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