Loving Our Own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole

by Julia Watts Belser

A transformative spiritual companion and deep dive into disability politics that reimagines disability in the Bible and contemporary culture

An essential read that will foster and enrich conversations about disability, spirituality, and social justice

“What’s wrong with you?”

Scholar, activist, and rabbi Julia Watts Belser is all too familiar with this question. What’s wrong isn’t her wheelchair, though—it’s exclusion, objectification, pity, and disdain.

Our attitudes about disability have such deep cultural roots that we almost forget their sources. But open the Bible and disability is everywhere. Moses believes his stutter renders him unable to answer God’s call. Jacob’s encounter with an angel leaves him changed not just spiritually but physically: he gains a limp. For centuries, these stories have been told and retold in ways that treat disability as a metaphor for spiritual incapacity or as a challenge to be overcome.

Through fresh and unexpected readings of the Bible, Loving Our Own Bones instead paints a luminous portrait of what it means to be disabled and one of God’s beloved. Belser delves deep into sacred literature, braiding the insights of disabled, feminist, Black, and queer thinkers with her own experiences as a queer disabled Jewish feminist. She talks back to biblical commentators who traffic in disability stigma and shame. What unfolds is a profound gift of disability wisdom, a radical act of spiritual imagination that can guide us all toward a powerful reckoning with each other and with our bodies.

Loving Our Own Bones invites readers to claim the power and promise of spiritual dissent, and to nourish their own souls through the revolutionary art of radical self-love.

Genres: Disability, Nonfiction, Judaism, Religion, Spirituality, Jewish, Audiobook

276 pages, Hardcover

First published September 12, 2023

Reviews

[Richard Propes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A professor of Jewish Studies at Georgetown University, Senior Research Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and core faculty in Georgetown’s Disability Studies Program, Julia Watts Belser has crafted with "Loving Our Own Bones" what should be a required text for those wishing to discuss the intersection of theology, social justice, and disability.

In the early pages of "Loving Our Own Bones," I found myself somewhat resistant to Belser's weaving together of deeply personal testimony and profoundly researched scholarly insights. Yet, over time, I found myself immersed in Belser's world and, perhaps more importantly, I found that Belser was laying the groundwork for my own reflections as a seminary graduate who is also an adult wheelchair user with spina bifida (etc.) and only in the last month also now a cancer survivor with an ostomy.

"Loving Our Own Bones" is beautifully written, masterfully insightful yet constantly inviting of the reader to agree, disagree, or question. Belser shares knowledge and opinions with passion, yet ensures that her answers never forcefully become our answers. In essence, quite often, I found that Belser's insights fueled my curiosity to reflect, research, and even reconsider.

Refreshingly, Belser refuses to make sense of scriptures that don't make sense. She refuses to define some spiritual insight out of ableist text. "Loving Our Own Bones" is wonderfully researched, though also uncompromisingly critical as appropriate. While constantly claiming herself, Belser refuses to become what we in the disability community call inspiration porn. She is angry, at times very much so, yet also filled with passion and joy and love and a deep appreciation for community.

There were so many little things I loved here. I loved the fact that Belser regularly uses the word disabled and absolutely owns it. I loved Belser's discussions around being made in the image of God. I loved Belser's awareness of how culture influenced biblical texts, though I do wish that a bit of discussion had been made around the issue of inerrancy.

Quite simply, while I didn't necessarily agree with every point in "Loving Our Own Bones" I found myself loving and appreciating it from beginning to end.

An instant essential read in the world of theology and disability, "Loving Our Own Bones" reimagines disability in the Bible and contemporary culture and with precision and clarity proclaims disability a necessary and inevitable part of the tapestry of life and spirituality.

[Dave Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenal text! I don't know if my review can do it justice. Belser seamlessly weaves together several genres of writing, including autobiography, biblical interpretation, and disability scholarship. The great accessibility of her prose belies the depth of wisdom and judicious use of academic sources that characterize this book. I recommend it to anyone who is considering reading it.

[luke timothy bitzkie]

Review Coming Soon, to be published in AAR’s ‘Reading Religion’

[Naomi Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such an amazing book that completely transformed some of my thinking about Judaism. I really appreciated the way Belser interweaved textual analysis of the Torah and the Bible to describe themes around disability with personal narratives about living with a disability, both from her own experiences and the experiences of a diverse set of other disabled people. I’m not accustomed to reading books about religion but she wrote in such an approachable manner. I’d recommend this book to anyone disabled or Jewish or interested in learning about either of those identities.

