The Rooster Princess
Jewish Stories Re-populated with Spunky Heroines, Wise Women, Brave Crones, and Powerful Prophetesses
Debra Gordon Zaslow and The Jewish Women's Storytelling Collective
Paperback
ISBN 9781958972878
$23.95 US
eBook available
September 9, 2025
Female protagonists turn Jewish folktales on their heads!
What happens when stories with traditional male protagonists are updated with female characters? Timeless plots and values remain, while old tales transform to inspire and captivate a new generation.
When Debra Gordon Zaslow first ventured into Jewish storytelling in the mid-1980s, she was surprised at how difficult it was to find Jewish tales featuring powerful female characters. This seemed odd, given the obvious strength of Jewish women. Over the years, she found herself slipping female characters into stories and changing male protagonists into females. Her criterion was simple: if it didn’t change the basic meaning or plot of the story, the character could be female. There was always the sense, however, of meddling with something sacrosanct. These Jewish stories have been handed down for centuries, and who was she to change them?
Decades later, comes this collection of stories. The maggidot (Jewish women storytellers) who wrote and compiled this innovative anthology have created a collection to honor Jewish values while featuring female characters in every central role. Some stories are female-centered versions of traditional tales (e.g. “The Fishmonger and the Shiviti” and “The Shekhinah Is in Exile”), others are original fiction inspired by perennial Jewish themes (“A Queer Soul in the Shtetl”).
Debra Gordon Zaslow was ordained as a maggidah (Jewish storyteller) by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in 1995. She travels nationwide telling stories and leading workshops in storytelling and writing. She holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her short stories have been included in numerous anthologies. Debra recently retired from thirty years of teaching storytelling at Southern Oregon University. She runs a maggid training program (Jewish storytelling and Torah teaching) with her husband Rabbi David Zaslow in Ashland, Oregon, and together they lead Shabbat weekends across the country. The Jewish Women’s Storytelling Collective began in 2022 when Debra Gordon Zaslow and five female graduates of her maggid training program expressed frustration with the lack of female protagonists in Jewish folklore.“Some tellers only tell a story, but Debra enlightens the story, infusing it with extra light, wisdom and power.” —Jane Yolen, author, Favorite Folktales from Around the World
“Debra Zaslow is a modern maggidah…the way she moves from the tale to her reflection is a wonderful example of how we can best internalize the seemingly simple tales to heal our complicated lives.” —Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, author, Wrapped in a Holy Flame: Teachings and Tales of the Hasidic Masters
“Debra has a way of looking life in the eye—a courage and sense of humor that invite us directly into her world.” —Jay O Callahan, storyteller, author, The Spirit of the Great Auk
“The stories we tell are a reflection of who we are and who we dream of becoming. These stories are rich and resonant with women’s voices and values, at once familiar and entirely new. Like all great folk tales, Chelm stories, and fables, they teach us and inspire us to feel. I look forward to returning to these tales again and again, and sharing them with generations to come.” —Rachel Barenblat, “The Velveteen Rabbi,” and author of Texts to the Holy
“The Rooster Princess and Other Tales is a much needed and highly recommended collection of stories that puts women front and center in Jewish folklore. The stories range from the biblical Eve to Edel, the daughter of the Baal Shem Tov, to Hannah of Chelm, as well as including contemporary personal stories. What an excellent resource for teachers, storytellers, and readers who will delight and be inspired by these stories that place women in leading roles while staying true to the meaning of the original tales.” —Barbara Diamond Goldin, coauthor of Meet Me at the Well: The Girls and Wise Women of the Bible, with Jane Yolen
