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The Fruit of Her Hands: The Story of Shira of Ashkenaz

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Michelle Cameron's THE FRUIT OF HER HANDS tells the surprisingly fascinating story of Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg, Germany, the greatest Talmudic scholar of the 13th century, as seen through the eyes of his wife and soulmate, Shira.

The recorded history of Rabbi Meir, who is Cameron's ancestor, says nothing about his family other than he had a son, Suesskind, and several unnamed daughters. But Cameron reasoned that such a remarkable man would have had an equally remarkable wife, and so she invents Shira, the only daughter of a widowed French rabbi with a thirst for learning and a mind of her own.

The novel deftly weaves Meir and Shira into some of the darkest chapters of medieval Jewish history: The Paris disputation (trial) and mass burning of the Talmud in 1240-42, the blood libel of Little St. Hugh of Lincoln in 1255, and King Rudolph I's decision in 1286 to enslave the Jews of Germany, which forced Meir to flee to Palestine, only to be captured en route and imprisoned for ransom.

Meir and Shira also become entangled, politically and personally, with the villainous Nicholas Donin, a radical Jewish scholar who is rejected as a suitor for Shira's hand, excommunicated by the Chief Rabbi of Paris, and eventually becomes a Franciscan monk. Donin takes his revenge by convincing Pope Gregory IX to condemn the Talmud for blasphemy and King Louis IX of France to confiscate and burn 12,000 copies in Paris.

Cameron stays true to history and does not inflate Shira's role unduly. She is no proto-feminist or free-thinking firebrand, but rather an obedient daughter, a loving wife, and a restrained (if highly intelligent) observer of events whose greatest concern is keeping her family safe. Her greatest enemy after Nicholas Donin is her hypercritical mother-in-law.

Even so, Meir and Shira's struggle to survive and even thrive in an increasingly anti-Semitic Europe, the wealth of detail about Jewish life 700 years ago, the illuminating snippets of Talmudic wisdom and Jewish poetry, and Cameron's clean and lyrical writing make THE FRUIT OF HER HANDS a marvelous read and a remarkable achievement for a first-time novelist.

Sometimes, when we start researching our family tree, we discover an ancestor who makes us proud. When author, Michelle Cameron, found she descended from Rabbi Meir ben Baruch, she decided to learn as much as she could about him, and memorialize him in a novel.

Through the eyes of his fictional wife, Shira, we revisit 13th century Europe, at the rise of anti-Semitism. During this time period, the Talmud was burned, and growing mistrust of the Jewish people caused their cruel persecution and imprisonment. But Shira and her family are strong in their faith and community, and refuse to allow their fears to control them. In the midst of this unrest, we learn what a great and important man Rabbi Meir ben Baruch is in his lifetime.

Blending the history of her ancestor and his fictional family with Jewish faith and custom, The Fruit of Her Hands is a moving story that spans several generations. When we first meet Shira, she's a young girl. She marries, has children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren by the time the story concludes.

Fear of a group of people causes humanity to act in ways that are unfathomable to rational minds. Yet we see behavior like this time and time again. But exeriencing how the Jews were persecuted, first-hand through Shira's thoughts and memories, reminds us not to judge based on appearances. There's a lesson for all of us in this remarkable story.

Reviewer: Alice Berger

Cameron retells the story of her ancestor with the fictional character of Shira - daughter of a rabbi in 13C France she is eventually wed to esteemed scholar Meir ben Baruch and they settle in Paris. The persecutions of the Jews reach new heights and Meier is among those who defend the Talmud but to no avail. They leave France to start a new life in Germany which is happy and successful at first, although the persecutions of the Jews in Europe continue to increase.

That's pretty much the basic plot outline, although of course there's quite a bit more to it than that - I'm just not too inspired today. While I did enjoy learning about a period and culture that I know little about, the author just didn't *suck* me into her world. I think those more interested in this topic might find it more interesting than I did, if you're not sure get it from the library. It's a good book; it's just not a great one.

I'm having a remarkably hard time gathering up my thoughts to review THE FRUIT OF HER HANDS. The book is a mixed bag as far as I'm concerned.

Overall, the book was informative and easy entertainment, but it lacked depth. For the most part the characters were either good or bad, with no shades of grey, which made them unrealistic and led to my feeling of detachment. Shira was a sympathetic and capable main character during the first third of the book and looked to be an interesting Medieval wife. Unfortunately, after she became married, she lost her personality. I realize that it was an accurate portrayal of Jewish wives back then, but Shira had been scholarly, while still seeing to her duties, up until this point and then turned into a boring protagonist. What set her apart and made me want to read about her was her attitude about learning the Talmud like the men. What interested Meir in the first place was Shira, who he thought unusual; not that I was shown their love, I was just told about it. The chemistry was lacking between them, but that may be in part that I didn't get a good sense of who Meir was as a person, other than he was brilliant, a revered scholar, et cetera. No one felt real in this book and that's a shame.