[Jonny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Belser writes a profound and eloquent book with deep respect for both Jewish and Christian traditions, but with a critical eye for when their texts and practices have been ableist. She doesn't try to "clean" or "cover" the hard parts out, but addresses them with courage, and with love, too. She shares her personal story, interwoven throughout her textual analysis. Very well-written, and researched. A welcome addition to my library as a Mennonite pastor.

[Ruth Adar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant unpacking of the spiritual aspects of disability. She completely reframed my own experience of disability.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

read select chapters for intro theo class (problem of god).

most of the time as i read, i found myself really agreeing with what watts-belser was saying. very digestable reading, very sensible writer, and she does a great job of thinking with, beyond, and sometimes even against the bible. i remember reading that first passage where w-b describes herself walking into the forest and feeling a childlike, wonderous joy at her own and nature's existence and labelling that as a religious experience, and immediately i was captured. she did such a lovely job putting that feeling into words, and throughout the book continues that expert elaboration of thought. i was introduced to some new and some radical ideas. it sometimes feels cheesy, in a dramatic, serious way, but it's part of the charm. and at points i got pretty bored with the readings, as i felt they were getting repetitive and uncreative in the messaging (yes. i know ableism is disappointing and harmful, and i know there is tension in religious spaces regarding disability). overall i appreciated this read.

[Laura Neale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m thankful to Hodder publishing for sending me a copy of this recently released book. My knowledge around Jewish traditions, writings and Torah are limited so I found this very helpful for educating me around that stuff but also in helping me to view some well known biblical stories from a different perspective. However the author does use a lot of assumptions and puts their own hopes and experiences onto the bible/ God more often than I would like to reach a conclusion. Although I don’t agree with everything the author says, there are some great points raised and it’s given me much food for through and further reflection.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in disability theology or Jewish/ Christian book clubs as there is lots of food for thought and plenty of conversation/ discussion points.

[Dennis Fischman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am definitely going to have to read this one again, both because I am such a beginner at understanding disability and because the book is so rich. It's full of personal insights, incisive textual analysis, midrash (quoted and original with Rabbi Belser), and striking images. Above all, it pushes me toward asking how disabled people would have different insights into texts, situations, relationships, and physical settings than I would and what I have to learn from them. Conversations with Rabbi Ruti Regan on #ParshaChat began moving my imagination in that direction, but I have a long ways to go.

I am definitely going to have to read this one again, and I urge you to read it, soon.

[Isabella Novsima · Rating 5 out of 5]

Belsher is a scholar, a rabbi, and a disability activist that I admire so much. You will know when you have heard/seen her giving a lecture. This book spesificaly, invites me to feel connected to my own spiritual experience as a christian and as a person with disability. Through some disability wisdoms in reading familiar biblical stories (that has been interpreted from an ableist lens), Belser has successfuly help me to loving my own bones.

[Adrian Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a phenomenal read. It really helped me to expand my understanding of the challenges and the beauty that is found in disabilities, and that it is a reflection of the Divine. I especially enjoyed her interpretations of various biblical stories and the factors that resonate with disability themes. I def plan on reading this again. Highly recommend!

[Calli · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5. Great exploration of disability as represented in Judaism. I really enjoyed delving into the texts to learn more about this complicated topic. I especially appreciated the authors perspective as a queer, disabled, female Rabbi.

[Jan Peregrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loving Our Own Bones~~~~~~


Have you heard the Biblical saying that we are made in God's image? Author Julia Watts Belser, in her 2023 book Loving Our Own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole, wants us to seriously consider that disabled people, both physically and mentally disabled, also are made in that sacred image. Consider the thousands of ways this can be understood, not simply in the dominant, able-bodied way.

Belser was born with cerebal palsy, walking with a noticeable limp until her early twenties when overnight the pain became too much and she became a mobility scooter user, then a wheelchair user For years she hoped to find a cure for her disability, but finally she had enough.

She loves herself as she is and how she believes her god made her.

