Monologues from the Makom: Intertwined Narratives of Sexuality, Gender, Body Image, and Jewish Identity

by Rivka Cohen (Editor), Sara Rozner Lawrence (Editor), Sarah J. Ricklan (Editor)

A collection of first-person poetry and prose designed to break the observant Jewish community's taboo against open discussion of female sexuality

Genres: Jewish

130 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2020

Reviews

[Shoshanna]

I have never read a book like this before. Absolutely incredible. I have heard people describe this as an orthodox Jewish Vagina Monologues. I have seen the VM performed twice but never read it through as a book.

I'm a Jewish woman of trans experience and I'm also not orthodox. I grew up Conservative and I'm interested in more observance, but navigating it during coronavirus is difficult. All this is to say that even though I'm a Jewish woman, my experiences were extremely different than the women who are speaking in the book of essays and poetry.

I feel like I have learned so much from this book, of sorrow, of shame, of guilt, but also of joy, of rebellion, of triumph! I 100% recommend this to anyone who is seriously interested in Jewish feminism. It sometimes feels like feminist spaces, even Jewish feminist spaces, only make room for a certain kind of Jew. These extremely personal and sometimes very raw pieces help us all see our orthodox feminist sisters within the context of a Jewish feminism.

I feel extremely lucky to have learned from these women, and hope others get a chance to learn from them too! Definitely worth buying, I'm sure I'll revisit this book in years to come!

[Colleen Sargent]

Very powerful book about orthodox Jewish women's experiences of gender, the body, and sexuality. I was fortunate to learn about this book from my best friend, and to attend a discussion with the editor, Rivka Cohen. The poetry and essays in this collection are moving -- I hope to be able to attend a performance of these monologues post-pandemic!

[Jaime]

A really gorgeous, important book. The description "like an Orthodox Jewish Vagina Monologues" was what I got told about it ahead of reading, and that's true, but it's so powerful in ways I didn't get from the original VM. Yasher koach to all the participants.

[Zev]

Definitely an important read for anyone who grew up frum / Orthodox / etc and needs gender validation.

[Tziona]

A really good Yom Kippur Read