What was perhaps done best were the details and information about the Jewish people and their faith. Generally, it was written into the story quite well, even if Shira was conveniently placed right in the way of big events. I learned much and am grateful for the history of that time. My one problem with it was that although I felt the pain and suffering the Jewish endured, it was just a little too clean. More realism and grit would have added much to the book.

Perhaps the scope of the book did a disservice to the story as a whole, and it might have benefited a few scenes taken out. As a whole, it's a decent book and a good debut, but it still lacks that something that makes me what to say "read it".

This is the fictional story of Shira of Ashkenaz, a Jewess living in Europe in the 1200s. She is married to a real Meir ben Baruch, who is a real historical figure. It is important to remember in reading this book that it is fiction, and so I appreciated the author's note at the back, which let me know some of the things that were actual historical events.

I found this book fascinating and very enjoyable to read. Shira was an interesting character, while "spirited," she was realistic, conducting herself within the framework of her culture. I liked her, and I enjoyed her relationship with her husband. He really did seem to be her b'shert, her soulmate. Her character was very well developed over the course of the book. I really felt like she was a person I got to know. As it's written in the first person, you are privy to her inner thoughts as well.

As a Christian, who is relatively familiar with the Old Testament, it was interesting learning about some of the Jewish traditions springing from their Talmud. It was interesting learning about this time period in history when the persecution of the Jews arose (Christians that didn't tow the church line and other religions were already being persecuted harshly), largely springing from their commitment to the Talmud, the interpretations and writings of men, as equal to the Torah, or Old Testament Scriptures. And some of the stuff I knew, but hadn't thought through. For example, I was aware of the 7 days of uncleanness after menstration ceased, but I hadn't thought of the implications of that with regard to the bleeding on the wedding night... 7 days of no touching!

Though this book depicts the persecution of the Jewish people, it is not one-sided portraying all Jews as good and all Christians as bad. There are some faithful Christian friends depicted. And Shira shows some understanding of the common people's dislike of the Jews:

"Knowing what I knew about my people, knowing every word the man said was a fabrication and a lie, I still found myself moved by it. Looking around at the tear-stained faces in the crowd, particularly the faces of the mothers, each one clutching her own small children to her protectively, I began to understand the hatred the Christians felt for us. We held ourselves apart from them and they knew nothing of our actual lives. Instead, they were fed these bizarre stories about us...."

One note of caution. There are two or three scenes in the book dealing with Shira and Meir's sexual relationship. They do quite explicitly mention body parts and sexual acts. The wedding night is a couple pages of explicit mixed with other material, and the other two are under a page in length. I will personally mark out those passages, which are a very small part of the book. However, when I was unmarried, and desiring to remain sexually pure in thought and deed, I would have found those passages very unhelpful. After all, you have to first read them before you can mark them out!

Overall, an enjoyable book. While I don't think it's the book of the year or a "must-read," I I'm glad I read it. This book probably inspired a bit more of an interest in me in Jewish culture, though not necessarily specific to this time period. I would recommend it to those that enjoy historical fiction, with the caution above.

Historical fiction is always a delicate dance between accuracy and steps off that path taken to weave a successful novel; Michelle Cameron moves deftly in "The Fruit of Her Hand: The Story of Shiraz of Ashkenaz." The narrator Shiraz, a creation of Cameron's imagination, is the daughter of a prominent rabbi in 13th century France. Intelligent, opinionated, and passionate, through her eyes we see the pivotal events of her Jewish Community as they struggle against persecution and violence.

While Shiraz is fictive, many of the other characters are drawn from individuals who played a part in this crucial period. Shiraz's husband, Rabbi Meir ben Baruch of Rothenburg, was one of the outstanding leaders of European Jewry in the Middle Ages. The same is true of the villain Nicholas Donin, a Franciscan Friar and converted Jew who preached making bonfires of holy books and caused the murder of thousands of Jews throughout the land of modern France. Shiraz stands at her husband's side after the great Rabbis debate with Donin before the Queen of France, and watches the torment of Paris's Jewish community as houses are defiled, pages burn, and the street runs with blood. Through the device of Shiraz's children, she travels far and wide through Christian Europe, including witnessing the blood libel leveled against the Jewish community of Lincoln in Britain for the death of "Saint" Hugh, including the hanging of eighteen Jews for this imagined crime.