Now a rabbinic scholar she sees her god as God on Wheels, like the prophet Ezekiel envisioned his god riding a chariot across the sky. She believes her god understands disability from experience, a Disabled God. She gives her interpretations on Biblical figures in the Hebrew Bible who contended with physical “defects” and how the Biblical writers portrayed them as ugly, sinful, weakening. As if disability foretold uselessness and death. I found this fascinating and perceptive, revealing the roots of able-bodied or ableist superiority.

Note how the writers of the New Testament did away with “defects” by showing Jesus Christ as healing disabled people, not always with their permission, as if that glorified their god rather than ableism. Disabled people don't always want to be healed of their “defect.”

I'll just comment on her chapter about Jacob's encounter with “an angel” and how he wrestled all night with this strange creature until it touched him with a blessing, which makes me wonder how the angel touched him before that. Suddenly Jacob has a limp. Did he want a disability then to mark him as touched by his god?

Belser also discusses disability activism and disability arts to show how frustrating and demeaning our social structures are for disabled people and how beautiful they and their lives can be as they are.

There was a lot here to ponder. While I was not born with a disease that currently prevents me from walking, I do expect to be able to regenerate my damaged spinal cord fairly soon and don't love my wheels like Belser does . I agree with Belser that ableism must be recognized and addressed.

Beautifully written and highly recommended!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book on a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. First, let me start by saying that the book does center on religion and specifically how disability is tied to certain stories in the Bible and in religion, generally. That really isn't something I am specifically into reading about, but I'm going to put that aside as part of my review of the book. However, if religion, the Bible and God are not your thing, you may want to pass on this book. Second, depending on your religious beliefs, this book definitely challenges many of the more "traditional" beliefs. Having said all of that as the preface to this, I think the book was very well written. Although the writer's disability is physical, and she focuses on the challenges she faces living life in a wheelchair, she also addresses other types of disability - whether related to hearing, sight, mental or emotional disabilities. To me, this was worth the read to have some eye opening insight into challenges that people with disabilities face, and things that those of us without disabilities take for granted. And while I wasn't a fan of the parts that delved into specific stories of the Bible, I found the parts that dealt with the author's perspective on many things that we often hear - God will heal you, prayer will heal you, you were given your disability by God because he knew you could handle it - were very enlightening.

[Lyn Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Loving Our Own Bones" is, indeed, a work of theology, and it's also a personal memoir and an invitation. Julia Watts Belser writes this book in the first person to an audience that is both disabled and non disabled, Jewish and non Jewish, academic and not academic.

The author draws from her vast knowledge of Torah and Talmud and religious studies, her activism in disability justice and other movements, and her personal experience as a queer, disabled, feminist scholar and wheelchair hiker to interrogate, explicate, argue with, and reinterpret sacred text. Most of the text she explores is Jewish, but given that Christianity so powerfully influences the popular imagination about the meaning of disability, she does have a chapter about that as well.

In "Loving Our Own Bones," Rabbi Dr. Watts Belser shares disability wisdom about leadership, wholeness, community, consent, rest and sabbath, and the image of the Divine. I want to say something about the poetry of the writing, how it spins like some kind of playful and vital fiber art form, but I don't know how to do that without sounding like a cliché and the writing deserves better praise than that.

I look forward to re-reading this book, and to reading the three plain language pieces that accompany the book: https://www.beacon.org/Loving-Our-Own...

Would recommend, especially if you are interested in religious studies and/or disability studies, and definitely if you are interested in both.

[Valour · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on Disability theology out there

This is a superb text of disability theology through a primarily Jewish lens, though Rabbi Watts - Belser does also discuss Christian perspectives a little, where relevant. As a wheelchair user, long disabled by a connective tissue disorder and its co-morbid conditions, this text is one that I felt in every fibre of my body.

Imagining a God on Wheels, reminding us that if we are all made in the image of God, then God is also disabled - these are still radical theological statements. Rabbi Julia does a phenomenal job of offering a disabled rabbinical reading of Torah and Talmud, of challenging not just ableism but racism, sexism, and those other deep rooted prejudices.

Aside from the brilliant (and very thoroughly explored) Theology one of the other things I love is that this is a extremely accessible text. The language is easy to understand, use of jargon is limited, and Rabbi Julia offers explanations for Hebrew, Yiddish or Jewish cultural terms that may be unfamiliar to a non-Jewish audience.

This is a brilliant exploration of disability theology and will remain a key text on my bookshelves, next to Nancy Eisland!

