Jeannette Rankin, America's Conscience Review

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(More customer reviews)This book was composed by a friend of the subject some twenty years ago but not published till 2002. But it is not hagiographical even though the author, now deceased, knew Jeannette Rankin. Most people know that Rankin voted against war twice--even though she only served two terms in the House, having been elected in 1916 to her first term--the first woman elected to Congress--and then elected to her second term in 1940. So when Pearl Harbor was bombed she was the only person who voted against war--though a few days later she voted for war against Germany. She was somewhat eccentric and was active in the anti-war movement during the Vietnam era though not in full sync with the moving spirits in that endeavor. She lived on till she was almost 93, active and forceful till the end. While the book has no footnotes and is kind of amateurishly written it tells an interesting story, and gives a fuller picture of an amazing woman than most folks have had hitherto.

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Social worker, suffragist, first woman elected to the United States Congress, and a lifelong peace activist, Jeannette Rankin is often remembered as the woman who voted "No" to United States involvement in both world wars. Rankin's determined voice for change shines in this biography, written by her friend, Norma Smith.

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Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel Review

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(More customer reviews)The author is certainly readable and follows accepted academic standards for citations, etc. Her thesis is that certain Hebrew plural pronouns and verbs POSSIBLY indicate both females and males in translation. She cites the accepted knowledge about prophetic ministries of both sexes in non-Hebraic cultures of the pre-Israelite ANE. Her introductory commentary on feminist interpetations is quite current and most clear. She promotes a "flexible interpretation" (p.18) of scripture, as well as interpretations about the practicioners of "non-sanctioned inquiry techniques" (p. 24). Much of her thesis rests upon her particular translation abilities and interpetations, and her identification of nuances not evident to Hebraists in the last several centuries. In NIV Ex 38:8 we read "8 They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting." The author translates "women" as "warriors" and is certainly not ambiguous in asserting: "In keeping with the martial range of tz-b-' and the desert-sanctuary context, I translate hatzov'ot asher tzaue'v as 'the women-warriors stationed'" (p.154). On the same page, the author claims: "I found it highly likely that their mirrors, mar'ot, were used a signaling devices in combat, making the women a Bronze Age Signal Corps.." If the author's conclusions from the tenuous premises arouse you, then you will undoubtedly like this book. If they don't, then....

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There are untold numbers of female prophets hiding in the masculine grammar and androcentric focus of the Hebrew scriptures. There are women-prophets in the communities around biblical Israel, existing for hundreds of years and even a thousand years before the Israelite and Judean prophets recorded their messages. The rabbinic and Christian fathers analyzed and found more women in the scriptures who function as prophets than the biblical authors identify. All of these female prophets have an intimate connection with the God of Israel; they express that connection by singing, dancing, drumming, speaking with and for God, waging war, performing miracles, exercising statecraft, and giving birth. Each of them is a daughter of Miriam, the mother of all women-prophets.Women prophets gave powerful voice to Yahwist faith at the formative moments in ancient Israel s development, and were expected in biblical visions of the future. Now they come to the foreground as Wilda Gafney explores prophetic practices in ancient Israel, its near eastern environment, and early and rabbinic Judaism as well.

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