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Four Centuries of Jewish Women's Spirituality: A Sourcebook. Edited and with introductions by Ellen M. Umansky and Dianne Ashton. Rev. ed. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press; Hanover: University Press of New England, 2009.
This volume is the revised edition of the same title published in 1992 by Beacon Press, which then contained 350 pages and had a slightly larger format (27 cm.). Does this second, revised edition add enough to the first edition to justify for an institutional library to buy it? Even more difficult, should an interested individual, layperson or scholar of the field, acquire it, if s/he already owns the first one?
To find an answer to these questions, we shall first turn to the reviews of the 1992 edition and note if the issues raised twelve years ago have been addressed. The First edition (1992) was received with many accolades and got reviewed in eight publications (American Jewish History, Cross Currents, Library Journal, Ms. Magazine (just a brief mention) Tikkun (also a brief mention), Religious Studies Review, The Women Review of books, and Women's Studies Quarterly). Reviewers were very positive: an "extensive and varied collection... extraordinarily rich collection" (Ackelsberg), "an important addition to women's studies collections" (Glatt), "welcomed collection" (Heschel), "there are many pieces to read, reread and cherish" (Muffs), and "useful for students of women in Judaism or women in religion" (V. Ochs). Charlene Spretnak summarized the anthology in one sentence in her three-page essay in Ms. Magazine with: "piety, the inculcating of spiritual values, and friendship are the informing themes that link the diversity of contributions."
Reviewers noted the main features, first among them, the great variety of documents: poems, prayers, sermons, rituals, letters, diaries, ethical wills, sisterhood minutes, midrashim...