Monologues from the Makom

“Monologues from the Makom is a loud and needed contribution to the Jewish feminist library. This work brings forward women's experiences with their bodies and sexualities not as subjects in a study but as agents crafting their own narratives in poetry and prose. The Monologues represent voices that are diverse yet unified, seeking dignity, honesty, safety and transcendence. This book marks a great step forward in our work towards a Jewish world where women's experiences and voices are heard and valued.”

Rabbanit Leah Sarna, director of religious engagement, Anshe Sholom B’nai Israel Congregation, Chicago

"I found this work, and the collaborative process for creating it, truly inspiring. This brave collection explores the tension between religious norms and the lived experience of young Jewish women. Through the lens of poetry and prose, contributors engage with the complex impact of gendered codes of modesty on Jewish women from adolescence through to motherhood. The writing draws important connections between tznius, sex education and vulnerability to sexual assault and between emphasis on the body and the silencing of women's voices."

-Professor Lisa Fishbayn Joffe, Director, Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University

“Courageous, heart-breaking, passionate, honest, so vividly transcribed that these poets and storytellers seem to be baring their souls, Monologues from the Makom shatters the silence that has long surrounded Orthodox Jewish women's desires and bodies, and testifies to the vital, urgent relationship between sexuality and the sacred.”

-Dr. Joy Ladin, author, The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective

“This book is a collection of heartfelt stories of particular individuals confronting the universal challenge of forging an identity. It describes modern Jewish women struggling to find meaning living in the shadow of traditional Orthodox views of gender and sexuality. It should be required reading for men, all men.” 

- Chaim Trachtman, editor, Women and Men in Communal Prayer: Halakhic Perspectives