On Being a Jewish Feminist

by Susannah Heschel

Author says of her books, "In gathering the essays that eventually became On Being a Jewish Feminist, I sought self-consciously feminist interpretations that would address topics only rarely, if ever, discussed in print in those days – such as wife abuse in the Jewish community, Jewish lesbian identities, the gendered language for God in our liturgies, and theologies."

Genres: Judaism, Jewish, Feminism, Nonfiction, Religion, Womens Studies, Faith

288 pages, Paperback

Published March 14, 1995

Reviews

[Boszka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really really exciting, very positive. The writings criticize instituional structures, attitudes,customs and texts but also try to envision a better future and try to focus on building some kind of counter-culture. I experienced a lot of different emotions while reading this, mourned, laughed, became angry. I also liked that it approaches the topic of being a Jewish woman/feminist from a number of different angles.

[shamaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good range of feminist thought and topics!

[Charles Cohen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fascinating mix of essays, from the deeply personal to the profoundly theological. It's also a great peek into older feminism, when there were only two genders, and there was little consideration for the gray chewy middle of the gender and sexual orientation spectrum, and how that has shifted feminism in the past 20 years.

To me the two most gobsmacking, towering essays were the call and response between Cynthia Ozick and Judith Plaskow. I could read them debate and hash out the future of Judaism all day and into the night. I loved Ozick's point about the loss of half of the brilliance of Jewish thought these past 3,500 years, and how the Holocaust forces us to confront that in a new urgent way. And Plaskow's response that no, Cynthia, you don't go far enough - do really do non-male Jews right, we need to go all the way up to the Godhead and settle for nothing less.

Viva la revolucion.

[DW Rowlands · Rating 3 out of 5]

On Being a Jewish Feminist is a collection of essays about the conflicts between feminism and traditional--particularly Orthodox--Jewish practice and doctrine. Some of the essays are quite interesting, but the book was published in 1983, with some of the essays dating back to the 1970's, and the thirty-five-year-old viewpoints seem quite out-of-date. The writers are writing at a time when the concept of female rabbis was new, and there was a default assumption that married women wouldn't be working. Unsurprisingly, given the time, the feminism of many of the writers feels a lot more gender-essentialist than one would expect in the present day, which at times made me a little uncomfortable. That said, it was a worthwhile book to read.

[Lisa Feld · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology, published in 1983, assumes the reader already understands what Jewish feminism is and why it’s important, and focuses instead on “What now?” How do we integrate feminism into Jewish practice, prayer, literature, and history? The book is divided into three sections: re-exploring old archetypes (the Jewish mother, Lilith, Israeli women, etc.), naming new realities (women rabbis, lesbians, single women), and reinventing language to talk about God with non-male imagery. Some essays are stronger than others, but there are some real gems here for anyone who believes we need to know where we’ve been to make conscious decisions about where we’re going as inclusive Jews.

[Teddy Goetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. In many ways feels very dated to its moment of publication, but still an important read, and I imagine I would have given a higher rating if reading it in the context in which it was written.

[Terra Frederick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredibly interesting and had such a good offering of diverse verses and perspectives.

I especially loved the chapter on Lilith.

[Mely · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frustrating, although I'm not sure how much is the book's flaws and how much is that it's simply not what I'm looking for. First, this is more a document of a particular historical moment (1983) than an overview of Jewish feminism, although it's a historical moment of great import, given the changes feminism and other political movements were bringing to American Judaism. Second, although the subtitle doesn't mention it, the Judaism in it is limited: exclusively Ashkenazi, mainly American (there is one essay by an Englishwoman and one by an Israeli woman). (I am very glad to have found The Flying Camel while in the midst of this.) Third, It doesn't address what I consider two of the major concerns for Jews and Jewish feminists: Palestine and anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism appears as a historical force, shaping attitudes among the Jewish (Ashkenazi) community, but the writers are generally silent on the impact of anti-Semitism in their lives.

The focus is predominantly religious (what is the place of women in the Jewish religion and Jewish communities?) and on sexism within Judaism and among Jews. As an atheist, a lot of it left me cold. Bits that struck me (expand for LJ):

- LJ writeup is going to need an explanation of Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstruction/Renewal Judaism, as well as Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Mizrahi (and Coptic, and ...) Jews.

- I had no idea Orthodox Judaism prohibited (or at least disinvited) women from the Kaddish. It's obscene. Two women write about their defiance of this stricture and the welcome and opposition they received.

- The effects of learning to chant the Torah, of making up the minyan

- Some of the pieces on rewriting religious imagery to draw on feminine imagery, particularly drawing from the Kabbalah, though some of them were problematic.

- There's a piece on women in the Federation of Jewish charitable organizations (male-dominated, both genders), but nothing on women-created and run organizations like Hadassah or ORT.

- I wanted less on Jewish religion and more on Jewish ethics, like the piece from the woman who said of course her Judaism led her to feminism and civil rights activism and working for social justice. I get the "of course" but I was looking for a book that would spell it out anyway.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

On Being a Jewish Feminist: A Reader by Susannah Heschel (1995)