Five Books Of Miriam: A Woman's Commentary on the Torah

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 384 pages
• Published by: HarperOne December 29, 1997
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 006063037X
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0060630379
• Book Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

From Library Journal
In this wonderfully imaginative book, Frankel (The Classic Tales, Aronson, 1995), the editor-in-chief of the Jewish Publication Society, presents a chorus of women's voices?from Miriam "the problem," Leah "the namer," Lilith "the rebel," and Eve to "our daughters" ("today's Jewish women and the women of the generations yet to come"), our mothers, and our bubbes ("those who have lived long and seen it all"). The voices speculate and give valuable historical background on the Five Books of Moses as they are presented in the normal order of synagogue readings. What a lively and revelatory exchange it is, and how refreshing it is to hear the points of view of the usually silent women of tradition and the Old Testament. Highly recommended for Judaica collections.?Marcia G. Welsh, Guilford Free Lib., Ct.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
One of the great contemporary knocks against the Bible is that it is filtered through a masculine lens--both the writings and the interpretations. Frankel attempts to remedy this situation by offering biblical commentary from a female perspective. Her framework is a bit gimmicky: she introduces her cast of characters, everyone from Lilith, the first woman, and Hager, the servant lady who bore Abraham's son and mothered the Arab nation, through various commentators, including ancient and contemporary rabbis. After each character or group states its point of view in the first person, the five books of Moses (here renamed Miriam) are presented in portions, as they are read weekly in Jewish houses of worship, and commented upon by the various characters. Important questions are asked, and thoughtful answers supplied from differing perspectives. Why did Abraham pretend Sarah was his sister and offer her to Pharaoh? Why are menstruating women considered unclean? Each portion is short enough so as not to overwhelm the reader, but the commentary gives plenty to think about and reminds us how fully human the people of the Bible were. An great addition to public library religion collections. Ilene Cooper --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This is a creative approach to analyzing the Torah with a unique concern for the ways the texts speak to the experiences of women. Frankel, Ph.D., has concocted a playlist of biblical characters (and a few extra-biblical characters) who then essentially read the Torah together and discuss it. The conversation rolls along dialogically, with various characters proposing various interpretations and discussing the text. It is a wide departure from most exegetical books which attempt to "tell" the reader what the text says. Frankel invites the reader to be a participant in the interpretation, siding with or disagreeing with the various participants. The strongest advantage of the book is not the empowerment of women but the empowerment of students of the Bible. As a woman's commentary, it is interesting though perhaps a bit obvious. They protest the things you expect the caricatured feminist reader to protest. Their internal disagreements are not so widely divergent as modern feminist writers'. There is, to my mind, no particularly new or creative contributions to the women's movement or egalitarianism. On the other hand, there is nothing here to find particularly offensive, either. Cryptic is the hermeneutic that Frankel, Ph.D. uses. Somehow "Lillith the Rebel," an apparent alternative to Eve, is given a voice equivalent to Miriam's. From where she chooses her authorities (or dialogue partners) is vague. There are both more and less extreme voices she could have chosen. Similarly, God is called, among other things, "Ha-Rahaman, the Womb-of-the-World" (p. 59), an uncited neologism. I presume this is just Frankel's attempt to be creative, although it feels awkward when she's through. Again, there are stories of Old Testament characters which are not in fact in the Old Testament, such as the story of a serpent swallowing Moses (p. 100). The overall effect is to give the book the sense that some of the conversation about the Torah is not to be taken seriously. Finally, the text itself is clunky. We have a very creative vehicle of conversation, but all of the characters seem to have essentially the same voice. While there may be preferred themes and complains of each, they all sound like they were penned by the same author. It makes the reader wonder if an even more creative vehicle might have been a recorded conversation between several female scholars, thus further emphasizing the sense that the Torah is to be discussed rather than "told." This, of course, would require Frankel to step down from her position as Ph.D./authority-on-the-matter. Overall, I like the direction, but I might have sent it back for another editing.