Book Reviews

So much of what many of us know or think we know about East European foremothers is traditional wisdom at best, characterized by unfounded generalizations or created nostalgia. This volume is the first collection of essays devoted to the study of the experiences of Jewish women in Eastern Europe. The introduction by editors Paula Hyman

Known best for the lines of “The New Colossus” engraved on the Statue of Liberty, Emma Lazarus is brought vividly to life in this work by Princeton Professor Esther Schor. Skillfully drawing on letters undiscovered till the 1980’s, Schor presents a highly readable portrait of this fascinating and wide-ranging Jewish American writer who died at

This remarkable and sensitive book describing the author’s involvement in her chevra kadisha, and the beauty of Jewish burial practices is the ideal subject for review in an issue of JOFA Journal that is focused on tzedaka and chesed. The book, which was a finalist in the National Jewish Book Awards in 2005, and winner

Named a 2006 National Jewish Book Award winner, The Rabbi’s Wife explores the role of American rabbis’ wives of all denominations over the last century, beginning at a time when few women worked outside the home, and when the role of rebbetzin offered opportunities that these women might not have had otherwise. In Schwartz’s words,

This book is not just about Jewish ritual practices but about the dynamics of innovation and continuity in contemporary Jewry and the tensions between the two. Vanessa Ochs, an anthropologist of religion and Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, outlines many new rituals and asks several important questions: What gives rise to

All of us interested in issues of gender and the relationships between men and women recognize the significance of the first chapters of Bereishit and the narrative of Adam and Eve. In “Eternally Eve,” Anne Lapidus Lerner, Professor of Jewish Literature and Director of the Program in Jewish Women’s Studies at Jewish Theological Seminary, explores

In 1855, Fanny Neuda, widow of a Moravian rabbi, published a collection of prayers and devotions in German for women, in the tradition of the Yiddsh tekhine literature. She wrote in German because, by the end of the 18th century, women in German lands under the influence of the Enlightenment no longer understood Yiddish. Neuda

This is a volume that should be in the home of all JOFA Journal readers. A remarkable achievement, it is a compilation of prayers, songs, and poetry that transcends the Birkon that is at its center. It was conceived and compiled by Adena Berkowitz and Rivka Haut, two women who have strong associations with JOFA.

Tzniut, incorporating Jewish standards of modesty in behavior and in dress, is a much debated topic. The major focus of this book is a discussion of Jewish legal sources dealing with women’s dress codes and the mingling of the sexes, and an examination of how these have been implemented by contemporary halakhic authorities. Rabbi Henkin,