Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Save the Dates for Fall 2008!

***Thursday, October 30th, 5:30- 7pm***

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD: THE BIBLE AS AN OPEN BOOK
(Rutgers University Press, 2008)
With author, Alicia Ostriker, and respondent, Jill Hammer (author of Sisters at Sinai: New Tales of Biblical Women)

For the Love of God is a provocative and inspiring re-interpretation of six essential Biblical texts: The Song of Songs, the Book of Ruth, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Jonah, and Job. In prose that is personal and probing, analytically acute and compellingly readable, Ostriker sees these writings as “counter-texts,” deviating from convention yet deepening and enriching the Bible, our images of God, and our own potential spiritual lives. Attempting to understand “some of the wildest, strangest, most splendid writing in Western tradition,” she shows how the Bible embraces sexuality and skepticism, boundary crossing and challenges to authority, how it illuminates the human psyche and mirrors our own violent times, and how it asks us to make difficult choices in the quest for justice.

***Thursday, November 13th, 5:30- 7pm***

"Tefillat Nashim: Jewish Women's Prayers"

With authors:
Aliza Lavie, Bar Ilan University, author of A Jewish Woman's Prayer Book
Rivka Haut and Adena Berkovitz, co-authors of "Shaarei Simcha" ("Gates of Joy"), a mini prayer book that was hailed as "the first modern liturgical work written and edited by women for use in the Orthodox community."

Editorial Review: A Jewish Woman’s Prayer Book is a beautiful and moving one-of-a-kind collection that draws from a variety of Jewish traditions, through the ages, to commemorate every occasion and every passage in the cycle of life, from the mundane to the extraordinary. This elegant, inspiring volume includes special prayers for the Sabbath and holidays and important dates of the Jewish year; prayers to mark celebratory milestones, such as bat mitzva, marriage, pregnancy, and childbirth; and prayers for comfort and understanding in times of tragedy and loss. Each prayer is presented in Hebrew and in an English translation, along with fascinating commentary on its origins and allusions. Culled from a wide range of sources, both geographically and historically, this collection testifies that women's prayers were—and continue to be—an inspired expression of personal supplication and desire.