Women Remaking American Judaism (review)

Jewish feminism is an ongoing project in need of rigorous definition. Because of its disciplinary, geographic, and political diversity, it requires serious theoretical engagements that would map out its goals, contributions so far, and trajectory as an academic field.

Riv-Ellen Prell's anthology is a step in the right direction. Her anthology classifes work that has been done and adds important overviews that should help orient both scholars and lay readers. The focus of this anthology is the intersection of gender and religious aspects of American Jewish culture. This specific focus describes what has become in recent years the most intense, visible, and almost hegemonic areas of feminist Jewish research and scholarly activities.

The anthology is divided into three sections: Revisioning Judaism, Redefining Judaism, and Reframing Judaism. The first section includes essays by Rochelle L. Millen on Jewish feminist theology, by Chava Weissler on the Jewish Revival Movement, and by Adrienne B. Leveen on feminist biblical and popular interpretation. Millen's article is especially helpful in mapping out the terrain by classifying contemporary Jewish feminist theologies into Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox approaches. This classification is taken up in the next section, which includes articles by Karla Goldman on Women in the Reform Movement, by Deborah Dash Moore and Andrew Bush on gender and Reconstructionist Judaism, by Shuly Rubin Schwartz on Conservative Judaism, by Norma Baumel Joseph on Orthodox Judaism, and a historical essay by Pamela S. Nadell on women rabbis. All of these articles highlight the ways in which women redefined and reshaped religious tradition in specific denominations and historical contexts. The final section highlights transformations that transcend specific congregational affiliations, thus "reframing" American Judaism. The section includes articles by Jody Myers on Rosh Hodesh Ceremonies, by Vanessa L. Ochs on recovering and including Miriam in central rituals, and by Lisa Grant on Bat Mitzvah ceremonies.

Riv Ellen-Prell is right to emphasize in her introduction that Jewish feminism is local, national, and global. These multiple perspectives will, I hope, open out a comparative dimension that will consider, for example, the religious transformations of American feminism to the political, legal, and cultural transformations of Israeli feminism. These considerations of Jewish feminism await much needed elaboration that clearly lies beyond the important contribution provided by this particular anthology.

The book concludes with a timeline of Jewish and U.S. feminism that integrates the history of American liberal feminist history and major accomplishments by individual Jewish feminists. I would suggest that more thought needs to be given to the place of Jewish feminism within American feminism: what are the relationships with other religious and ethnic minorities? Are there mutual points of influence, or should American Jewish feminism be considered a variant of a broader history of American feminism? How does Jewish American feminism deal with American issues like race, class, and empire? What is the desired place of American Jewish feminism within the Women's Studies curriculum? The concluding timeline then, while helpful in and of itself, gestures toward much needed future research and theoretical work that will include a consideration of secular and cultural varieties of American Jewish feminism, not included in this timeline.