Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective
“Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective is a book remarkable for its clarity and its comprehensive account of feminist responses to Jewish life and thought. As such, and as the first book-length feminist Jewish theology, readable and sophisticated, provocative and judiciously presented , Standing Again at Sinai will be an essential resource to all who are struggling with the question of women’s place in history and in modern life. It should also quickly find its place on syllabi for courses in Judaica at every level of study.
The details of Plaskow’s feminist critique of Judaism are not new. What is new is that these ideas are gathered in a sustained argument that begins by establishing the importance of theology as the place where many of the unarticulated assumptions about Judaism reside. “So long as theology is dismissed as unimportant,” writes Plaskow, “the sexism built into certain basic Jewish ideas is aided and abetted by the neglect of theology” (p. 22). Focusing on Torah, Israel, and God as Judaism’s central categories, Plaskow challenges the assumption that Judaism is a non-theological tradition and therefore emphasizes theology over law and biblical rather than rabbinic Scripture in her analysis of authority in Judaism. She demonstrates that classically Judaism has spoken to and about men, excluding women altogether or regarding woman as Other, part of what must be managed by the systems that men control. Plaskow’s powerful criticism nevertheless compels her readers to proceed towards a Judaism that is inclusive of all Jews. Beginning with the point that for herself she discovers no non-patriarchal space to which she can retreat, as a feminist and a Jew she finds that the next task is to speak the silence that occupies the place of woman in Judaism.”
Summary Source Excerpted From:
Lefkovitz, Lori. Review of Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective. Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 9, no. 2 (1991): 83-85. doi:10.1353/sho.1991.0062.
Publisher’s Website: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/standing-again-at-sinai-judith-plaskow?variant=32139156422690
Recommended Citation (Chicago):
Plaskow, Judith. Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective. New York: HarperOne, 1991.