Bread and Fire is about the everyday lives of Jewish women and the struggles and aspirations, failings and triumphs of their spiritual endeavors. This book asks What does it mean to be a Jewish woman today? What does Jewish tradition offer to modern women who are looking for practical ways to bring spirituality and meaning to their lives and the lives of their loved ones? The women whose writings appear in this book span a wide range of ages, backgrounds, perspectives and professions. In her own way, each one reveals God as an anchoring force in her life from the birthing room to the boardroom, cleaning in the kitchen or scrubbing up for surgery. In places as far apart as Jerusalem, Washington, DC and southern India, these women help us find the sacred within the apparently mundane. Readers will find themselves laughing, crying and gaining reassurance and strength as they come face-to-face with these women -- women just like them -- who are moving forward in the ancient quest to find God in the everyday. Bread and Fire contains moving teachings and honest reflections from more than sixty contributors, including Shoshana S. Cardin, Elizabeth Ehrlich, Ruchama King Feuerman, Tamar Frankiel, Susan Handelman, Francesca Lunzer-Kritz, Sherri Mandell, Rachel Naomi Remen, Liz Rosenberg, Julie Salamon, Sarah Yehudit (Susan) Schneider, Wendy Shalit, Sarah Shapiro, Esther Shkop, Marian Stoltz-Loike