In the end, however, "The Fruit of Her Hand," is most of all a historical romance, and a passionate one at that. While Shiraz as a character can at times be less than complex, one never doubts her ardor for husband or her love for her children. It is this, as much as the rich historical detail, which carries the reader from one page to the next, in what is a page turning good read. Readers who enjoyed works like "Rashi's Daughters" will enjoy this novel which benefits both from superior research and a less melodramatic style.

While I'm normally not drawn to historical fiction, Michelle Cameron has made this novel about the Jewish scholar Meir Ben Baruch so rich in details that I felt I was living in the world of the 13th century. The author also made the brilliant decision to have the story told through the eyes of his wife, someone who could have been only a minor figure or side character. Instead, it adds to the richness of the story and the struggles as Baruch and his family fight anti-Semitism.Unflinchingly honest and a book I couldn't put down.

I love history and I discovered a few years ago that I apparently have a penchant for historical fiction. Generally, I try to stick to historical fiction novels on time periods which I am already rather familiar through previous studies. When I saw that this book was available for me to review as part of the Amazon Vine Program I figured I'd give it a shot even though the 13th century and Jewish history aren't exactly areas of major interest for me. I know a good deal about that time period and Catholicism, but I realized as I cracked open this book that I knew next to nothing about Jewish history of that time period. Actually, I am only familiar with a few segments of Jewish history.

While I realize that this is a historical fiction novel, there are a lot of historical accuracies contained in this book. I can't vouch for every detail given that I'm not well versed in this period of genre of history. I can however tell that the author has taken great care to make this period of history come alive. The reader is transported back into 13th century Europe and through the eyes of it's main character, Shira, gets to see what life was like for the Jewish population. I did have many moments before I discovered the glossary in the back of the book where I was a bit confused with all of the Hebrew words being tossed about in the book. I suspect if I was of Jewish heritage that I would probably be familiar with many of the words. Every once in a while a term I was already well acquainted with would come up, but for the most part, I needed the glossary to explain certain words or terms.

I found the book to be a bit of a slow read in the beginning but after I got through the first few chapters I found it to be more engaging and a very fast read. While this book is not as salacious as a Phillipa Gregory novel, I found it to be almost as captivating. I think the author did an excellent job of portraying Jewish life in 13th century Christian Europe.

For readers craving great historical fiction, or a realistic romance novel, or a book about religion's place in history, THE FRUIT OF HER HANDS will more than satisfy your appetite. This wonderful saga puts into perspective not only the religious struggles faced by the Jewish community of 13th century Ashkenaz, a region of Europe that encompassed portions of France and Germany, but the traditions, values and rituals practiced in their every day lives.

Author, Michelle Cameron has skillfully blended the life experiences of her creation, Shira, with that of actual historical characters and given her readers a book that is not only historically accurate but entertaining and informative as well. The story follows Shira from her childhood home in Normandy and her marriage to Meir ben Baruch, to a yeshiva in Paris and later to Rothenberg, Germany. Throughout her life and travels Shira's life is plagued by Nicholas Donin, a man whose marriage proposal and unorthodox religious beliefs she once rejected and who now seeks revenge against the Jewish community.

Non-Jewish readers will come away with a better understanding of the Talmud and the Torah as well as the customs, culture, and history of Judaism. I, personally, was amazed to learn that Jews of that era were required to wear a rouelle ("golden wagon wheel") stitched to their clothing to identify them.... just as Hitler enforced the wearing of the Star of David circa WWII. Hatred and intolerance seems to have been the order of the day with both Christians and Jews misinterpreting the others religion and beliefs.

Michelle Cameron has managed to intrigue her readers with an interesting approach to Jewish history that not only brings to life a long forgotten era, but also provides us with a moving story of one woman's love and devotion to her family, friends and a way of life. Although Shira was a creation of the author's imagination, Meir of Rothenberg and Nicholas Donin were actual men and I now feel compelled to learn more about their place in history.

The opening chapters of this book on the life of Jews foreshadows the greater horrors of the coming Inquisition, and Shira's father comes back from a harrowing taste of the evils to come. The life of Jews in the Medieval Age (13th Century) was one of increasing persecution, and this historical novel sets this horrible time (I hate the Dark Ages, early Middle Ages, and I'm not even big on this period in history before the Renaissance. Life was nasty, brutish and short, as they say. Shorter and nastier, if you were a Jew in Europe.)

The novel tries to portray the life of Jews from a woman's perspective, but after the thrilling opening pages, it more or less falls flat, and I didn't find the characters all that interesting or convincing. It didn't hold my interest, though I'm pretty well-versed in history from this era. A nice attempt, but not on my list of must-read historical novels.