Four Centuries of Jewish Women’s Spirituality: A Sourcebook

FOUR CENTURIES OF JEWISH WOMEN’S SPIRITUALITY: A SOURCEBOOK
edited by Ellen Umansky and Dianne Ashton, Beacon Press, 1992, $18.00.

This unique anthology unveils unpublished or little known spiritual writings by Jewish women from 1560 through the present. Among the over one hundred private letters, poems, memoirs, prayers, rituals and essays we find tkhines, the Yiddish prayers women wrote and recited in 17th century Europe; hymns from the first Hebrew Sunday Schools in the United States; diary entries from such leaders as Henrietta Szold and Hannah Senesh; women’s reflections on God and the Holocaust; Israeli poets; Yemenite Hebrew songs; essays by rabbis, and contemporary rituals for New Moon celebrations and for healing from rape.

This extensive collection is an important addition to the reclaiming of Jewish “her story” as well as a magnificent resource for creative religious services, speeches and personal inspiration.