"The vignettes in this book are like Potato Chips or rather,great latkes -- you can't read only one. Pirkei Imahot recalls more than fifty unsung but unforgettable mothers and grandmothers who, while utterly unique, are also familiar characters to anyone who grew up in a Jewish family. Their voices speak to us of women's survival strategies, of food, holidays, home, love and loss.
"Both joyful and moving, this is one of the wisest and most enchanting books you will ever find on the subject of mothers and the children who love them."
"Jewish mothers have had a bad rap, but this collection shows Jewish mothering as it really is. Each essay in this beautifully edited collection is a gem. Strung together, they constitute a striking necklace: memories of the mothers who raised us, of grandmothers, of the persons who shaped our souls. This book might remind Portnoy that, after all his complaints, his mother was trying her best to make a mensch out of him.
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