Foreword by Anita Diamant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix

Part I Women and Theology 1
Calling All Theologians
JUDITH PLASKOW, PhD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Major Trends in Jewish Feminist Theology
The Work of Rachel Adler, Judith Plaskow, and Rebecca Alpert
RABBI DONNA BERMAN, PhD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

To Her We Shall Return
Jews Turning to the Goddess, the Goddess Turning to Jews
RABBI JILL HAMMER, PhD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Metaphors of God
RABBI KARYN D. KEDAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Creation Theology
Theology for the Rest of Us
ELLEN BERNSTEIN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Part II Women, Ritual, and Torah 55
The Hermeneutics of Curiosity
On Reclamation
RABBI DANYA RUTTENBERG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

The Politics and Aesthetics of Jewish Women's Spirituality
LORI HOPE LEFKOVITZ, PhD, AND RABBI RONA SHAPIRO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

The Pink Tallit
Women¿s Rituals as Imitative or Inventive?
RABBI ELYSE GOLDSTEIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

From Ancient Times to Modern Meaning
Jewish Women Claim Their Ritual Power
RABBI GEELA RAYZEL RAPHAEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Torah Study "For Women"
WENDY ZIERLER, PhD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Transforming Our Stories through Midrash
RABBI TIRZAH FIRESTONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Part III Women and the Synagogue 121
From the Personal to the Communal
How Women Have Changed the Rabbinate
RABBI JACQUELINE KOCH ELLENSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

The Ascent of the Woman Cantor
Shira Hamaalot
CANTOR BARBARA OSTFELD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Orthodox Women in Rabbinic Roles
SARA HURWITZ, MADRICHA RUCHANIT (RELIGIOUS MENTOR) . . . . . . . . . 144

Feminism and the Transformation of the Synagogue
RABBI SUE LEVI ELWELL, PhD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Where Are the Jewish Men?
The Absence of Men from Liberal Synagogue Life
RABBI JOSEPH B. MESZLER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Pacing Change
The Impact of Feminism on Conservative Synagogues
ANNE LAPIDUS LERNER, PhD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Women in the Conservative Synagogue
RABBI IRIT PRINTZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

part iv Women in Israel 195
A Thirty-Year Perspective on Women and Israeli Feminism
RABBI NAAMAH KELMAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Gender in Israeli Liberal Liturgy
RABBI DALIA MARX, PhD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Masorti (Conservative Israeli) Women
RABBI EINAT RAMON, PhD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

The First Decade of the Orthodox Women¿s Revolution in Israel
The Case of Kolech
MARGALIT SHILO, PhD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

Part V Gender, Sexuality, and Age 239
Jewish Feminism, Sexuality, and a Sexual Justice Agenda
MARLA BRETTSCHNEIDER, PhD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

If the Shoe Doesn¿t Fit, Examine the Soul
Jewish Feminism and Gender Expression
RABBI JANE RACHEL LITMAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Koach Banot (Girl Power)
Talking Feminism with Jewish Teen Girls
BETH COOPER BENJAMIN, EdD, AND JODIE GORDON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Portrait of the Writer as a Young Feminist
RAHEL LERNER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

The Pink Ghetto
RUTH ANDREW ELLENSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Part VI Women and the Denominations 283
Orthodoxy and Feminism
IDANA GOLDBERG, PhD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

The Changing Status of Women in Liberal Judaism
A Reflective Critique
RABBI RACHEL SABATH BEIT-HALACHMI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Feminism and Halakhah
The Jew Who (Still) Isn¿t There
RABBI HAVIVA NER-DAVID, PhD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Feminism and Jewish Law in Conservative Judaism
RABBI GAIL LABOVITZ, PhD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Women and the Reconstructionist Movement
RABBI BARBARA PENZNER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Part VII Leadership and Social Justice 345
Jewish Women¿s Leadership for the Twenty-first Century
SHIFRA BRONZNICK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Bread, Roses, and Chutzpah
Jewish Women in American Social Movements
RABBI JILL JACOBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Women¿s Right to a World Free of Violence
RABBI LYNN GOTTLIEB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Servants before the King
Raising Up the Healer to Leadership
RABBI VALERIE JOSEPH AND RABBI ALANA SUSKIN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

Post-Triumphalism and the New Haskalah
ROSIE ROSENZWEIG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

Suggestions for Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432