A Jewish Woman's Prayer Book

By Aliza Lavie

On the eve of Yom Kippur in 2002, Aliza Lavie, a university professor, read an interview with an Israeli woman who had lost both her mother and her baby daughter in a terrorist attack. As she stood in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385522746
• ISBN13: 9780385522748
• Release Date: December 2008
• Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.5" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Beautiful collection of prayers, some written for women, some written by women

I love this book because it has so much history and tells you where the prayers come from, often who wrote them and why, and what situation they were in when each one was written. Some of the prayers are translations or alternate versions of standard prayers found in standard siddurim. Each prayer is written in English, and then the facing page is either Hebrew or Yiddish or Ladino! Beautifully written, beautifully collected, something to cherish and pass down to the young ladies in the family! I have been using this to extend my regular prayers, and to extend my own conversations with HaShem. Prayers for joyous occasions, troubling times, daily thoughts, etc. are all included. There is even a beautiful, short Haggadah written on toilet paper during the holocaust by a concentration camp victim, slipped to another woman just before the author passed on! Even the way this book came about is beautiful...you really should read the inside cover.

A beautiful collection of prayers for life cycle events

This is a beautiful book to add to anyone's Judaic collection. It is written in both Hebrew and in English. I purchased copies as gifts for some special women in my life. No matter how observant the readers are, they will be moved by the poetic beauty, historic commentary, and inspiration of the prayers that apply to many life cycle events.

Maximizing Prayer

I bought three copies--for my wife, daughter, and daughter-in-law. All three are using it regularly. Plus, they are strongly recommending it to others. A wonderful addition to any woman's religious texts/sources.

"A Jewish Woman's Prayer Book" A must read!

Don't let the title "A Jewish Woman's Prayer Book" stop you from buying this book. Normally that title would describe a book that is used to follow during a daily or Shabbat prayer service. But this is not a "prayer service" book. This is an intensive study by Dr. Lavie to uncover women's prayers to fit all manners of situations over the centuries: prayers written by women, prayers in ancient and modern books that were often recited by women. Many of the prayers were not previously incorporated into prayer books, rather they were handed down through the generations from mother to daughter. It is important to note that this book of women's prayers has meaning also for men and impacts the lives of Jews and non-Jews. This powerful book is a must read.