Our Jewish Roots, subtitled A Catholic Woman’s Guide to Fulfillment Today by connecting with her past is a fascinating new book by Cheryl Dickow. I had intended to have a quick turnaround on her review when I got it back in JUNE, but it was such a powerful book that I knew I couldn’t do it justice if I hurried through it. I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it justice even taking my time because she did such a great job but I will try my best.
Cheryl wrote this book with the idea that there are many things about our Jewish heritage that we don’t understand or realize and also that as women there is an inherent dignity as a daughter of the King. I’ve always felt that the Jewish faith was one I wanted to know more about, but I just didn’t know where to start. This book is fantastic because it introduces Jewish culture and major events and feasts in light of their importance to the Jewish people and how it would have impacted Jesus and his family while he was living in a normal family. After that, Cheryl begins looking at different women in Christ’s lineage and the ways that they used their special God-given gifts to play a part in God’s plan. She quotes several Bible passages as well as JPII’s encyclical on the dignity and vocation of women, Mulieris Dignitatem.
I loved the insights that she had in this book. There were things that I had never thought of from the Jewish point of view and other things that I didn’t know were that way BECAUSE of the Jewish point of view. The thing that stuck out in my mind the most was that in the Jewish faith certain things were set aside, special, used for worship only and you could be struck down dead to use them for another purpose. This is the basis for why we believe in the Immaculate Conception of Mary and her perpetual virginity. For some reason, that makes much more sense than believing it just because we do.
This book is full of things that you may not have considered before and is a wonderful way to grow deeper in the Catholic faith and learn to value the gifts that God has given you as a woman. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in learning more about their own faith history as well as those looking to learn about the basics of Judaism.
Thanks to Cheryl Dickow for sending me a copy of this book to review!
