Overview

"For Orthodox Jews, immersion in a ritual bath--the mikveh--is the cornerstone of family life and is central to Jewish women's practice of their faith. Yet women from across the Jewish spectrum frequent the mikveh, often for surprising personal reasons. Roused by her own immersion experience, for years Varda Polak-Sahm, a secular Jew, patiently observed and interviewed women at the mikveh, gaining unprecedented access to this hidden world. ""The House of Secrets"" offers a richly nuanced, uncensored look at an experience that is for some holy and for others coercive, ultimately illuminating the remarkable power of ritual immersion. ""From the Trade Paperback edition."""

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9780807077429

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A fascinating book. <br>--Peggy Cidor, Jerusalem Post<br>

Polak-Sahm mesmerizes the reader with her encounters at the mikveh ...brilliantly illuminates these tensions and their religious and cultural meanings, not just intellectually but, like all good anthropologists, in a way that produces a rich understanding of people's lives. <br>-- Christian Century<br> <br> A fascinating book . . . [Polak-Sahm] views the mikveh as a house full of secrets--the secrets of women, the secrets of life, the secrets of love and purity. <br>--Peggy Cidor, Jerusalem Post <br> Informative and fascinating . . . [Polak-Sahm] detail[s] a world many of us have no clue exists. <br>--Olupero R. Aiyenimelo, Feminist Review <br> <br> A compelling examination of the nature and meaning of this ritual which has remained clouded with mystery and secrecy for centuries. <br>--Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, SpiritualityandP

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"Varda Polak-Sahm is a seventh-generation Jerusalemite, the author of three books, and an internationally known photographer and researcher of folklore. ""From the Trade Paperback edition."""

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