Hope Into Practice, Jewish Women Choosing Justice Despite Our Fears

Anchored in Jewish ethical tradition, community-building, and an activist’s call to repair the world, Hope into Practice is about human liberation, linking personal healing with social justice. It also asks Jewish women to love ourselves enough to face our fears without acting on them—to free ourselves of internalized anti-Semitism, expanding our sense of possibility, empowering our activism. This book brings to life an irresistible blend of healing stories, fascinating history, and a fair-minded perspective on Israel-Palestine. It also includes an extensive Action-Oriented Reader's Guide, for groups and individuals.

Anchored in Jewish ethical tradition, community-building, and an activist’s call to repair the world, “Hope into Practice” is about human liberation, linking personal healing with social justice. It also asks Jewish women to love ourselves enough to face our fears without acting on them—expanding our sense of possibility, empowering our activism. This book brings to life an irresistible blend of healing stories, fascinating history, and a fair-minded perspective on Israel-Palestine. It also includes an extensive Action-Oriented Reader's Guide, for groups and individuals. "'Thank you' is what I thought I was supposed to say when told I didn't 'look Jewish.'" What will make it irresistible for Jewish women to free ourselves of internalized anti-Semitism? This book's bottom line is that the better we feel about who we are and where we come from, the better we’ll treat other people—and the more positive/powerful our activism will be in creating a just and generous world, plus the more joyful, expansive and meaningful our own lives will be.

Penny Rosenwasser is also the author of "Visionary Voices, Women on Power: Conversations with shamans, activists, teachers, artists and healers" and "Voices from a 'Promised Land': Palestinian & Israeli Peace Activists Speak Their Hearts." A life-long heartfelt rabble-rouser for justice, she earned her Ph.D. at the California Institute of Integral Studies. "Hope Into Practice" won the Association for Women in Psychology Jewish Women's Caucus 2014 Award for Scholarship and the 2014 USA Best Book Award in the “Social Change” category; it also received Honorable Mentions at the New York and San Francisco Book Festivals. “Hope into Practice” has been positively reviewed in The Progressive Magazine, Tikkun.org, and JewishCurrents.org. Since 2013 Penny has presented over 55 book events, including at various universities (Harvard, DePaul, Hebrew College, CSU Northridge, Syracuse U., Agnes Scott, U. of Minneapolis, U. of Victoria, U. of San Francisco,) synagogues, bookstores, libraries, and community events.