Reviewed by Azila Talit Reisenberger.

The power and effect of any text is amplified by the readers ’ perception of it. When the readers perceive the text to have authority, either by being attributed to an eminent writer or to the Divine, the effect of the text on the behaviour of the readers and their outlook on life is magnified double-fold. The Bible is a clear case in point. Societies and cultures that accept the divine authorship of the Bible do not read the Bible as literature, but rather as a code for behaviour. In an article some years ago I called these societies the ‘Extra Biblical World. ’ (Reisenberger, 2000). For ‘extra biblical societies’, the events recorded in the Bible are not seen in their historical context; these events are not one-time occurrences but a message of how to conduct their own lives. The fact that extra biblical societies follow the patriarchal biblical narrative as a code of conduct drives any feminist theologian of the Abrahamic traditions to despair. Feminists who want to claim a share in the spiritual teaching of the Bible have tried to play down the misogynist teachings, through emphasising the historical context of biblical records. However this reasoning has been defeated by the notion of the Divine authority of the Bible. Thus Judeo-Christian women who want to attach themselves to the tradition become despondent. Reading the book Midrashic Women; Formation of the Feminine in Rabbinic Literature by Judith Baskin reinforces this dejection. The book is a study of the feminine in Rabbinic Literature. As one wades throug