What do you think?
Rate this book
Women Remaking American Judaism
The rise of Jewish feminism, a branch of both second-wave feminism and the American counterculture, in the late 1960s had an extraordinary impact on the leadership, practice, and beliefs of American Jews. Women Remaking American Judaism is the first book to fully examine the changes in American Judaism as women fought to practice their religion fully and to ensure that its rituals, texts, and liturgies reflected their lives. In addition to identifying the changes that took place, this volume aims to understand the process of change in ritual, theology, and clergy across the denominations.
The essays in Women Remaking American Judaism offer a paradoxical understanding of Jewish feminism as both radical, in the transformational sense, and accomodationist, in the sense that it was thoroughly compatible with liberal Judaism. Essays in the first section, Reenvisioning Judaism, investigate the feminist challenges to traditional understanding of Jewish law, texts, and theology. In Redefining Judaism, the second section, contributors recognize that the changes in American Judaism were ultimately put into place by each denomination, their law committees, seminaries, rabbinic courts, rabbis, and synagogues, and examine the distinct evolution of women's issues in the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist movements. Finally, in the third section, Re-Framing Judaism, essays address feminist innovations that, in some cases, took place outside of the synagogue. An introduction by Riv-Ellen Prell situates the essays in both American and modern Jewish history and offers an analysis of why Jewish feminism was revolutionary.
Women Remaking American Judaism raises provocative questions about the changes to Judaism following the feminist movement, at every turn asking what change means in Judaism and other American religions and how the fight for equality between men and women parallels and differs from other changes in Judaism. Women Remaking American Judaism will be of interest to both scholars of Jewish history and women's studies.
The essays in Women Remaking American Judaism offer a paradoxical understanding of Jewish feminism as both radical, in the transformational sense, and accomodationist, in the sense that it was thoroughly compatible with liberal Judaism. Essays in the first section, Reenvisioning Judaism, investigate the feminist challenges to traditional understanding of Jewish law, texts, and theology. In Redefining Judaism, the second section, contributors recognize that the changes in American Judaism were ultimately put into place by each denomination, their law committees, seminaries, rabbinic courts, rabbis, and synagogues, and examine the distinct evolution of women's issues in the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist movements. Finally, in the third section, Re-Framing Judaism, essays address feminist innovations that, in some cases, took place outside of the synagogue. An introduction by Riv-Ellen Prell situates the essays in both American and modern Jewish history and offers an analysis of why Jewish feminism was revolutionary.
Women Remaking American Judaism raises provocative questions about the changes to Judaism following the feminist movement, at every turn asking what change means in Judaism and other American religions and how the fight for equality between men and women parallels and differs from other changes in Judaism. Women Remaking American Judaism will be of interest to both scholars of Jewish history and women's studies.
331 pages, Paperback
First published October 22, 2007
1 person is currently reading
23 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 24, 2020
I bought this book thinking it was a collection of essays (it was) - but what I wasn't expecting was the scholarly depth and historical analysis I would find in this book. This book is a thoughtful, deep exploration of how feminism and Judaism have each informed each other and changed each other within the boundaries of Jewish life and practice. The essays explore the development of feminism in each of the the four denominational traditions (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstruction) as well as the smaller trans-denominational Renewal movement. Topics explored included ordination of women Rabbis and Cantors, the role of the Get and the Ketubah in marriage equality, women's education, women's Torah study and Rosh Hodesh groups, the history and development of the Bat Mitzvah, and the rise of Miriam as a symbol of women's equality and inclusion.
I would encourage anyone who is interested in the intersection of feminism and religion to read this book. Rabbis and scholars - both women and men - have been engaged in the discussion of the role of women in all aspects of Jewish life (including their role in the home and in temple leadership) and have developed answers based on their own denominational tradition. It is instructive because many of the same issues that different denominations in Christianity are struggling with are also discussions and struggles that have been encountered and discussed in all facets and denominations of Jewish belief and practice.
This is not an "easy" read. The chapters are dense and many of them are scholarly articles that have been reworked and updated for inclusion in this book. Many of them refer to events or individuals that were particularly influential in a particular denomination. There are also references to previous versions of prayerbooks and Hebrew Bible translations. At the end of every chapter there is an extensive list of notes and works cited, many of which are scholarly articles that discuss both sides of the debate and provide rich contextualization for the analysis provided in the chapter.
If you are someone who is interested in feminism and its impact on religion, this book is a "must read."
I would encourage anyone who is interested in the intersection of feminism and religion to read this book. Rabbis and scholars - both women and men - have been engaged in the discussion of the role of women in all aspects of Jewish life (including their role in the home and in temple leadership) and have developed answers based on their own denominational tradition. It is instructive because many of the same issues that different denominations in Christianity are struggling with are also discussions and struggles that have been encountered and discussed in all facets and denominations of Jewish belief and practice.
This is not an "easy" read. The chapters are dense and many of them are scholarly articles that have been reworked and updated for inclusion in this book. Many of them refer to events or individuals that were particularly influential in a particular denomination. There are also references to previous versions of prayerbooks and Hebrew Bible translations. At the end of every chapter there is an extensive list of notes and works cited, many of which are scholarly articles that discuss both sides of the debate and provide rich contextualization for the analysis provided in the chapter.
If you are someone who is interested in feminism and its impact on religion, this book is a "must read."
Displaying 1 of 1 review