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Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in personal ritual and spirituality, as well as an exciting expansion of women's participation and leadership in Jewish life. The mulitiple volumes of Lifecycles bring together over 100 leading thinkers to create the first comprehensive work on Jewish lifecycle that features women's perspectives.
In a style that is perceptive, insightful and personal, Lifecycles, Volume 1 covers the spectrum of life's passages and personal milestones: Childbirth, Conversion, Marriage, Singlehood, Coming Out, Mid-Life, Divorce, Aging and more. Included are personal narratives, traditional concepts, new approaches, practical insights and rituals and ceremonies to study and use. The contributors explore tradition and innovation with passion and self-awareness, expressing the way Jewish women see—and affect—the world.
Introductions by Rabbi Debra Orenstein provide readers with a broader context for the ideas shared in each section. Complete with an afterword guide to creating rituals, this landmark volume gives women a resource for recognizing and marking their own life passages and personal milestones.
"An invaluable resource for women who want to connect Jewish feminism to the actual occasions of their lives."
—Judith Plaskow, author of Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective
"Nothing is missing from this marvelous collection. You will turn to it for rituals and inspiration, prayer and poetry, comfort and community. Lifecycles is a gift to the Jewish woman in America."
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin, author of Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish in America
“This compendium is wonderful, useful, and necessary as a companion in one's life.”
—E.M. Broner, author of A Weave of Women and The Telling
“A wonderful book of Jewish wisdom that weaves together women's personal experiences and traditional sources to reflect upon, and create rituals for, life’s passages. Essential reading for all who seek to infuse their life with Jewish meaning.”
—Paula E. Hyman, Lucy Moss Professor of Modern Jewish History, Yale University
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
A Note on Translation, Transliteration, Foreign Terms, and Abbreviations
1. Beginnings
2. Infertility and Early Losses
3.Welcoming Children into Name and Covenant
4. Adolescence
5. Being Single
6. Invisible Life Passages
7. Coming Out
8. Marriage
9. Divorce
10. Intermarriage
11. Choosing Judaism
12. Parenting
13. Midlife
14. Aging
15. Death and Mourning
Afterword: How to Create a Ritual
Contributors' "Click Stories"
Suggested Readings
Glossary
Notes
Index