The Cohn-Haddow Center is proud to announce the publication of Women Remaking American Judaism by the Wayne State University Press. The volume is based on papers presented at the international conference on the Changing Role of Women in American Jewish Religious Life, which was organized by the Center in 2003. Edited by Riv-Ellen Prell with contributions from twelve scholars in the fields of American Jewish History and Women’s Studies, the work considers the impact of the Jewish feminist movement on American Judaism across the four major religious denominations from the 1960s to the present.

The book is divided into three sections. "Reenvisioning Judaism" investigates the feminist challenges to traditional understanding of Jewish law, texts, and theology. In "Redefining Judaism," contributors describe the changes in American Judaism put into place by the law committees, seminaries, rabbinic courts, rabbis, and synagogues of the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist movements and examine the distinct evolution of women’s issues in each of the denominations. The essays in the final section, entitled "Reframing Judaism," address feminist innovations that, in some cases, took place outside of institutional Jewish life. An introduction by Professor Prell situates the essays in both American and modern Jewish history and offers an analysis of why Jewish feminism was revolutionary.

Described by the eminent historian Jonathan Sarna as a "path-breaking assessment of feminism’s impact on American Judaism," the collection will be an indispensable addition to the bookshelves of anyone interested in contemporary American Jewish life.

Purchase Women Remaking American Judaism by the Wayne State University Press