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Coupon must be surrendered when leaving order for processing. L Not Valid With Any Other Coupon • Expires 1/13/96. BIRMINGHAM 794 N. Woodward Ave. (4 Blks. N. of Maple 1 BIRMINGHAM (5 Blks. S. of Maple) 644-6667 642-1660 TROY SOUTHFIELD 2862 W. Maple 19715 W. 12 Mile (at Coolidge In Somerset Plaza) 643-0807 MasterCard 608 S. Woodward Ave. Atgl, CAN (XPICSS (at Evergreen) 559-9232 kosc grA5t w LLI CC F- LU LLJ F- 02 1111 Advertising in The Jewish News Gets Results Place Your Ad Today. 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 _