A Spiritual Life: A Jewish Feminist Journey

An amazing story of self-discovery, " A Spiritual Life, A Jewish Feminist Journey" by Merle Feld, fills her book with beautiful prose and poetry. I identified with this book immensely as the author echoed my inner thoughts that I never took the time to write. Ms. Feld voices the struggle to grow and develop into a special person, concerns about doubts how woman relate to others, professional growth and motherhood. She discovers a gift with words and poetry and along the way - confidence. Her book, a triumph of realization and actualization, expresses her developing passion, hones social action and true friendships. Read this book from cover to cover or open the book and select a poem at random. Each poem allows an opportunity to remember who we are, engage in a dialogue with self and friends, to encourage where we need to be in our lives. Several favorite passages discuss marriage, Israel, re- interpretation of some biblical stories, Shabbat and agonies about menstruation. This book will make you a new friend. Excellent!

Merle's Feld's poetry is so down to earth and fun to read as to appear simple--and nothing can be further from the truth. Her beautiful and touching poems are little jewels, each reflecting her deep connection to Judaism as well as her own humorous and profound insights into life as a Jewish woman. Through her poems and the personal narrative story that she weaves around them, Merle shares her experiences and journey as a Jewish feminist, mother, daughter, American in Israel, and wife.This book will speak to anyone, regardless of gender or background, who has ever felt that spirituality is in competition with the overwhelming demands of everyday life. Without offering formulas or prescriptions, Merle's voice speaks to a part of myself that I struggle to find; it says that holiness can be found right in the midst of the most mundane tasks and minutae. It is a transcendent experience in itself to realize that we have the power to transform everyday life into something holy.

"A Spiritual Life" gave me permission to digest my past. At the end of each vignette I was surprised to find myself face to face with "me"-my own experiences of decades ago. I suddenly slowed down and felt deep parts of my life that I had been too frightened to listen to long ago. I keep it on my night table and read it again and again reflecting on my own memories. Reading "A Spiritual Life" has been a healing experience for me.

I loved this book, every word. I could not put it down. It is so nice to hove poetry placed in context before being read. A really special book!

I wrote this letter to Ms. Feld while reading A Spiritual Life.Hi Merle,I'm not generally a big fan of poetry. But your poems have touched so many different parts of my life. Standing At Sinai has been part of my life and my Rosh Chodesh group on several occasions. We had one mother-daughter meeting where we all invited our mothers, and we brought Standing at Sinai to discuss. Adding our mother's varied opinions to our on-going discussion was amazing. I have given Mazel Tov to more brides than I can count, and I'm now reading your book slowly, savoring it in quiet moments I can grab. Last Shabbat, I finally made it to the poetry section, two days before the bris of a friend who went through a miscarriage before this baby. After Shabbat, I e-mailed her My Friends Baked... so she could read it before the bris. This Shabbat, my rosh chodesh group had our annual Shabbat dinner, and I brought your book. As my friend who had a miscarriage and now has an 8 month old daughter read, she kept exclaiming how true each of the poems struck her. You touch people.I was like a kid in a candy store when I received your book, jumping around reading parts to my husband and searching for poems I already love, falling in love with new poems. So I just want to thank you for your poems, and now the book. Your path is a path I travel, and its wonderful to see the beauty of things before I get there.Be well.B'Shalom,Max