Women As Ritual Experts: The Religious Lives of Elderly Jewish Women in Jerusalem

by Susan Starr Sered

This ethnography explores the religious beliefs and rituals of a group of elderly Jewish women, originally from Kurdistan and Yemen, who now live in Jerusalem. Sered visited the women in their homes and accompanied them on trips to holy tombs, local ethnic synagogues, and Judaica classes. She finds that, though mainly illiterate and excluded from formal religious practices, the women are experts in rituals aimed at safeguarding the well-being of their extended families. By analyzing their rituals, daily experiences, life-stories, and non-verbal gestures, Sered uncovers the strategies these women have used to circumvent the patriarchal institutions of Judaism, and how they have developed their own "little tradition" within and parallel to the "great tradition" of Torah Judaism.

Genres: Judaism, Religion, Judaica, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 2, 1992

About the author

Susan Starr Sered (born 1955) is Professor of Sociology at Suffolk University and Senior Researcher at Suffolk University's Center for Women's Health and Human Rights, having previously been the director of the "Religion, Health and Healing Initiative" at the Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions, and a Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Bar-Ilan University, Israel. Her interests include both research and advocacy / activism. Professor Sered is the author of seven books, nearly one hundred scholarly articles, and numerous op-eds and shorter articles focusing on women's health, mass incarceration, and a variety of religious issues, including:

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Blair Hodges · Rating 3 out of 5]

Susan Sered's ethnography of Kurdish elderly Jewish women at a Jerusalem Senior Citizen's Day Center is a fascinating read. In a breezy 142 pages she relates the stories and rituals of these devout Jews to show how they have developed their own female-oriented "little tradition" within broader patriarchal Judaism. The main strength (and invitation) of the book is summed up in her concluding sentence: "As scholars learn to shift attention from what men and texts say about women to what women say about themselves, new conceptions of human religious experience begin to emerge" (p. 141). Sered has focused on the religious experience of these women to show how women can greatly benefit even in certain patricentric traditions. She argues that these women have "domesticated" religion by focusing on elements that resonate most with them, including the importance of extended family, departed prophets, and devotion to God who oversees all. I believe this "domestication" is not unique to women, it seems to me we all appropriate things from our traditions that resonate most with us as we construct our religious worlds. I strongly recommend this book.

[Dan Gunderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is terrific. I read it as part of a college anthropology course about religion, and I really enjoyed it. She makes a great case about the ways in which women play a very big ritual part in Jewish culture -- a culture which is traditionally seen as being male-dominated. A very interesting read.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found in the lobby of Birk's building.