Women's Minyan (Paperback)

by Naomi Ragen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Her many fans will welcome the publication of Naomi Ragen's first play, which premiered in July 2002 at Habima National Theater in Tel Aviv. It is based on a true story: a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) woman, wife of a rabbi, mother of 12, leaves her home and stays with a friend. The community's "modesty squad" tries in vain to force her to go back. Her friend is physically attacked, her arm and leg broken. The rabbi's wife is punished: she is cut off from her children, against her will. Novelist Ragen learned of this tragic story several years ago from a newspaper article. "We've been together ever since then," she says. "They simply crushed this wonderful woman who never committed any crime. It's not a melodrama. It's a story of social truth, like Ibsen's "A Doll's House". "I tried to write a play about the status of the Jewish woman in the strictly Orthodox world," continues Ragen "The religious woman does not have any public place in which she can express her opinions in a natural fashion. Conversely, every man can say whatever he wants from the platform of the synagogue, on any subject, including current events; religious women have never had access to it. In synagogue, we pray upstairs in the women's section, while the men get up and say what they want to the entire congregation. Why shouldn't the woman have the same right? Is she less intelligent? Does she have fewer interesting things to say?"

About the Author
Naomi Ragen is the author of a number of international bestsellers. Born in New York, she lives in Jerusalem. Ragen is also a journalist and playwright.

Product Details

• Paperback: 115 pages
• Publisher: Toby Press (March 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592641563
• ISBN-13: 978-1592641567
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #169,951 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #16 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > Religious & Liturgical
  #21 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > British & Irish > Contemporary
  #27 in	Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Jewish American

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

71 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Justice's Sake, July 17, 2006

By	K. Bateman "katieb" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Naomi Ragen has long championed the rights and causes of those who have little voice through her columns in the Jerusalem Post, and her play Women's Minyan is just another example of her dedication to those who the world does not seem to hear. Do not be put off by the fact that Women's Minyan is meant to be performed as a play, as it translates well on the page and is impossible to put down. Opening a window into the insular world of Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, Ragen sheds light on the struggles a woman often faces when attempting to divorce her husband under the jurisdiction of a Beit Din, or religious court. Women's Minyan is based on the true story of a woman from Jerusalem, giving even more power to Ragen's play.

30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a sad story of a brave woman, November 9, 2006

By	Sonya Schickler "biography and humor lover" (brookline,ma.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

naomi ragen has done so much for this poor woman. this play is based on a true story of a woman named chana. her husband was domineering and convinced the people in their town in israel that chana was a bad woman.ultimately he divorced her and spread lies about her to the town.she was not allowed to see her children. this is a good read.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Women's Minyan, October 19, 2007

By	Lisa Andrews "news junkie" (L.A., CA) - See all my reviews

Excellent portrait of a true story that touches on the cloistered environment that is the Haredi community. Naomi Ragen is such a champion of those who have no voice.