| The Female Face of God in Auschwitz: A Jewish Feminist Theology of the Holocaust Contributor(s): Raphael, Melissa (Author) |
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ISBN: 0415236657 ISBN-13: 9780415236652 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $59.80 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: March 2003 Annotation: The Female Face of God in Auschwitz, the first full-length feminist theology of the Holocaust, argues that the masculinist bias of post-Holocaust theology becomes fully apparent only when considered in the light of both women's perceptions of God and of their holocaustal experiencesand priorities. Building upon published testimonies of four women imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau--Olga Lengyel, Lucie Adelsberger, Bertha Ferderber-Salz, and Sara Nomberg-Przytyk--it considers women's distinct experiences of the holy in relation to God's perceived presence and absence in the camps. Engaging with Berkovits, Fackenheim, Levinas and other post-Holocaust Jewish thinkers, The Female Face of God in Auschwitz is a radical and subtle meditation upon God's role and meaning. Questioning the true nature of the Jewish God present in Auschwitz, and arguing for God's participation in its extremities of suffering and grace, it powerfully resists defamatory interpretations of the Holocaust as evidence of divine vengeance, indifference or neglect. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Religion | Judaism - Theology - Religion | Spirituality - History | Holocaust |
| Dewey: 296.3 |
| LCCN: 2002031819 |
| Lexile Measure: 1540 |
| Series: Religion and Gender |
| Physical Information: 0.72" H x 6.7" W x 9.12" (0.85 lbs) 240 pages |
| Themes: - Religious Orientation - Jewish - Sex & Gender - Feminine - Topical - Holocaust |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The dominant theme of post-Holocaust Jewish theology has been that of the temporary hiddenness of God, interpreted either as a divine mystery or, more commonly, as God's deferral to human freedom. But traditional Judaic obligations of female presence, together with the traditional image of the Shekhinah as a figure of God's 'femaleness' accompanying Israel into exile, seem to contradict such theologies of absence. The Female Face of God in Auschwitz, the first full-length feminist theology of the Holocaust, argues that the patriarchal bias of post-Holocaust theology becomes fully apparent only when women's experiences and priorities are brought into historical light. Building upon the published testimonies of four women imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau - Olga Lengyel, Lucie Adelsberger, Bertha Ferderber-Salz and Sara Nomberg-Przytyk - it considers women's distinct experiences of the holy in relation to God's perceived presence and absence in the camps. God's face, says Melissa Raphael, was not hidden in Auschwitz, but intimately revealed in the female face turned towards the other as a refractive image of God, especially in the moral protest made visible through material and spiritual care for the assaulted other. |