The Women Who Danced by the Sea
This Year's Must – Read Guide to Self-Actualization

A woman I know, a dear childhood friend, is undergoing a major transition in her life. Two years ago, she discovered that the husband she had been married to for over two decades – and loved dearly, believing him to be her soul-mate – was in fact leading a double-life. This man she knew as the father of her three children had two other, much-younger children only one state away and another woman with whom he shared his life. Moreover, the office he claimed to leave home for every morning was a sham – he had no office, no job, no professional life. His 'office' was this other woman's home and his 'salary' was the allowance this other, independently-wealthy woman provided him with to finance his double life.

My friend's rude discovery went beyond the conventional betrayal we associate with the uncovering of a spouse's affair. While that is deeply and metaphysically shattering, this revelation uncovered her husband's true identity, thereby undoing the root of her very being, dislocating her moorings, and making her feel as if she didn't know herself.

Wisely, my friend began intensive therapy, and her circle of friends and loved ones buoyed her through. When we met to mark the first year anniversary of her independence from her house-of-mirrors-like marriage, I could think of no better gift to bring her than the newly-published book by Brandeis psychologist Marsha Mirkin, The Women Who Danced by the Sea; Finding Ourselves in the Stories of our Biblical Foremothers (Monkfish/October 2004/$16.95).

The Women Who Danced by the Sea brilliantly merges modern feminist biblical narrative and psychotherapy. It is indispensable reading for anyone who is in search of spiritual meaning and guidance in an increasingly unstable and dangerous world.

Following in the tradition of other popular works that have focused on feminist biblical themes such as best-selling work, The Red Tent, similar in spirit to Bill Moyer's Genesis series on PBS, Mirkin's book is the first book of its kind to view the lives of the biblical women through the lens of contemporary psychological theories.

Readable and revealing, The Women Who Danced by the Sea is also the first book to weave together original feminist psychological interpretations of the stories with stories of contemporary women and men. Through these stories, Dr. Mirkin explores a wide range of psychological and spiritual issues such as depression, eating disorders, infertility, sibling rivalry, and the problems of favoritism.

For instance, in her retelling of the story of Eve, Mirkin presents us with the prototype of the life choices that always confront us: do we engage in life fully and experience both the richness of joy and the depths of sorrow, or do we settle for a less complicated, less meaningful existence? In the story of Sarah, she examines the powerful role of empathy and the consequences of empathic lapses to our relationships. In the story of Hannah, she explores issues related to the importance of girls having a voice and not being silenced.

In her new book, Mirkin uncovers a new face of midrash – the interpersonal.  The beauty of the work is that each and every reader is able to forge an intimate encounter with the biblical characters that Mirkin so skillfully brings to life. In the case of my friend, she was able to see herself, variously, as Eve, Hagar, and Hannah. Empowered by the book's modus vivendi, she envisioned herself on a journey from the Egypt of her sham relationship with her husband, undergoing a personal Exodus, and wandering through the desert of personal discovering on the way to her own promised land of self-discovery.

The Woman Who Danced by the Sea is vital reading for anyone interested in forging a deeper understanding of their lives and gaining insight from the stories of our foremothers. Both poetic and profound, it is an important contribution to one's bookshelf of self-actualization. No matter what your background or lifestyle, Mirkin's book contains nuggets of wisdom for you.

Dr. Marsha Mirkin is a clinical psychologist and resident scholar at Brandeis University Women's Studies Research Center. The Women Who Danced by the Sea; Finding Ourselves in the Stories of our Biblical Foremothers is her first book. The book is available nationwide in bookstores and online.