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ithin a few years, Char-
lotte Salomon produced
765 paintings.
And the works were
more than simply oil on canvas.
They included captions and dia-
logue and bits of music compris-
ing a collection, still intact in
Amsterdam, that chronicles a sin-
gle life in an extraordinary time.
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S
usannah Heschel is more
than a little uncomfortable
when she enters some syn-
agogues and hears the rab-
bi use the word "Jew." She is
certain she is not among those of
whom the rabbi is speaking.
For the rabbi, "Jew" means
"male Jew," she writes. "When
the rabbi speaks of women, he
uses the expression (a translation
from a tender Yiddish phrase)
`Jewish daughter.'
`Jew' speaks for itself. 'Jewish
daughter' does not...`Jew' signi-
fies adult responsibility. 'Daugh-
ter' evokes immaturity and a
dependent and subordinate con-
nection."
In a new reprint
Charlotte's self- of On Being a
portrait, 1941. Jewish Feminist
Author Mary Lowenthal
Felstiner.
In To Paint Her Life
(HarperCollins), Mary Lowenthal
Felstiner tells the story of Char-
lotte Salomon, a German-Jewish
artist who died in Auschwitz. She
was 26 years old.
Born in 1917, Charlotte was
the daughter of a physician. She
was 16 when the Nazis came to
power. Rather than be subjected
to the Third Reich's regulations
singling out Jews, she dropped
out of school. She later emigrat-
ed to France and in 1943 married
Alexander Nagler, also a refugee.
Five months after the wedding,
the Gestapo sent both to
Auschwitz. Charlotte and
Alexander died in the gas cham-
bers.
Until now, little has been writ-
ten about Charlotte Salomon.
Now, in To Paint Her Life, Ms.
Felstiner explores the artist's
tragic family history (filled with
suicide), her own pain (Charlotte
vacillated between taking her
own life or devoting it to art), her
exile in southern France and the
terror she felt as she began to re-
alize her almost certain fate un-
der Hitler.
Ms. Felstiner spent 10 years
researching the book, traveling
to Europe and Israel and inter-
viewing Charlotte's former class-
mates, relatives and even those
who had been on the same trans-
port to Auschwitz.
(Schocken), Ms.
Heschel edits a col-
lection of essays on
Judaism and fem-
inism, covering
such topics as Jew-
ish lesbianism,
battered wives,
liturgy and Jewish
women in history.
Her position:
"Women's religious
and social needs have been ne-
glected, misrepresented, or simply
ignored by the central texts that
define Judaism" and went largely
overlooked by the Jewish commu-
nity itself until recent years (until
the feminist movement).
Yet Ms. Heschel, associate pro-
fessor of Jewish studies at Case
Western Reserve University in
Cleveland, Ohio, suggests such
changes are minimal and may be
only temporary.
'While their issues have clear-
ly gained legitimacy, the mood
among feminists is not entirely
optimistic. Many women rabbis
encounter prejudice, even dis-
crimination, when they search
for a job. Women who find
greater equality in the syna-
gogue often see more and more
meaningful traditions eliminat-
ed. Others feel frustrated that
further efforts are not being
made to radically rewrite the tra-
ditional liturgy in order to rid it
of sexism...Many feminists feel
the movement is in a quiet pe-
riod of retrenchment, recapitu-
lating the gains of the past
decade, articulating a program
for the future, and responding to
the challenges of their oppo-
nents."
Among the contributors to the
book are Cynthia Ozick, Deborah
Lipstadt, Judith Plaskow, Arthur
Green and Lesley Hazelton.