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Pregnant Jewish Women Speak Out in Soon-to-be-Released Expecting Miracles

By Chana Weisberg

(Jerusalem) In her pathbreaking Expecting Miracles: Finding Meaning and Spirituality in Pregnancy through Judaism (Urim Publications), Chana Weisberg, known as the Jewish Pregnancy Lady to the 300,000 annual visitors to her website www.jewishpregnancy.org, offers powerful wisdom and insights garnered in conversations with observant Jewish women for transforming pregnancy into an opportunity for personal and spiritual growth.

The concept for Expecting Miracles was born during Weisberg's first pregnancy. After scouring bookstores and libraries for a volume adressing the religious Jewish woman's experience of childbirth, she returned disappointed and empty-handed. This was surprising given the community' commitment to large families and high birthrate.

While pregnant with her second child, an inspired Weisberg hit the streets, convinced that sharing the spiritual framework of religious women's pregnancy would fulfill a great need.

Each chapter of Expecting Miracles consists of an intimate and moving interview with an Orthodox mother. In their own voices, for example, we learn of the battle between a Chassidic mother of 15 and her doctor, who pressured her to abort her last child; a South African mother of two whose first pregnancy brought up repressed memories of adolescent sexual abuse; and a 49-year-old first-time mother whose twins appeared to her husband in a vision a year before she conceived.

Yitta Halberstam, best-selling author of Small Miracles, calls Expecting Miracles "a fascinating journey into previously unexplored terrain" which "explores the little-known world of Orthodox Jewish women in various stages of pregnancy: their hopes, their dreams, their fears, their beliefs as they integrate the marvels, mysteries, the magic, and ultimately, the miracle of childbirth and mothering."

Chana Weisberg, originally of Baltimore, Maryland, has lived in Jerusalem for the last decade. The mother of three, she is an alumna of Bowdoin College and Hebrew University's Graduate School of Social Work. ###