How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household
by Blu Greenberg
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Book Summary Information
Author: Blu GreenbergEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1985-09-15
ISBN: 0671602705
Number of pages: 526
Publisher: Touchstone
Book Reviews of How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household
Book Review: Thorough resource
Summary: 5 Stars
Mrs. Greenberg is really an incredible woman; she finds time to write, lecture, run a traditional household, and to be the co-founder and first president of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, as well as serving on the boards of many other noble organisations and magazines. In this classic tome she gives detailed and thoughtful insights and instructions into how to live a traditional life and how to run a traditional household. There are chapters on taharat hamishpacha, weddings, birth, holidays, how to keep a Glatt kosher kitchen, recipes, prayer, Shabbos, and many other things. Many people think of Orthodoxy as rigid, unbending, and unchanging, but Mrs. Greenberg demonstrates that that's not so. She and her family are Modern Orthodox, a movement which reconciles modernity with tradition. Someone who is MO will of course put more weight on halacha and tradition, but will look for ways to be more part of the modern world, realising that the world of today isn't the same as it was in the Talmudic era, and that there are interpretations of certain things that allow for more flexibility, as opposed to how someone who is RWO or Hareidi will oftentimes seem to live as though it's still the 17th century and there is no room for change or an ongoing dialogue with the past that doesn't attempt to water down tradition while reinterpreting it for the modern era. Interspersed with her instructions on how to keep a traditional household are stories about her own family life. These anecdotes really illustrate the points she's talking about, making something like taharat hamishpacha or prayer relevant and meaningful to the reader.
However, I agree that there could stand to be an updated edition of this book. A lot has changed since 1981, not only socially but also in the Jewish world. Today, thanks to people like Mrs. Greenberg, there is more of a dialogue (at least within the MO world) about resolving difficult issues about womens' roles without drastically altering what Orthodoxy stands for. Things that are becoming more and more common today, such as women-led prayer services and female halachic authorities, were barely on the radar back in 1981. Another example of something dating this book is the section on pregnancy; she's advising her women readers about how to choose the right doctor, and mentions that a number of doctors don't really approve of their patients having natural deliveries, so one should choose a doctor who respects one's birth plan. Today twilight sleep is a thing of the past. And today you also see more and more people in Orthodoxy who are both connected with the real world and tradition; it's no longer as uncommon as it once was to see an Orthodox woman, say, wearing pants, or for a couple who will observe taharat hamishpacha but not to the strict level that a RWO or Hareidi couple will (e.g., they will handle an object at the same time or engage in non-sexual touching as opposed to having zero physical contact).
For anyone who's interested in learning more about tradition or wants some help in encorporating more tradition into one's life and household, this is a very good guidebook to get started with.
Summary of How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household
Filled with practical advice as well as history, Blu Greenberg's book is a comprehensive guide to the joys and complexities of running a modern Jewish home.How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household is a modern, comprehensive guide covering virtually every aspect of Jewish home life. It provides practical advice on how to manage a Jewish home in the traditional way and offers fascinating accounts of the history behind the tradition. In a warm, personal style, Blu Greenberg shows that, contrary to popular belief, the home, and not the synagogue, is the most important institution in Jewish life.
Divided into three large sections?"The Jewish Way," "Special Stages of Life," and "Celebration and Remembering"?this book educates the uninitiated and reminds the already observant Jew of how Judaism approaches daily life. Topics include prayer, dress, holidays, food preparation, marriage, birth, death, parenthood, and many others.
This description of the modern-yet-traditional Jewish household will earn special regard among the many American Jews who are reexploring their ties to Jewish tradition. Such Jews will find this book a flexible guide that provides a knowledge of the requirements of traditional Judaism without advocating immediate and complete compliance.
How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household will also appeal to observant Jews, providing them with helpful tips on how to manage their homes and special insights into the most minute details and procedures in a traditional household.
Herself a traditional Jew, Blu Greenberg is nevertheless quite sympathetic to feminist views on the role of women in Jewish observance. How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household therefore speaks intimately to women who are struggling to reconcile their identities as modern women with their commitments to traditional Judaism.
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