Around Sarah's Table: Ten Hasidic Women Share Their Stories of Life, Faith, and Tradition

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Amazon.com Review
Around a kitchen table in Brooklyn in 1991, a few Hasidic women started meeting every week for lunch and Torah study. Around Sarah's Table, by Rivka Zakutinsky and Yaffa Leba Gottlieb, reveals the personal stories of this diverse group of women--including Shaina, the mother of two adopted children with Down Syndrome; Klara, a high-powered lawyer; and Levana, a rebbitzen, who's the moral compass for them all. Each of the book's 10 chapters begins with a passage from Genesis and then focuses on the story of one woman. Their stories converge in their striving to "elevate the physical and actualize the spiritual." As Sarah, a school principal and the group's hostess, explains, "Our most important work is the day-to-day, minute-to-minute adjustment of our attitude to feel love towards people." Readers unfamiliar with Hasidic traditions will discover a way of life that's ordered by the Torah in every detail. Readers more familiar with Hasidism will enjoy the satisfaction of seeing these often-stereotyped people faithfully and vibrantly described. --Michael Joseph Gross
From Publishers Weekly
This book tells the stories of 10 Hasidic women who gather "around Sarah's table" each Tuesday for lunch and Torah discussion. The women are quite different from one another: all live in Brooklyn, yet they come from Italy and Russia as well as the U.S., and not all were raised in "Torah homes." Some are housewives, while others balance demanding careers in law or publishing with home responsibilities. All are united in their devotion to faith and family, and in their determination to live their values. Each chapter blends the group's weekly parsha (Torah portion) with one of the women's life stories. They discuss the dark times, such as dealing with near-fatal nephritis or the challenges of raising special-needs children, alongside the blessed events: a long-awaited pregnancy, a shidduch (match) made for a daughter or son. Readers will come away with a deep appreciation for the resiliency of these women, as well as important details of the world of kosher-keeping, modest dress, mikvah attendance and the rejuvenating cycle of holidays and Sabbaths. The book is well-written (with a slight overuse of exclamation points and italics), its conversations natural and revealing. The first two chapters give the impression that they are the biographies of the authors themselves, though this is never stated outright. While not as analytical as Lynn Davidman's Tradition in a Rootless World or Lis Harris's Holy Days, both of which explored the lives of Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish women, this book offers a rare insider's perspective.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This book contains a series of stories about several Hasidic women living in New York City who get together weekly for the Women's Tuesday Torah Luncheon and Study Group. Chapters begin with the passage of Genesis that the group is discussing, followed by a woman's story, which relates to the biblical verses. We learn how each woman resolves her problems and struggles using the Bible. Zakutinsky and Gottlieb (both authors and educators) wrote this book to show how these ten Hasidic women a lawyer, a homemaker, a high school principal, and others find their own portion in the world. The chatty tone reflects the positive attitude that exists in certain religious communities. With a glossary and a list of suggested readings, this book is most suited for libraries where there is a large Jewish community or interest in the religious lives of women and in how people use sacred texts to help them in their lives. Naomi E. Hafter, Broward Cty. P.L., Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Torah study is one of the basic parts of Jewish life. Each week Jews read a portion from the Torah and discuss its meaning on personal and global levels. The women profiled here, all members of the Lubavicher Hasidic community in Brooklyn, gather each Tuesday for lunch at Sarah's home, where they study texts based on the teachings of the late Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Their time around Sarah's table, however, is also a time for socializing, networking, and supporting one another. Each chapter takes a Torah portion from Genesis and relates the text to an event in one of the women's lives. We learn, for example, about the struggle of a young Ba'alas T'shuvah (someone who has recently become an Orthodox Jew) to raise adopted twins who are developmentally disabled. The book provides a revealing glimpse at a closed community that few people experience firsthand. The warmth, wisdom, and accomplishments of these religious women will inspire readers and help them realize that women of all backgrounds must balance family, career, and personal needs. Barbara Bibel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
Philip Zaleski Editor, The Best Spiritual Writing Series, and author, The Recollected Heart A window into a little seen but radiant world: that of ultra-Orthodox Jewish women. Ten women gather every Tuesday afternoon to discuss Torah readings and the Hasidic way of life; the reader comes away from this superb account with immense respect, even love, for traditional Jewish practices and for the great religious truths that provide their foundation. -- Review
Product Description

In the tradition of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club and Holy Days by Lis Harris, Rivka Zakutinsky and Yaffa Leba Gottlieb show the inner workings of a fascinating community of women that few outsiders will enter on their own. With humor and sensitivity, Around Sarah's Table focuses on the lives of ten Hasidic women and on the insights each gains from the weekly Torah reading, illustrating the ways in which each woman's life is infused with Judaism.

Brooklyn, 1991: A few Hasidic women begin meeting once a week for lunch and intimate learning with friends. The few soon grow to many, from backgrounds as diverse as those of any other segment of the Jewish population. Gathered together by Sarah -- mother of thirteen, girls' high school principal, facilitator, connector, and hostess -- they called themselves the "Women's Tuesday Torah Luncheon and Study Group." From Reva the publisher to Rachel the mikvah maven, Klara the lawyer, Levana the rebbitzin, and others, the daily joys and sorrows of each allow us to see through the stereotypes to truly connect with the real women who lie behind those images.

With the eyes, ears, and hearts of storytellers, Zakutinsky and Gottlieb generously introduce us to their very personal spiritual realm. Amidst a world filled with spiritual unrest and anxiety, Around Sarah's Table offers inspirational Hasidic and biblical interpretation gathered by women, for both women and men to follow. Less concerned with an academic approach to Bible study than with the traditional methods of "learning," the authors never seem to lose sight of how the ancient texts apply to their contemporary lives.

Fast paced but reverent, Around Sarah's Table introduces us to the unique experience of living life as a Hasidic woman, and reminds us that beyond all the labels that tend to keep us apart, we are all very much alike.
About the Author
Rivka Zakutinsky, lecturer, author, educator, and founder of Aura Press, a religious-book imprint, holds a teaching degree from Beth Jacob Seminary in Brooklyn and a graduate degree from Hofstra University. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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