Rashi's Daughters, Book II: Miriam: A Novel of Love and the Talmud in Medieval France [Paperback]

Maggie Anton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 2007

The engrossing historical series of three sisters living in eleventh-century Troyes, France, continues with the tale of Miriam, the lively and daring middle child of Salomon ben Isaac, the great Talmudic authority. Having no sons, he teaches his daughters the intricacies of Mishnah and Gemara in an era when educating women in Jewish scholarship was unheard of. His middle daughter, Miriam, is determined to bring new life safely into the Troyes Jewish community and becomes a midwife. As devoted as she is to her chosen path, she cannot foresee the ways in which she will be tested and how heavily she will need to rely on her faith. With Rashi’s Daughters, author Maggie Anton brings the Talmud and eleventh-century France to vivid life and poignantly captures the struggles and triumphs of strong Jewish women.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The amount of learning Maggie Anton weaves into her vividly imagined romantic story is amazing. The reader plunges into the world of medieval Ashkenazic tradition, truly becoming a student of the great Salomon ben Isaac.”
—Sylvie Weil, Professor Emerita, Hunter College, CUNY, and author of Les Vendanges de Rachi and My Guardian Angel

From the Author

"Rashi's Daughters" is the story of the three daughters of the great Talmudic authority Salomon ben Isaac, a.k.a. Rashi, who lived in 11th century Troyes, France and had no sons. At a time when most women were illiterate and the rare educated woman was one who could read the Bible, Rashi's daughters studied Talmud. They were also vintners, merchants and mothers of the next generation of Talmudic scholars.

Built on seven years of exhaustive historical research and ten years of Talmud study, "Rashi's Daughters" explores what might have been, weaving actual events, as described in responsa literature and Talmud commentaries, into an account of the lives of these amazing women. Talmud is an integral part of these novels; readers will learn along with Rashi's daughters as he explains selected texts. This is also the story of the medieval French Jewish community, how they lived, loved, worked, ate, prayed and interacted with their non-Jewish neighbors. A wealth of material about Jewish women's daily lives is provided, including how they observed life cycle events and holidays.

I wrote this book because I wanted to share my research into Jewish women's lives in medieval France, how the prosperity and tolerance they enjoyed differed from the negative stereotypes usually associated with the Middle Ages. In addition, I wished to encourage women to study Talmud, the foundation of Jewish Law that, until very recently, women have been unable to access. I hoped to share the excitement and pleasure Talmud study can engender.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Plume (July 31, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452288630
• ISBN-13: 978-0452288638
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #361,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Jewish American

More About the Author

Maggie Anton was born Margaret Antonofsky in Los Angeles, California. Raised in a secular, socialist household, she reached adulthood with little knowledge of the Jewish religion. All that changed when David Parkhurst, who was to become her husband, entered her life, and they both discovered Judaism as adults. That was the start of a lifetime of adult Jewish education, synagogue involvement, and ritual observance.

In the early 1990's, Anton learned about a women's Talmud class taught by Rachel Adler, now a professor at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. Nearly every Wednesday for five years, she and about six other women met around Rachel's dining room table to study the Steinsaltz Hebrew edition of Tractate Berachot. Teachers, tractates, locations and students changed, but Wednesday remained Talmud night for serious Jewish women scholars.

In 1997, as her children Emily and Ari left the house and her mother was declining with Alzheimer's Disease, Anton sought new interests. She became intrigued with the idea that Rashi, one of the greatest Jewish scholars ever, had no sons, only three daughters, and that their sons, Rashi's grandsons, became the Tosafot, the great twelfth century Talmud commentators. Slowly but surely, she began to research the family and the time in which they lived. Much was written about Rashi and the Tosafot, but almost nothing of the daughters, except their names and the names of their husbands. Legend has it that Rashi's daughters were learned in a time when women were traditionally forbidden to study the sacred texts. These forgotten women seemed ripe for rediscovery, and the idea of a book about them was born.

"Rashi's Daughters:Book I - JOHEVED" was published in 2005, in honor of the 900th anniversary of Rashi's death, "Book II-MIRIAM" in 2007, and "Book III - RACHEL" in August 2009 by Plume. A YA version for ages 9-14, "Rashi's Daughter: Secret Scholar" was published in 2008 by JPS.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rashi's daughter Miriam, August 15, 2007

By 

Mim T. (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rashi's Daughters, Book II: Miriam: A Novel of Love and the Talmud in Medieval France (Paperback)

I have just completed reading this best seller and once again Maggie Anton has written just that, another best seller. This book was educational, encompassing the back drop of medieval France and the writings of Rabbi Rashi's commentaries of the Talmud. Being a continuation of the first book, Joheved, this novel was well worth the read. There was additional Talmud information and several new characters. It was an easy read, with more diversified issues. I am anxiously awaiting to hear about Rachael. Thank you, Maggie.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dull, derivative historical romance, tarted up with Judaica, September 4, 2008

By 

Charismatic Creature (Anywheresville, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rashi's Daughters, Book II: Miriam: A Novel of Love and the Talmud in Medieval France (Paperback)

I picked this up at random in the library, not realizing it was the second book in a trilogy (and if the author's comments are accurate, will be also reproduced as bowdlerized children's books). From comments here, I think it is possible that the first book is better, but I can only comment on what I have actually read.

