Social and Spiritual Reconstruction of Self Within a Feminist Jewish Community

In recent decades, there has been an enormous burst of spiritual energy and creativity among Jewish women. Women have been gathering in a variety of communal forms, some spontaneously generated circles and other more committed long term groups, to create Jewish-feminist ritual, liturgy and theology. The activism, vision, writings, music, poetry and dance of these women has begun to transform contemporary Judaism. Based on the author's experience in a group that has been meeting for 12 years called B'not Esh, she reflects on how the self can be sanctified, enlarged and at the same time increasingly differentiated over time, through participation in Jewish feminist ritual and community.