Rabbi Kamila Kopřivová

My Book

Rabínka v zácviku (Rabbi in Training: An Unorthodox Take on Judaism)
CPress / Albatros Media, 2023 · Illustrated by Dana Lédl (Myokard)

Before I was ordained, I spent years answering the same questions about Judaism, first on social media as “Rabínka v zácviku,” then in this book. It is an introduction to Judaism for people who know almost nothing about it, written for a country where most people know almost nothing about it, by someone who once knew nothing about it herself. Each chapter pairs a theme of Jewish life with the story of a remarkable Jewish woman, from Regina Jonas, the first woman ever ordained a rabbi, to the scholars and rebels history overlooked.

The book is currently available in Czech. Here are two short passages in English:

Eyes wide, a baffled look. “Wait, you can do that?”

I am a rabbi, and this is the most common reaction I get when I tell people. Yes, you can. In fact, here I am, standing right in front of you, alive and in the flesh.

Most people have some picture of what a priest is. Fewer can picture a rabbi: someone like a priest, but for the Jews, dressed all in black, with curled sidelocks and a big black hat. And then there is me. Except it is not just me. Around the world you will meet hundreds of other rabbis, women and men. Judaism is colourful, with more flavours and scents than anyone can count. Carrying just one stereotypical picture in your head would be a terrible shame.

And from the chapter about the evening that changed everything:

I have countless stories from Jerusalem, but one changed my life for good. Among the yeshiva students was a student from Britain, there only briefly. As his departure approached, we agreed that one evening, once the day’s dose of Talmud was done, we would finally go out for falafel and talk properly. That was when I learned he was the rabbi of Westminster Synagogue in London, and I nearly fell over. Westminster Synagogue holds a special place in Czech Jewish history: in February 1964, 1,564 Czech Torah scrolls arrived there, scrolls that had been hidden in Prague from the Nazis and then “inherited” by the communists, who sold them off for foreign currency. Today the scrolls are cared for by the Memorial Scrolls Trust, which lends them to Jewish communities all over the world.

Pro české čtenáře

Kniha vyšla v nakladatelství CPress. Objednat ji můžete na www.albatrosmedia.cz nebo ve vašem oblíbeném knihkupectví.

English rights: publishers and agents are welcome to get in touch.