The Divine Feminine in Biblical Wisdom Literature: Selections Annotated & Explained (SkyLight Illuminations)

I am so great full for this book. It is amazing to have so many scriptures about heavenly mother in one place. I ate this book up like I was starving. And now I keep it on my bedside table to consume when ever I am hungry.This book is full of the most simple and pure truths.

this is a beautifully written book about receiving guidance from chochma, divine wisdom. it truly speaks to the heart. rabbi shapiro's annotations draw from many other sources such as the tao te ching. this is wisdom to return to again and again.

When I got this book in the mail I thought I would just read a couple pages to get a feel for it but I ended up reading the whole thing that night. It is more of a devotional with about 180 pages of selected passages with author notes on the facing page.The Wisdom Literature the author sites comes from these seven books:* Psalms* Proverbs* Job* The Song of Songs* Ecclesiastes* Wisdom of Solomon* The Wisdom of Jesus Ben SirachThe book itself is divided into five topical sections* Foreward & Introduction (I found his personal story interesting and the historical information on the books a good frame of reference on how to approach the various verses)* Who Is She?* Where Is She Found?* What Does She Teach?* The Way of the WiseYou would think that with having to read it all the first night I would have given it 5 stars, however I found some of the passages a bit ambiguous in terms of relating to the divine feminine and in some areas he relied heavily on one book or chapter of scripture. I found it to be an excellent starting point, making me want to find and read the two "non-biblical" books he referenced.

This was much less in depth than I was expecting. Not a bad book just needed more to it.

Rami Shapiro once commented "...if I were still in the synagogue business I think I would drop the standard Torah readings and focus on the Wisdom Books of the Bible -- Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Job -- and the God who teaches us how to examine life and in so doing discover for ourselves the principles of godliness that we are to live and teach." This God is the Divine Feminine of the present book.One reviewer criticizes THE DIVINE FEMININE for not being scholarly. The book was not intended for scholars but for seeking laypersons who are coming to the conclusion that a post-nostalgic Judaism groping towards a cosmologically-grounded and naturalistic theism needs new ways of looking at God, Israel, and Torah. THE DIVINE FEMININE offers a refreshing and inspiring approach to all three.

This book has a lot of overlap with Rabbi Rami's book on Proverbs. It is very good and stands well on its own if you only buy this book. If you bought both, as we did, you will find quite a bit of repetition. As I said in my review of his book on Proverbs, this approach is both compassionate and a call to attention. Well done!

Well written, deep, connects me more intimately with the Divine. I find Shapiro's insights often helpful. Sometimes he seems to be stretching to make his perception connect to Scripture. But I still like his words and believe it's good to use for Lectio Divina.

Rabi Remi Shapiro usually writes books that one can be encouraged by because the writing is so consise and flowing. I found this book difficult to follow. It might just be me. I would still recommend others to read it because it may be more clear for them.

I had read the script if a talk given by the author so it is great to have this book. It gives some unusual insights into the scripture passages.