By revealing the importance of gender in interpreting the Jewish past, this collection of original essays highlights the profound influence that feminist scholarship has had on the study of Jewish history since the 1970s. Gender and Jewish History considers the impact of gender on Jewish religious practices and political behavior, educational accomplishments and communal structures, acculturation and choice of occupations. The book stimulates conversations on such topics as Jewish women's creativity and spirituality, violence against women, Jews' reactions to persecution in the Holocaust, and Judaism as lived religion and culture. Honoring Paula Hyman, one of the founders of Jewish gender studies, this volume shows gender to be an eye-opening entry into realms of Jewish history previously untouched by it.

Winner, 2011 National Jewish Book Awards, Anthologies and Collections category

About the Author

Marion A. Kaplan is Skirball Professor of Modern Jewish History at New York University.

Deborah Dash Moore is Frederick G. L. Huetwell Professor of History and director of the Jean and Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan.

Reviews

[T]he subject matter of the essays shows how gender analysis can and should belong in a variety of fields and areas of study, from religious thought to the history of art to activism and politics. The result is a fitting tribute to one of the great historians of modern Judaism.

* Religious Studies Review *

Written by authorities in their fields, these essays are nevertheless accessible and uncover many previously hidden aspects of social, cultural, religious, and political Jewish life since the mid-18th century. Fall 2011

* Jewish Book World *

Gender and Jewish History will ultimately be valuable to both scholars and graduate students in a number of disciplines. Although these essays did not arise out of a conference, they nevertheless engage in dialogue with one another to a remarkable degree.

* Studies in Contemporary Jewry *

Owing to the calibre of its scholarship and the fact that it brings together important work by scholars of European and American Jewish history, literature, culture, religious studies, and Holocaust studies, this book is unquestionably the most significant volume on the topic to appear in English in over a decade.11.3 2012

* Journal of Modern Jewish Studies *

[T]he incredible breadth of essays in Gender and Jewish History proves that few topics in modern Jewish history can be understood without paying attention to gender, as a set of relationships that structure power.

* The Jewish Quarterly Review *

Imagine sitting down for delicious tapas at a long table with a group of old friends. The flavors are nuanced and varied, while the conversation is lively, provocative and deeply engaging. Reading Gender and Jewish History, edited by noted historians Marion A. Kaplan and Deborah Dash Moore, is a bit like that imagined leisurely meal.

* Jewish Daily Forward *

Marion A. Kaplan and Deborah Dash Moore have created a worthy tribute to Hyman's pioneering role in establishing gender as an essential component in the scholarly interpretation of the Jewish experience.

* H-Judaic *

Gender and Jewish History makes an important contribution to our understanding in three ways. First, it gathers together eminent and emerging scholars in one comprehensive collection. Second, its essays are engaging and wide-ranging in focus, depth and breadth, and accessibly written, without dense academic jargon, so that nonacademics can dig in, as well. Finally, it's a moving testament to just how much an individual can influence the development and trajectory of an entire scholarly field through persistence, persuasion and extraordinary vision.

* ForeWord *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253222633
Author Marion A. Kaplan
Format Paperback
Page Count 428
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press
Weight(grams) 635g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 25mm