Book Review: Remarkable Jewish Women, by Emily Taitz and Sondra Henry

[Published in the Australian Jewish News in 2003]

The most invisible members of society are sometimes among the most interesting.

It is perhaps with this idea in mind that publishers have recently put out books exploring "remarkable" or "thinking" Jewish women, including many fascinating, though almost unknown personalities.

In Remarkable Jewish Women, veteran authors Emily Taitz and Sondra Henry have compiled an encyclopedic tome of interesting women from Biblical to contemporary times. This collection is cleverly organized around intriguing categories such as "Struggling for change," "Pious women: from rebels to rebbes" and "Heroines of the Holocaust." The book is also beautifully laid out, with over 100 photos, diagrams and manuscripts enhancing the text.

The most invisible members of society are sometimes among the most interesting.

It is perhaps with this idea in mind that publishers have recently put out books exploring "remarkable" or "thinking" Jewish women, including many fascinating, though almost unknown personalities.

In Remarkable Jewish Women, veteran authors Emily Taitz and Sondra Henry have compiled an encyclopedic tome of interesting women from Biblical to contemporary times. This collection is cleverly organized around intriguing categories such as "Struggling for change," "Pious women: from rebels to rebbes" and "Heroines of the Holocaust." The book is also beautifully laid out, with over 100 photos, diagrams and manuscripts enhancing the text.

Taitz and Henry have succeeded in bringing to life women whose lives we ought to know about. Sara of Yemen, a 6^th century poet, warrior and scholar, wrote of the religious battles around her time when Muhammed established Islam, providing a rich testament to the history of that era, and she was murdered by a new Muslim. Wuhsha the Broker, a wealthy and independent woman who lived in 11^th century Cairo, was a "rebel in her community" who demonstrates, according to the authors, that "talented women could achieve power and success even in places where women's lives were severely restricted."

Vitke Kempner Kovner of 20^th century Poland, was such a woman. One of the leaders of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement, she left her new home in Palestine in 1941 in order to return to her friends and family in Vilna. Her efforts were vital in bringing a group of partisans to safety in the Rudniki forest, and she played a crucial role as a fighter. She is still alive and lives on Kibbutz Ein HaHoresh.

Prudence Wright Holmes' compilation takes a slightly different tack, bringing excerpts of women's writings and only small blurbs about their lives. This strategy is effective at giving voice to interesting women, though at times the contextual backdrop feels thin. Still, it is wonderful to hear the first Jewish female United States Congresswoman, Bella Abzug, speak with her powerful defiance. "I've been described as a tough, noisy woman," she wrote, "impatient, impetuous, uppity, rude, profane, brash, and overbearing…But whatever I am – and this ought to be made very clear at the outset – I am a very serious woman."

Unlike Taitz and Henry's volume, women in this collection are predominantly contemporary, and mostly famous. The collection includes well known celebrities and politicians such as Barbara Streisand, Betty Friedan, Emma Goldman, Sarah Bernhardt, and Joan Rivers, alongside some other lesser known figures such as Muriel Siebert, the first woman member of the New York Stock Exchange. This collection is not as neat and tidy as Taitz and Henry's, with writings in completely random order around a very eclectic range of topics, from literature to economics to abortion to personal philosophy. Holmes' work also contains sloppy errors of punctuation, style and form that, while not detracting from the content, deprive the subject of some of the dignity that it deserves.

Overall, these books are a welcome addition to Jewish women's history, revealing some worlds of women previously undiscovered.