Beginning Anew: A Woman's Companion to the High Holidays, ed. Gail Twersky Reimer and Judith Kates (Simon and Schuster)

Review

I have two minor complaints about this book, and several more significant compliments. My first minor complaint is that the title doesn't do the book justice; it is not only a woman's companion to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, but, as this male can attest, a book for anyone willing to revisit the themes of the holiday Torah readings and liturgies. The bulk of the book consists of essays- all written by women, and not only that, but women who span the Jewish spectrum of perspectives- examining the Torah and haftorah (Prophetic) readings. This is a book that seems like such a natural idea, given that so many of the characters and themes of the High Holiday readings cry out for women's interpretive voices: the yearning for a child, rivalry and jealousy, the sexual laws of Leviticus, laughter, tears, and repentance.

Not all of the essays moved me equally- a few with more overtly political themes seemed a bit forced to me, but that may be a personal bias. However, several of the essays were masterful reinterpretations of familiar texts, and brought out connections to the High Holiday challenge of teshuvah and reconnection that I had never seen before. Marsha Pravder Mirkin's rethinking of the Abraham-Sarah-Hagar triangle, entitled "Hearken To Her Voice: Empathy as Teshuvah," is alone worth the price of the book, and has already informed my thinking and teaching. Other essays I found especially worthwhile were Aviva Zornberg's reflections upon midrashim concerning the death of Sarah, and Tamar Frankiel's exploration of the psyche of Rachel, given the provocative title "Our Mother of Sorrows."

My only other minor complaint about this book is that I wish a few more essays reflecting on the holiday liturgies had been included; I'd like to hear what some of these insightful and sensitive women have to say about our communal confessions, the role of God the King, the blowing of the shofar, and so forth. Yet the essay that closes the book, Arlene Agus's "Afterword: Meeting God's Gaze," which does deal with liturgical and theological themes, moved me profoundly, and was, to me, the finest part of the book, and an example of contemporary liberal religious thinking at its finest. Agus lays bare her soul-journey to God, and we are privileged to follow, challenged and humbled.


NJL