The Obligated Self

Reviews / Votes

In this elegantly written, provocative, scholarly, and accessible work, Mara Benjamin contributes to the growing body of literature using maternal experience as a source for theology and religious ethics.

(Journal of the American Academy of Religion) It is rare to find an academic text that is so creative, honest, and thoughtful, and uniquely contributes to multiple fields of inquiry-in this case, Jewish theology, feminist theory, and parenting. Bringing together a wide variety of resources in an artful display of academic research that is both intellectually stimulating and personally vulnerable, readers will find Benjamin's offering to be a continued reservoir for reflecting on what unites humanity perhaps more universally than anything else: that we have all been parented and most of us will also, at some point, embark on the risky, adventurous, deeply enriching journey of parenting.

(Journal of Jewish Identities) In The Obligated Self: Maternal Subjectivity and Jewish Thought, Mara H. Benjamin offers a thought-provoking (and often humorous) meditation on motherhood as a prism for one's relationship with God. Inspired by Jewish thinkers, including Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, and Emmanuel Levinas, Benjamin argues that relationships can be "theologically productive."

- Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern (YU News - Yeshiva University)