B'ShERT Interfaith Book Club

B’ShERT, our sister congregation in Brooklyn, NY, welcomes Beth El members to participate in its Interfaith Book Club with members of organizations representing diverse faiths. Discussions are an hour long and take place every two months on Zoom.

This month, join the discussion of Gila Fine’s award-winning The Madwoman in the Rabbi's Attic: Rereading the Women of the Talmud. Women in the Talmud are generally marginal and almost always anonymous. Fine explores the stories of the exceptions: six named heroines, each of whom appears to embody an antifeminist archetype. Yet in each case, a careful rereading reveals that they are far more complex than they first seem and that the rabbis had surprising (so as not to say proto-feminist) views of marriage, sex, childbirth, and what it means to be a woman in the world.

Questions? Email Janet Schlesinger at gardenerinmaine@mindspring.com.