This large compendium tells you everything you wanted to know about davening but were afraid to ask. It is useful in clarifying what to say and how to move at every prayer opportunity, public and private, daily and seasonal.
The book is, unfortunately, less helpful when it comes to women and prayer. The author observes, “On the whole Jewish women, by and large, do not attend synagogue services regularly.” Even though this may be an accurate statement in the world in which he lives, and perhaps in the Orthodox Jewish world generally, it does not take into account trends toward women’s increased participation in public prayer.
The one sentence that mentions JOFA errs in a number of ways, stating: “The issue [participation in synagogue ritual], so burning with passion by the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA), and of course non-orthodox movements, surfaced once again with the recent publication of Women and Men in Communal Prayer Halakhic Perspectives by Prof. Tamar Ross.” A two-sentence bio of Professor Ross follows; but if the author had examined the book, he would have discovered that although Tamar Ross wrote the introduction, the main argument was presented by Rabbi Dr. Daniel Sperber.
The How and Why needed an editor and a fact-checker. It could also have used—despite its seemingly comprehensive table of contents—a broader perspective.