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Jewish Feminist Book Club: August Edition – Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
August 8, 2023 @ 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM
ChiTribe’s Jewish Feminist Book Club is hosted by ChiTribe leaders and fellow Queer Jewish women. We’ve crafted this space for Jewish women and non-binary folks to explore Queer Jewish life through diverse literary forms. Embracing various identities within our community, our inclusive club is open to all, whether you’re deeply connected with your Jewish roots or just starting to discover your heritage.
Meetings occur monthly on Tuesdays at Women and Children’s First, fostering a sense of community through shared appreciation of Queer Jewish narratives in literature. Whether a bibliophile, a curious mind, or someone seeking connection, join us in the Jewish Feminist Book Club. Together, we’ll discover new literary landscapes and, in the process, understand more about ourselves and each other. Welcome to this unique literary journey!
Milk Fed is a darkly humorous novel by acclaimed author Melissa Broder. It tells the story of Rachel, a 24-year-old woman who substitutes religious Jewish practice with an obsessive fixation on calorie counting. Rachel maintains a sense of control through strict food rituals during her day job at a Los Angeles talent management agency, while spending her nights on an elliptical machine going nowhere.
Prompted by her therapist, Rachel embarks on a 90-day communication detox from her calorie-obsessed mother. She then meets Miriam, an Orthodox Jewish woman who works at her favorite frozen yogurt shop and who enjoys feeding Rachel. The protagonist is quickly and powerfully drawn to Miriam – her sundaes, her body, her faith, and her family.
As Rachel and Miriam grow closer, Rachel’s journey becomes marked by mirrors, mysticism, mothers, milk, and honey. Broder’s novel is a detailed exploration of various appetites, including physical hunger, sexual desire, spiritual longing, and how these often-interconnected instincts are compartmentalized in life.
Milk Fed has been recognized as a “ruthless, laugh-out-loud examination of life under the tyranny of diet culture” and is praised for being “riotously funny and perfectly profane.”
Source: Simon & Schuster
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