Jewish Mothers Tell Their Stories: Acts of Love and Courage

by Rachel Josefowitz Siegel, Ellen Cole

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 worldJewish 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."

334 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Born in Berlin, 1924, of Lithuanian Jewish parents.1930 to 1939 in Switzerland. Immigrated To USA with her family in 1939. Married to Benjamin M Siegel,1944, Sons Charles Elias and Hyam Barry, daughter Ruth.
MSW in 1973, private psychotherapy practice until 1996. Founding member of the Feminist Therapy Institute, and the Ithaca, NY. Task Force for Battered (now called Advocacy Center). Active member of Temple Beth El, Ithaca.
Wrote numerous publications on Jewish women and on aging and active retirement,as well as on feminist therapy. Edited three collections of current articles by and about Jewish Women, and one collection on Women and Psychotherapy.
Lives in a retirement community in Ithaca, NY.

Reviews

[Congregation Beth-El Zedeck Library]

Said to be a wonderful collection of stories from Jewish mothers from all different points of view and a variety of backgrounds.