Expanding the Palace of Torah: Orthodoxy and Feminism

Synopsis

"Expanding the Palace of Torah offers a broad philosophical overview of the challenges the women's revolution poses to Orthodox Judaism, and Orthodox Judiasm's response to those challenges. Writing as an insider (herself an Orthodox Jew), Ross seeks to develop a theological response that fully acknowledges the male bias of Judaism's sanctified texts, yet nevertheless provides a rational for transforming that bias in today's world without undermining their authority. She proposes an approach to divine revelation-- the theological heart of traditional Judaism-- which she calls "cumulativism." This approach is based on a conflating of strict boundaries between text and its interpretation, or the divine intent and the evolution of human understanding." "Ross believes that the greater fluidity afforded by cumulativism is necessary for legitimizing the insights of feminism and fully absorbing women's changed status within the religious rubric of Jewish tradition. Emphasizing that continuity with tradition can be maintained only when the halakhic system is understood as a living organism that grows via affirmation of its historical legacy and respect for its constraints, her book shows that the feminist revolution in Orthodox Judaism reaches beyond its practical effect upon individual lives to teach us something more profound about the nature of religious practice in general." -- Amy Gottlieb Zorn berg (from the back cover)

Copyright:

2004

Book Details

Book Quality:

Excellent

Book Size:

332 Pages

Publisher:

University Press of New England

Date of Addition:

09/08/09

Copyrighted By:

Brandeis University Press

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Nonfiction, Religion and Spirituality, Social Studies, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Philosophy

Submitted By:

Lynn Zelvin

Proofread By:

Liz

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.