The Obligated Self: Maternal Subjectivity and Jewish Thought
Mara H. Benjamin contends that the physical and psychological work of caring for children presents theologically fruitful but largely unexplored terrain for feminists. Attending to the constant, concrete, and urgent needs of children, she argues, necessitates engaging with profound questions concerning the responsible use of power in unequal relationships, the transformative influence of love, human fragility and vulnerability, and the embeddedness of self in relationships and obligations. Viewing child-rearing as an embodied practice, Benjamin's theological reflection invites a profound reengagement with Jewish sources from the Talmud to modern Jewish philosophy. Her contemporary feminist stance forges a convergence between Jewish theological anthropology and the demands of parental caregiving.
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Mara H. Benjamin is Chair and Irene Kaplan Leiwant Associate Professor of Jewish Studies at Mount Holyoke College. She is author of Rosenzweig's Bible: Reinventing Scripture for Jewish Modernity.
"One of the most creative projects in Jewish feminist thought in a long while. Benjamin turns a feminist examination of maternal subjectivity into a critical lens for Jewish thinking about the self. She draws on a wide range of resources, beginning with biblical and rabbinic texts, putting them into conversation with modern Jewish thought and various types of feminist literature to create as rich and deep a Jewish conversation as possible."--Charlotte Fonrobert, author of Menstrual Purity: Rabbinic and Christian Reconstructions of Biblical Gender
"A richly imagined work that brilliantly captures the complexity and contradictions of the experience of parenting and then uses that experience to shed light on the nature of God and multiple neglected aspects of Jewish tradition. Few readers will come away from this book without being stimulated, challenged and enlarged by it."--Judith Plaskow, author (with Carol P. Christ) of Goddess and God in the World: Conversations in Embodied Theology
"Brings together modern Jewish philosophy, Jewish historical and religious studies, and feminist theory to draw out themes like responsibility and obligation in the maternal experience."--Claire Elise Katz, author of Levinas and the Crisis of Humanism
"In this elegantly written, provocative, scholarly, and accessible work, Mara Benjamin contributes to the growing body of literature using maternal experience as a source for theology and religious ethics."--Journal of the American Academy of Religion
"It is rare to find an academic text that is so creative, honest, and thoughtful, and uniquely contributes to multiple fields of inquiry--in this case, Jewish theology, feminist theory, and parenting. Bringing together a wide variety of resources in an artful display of academic research that is both intellectually stimulating and personally vulnerable, readers will find Benjamin's offering to be a continued reservoir for reflecting on what unites humanity perhaps more universally than anything else: that we have all been parented and most of us will also, at some point, embark on the risky, adventurous, deeply enriching journey of parenting."--Journal of Jewish Identities
"In The Obligated Self: Maternal Subjectivity and Jewish Thought, Mara H. Benjamin offers a thought-provoking (and often humorous) meditation on motherhood as a prism for one's relationship with God. Inspired by Jewish thinkers, including Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, and Emmanuel Levinas, Benjamin argues that relationships can be "theologically productive."--Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern, YU News - Yeshiva University
