About this item

A deeply affecting, funny, insightful meditation that challenges readers to find the spiritual meaning of parenting. Every day, parents are bombarded by demands. The pressures of work and life are relentless; our children's needs are often impossible to meet; and we rarely, if ever, allow ourselves the time and attention necessary to satisfy our own inner longings. Parenthood is difficult, demanding, and draining. And yet, argues Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, if we can approach it from a different mindset, perhaps the work of parenting itself can offer the solace we seek. Rooted in Judaism but incorporating a wide-range of religious and literary traditions, Nurture the Wow asks, Can ancient ideas about relationships, drudgery, pain, devotion, and purpose help make the hard parts of a parent's job easier and the magical stuff even more so? Ruttenberg shows how parenting can be considered a spiritual practice -- and how seeing it that way can lead to transformation. This is a parenthood book, not a parenting book; it shows how the experiences we have as parents can change us for the better. Enlightening, uplifting, and laugh-out-loud funny, Nurture the Wow reveals how parenthood -- in all its crazy-making, rage-inducing, awe and joy-filled moments -- can actually be the path to living fully, authentically, and soulfully.



About the Author

Danya Ruttenberg

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is the author of Nurture the Wow: Finding Spirituality in the Frustration, Boredom, Tears, Poop, Desperation, Wonder, and Radical Amazement of Parenting (Flatiron Books, 2016) and Surprised By God: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Religion (Beacon Press) , the latter of which was nominated for the Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature.

In 2013, Newsweek and The Daily Beast named her as one of ten "rabbis to watch." In 2010, the Forward recognized her as one of the top 50 most influential women rabbis, and the Jewish Week recognized her as one of the "36 Under 36? (36 most influential leaders under age 36) .

She is also editor of The Passionate Torah: Sex and Judaism (NYU Press) and Yentl's Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism (Seal Press) ; and co-editor, with Rabbi Elliot Dorff, of three books on Jewish ethics: Sex and Intimacy (JPS) ; War and National Security (JPS, August 2010) ; and Social Justice (JPS, August 2010) .

Her work has appeared in a wide range of venues, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, Salon, the Best Jewish Writing series, and the new edition of Encyclopedia Judaica. Rabbi Ruttenberg lives in the Chicago area with her family and teaches and lectures nationwide. More information about her, as well as contact information, can be found at http://danyaruttenberg.net/.



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