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Yes Virginia, There Really Are Women in the Torah
Quick.
Close your eyes and picture a Jew. Vividly imagine the clothes, the face and the shoes. Now think of the name of a Biblical character.
Be honest. Raise your hand if you pictured a Jewish man in your mind's eye. Yeah, I thought so.
And raise your hand again if you thought of Moses or Abraham or King David or another male Biblical character. Not surprising if you did.
For many of us, our deepest images of Jews, especially Biblical Jews, are male. It surprises some people to learn that there are actually dozens and dozens of women named in the Jewish Bible. Some, like Abraham's wife Sarah, are quite familiar. Others, like Keturah, Abraham's second wife, are much less well-known.
Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum, the founder and director of Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin: Holistic Torah Study for Women, wrote a commentary on the weekly Torah portion that puts women right in the center of the action. In fact, the book is titled Women At The Crossroads: A Woman's Perspective on the Weekly Torah Portion.
There are literally hundreds of contemporary commentaries on the weekly Torah portion available to the English reader. What makes Women At The Crossroads unique? The author is a lifelong educator, specializing in Jewish women's education. Over the decades, she has accumulated many deep and powerful Torah insights that especially speak to the hearts and souls of Jewish women.
Rebbetzin Siegelbaum’s commentary on each weekly Torah portion is just three or four pages long. The book can certainly be read straight through, but it is also ideally formatted to be referred to each week, as you familiarize yourself with the stories and personalities in the upcoming weekly Torah reading.
Although Rebbetzin Siegelbaum’s commentary was written primarily for Jewish women seeking a traditional approach to the question of women in the Jewish Bible, her native English and her educator’s sensitivity make her words accessible to all readers. In addition, at the end of the book is a 20-page appendix that offers biographical sketches of each of the Torah commentators she quotes.
The softcover book is 229 pages long and is available from Menorah Books.
Close your eyes and picture a Jew. Vividly imagine the clothes, the face and the shoes. Now think of the name of a Biblical character.
Be honest. Raise your hand if you pictured a Jewish man in your mind's eye. Yeah, I thought so.
And raise your hand again if you thought of Moses or Abraham or King David or another male Biblical character. Not surprising if you did.
For many of us, our deepest images of Jews, especially Biblical Jews, are male. It surprises some people to learn that there are actually dozens and dozens of women named in the Jewish Bible. Some, like Abraham's wife Sarah, are quite familiar. Others, like Keturah, Abraham's second wife, are much less well-known.
Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum, the founder and director of Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin: Holistic Torah Study for Women, wrote a commentary on the weekly Torah portion that puts women right in the center of the action. In fact, the book is titled Women At The Crossroads: A Woman's Perspective on the Weekly Torah Portion.
There are literally hundreds of contemporary commentaries on the weekly Torah portion available to the English reader. What makes Women At The Crossroads unique? The author is a lifelong educator, specializing in Jewish women's education. Over the decades, she has accumulated many deep and powerful Torah insights that especially speak to the hearts and souls of Jewish women.
Rebbetzin Siegelbaum’s commentary on each weekly Torah portion is just three or four pages long. The book can certainly be read straight through, but it is also ideally formatted to be referred to each week, as you familiarize yourself with the stories and personalities in the upcoming weekly Torah reading.
Although Rebbetzin Siegelbaum’s commentary was written primarily for Jewish women seeking a traditional approach to the question of women in the Jewish Bible, her native English and her educator’s sensitivity make her words accessible to all readers. In addition, at the end of the book is a 20-page appendix that offers biographical sketches of each of the Torah commentators she quotes.
The softcover book is 229 pages long and is available from Menorah Books.
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