Israel's Unexpected Power Brokers

From the case of a single mother who raises two children without the help of her drug-addicted partner, to another woman who becomes ever more religious in an attempt to find herself, the book shows how Mizrachi women traverse difficult circumstances to forge strong identities and meaningful lives. [...]the unique religious world of the Mizrachim, which Motzafi-Haller describes well, began to make its way into mainstream Israeli consciousness. MotzafiHaller's demonstration that it is women who often lead families to greater religious faith-hitchazkut (strengthening), as they call it-is unexpected and fascinating.