Taking Back God: American Women Rising Up for Religious Equality

Leora Tanenbaum has written this fascinating book dealing with Catholic, mainline Protestant, Evangelical, Muslim, and Jewish women who are challenging their religious faith communities from a position of commitment and not of alienation. Woven into the book is Tanenbaum’s own story as a woman frustrated by many aspects of the position of women in Judaism, but who is committed to being an observant Jew. The section on Judaism deftly gives a historical survey of the growth of Orthodox feminism in America, explaining the role of JOFA and the development of women’s tefilla groups and partnership minyanim. What is illuminating for the Jewish reader is to learn about similar struggles and tensions in Christianity and Islam. The situations in the different religions are not identical, but the similarities are striking. Tanenbaum skillfully weaves interviews with 95 American women of all faiths into her own extensive research on the history of each religion. The book underlines how, across religious divides, women of faith can learn from and inspire one another. What unites the compelling individual stories she tells is the sincere struggle of women to achieve spiritual fulfillment within their tradition and not to be treated as second-class citizens. Many use techniques of creative textual interpretation, looking for precedents within their own religion to introduce changes to the tradition for the benefit of both men and women. Tanenbaum stresses the importance of women achieving leadership roles in their religious communities because “when a woman is distanced from leadership roles, it is all too easy to consequently become distanced from the tradition.” She ends her book with suggestions for religious women of all faiths “who simply want to experience their faith to the fullest.”