course, there are 47 more.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Feminist analysis in dazzling variety, November 3, 2002

By 

Mark L Berch (Silver Spring, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions (Hardcover)

Is part of your Sabbath preparation or observance picking up a book and reading a short (5-10 minute) essay about the parasha of the week --- or would you like it to be? If so The Women's Torah Commentary (Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, ed., Jewish Lights, 2000) may be just what you could use. The book has 54 essays --- one for each Torah portion. Each essay in this anthology is written by a different ordained woman Rabbi, or one who is soon to be ordained.
The book provides a distinctly feminist analysis. The editor wanted writers who "would sing the song of women - to speak in a woman's voice." And from what I've seen, there seems relatively little of the male-bashing that sometime mars feminist analysis, especially of the Humash.
Many essays deal with women characters, but since we are often told very little about them, the writers often reach into midrash to flesh these characters out, and then add some imaginings of their own to the mix to draw their lessons. This is seen for example in the discussion of the unnamed wife of Noah, and in the treatment of Asenath, the wife of Joseph.
Of course, many readings have no women present, but that does not stymie a feminist analysis. One imaginative treatment is of parasha Pekudei, where the author draws a parallel between the construction of the mishkan (desert Tabernacle), and the human birthing process.
Not every essay is a gem. The one on Tzav stuck me as uninspired, with the reference to women little more than pasted in. Still, there is a ringing affirmation of Eve's conduct, an intriguing connection drawn between kashrut and eating disorders, a fine comparison on the Rachel/Leah and Jacob/Esau struggles, and an inspiring piece on "Community as a Sacred Space" to name just a few of the winners.
You might think that a book of commentary with the same overall analytical approach (feminist) in most essays would start to sound the same after a while, but the approaches, themes, and writing styles provide a great deal of variety. There is a significant emphasis on transformation and growth, which is not surprising since women who choose to become rabbis are often people seeking to make a significant change themselves.

The book ends with 35 pages of biographical notes, in which each contributor provides a quote on how or why she came to be a Rabbi.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful, complex, scholarly, fascinating analysis., March 28, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions (Hardcover)

The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights From Women Rabbis On The 54 Weekly Torah Portions is a massive compendium of interpretations by more than fifty female rabbis that substantially broadens the scope of a true understanding of the sacred text of the Torah. Scarcely a generation (30 years) ago it was unheard of for women to be ordained as rabbis; now a comprehensive, extensive, and exhaustive commentary contains their point of view to inspire all faithful believers. A complex, thought provoking, scholarly, and fascinating analysis The Women's Torah Commentary is a superbly presented and very highly recommended addition to Judaic Studies reading lists and reference collections.