God, Sex And The Women Of The Bible: Discovering Our Sensual, Spiritual Selves

by Rabbi Shoni Labowitz

In a book that will forever change the way we interpret women of the Bible, Shoni Labowitz's long-awaited follow-up to her celebrated Miraculous Living explores the lives of eight key women and reveals their relevance today. With impressive scholarship, Labowitz makes a compelling case that, contrary to popular notion, these women were in fact passionate, confident and unashamed of their bodies. In the luminous and inspiring pages of God, Sex and Women of the Bible, these charismatic figures come magically alive as sexual beings and show their modern-day counterparts how to wed spirituality with passion.
Mining language and history, Labowitz reinterprets the stories of eight biblical women, unveiling in the process truths and nuances that have been hidden by centuries of patriarchy. She paints vivid portraits of heroines and lesser-known women alike, presenting compelling evidence that they subscribed to a matriarchal goddess culture coexisting with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Moses. Within this rich framework, long-silenced voices speak out to reveal the conflicts and perplexities of their own lives -- helping us, in the process, to resolve our own issues. In these sensuously illuminating pages, you'll

Genres: Religion

272 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 1998

Reviews

[hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

i might be too young for this book but i just wanted to have read it since its on my shelf

[Israel Drazin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shoni Labowitz’s 1998 book is filled with important information. She is well-versed in the Bible. She is a co-rabbi with her husband in Florida. She lectures widely on Jewish kabbalistic issues. She addresses eight biblical women in her nine chapters: Jacob’s two wives Leah and Rachel, Adam’s wife Eve, Moses’s mother Jochebed, the prophet and judge Deborah, Moses’s sister Miriam, an unnamed prophet’s widow, and the mother-in-law of Ruth Naomi.
She explores their lives and desires and shows what their lives can tell women about their own lives, their sexuality and spirituality. She speaks about the negative indoctrination that has set deep wounds into women’s self-image, but shows that correctly read, the depictions of the biblical women can guide women from self-discovery to confident maturity.
She found, for example, that the Bible’s Hebrew text “does not degrade women. Only certain ways in which the text has been interpreted.” For example, Jacob’s first wife’s name is Leah. The Hebrew letters of her name can be interpreted as “tired,” or, more positively as “one who perseveres against the odds.”