Author Cia Sutter will discuss and sign copies of The Miriam Tradition: Teaching Embodied Torah (University of Illinois Press) 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 19 at Borders Books, 1501 Plymouth Rd., Minnetonka. The Miriam Tradition works from the premise that religious values form in and through movement, with ritual and dance developing patterns for enacting those values.
Sautter considers the case of Sephardic Jewish women who, following in the tradition of Miriam the prophet, performed dance and music for Jewish celebrations and special occasions. She uses rabbinic and feminist understandings of the Torah to argue that these women, called tanyaderas, “taught” Jewish values by leading appropriate behavior for major life events.
Sautter lives in Minnesota and teaches religious studies, dance and yoga. For information on the book, visit: www.press.uillinois.edu.
For more information on the book, and my personal comment on why I wrote it, see http://cialuna.blogspot.com.
Click on the book cover picture to go to The Miriam Tradition Page.