The Coming of Lilith Essays on Feminism, Judaism, and Sexual Ethics, 1972-2003

by Plaskow, Judith; Berman, Donna

• ISBN13: 9780807036235
• ISBN10: 0807036234
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-15
• Publisher: Beacon Press

Summary

In this first collection of her essays and short writings, Judith Plaskow, one of the founders of feminist theology and the founder of Jewish feminist theology, documents her personal and scholarly evolution. From her early days as a graduate student at Yale to her present work on sexual ethics, the essays in this volume trace Plaskow"s work in feminist theology, Jewish feminist theology, and sexuality. Covering all of her major essays, including "The Coming of Lilith" and her pioneering work on anti-Judaism in Christian feminism, this book also includes several previously unpublished essays. Intelligently arranged and edited with the help of Donna Berman, this collection is indispensable for religious studies students, fans of Plaskow"s work, and those pursuing a Jewish education.

Author Biography

Judith Plaskow is a professor of religious studies at Manhattan College. She is the author of Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective and coeditor of Womanspirit Rising: A Feminist Reader in Religion (with Carol Christ) and Weaving the Visions: New Patterns in Feminist Spirituality.

Rabbi Donna Berman, Ph.D., is executive director of the Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and a longtime activist. She was instrumental in the creation of the Reform movement's first gender-sensitive prayer books.

Table of Contents

Foreword	1	(4)
Intersections: An Introduction	5	(18)
Formulating a Feminist Theology
The Coming of Lilith: Toward a Feminist Theology (1972)	23	(12)
The Jewish Feminist: Conflict in Identities (1973)	35	(5)
Male Theology and Women's Experience (1978)	40	(16)
The Right Question Is Theological (1982)	56	(9)
Jewish Theology in Feminist Perspective (1994)	65	(16)
Lilith Revisited (1995)	81	(8)
The Complexity of Interlocking Oppressions
Christian Feminism and Anti-Judaism (1978)	89	(5)
Anti-Semitism: The Unacknowledged Racism (1984)	94	(6)
Feminist Anti-Judaism and the Christian God (1990)	100	(10)
Jewish Anti-Paganism (1991)	110	(4)
Dealing with the Hard Stuff (1994)	114	(7)
Creating a Feminist Judaism
God: Some Feminist Questions (1987)	121	(3)
``It Is Not in Heaven'': Feminism and Religious Authority (1990)	124	(4)
Beyond Egalitarianism (1990)	128	(6)
Facing the Ambiguity of God (1991)	134	(4)
What's Wrong with Hierarchy? (1992)	138	(5)
About Men (1992)	143	(4)
The Year of the Agunah (1993)	147	(5)
Preaching Against the Text (1997)	152	(5)
Expanding the Jewish Feminist Agenda (2000)	157	(2)
The Continuing Value of Separatism (2003)	159	(6)
Sexuality, Authority, and Tradition
Sexuality and Teshuvah: Leviticus 18 (1997)	165	(13)
Sexual Orientation and Human Rights: A Progressive Jewish Perspective (1998)	178	(15)
Authority, Resistance, and Transformation: Jewish Feminist Reflections on Good Sex (2000)	193	(13)
Speaking of Sex: Authority and the Denominational Documents (2003)	206	(15)
Notes	221	(17)
Works	238	(5)
Judith Plaskow
Credits	243