Jewish Mothers Tell Their Stories: Acts of Love and Courage

Jewish Mothers Tell Their Stories

Acts of Love and Courage

By Rachel J. Siegel, Ellen Cole, Susan Steinberg Oren

Price: $39.95

ISBN: 978-0-7890-1100-8
Binding: Paperback (also available in Hardback)
Published by: Routledge
Publication Date: 3rd May 2000
Pages: 338

About the Book

Winner of the Women in Psychology Jewish Caucus Award for 2000!

Jewish Mothers Tell Their Stories: Acts of Love and Courage contains touching and personal essays written by contemporary Jewish mothers from different parts of the globe. Their stories reveal the choices that Jewish mothers make in our post-Holocaust, non-Jewish world--the many ways of being Jewish, the acts of loving, of preserving and celebrating Jewish traditions and spirituality, and of transmitting them to their children and families.

The firsthand stories in this compelling book raises questions and provides you with insight into a variety of topics, including:

The 'Jewish mother’stereotype and its impact on real Jewish mothers
ethnic/historical connections between mothers and daughters
moving acts of love, courage, and sacrifice in response to illness, war, or conflicting ideologies
motherhood as a catalyst for personal evolutions of Jewish identity and values
Orthodox to secular expressions of spirituality
The impact of the 'Jewish motherhood imperative’
positive experiences of conversion and interfaith families
conveying Jewish history and tradition in a Christian world

Jewish Mothers Tell Their Stories will draw you into an appreciation of the cultural, ethnic, and spiritual aspects of mothering. This remarkable collection explores the different meanings of today's concept of “Jewish mother” and “Jewish family.”

Contents

About the Editors
Contributors
Introduction
SECTION I: TRADITIONS
Chapter 1. From Generation to Generation
Chapter 2. How I Learned to Be a Jewish Mother
Chapter 3. Traditions
Chapter 4. My Mother Is Greek
Chapter 5. Mandelbrot, Rugelach, and a Family Quilt
SECTION II: UNBINDING LOVE
Chapter 6. Unbinding Love
Chapter 7. How a Paper Clip Changed Our Lives
Chapter 8. On Mourning for Soldier Sons in Israel
Chapter 9. On My Son's Induction into the Israeli Armed Forces: A Feminist Mother's Prayer
Chapter 10. Jewish Mother and Son: The Feminist Version
Chapter 11. If I Can't Tear the Toilet Paper, Why Can I Flush the Toilet?
SECTION III: JEWISH VALUES
Chapter 12. On the Other Hand
Chapter 13. Old Clothes and Food from Afar
Chapter 14. My Journey Toward Jewish Identification
Chapter 15. Am I a Jewish Mother?
Chapter 16. Conversion: The Mother of Invention
Chapter 17. A Wandering Mother
SECTION IV: JEWISH IDENTITY--DISCOVERED AND REDISCOVERED
Chapter 18. Jewish Mother “From Scratch”
Chapter 19. How Modern-Day Austria Made Me a Modern Jewish Mother
Chapter 20. Learning to Speak German
Chapter 21. Washing Down the Chalk
Chapter 22. While My Sixteen-Year-Old Daughter Visits Auschwitz
Chapter 23. A Long, Circular Journey
SECTION V: SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION
Chapter 24. A Life in Code
Chapter 25. You Will Teach Your Children Diligently
Chapter 26. Beresheet, In the Beginning
Chapter 27. On Carving a Life
Chapter 28. Integrating Feminism, Judaism, and Spirituality
Chapter 29. Seeking Serenity As a Single Jewish Mother
Chapter 30. Oranges and Cinnamon
SECTION VI: THE REAL WORLD
Chapter 31. Dealing with the Real World: Our Children, Ourselves
Chapter 32. No More Family Secrets
Chapter 33. If I'd Known How To Be a Jewish Mother, I Would Have Been One
Chapter 34. Chopped Liver and Sour Grapes: Jewish But Not a Mother
Chapter 35. My Two Lives
Glossary of Jewish and Yiddish Terms