The Torah: A Women's Commentary

by Tamara Cohn Eskenazi (Contributor), Andrea L. Weiss (Editor)

The groundbreaking volume The A Women's Commentary, originally published by URJ Press and Women of Reform Judaism, has been awarded the top prize in the oldest Jewish literary award program, the 2008 National Jewish Book Awards. A work of great import, the volume is the result of 14 years of planning, research, and fundraising. THE At the 39th Women of Reform Judaism Assembly in San Francisco, Cantor Sarah Sager challenged Women of Reform Judaism delegates to "imagine women feeling permitted, for the first time, feeling able, feeling legitimate in their study of Torah." WRJ accepted that challenge. The A Women's Commentary was introduced at the Union for Reform Judaism 69th Biennial Convention in San Diego in December 2007. WRJ has commissioned the work of the world's leading Jewish female Bible scholars, rabbis, historians, philosophers and archaeologists. Their collective efforts resulted in the first comprehensive commentary, authored only by women, on the Five Books of Moses, including individual Torah portions as well as the Hebrew and English translation. The A Women's Commentary gives dimension to the women's voices in our tradition. Under the skillful leadership of editors Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Rabbi Andrea Weiss, PhD, this commentary provides insight and inspiration for all who study men and women, Jew and non-Jew. As Dr. Eskenazi has eloquently stated, "we want to bring the women of the Torah from the shadow into the limelight, from their silences into speech, from the margins to which they have often been relegated to the center of the page - for their sake, for our sake and for our children's sake."

Genres: Judaism, Jewish, Religion, Feminism, Reference, Judaica, Nonfiction

3320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 10, 2007

Reviews

[Eve Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received a free copy courtesy of my mother (Bonnie Lyons) who has several poems featured in this collection and translation of the Torah - and it is both of those things. It is a brilliant new translation plus commentary of the Torah, through feminist eyes, and it includes poetry at the end of each parsha, which often offer the most interesting interpretations of all.

A must read and own for all Jewish women.

[Deirdre Good · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a landmark and a groundbreaking volume that is a must read for all serious students of the Bible. Most significant is the multiple voices of interpretation since the commentary includes and highlights five perspectives on each Torah portion: 1) a central commentary with an overview followed by 2) another view to supplement or challenge the central commentary then 3) post-biblical interpretations, 4) contemporary reflections and finally 5) voices, particularly poetry. The whole work, which took decades, could not have happened until recently since there are now a critical number of women scholars from each branch of Judaism. The tone of the work is forthright in its claim for the meanings to include women, and women's perspectives and the language for God to be inclusive. It is also gracious in that the volume came into being as the result of collaborative reflection by including the voices of seasoned scholars and the newest rabbis.

[Nia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I quite like the women-oriented commentaries, although I do wish that the commentaries had better citations, as I never know who actually said what when I read them, and it would be helpful to know in order to find out in what exact years the particular commentator lived (as with Rashi, ibn Ezra, Soforno, etc).
Obviously I will never be entirely finished with reading this sefer, but I do not need to have it up continually on my goodreads book shelf.

I must say that in comparing the translations in this Chumash against the translations in the JPS and the Artscroll, I tend to find the translation in this Women's version clearer and more readable (as well as in context).

[Hara · Rating 5 out of 5]

According to Judith Plaskow, this book is the most important thing to happen to Judaism since the ordination of women. But ok, I am not impartial.

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Rosh Chodesh group is currently reading.

[A.R. Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is truly what the title says.
It’s produced by female scholars who are focused on female centered topics. It’s not woke. It’s covering an ancient history and civilization that shaped the world and continues to shape the world… addressing the women of the ancient text. Because of this angle it covers women’s concerns in the ancient world as well.
It’s a detailed resource and response to many women (including myself) who feel that a lot was left unsaid and because we don’t know the cultural context women are misrepresented or the text is filtered through stereotypes and male based misunderstandings. This book clears a lot of that. Highly informative. Much loved.
I ended up using a lot of the information from it to write my series The Mist Walker.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting look at the Torah in order to give voice to the women of the Torah. I had the pleasure of hearing some of the female scholars who were part of this monumental work. It is amazing how different the text can be with a new perspective. This work is based not just on women’s ideas but on deep scholarship in analyzing the translations, etc.

[Carol Solman-Repton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing Commentary on the Torah portions.
It has a vast quantity of extra information from various sources like the Talmud and Rabbis
It gives a different perspective on each portion and verses I hadn't noticed before giving me more understanding about the women and men in Scripture.
Thank you for the work that has gone into enabling us to see further

[Edmund Davis-Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazingly ambitious project.

Checked it out of the library, started it too late to finish.

Excellent work of scholarship, as a UU it's too much to undertake right now.

May come back to it later.