White Fire, by Rabbi Malka Drucker, with photographs by Gay Block, brings together the stories of thirty-one women who reveal the new spiritual landscape in America.

The existence of women spiritual leaders reveals the uniqueness of our times. Never before have women possessed so much power to do good: for the first time we have the opportunity to translate all forms of feminine divinity into healing forces for the universe.

As spirit seekers explore new faith paths, many are taking shelter in women's sacred spaces. They are finding inclusive communities of spirit that are warm, approachable, and delighted to have you; they feel like home.

Rabbi Malka Drucker, ordained at the age of fifty, met with and interviewed over 50 women spiritual leaders in America to explore their personal and professional lives. Her encounters led to insightful profiles that reveal the struggles and disappointments as well as the sweet satisfactions and successes that belong uniquely to women spiritual leaders. The author shares her fascination with different traditions; the challenges of staying faithful to one's chosen path; and the hope she feels after meeting these women. Gay Block's powerful photographic portraits reveal each woman's intense calling.

The subjects represent a wide variety of beliefs, backgrounds, and temperaments: they may be rabbis, ministers, or priests; cloistered, locally known, or internationally known; celibate or grandmothers; scholars or faith healers. Some serve in denominations that have accepted women ministers for a hundred years; others are part of groups that still don't allow women full rights to spiritual leadership. What they share, besides their gender, is a deep passion to serve.

"I imagine this book as an ingathering where women have come together to tell their stories about what it means to be a woman, a person of faith, and a leader," says Drucker. "Listening to them in ensemble reveals that all their differences are less important than how much they share as women spiritual leaders."

The title "White Fire" comes from an ancient mystical Jewish belief that the holy books are written with "black fire upon white fire". The black letters on the page are the black fire - the story of men. The space around the letters is the "white fire" - this is the invisible power of women. The black fire could not be read without the surrounding white fire, so the white is already important, though invisible. The belief is that someday we are able to fully understand the white fire, the world will finally be in balance.

Purchase an autographed copy of:
White Fire: A Portrait of Women Spiritual Leaders in America, by Malka Drucker with photographs by Gay Block.