UNCOVERED: Women’s Roles, Mitzvot, and Sexuality in Jewish Law – Review

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By Rivkah Lambert Adler

Posted on The Jerusalem Post

Examining Halacha through a Female Lens

Each of its nine chapters includes source material from biblical verses, Talmudic discussions, and classical and contemporary responsa, in Hebrew/Aramaic and English, presented chronologically. 

Uncovered is primarily a halachic work. Its author, Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash, has spent decades immersed in what the rabbis have to say about the lives of Jewish women. 

In her introduction, she identifies as “gradually moving from frustration to acceptance to empowerment by finding a ‘seat at the table,’ so to speak, of halachic discourse.”

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The Spiritual Wisdom of Rav Kook: A New Collection of Writings – Review

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by Bezalel Naor

Posted on Orot.com

INDIVIDUAL SPIRITUALITY AND COLLECTIVE SPIRITUALITY

This is the author’s second collection of Rav Kook’s writings. (The first was entitled, The Spiritual Revolution of Rav Kook [2018].)

The book is divided into two parts: Individual Spirituality and Collective Spirituality. The division was inspired by something that Rav Kook himself wrote in one of his journals:

There is a type of Tsaddik/Righteous Person who shouldn’t leave the spiritual feelings of one’s heart. Such a person doesn’t need to look outside of one’s private realm.

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DESTINY: From Shoeshine Boy to Mayor – Review

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Posted on Amazon and Goodreads

by Dr. Israel Drazin

Norman Ciment’s autobiography “Destiny: From Shoeshine Boy to Mayor” is fascinating, easy to read, and inspiring.

A good autobiography, like this one, can benefit readers. My Dad had a large library with many books in many languages. I used the local library as a youngster, as I still do, but I read the books in Dad’s Library because I knew, knowing how smart he was, that his books contained wisdom.

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Uncovered: Women’s Roles, Mitzvot, and Sexuality in Jewish Law – Review

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posted on Booksnthoughts.com

by Dr. Israel Drazin

Women’s Role in Orthodox Jewish Law

Under current Jewish Law, as understood by most Orthodox Jews, women have different obligations than men. With just a few exceptions, they do not have to observe positive commands limited to specific times. Wearing tefillin exemplifies this leniency because men do not wear tefillin at night, on Shabbat, and holidays. So are Sukkah, lulav, shofar, tzitzit, and Torah study.

Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash’s 2024 book, ‘Uncovered: Women’s Roles, Mitzvot, and Sexuality in Jewish Law,’ published by Urim Publications in Israel, is a significant and comprehensive contribution to the understanding of women’s roles in Jewish Law.

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Uncovered: Women’s Roles, Mitzvot, and Sexuality in Jewish Law – Review

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Posted on Midwest Book Review, The Judaic Studies Shelf

With the publication of “Uncovered: Women’s Roles, Mitzvot, and Sexuality in Jewish Law ” from Urim Publications, Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash offers a clear and nuanced perspective on the issues that have shaped Jewish women’s roles, religious identity, and ritual obligations across millennia.

Rabbanit Barash guides the reader through the rich tapestry of Jewish legal sources and historical contexts, making them accessible to the novice and even more compelling to fluent text readers. “Uncovered” will empower readers to engage in informed discussions about the Jewish woman’s place in the multifaceted mosaic of faith and practice.

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SHOMER EMUNIM: The Introduction to Kabbalah – Review

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Posted on youtube on Aug. 2, 2024

The ESOTERICA youtube channel is full of praise for this volume for learning authentic Kabbalah:

“One question I often get is how to study the Kabbalah as authentically and as historically traditional as possible. My answer is the R. Yosef Ergas’ 1720 Shomer Emunim, with a translation by Avinoam Fraenkel. Take a look at this episode (specifically starting at 5 minutes in) to see why.”

For more information on this book see Urim Publications

Giving: The Essential Teaching of the Kabbalah by “Baal Hasulam” – Review

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by Rabbi Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg

Originally posted at Jewish Action, Summer 2024

The Torah-observant Jew views life as an ongoing process of change and growth aimed at developing a deeper relationship with G-d—becoming more aware of His presence and directing the course of one’s life accordingly. This process takes place within the framework of the commandments of the Torah, but that framework leaves the individual great leeway to choose an approach to developing intimacy with G-d that is suited to one’s character and needs.

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Faith and Fortitude – Review

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by Ben Rothke

Originally posted at the Jewish Press

Rav Eliezer Berkovits was one of the greatest rabbinic minds of the 20th century. Yet, mention his name today and far too few people know of this gadol.

While Reuven Mohl spends his working hours as a dentist, he also spends a lot of his time working on getting the writings of Rav Berkovits into print, beginning, a few years ago, with Jewish Women in Time and Torah. In Faith and Fortitude, he brings Rav Berkovits’s brilliant insights about Megillat Ruth to the written page.

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