[Keri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was sparked to read this after doing a project in my Counseling Diverse Populations class on individuals with disabilities. I realized how little I know about this community. I was so grateful for the opportunity to sit down and speak with an incredible young woman who shared her disability journey with me. I wanted to understand more after I completed the project and turned it in, just for my own purposes. This book was an interesting one, as it examines how religion, specifically through the lens of Jewish texts, presents disability. The author, a Rabbi and a PWD, as well as a member of the LGBTQ community, brought rich, diverse insights to this. It really stretches me as a person to hear the information in this context, as I am not a particularly religious person, but so much of the world we live in is framed through religion. I am glad I read this. My knowledge base and way of thinking were expanded tremendously. This is so much of why we read!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book speaks so deeply to me that I find it difficult to talk about.
As a book, however, it models for me a specific stance towards Jewish texts that I need to see more of - one that does not focus either on apologetics or on tearing down, but a stance that sees the text in its entirety and considers the pain points a call for action and the possibility of making a difference.
Early in the book, Watts Belser tells an anecdote from Rabbi Margaret Moers Werning of a Deaf child in her religious school. A teacher promised that, in the world to come, that child would be able to hear. And the child responded "No, in the world to come, God will sign".
The rest is commentary. Go and learn.

[Michael Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julia, delves into the intricate relationship between disabled people and religion, encompassing various faiths like Judaism, Christianity, and beyond. Our physical bodies serve as a testament to our existence and our spiritual essence. Julia envisions a deity who comprehends disabled individuals due to their own disabilities. However, what if this divine being were disabled themselves? What if God utilized a wheelchair? What if God’s love stems from an understanding of our condition? These are profound questions that merit our attention.

[Lizzy B · Rating 4 out of 5]

She sure loves talking ‘bout bones (see: Captain Holt bone meme)

But actually, this is essential reading for anyone who draws from their religion or religious rhetoric to conceptualize the world (and that's most people since beliefs based on religion have infused our society).

Also essential reading for anyone who hasn't given much thought to disability and who wants to challenge their own assumptions; Belser incorporates the perspectives of people with a variety of disabilities in addition to her own lived experience.

[Chani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this book and it is beautiful and so very meaningful. Both for me as I navigate a concussion I suffered 8 years ago, and for many of my clients who suffer from chronic illness and / or disability in one form or another.

The gentleness of how to be with ones own bones, while being forceful about the way society makes living with a different ability so difficult makes this an important read.

[Andrew Ramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great treasure, a work of literary, emotional, social, political, and spiritual genius that should be required reading for every person on the planet. Disclosure - I know the author. Closure - after you've read it you will come back here and write a review of acclaim rather like mine.

[David Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intense and personal disquisition of a life lived with a disability through the lens of a Jewish author (who is also queer). Her arguments are persuasive and her insights from scripture compelling. A great read and one that should change how you view, interact and think about those with disabilities of any type -- and that's all of us.

[April Baskin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What an exceptional book! I read over a 4 week period. Such a beautiful, sacred text of wisdom, intersectional weaving, insight, love, dignity, and analysis. Poetic intellectualism and heart. I’d love to re-read this phenomenal book again and will recommend it to my colleagues who work in DEI+ and disability justice.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read and look at both testaments of the Bible from the lens of disability. As a Christian pastor, it forced me to come to terms with stories in the Christian Testament where we lift up healing in a particularly ableist way.
Watts-Belser is a masterful theologian who holds up a mirror to ableism while dreaming up a new, more just world.

[Jasper H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book that explores the spirituality of disability from a Jewish lens, while also looking at some Christian stories and perspectives. It would be great if leaders in spiritual communities would read this book.

[Kayden Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting perspective on disability and religious interpretations of the Torah and Bible. I appreciate it the realistic, take on these texts without it being overly negative or positive. The last chapter was by far my favorite.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

transformational. watts belser traces ableist narratives to the torah and the christian bible, reimagines religious stories with disability at the center, and asserts disabled people's unique power in the spiritual and secular world.

[Catherine Wicker · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a disabled Christian seminarian there are very few books about disabilities. This book profoundly shares the experience of a woman rabbi who is disabled, she takes the readers through the realities of what it means to be disabled in a time that people do not want to talk about it

[Amanda Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

fabulous

I loved this book so much! It is beautifully written and the insights stirred my soul in a profound way. I definitely recommend it!