Recent years have seen an explosion of interest in personal ritual and spirituality, as well as an exciting expansion of women's participation and leadership in Jewish life. The three volumes of Lifecycles bring together over 100 leading thinkers to create the first comprehensive work on Jewish lifecycle that features women's perspectives. In a style that is perceptive, insightful and personal, Lifecycles, V. 1 covers the spectrum of life's passages and personal milestones: Childbirth, Conversion, Marriage, Singlehood, Coming Out, Mid-Life, Divorce, Aging and more. Included are personal narratives, traditional concepts, new approaches, practical insights and rituals and ceremonies to study and use. The contributors explore tradition and innovation with passion and self-awareness, expressing the way Jewish women see--and affect--the world. Introductions by Rabbi Debra Orenstein provide readers with a broader context for the ideas shared in each section. Complete with an afterword guide to creating rituals, this landmark volume gives women a resource for recognizing and marking their own life passages and personal milestones. Contributors: Arlene Agus * Rebecca T. Alpert * Amy Bardack * Bonnie Ellen Baron * Lawrence Baron * Elana Rosenfeld Berkowitz * Leila Gal Berner * Antonia M. Bookbinder * Barbara Breitman * Anne Brener * Shoshana Brown-Gutoff * Debra Cantor * Nina Beth Cardin * Treasure Cohen * Carol V. Davis * Rick E. F. Dinitz * Tina D. Fein Dinitz * Sue Levi Elwell * Amy Eilberg * Merle Feld * Elizabeth Warner Frank * Tikva Frymer-Kensky * Laura Geller * Mary Gendler * Lynn Gottlieb * Rivka Haut * Pamela Hoffman * Barbara D. Holender * Vicki Hollander * Margaret Holub * Norma Baumel Joseph * Debra Newman Kamin * Patricia Karlin-Neumann * Lori Hope Lefkovitz * Rose L. Levinson * Jane Litman * Shulamit Magnus * Catherine Hall Myrowitz * Debra Orenstein * Harriet M. Perl * Renee Gal Primack * Einat Ramon * Jane Baron Rechtman * Sandy Eisenberg Sasso * Mildred Seltzer * Dena Shenk * Eleanor Smith * Ellen M. Umansky * Sheila Peltz Weinberg * Chava Weissler * Clara Frances Zilberstein