Sisterhood: A Centennial History of Women of Reform Judaism, edited by Carole B.  Balin, Dana Herman, Jonathan D. Sarna, and Gary P. Zola.

Women of Reform Judaism marks its centennial anniversary with this collection of new scholarly essays which looks back at its history in order to understand how the hopes and dreams of its founders have come to fruition. Eighteen scholars have contributed essays on the spectrum of Women of Reform Judaism's activities, including their funding of Hebrew Union College during the Great Depression, their support for Jewish education through production of a substantial women's Torah commentary, their promotion of Jewish foodways and art through publication of cookbooks and support of synagogue gift shops, their invention of the Uniongram as a formidable fundraising tool on a par with the Girl Scout cookie, and their efforts to safeguard Jewish continuity through support of youth activities.

Sisterhood: A Centennial History of Women of Reform Judaism fills a void in the study of women's philanthropic organizations, as the contribution of women to the American synagogue has not yet enjoyed sustained attention. Scholars, clergy, and laypeople interested in the history of American Jewish life and the distinctive place of women in American religious history will benefit from the rich insights and perspectives in these essays.

Changing Lives, Making History: Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, by Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen.

The story, or rather, the stories, in Changing Lives, Making History: Congregation Beit Simchat Torah illuminate forty revolutionary and transformative years in the life of New York City, the nation, and the Middle East -- in the gay liberation movement, progressive Jewish religious movements, in the rise of feminism, the explosion of the politicized religious right, and in the ongoing Israeli/Palestinian struggles to achieve lasting peace. These past forty years have witnessed, among other things, the impact of AIDS, breakthroughs in reproductive technologies and the gay baby boom, the emergence of queer and trans movements, and major Supreme Court decisions in support of equal rights.

Through it all, CBST has been at the epicenter. CBST members and clergy have been the authors, the activists, the leaders, the foot soldiers, the victims, the protagonists, the lawyers, the board members, the executive directors, the staff, the demonstrators, the litigants, the litigators, the lovers, the parents, the children, the grandparents, and the teachers. At the same time and in the midst of these profound changes, CBST has created a spiritual sanctuary where so many individuals have been nourished and transformed on the deepest level of their souls.