The Receiving: Reclaiming Jewish Women's Wisdom – Kabbalah, Spiritual Lineage, and Empowerment by a Rabbi

by Tirzah Firestone

A highly respected rabbi, therapist, and teacher restores women's spiritual lineage to Judaism and empowers women to reclaim their rightful connection to Jewish teachings, Kabbalah, and to their own spiritual wisdom.

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

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Nomy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book helped me understand the tree of life in a way that is actually memorable and relateable. i've been studying this stuff for years but this book really helped me integrate the information and remember it. she tells stories of women she has worked with as a therapist along with stories of the rare documented women mystics from jewish history... the one problem with the copy i read was that there was no diagram of the tree of life, i don't know if it had been torn out, she kept referencing it but it wasn't there. luckily i had other diagrams of it, but it was kind of inconvenient.

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, but for me it fell short. The author is obviously knowledgable as well as being an excellent writer. The book was very readable, and I'd recommend it to someone who is looking for a feminist Kabbalistic perspective, or a spiritual connection with some amazing historical Jewish women. The downside here is I felt like the author did what I've had an issue with in a number of feminist writers, namely she connects women's wisdom and ways of being spiritual specifically to motherhood, monthly bleeding (assuming one was born with a functioning uterus), and to straight (male/female) connections sexually. This is a lovely book for what it is, but didn't feed my queer self/soul much. Another downfall for me was that some of the connections feel forced. I feel like there were a number of women the author wished to include, and a number of sefirot or clusters of sefirot that she wanted to include, and the result is just how she made it fit. All that said, I'm glad to have read it, and will still recommend it, selectively.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

a mostly solid & practical exploration of jewish women's history & the cosmology of the kabbalah. points off for casual bioessentialism, a bit of tokenizing magical-brown-person racism in the chapter on leah shar'abi, & the complete lack of appendix showing the tree of life diagram, despite many references to its existence.

[Dara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting histories and info on sefirot , but didn’t fully connect with the material. Do have a lot of respect for the effort to bring different forms of knowing to the fore.

[Rabbi Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filled with brilliantly clear and wise teachings on the Jewish mystical tradition, this work inspires as it recovers essential women's history within that framework.

[Sara Streit · Rating 3 out of 5]

A re-read, reacquainting myself with that space of the spiritual and the feminine and every blade of grass in between.

[Chana Ceasar]

Prompt #46 in challenge

[B Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful read, first as a different and positive view of women in Jewish history and second as the only book I've read thus far which makes Kaballah make any sense at all. The presentation here makes Kaballah fit in with such concepts as MBTI or the Enneagram as a view of peoples' behaviors and personalities.

[Mike F · Rating 4 out of 5]

The warmth and wisdom of the author comes out. It was nice to hear the not so popular streams of Judaism and to gain some perspective on theological topics.