A Time to Be Born: Customs and Folklore of Jewish Birth

By Michele Klein

Book Overview

A National Jewish Book Award Winner

Psychologist and folklorist Michele Klein draws upon many rich sources--prayers, folktales, folk remedies, as well as biblical, rabbinical, and mystical literature--to explore childbirth from a specifically Jewish context.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0827606982
• ISBN13: 9780827606982
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Jewish Publication Society
• Length: 406 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A celebration of the birth of Jewish babies

The perfect gift for thinking people expecting a baby, especially a first baby. This book considers the mystical experiences aroused by the discovery of having conceived, of feeling the first kick, of holding the baby for the first time. The result is enchanting, captivating and easy to read. Divided into the four principal phases of the childbearing process, conception, pregnancy, birthing and postnatal period, Klein also discusses with sensitivity the issues of barreness, of death in childbirth and death of the baby. With material from 200 interviews and an incredible bibliography from obscure folk, medical, religious and liturgical sources, this work, encylopedic in its scope, must become a classic.