Contact
Research Areas
Women in the Bible; Biblical Midrash; Women’s Folklore; Coming-of-Age Rituals Cross-Culturally; Issues of Pre-teen Jewish Girls
Education
M.S.W., Boston University School of Social Work
M.A., University of Pennsylvania
B.A., Oberlin College
Penina Adelman
Penina Adelman
Penina is a writer and social worker. She writes and speaks about women and spirituality, women in the Bible, and women as mythmakers and creators of ritual.
Her first book, "Miriam’s Well," helped launch the Rosh Hodesh (Jewish New Moon festival) movement, which today involves thousands of Jewish women.
As a social worker for more than 20 years, she has run support and activity groups for Ethiopian Jews, single mothers, Jewish adults with psychiatric conditions and the mothers of bat mitzvah girls. She lives in Newton, Mass., with her family.
Current Projects
On leave for the 2011-2012 Academic Year.
Representative Publications
Adelman, Penina, Ali Feldman, and Shulamit Reinharz. "The JGirl’s Guide: The Young Jewish Woman’s Handbook for Coming of Age." Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2005.
Adelman, Penina. "Praise Her Works: Conversations with Biblical Women." Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2005.