Feminist commentary on the weekly Torah portions done as imagined women's voices from Jewish tradition.
Some stories told are:
* for Terumah: "The Sabbath Loaves: A Cautionary Tale" (pp. 131-2). In this version, the rabbi who yells at the couple is condemned to death by an angel.
* for Akharei Mot: "The Mouse Seeks a Wife" (p. 178). A mouse wants to marry the sun, then the cloud, then the wind, then the wall, before finally realizing that a mouse is most worthy.
* for Va-Etkhanan: "The Orange on the Seder Plate" (p. 256). This explanation is a that "Susannah Heschel was challenged about a woman's right to rabbinic ordination: 'A woman belongs on the bimah,' jeered a man in the audience, 'as much as an orange belongs on a the seder plate.'" ( )

This was much more engaging than I expected it to be.

I was given this as a gift by someone looking for something, I suppose, to give a feminist Jew. I don't know why, but it didn't strike my fancy at first, and I put off reading it. Then, recently, I found myself without reading material and started thumbing through it and then drawn in to it.

If one is at all familiar with Talmud and its traditional structure with arguments, different voices, and give and take -- that's what this reminds me of.

Each chapter of Torah is summed up, and then questions about the chapter are asked by "Our Daughters." These may be the sorts of questions you have asked yourself. Questions are then answered by our mothers, sage advice given by our bubbes, or Rachel or Sarah may step in and give us their point of view.

All in all this is an engaging and refreshing take on the Torah. And since it is divided into parshot, perfect for Torah study! ( )

Bible.--O.T.--Pentateuch--Commentaries.