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Call 354-6060
ina Beth Cardin was
strolling through the rare
book room at the Jewish
Theological Seminary's li-
brary when she came across an
unusual find. It was a gold-em-
bossed book, dedicated to some-
one named Yehudit Kutscher
Coen.
The book, she discovered, was
a gift from Giuseppe Coen, Yehu-
dit's future husband. It bore the
year 1786.
What Rabbi Cardin found was
a collection of prayers for women
— words to say when preparing
challah, when coming home from
the mikvah, when pregnant. She
was so impressed by what she
found that she translated the
work into English, and it was re-
cently published as Out of the
Depths I Call To You (Aron-
son).
Rabbi Cardin, ordained at the
Jewish Theological Seminary of
America and the former manag-
ing editor of Conservative Ju-
daism magazine, describes the
book as "a beginning, an intro-
duction, to the enterprise of un-
locking and unfolding Jewish
women's liturgical and ritual ex-
periences."
It also is the beginning of a
mystery. Yehudit Coen's book
claims the prayers are original
(though Rabbi Cardin observes,
"most, if not all, of the prayers are
borrowed"). But where else, Rab-
bi Cardin asks, were these
prayers recited? 'Were they wide-
spread and well-known or avail-
able only to the privileged? Were
these prayers truly spoken or
kept respectfully on a shelf? Were
they the author's imaginings of
what a woman might say, or did
these prayers speak compelling-
ly to women's fears and desires?
What compelled the author to
compose the prayers?"
Also new for women is Walter
Orenstein',s Letters To My
Daughter: A Father Writes
About Torah and the Jewish
Woman (Aronson).
Rabbi Orenstein, the author of
a number of books and a former
instructor at Stern College, dis-
cusses in a series of letters such
topics as "Women and Prayer"
and "The Problems of Evil."
Women in Chains (Aronson),
edited by Jack Nusan Porter, is
a collection of writings on the
agunah (a woman who has not
been issued a get, or divorce, from
her husband).
Dr. Porter, whose previous
works include Jews and Cults
and:Confronting History and
Holocaust, reports from a variety
of sources, including Orthodox
and Conservative scholars, the
Jewish press in the United States
and Israel, and modern authors
like S.Y. Agnon and Isaac Ba-
shevis Singer. He also asks the
question, "Is the System Work-
ing?" and allows for a response
("No") from Agunah, Inc., (a New
York-based women's group that
has picketed against husbands
who refuse to give their wives a
tions...An acceptance of the on-
going need for discussion of these
differences is the first step in the
therapy process."
In Embracing the Stranger
(Basic Books), Ellen Jaffe Mc-
Clain asks whether intermar-
riage necessarily means the end
of one's Jewish identity, and ul-
timately the destruction of the
Jewish people.
"Who are the Jews who are in-
Women join in for a prayer service at the Kotel.
get) and ("Yes") from a beit din, termarrying?" she asks. "And who
or Jewish court.
are the non-Jews they are mar-
The work includes a lengthy rying? What factors other than as-
appendix that cites resources for similation are responsible for the
agunot, ranging from the ACLU rise of intermarriage? How can we
to women's groups to attorneys help non-Jewish partners find a
and Orthodox rabbis.
place in Jewish life?"
erhaps not surprisingly,
Ms. McClain, a teacher and
the market is being flood- member of the UAHC's Com-
ed with books on Judaism mittee on the Jewish Family,
and the future — how to says her goal is to "empower Jews
fight assimilation and intermar- whose partners are religiously
riage and build the Jewish fam- disaffected or unaffiliated gen-
ily.
tiles to jump into Jewish life and
Among the new works tackling bring their partners with them
this challenging issue:
— with the full support of the
Crisis and Continuity: The Jewish community."
Jewish Family in the 21st
Preserving Jewishness in
Century (KTAV), edited by Nor- Your Family After Intermar-
man Linzer, Irving Levitz and riage Has Occurred (Aronson)
David Schnall, which not only an- was written by Rabbi Alan Sil-
alyzes the problems but offers so- verstein, international president
lutions.
of the Rabbinical Assembly. The
In a chapter on intermarriage, book includes chapters on the role
the authors consider the many of grandparents with interfaith
issues Jewish-gentile couples will couples, conversion to Judaism
face. Among the most difficult are and enrolling children of inter-
celebrating Christmas, conver- faith homes in Jewish educa-
sion and how to raise the chil- tional programs.
dren.
Rabbi Silverstein also is the
Often, the authors suggest author of Alternatives to As-
working through these matters similation (Brandeis Universi-
in counseling. "The essence of this ty Press), an examination of the
work lies in helping each mem- Reform movement and its effect
ber come to terms with the real- on Jewish religious practice and
ization that his or her spouse identity from 1840-1930.
comes from a different back-
Rabbi Silverstein considers
ground, with different ground both the development and influ-
rules and different exnecta- ence of the Reform m avPmen t.
p
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