The premise is fascinating: the story of a learned Talmudic scholar, Rashi, in the 11th century, who has 3 daughters and no sons, so he daringly educates his girls far beyond the norms of the day. I imagine in real life, these were three extremely fascinating and unusual women. So it's astonishing what a dull, lifeless story author Maggie Anton gives us -- a tedious recitation of "life in the middle ages" strung along with endless sex scenes and talk about hymens, deflowerings, menstrual cycles, pregnancies and births. I suppose in a real sense, the life of a medieval woman was highly circumscribed and restricted, and limited to just pleasing her husband and producing dozens of children until she died (usually in childbirth).

But this was supposed to be about three extremely unusual, educated Jewish women -- at a time when education itself was rare (even amongst men) and among a small community of people whose faith was very different than the majority of their countrymen. I got absolutely zero sense from this book what it was like to be a Jew in Medieval France, how the Jews acted or lived differently than their countrymen, how the Christian majority really thought about or treated them.

You don't even get a sense of how other Jews, especially women, felt about these three rare birds -- I would have guessed them to face serious disapproval from other less educated women. After all, they are doing really socially challenging things, reading and disucssing Talmud, wearing tefillin...one girl is a "mohel", performing ritual circumcisions, something that even today is mostly done by men.

This book also struck me as derivative of Anne Diamont's much better book, "The Red Tent", with its emphasis on midwifery, and the attendant continual scenes of pregnancies and births. Undoubtedly this was a big part of women's lives at the time -- but in real life, mortality rates were very high, and yet there is little here about dying, still births, or the way women were quickly replaced by new wives. You'd almost think that midwifery was being practiced at a very high level of skill, when in fact it was filthy and primitive. Also, there is nothing in particular here to suggest that educated, Talmudically trained midwives had anymore medical skill to offer than French peasant midwives.

It was interesting to read that Ms. Anton has created a new, bowdlerized (sexless) version of the first book for "pre teens"). (Hint to Ms. Anton: girls of 13, 14 and 15 are not "pre teens".) That's because "Rashi's Daughters" is filled with the kind of howlingly bad sex stuff, presented as "historical", that has ruined plenty of non-Jewish literature -- constant scenes of deflowered virgins, wedding nights, hymens, penetration and endless talk about menstruation (called "flowers" here)....all in pretentious, often made up language instead of talking bluntly about the real thing. Ms. Anton clumsily copies a bit directly from "The Red Tent", where a young girl, worried about her wedding night, has an older sister surgically cut her hymen. Frankly, this isn't credible anyways -- most cultures revere virginity and place a high value on bleeding and pain as a sign of purity. I also can't imagine one sister doing this for another -- ewww.

The problem with this isn't about prudery -- I enjoy lusty, frank, erotic writing and some period stories are highly suited to this kind of treatment. But this topic is supposed to be about unique, educated women -- women with an unsurpassed knowledge for their time of religion, morality, history, tradition, ethics. It would be nice if they could think about something above the level of their groins, at least a little. Even their Talmudic research seems geared to things like contraception.

An even worse subplot is about young Miriam's husband, also a Talmudic scholar, who is a homosexual and sleeping around with his yeshiva study partners. Obviously, there have been gay people in every era and therefore must have existed even in such religious seminaries. But the angle of the story suggests this was common, even the norm, and at the end, the couple seems to have accepted the husband's orientation -- and stays together! I believe in actuality that an openly homosexual man in that time would have been looked at in contempt and driven out of the community. The level of tolerance and acceptance seems far too contemporary.

Unfortunately, the sum total of all this makes the book seems like an outwardly acceptable way to read about a lot of sex stuff -- "see mom, it's about the Talmud!", when in fact the content is mostly at the level of a gossip magazine...whose having sex with who, how good it is, who is pregnant, etc.

The historical aspects are thin, and very laboured. Ms. Anton may indeed be a Talmudic expert -- I can't argue that -- but she is unable to present what I think should be fascinating material in anything but a schoolmarmish way. The worst of the writing, to me, is how she will grasp a phrase or name for something and work it to death -- the French term for a tunic is "bliaut". So -- nobody can just get dressed or put on a tunic...no they have to get their red "bliaut" and put on a bliaut or buy a new bliaut. Ditto for confusing terms like "Hot Fair" -- maybe that is a literal translation, but honestly isn't "SUMMMER FAIR" more logical and meaningful? Basically, it's a fair that takes place in warm weather. There is no reason to use language to obscure and "fancify" everything that could be simple and clear.

If you can't bring yourself to read bodice rippers, and instead want to feel good that you are reading something about Jewish History or the Talmud, I guess books like this exist so you can have your cake and eat it too. But if you really care about these things -- there are far better books on Jewish History, on the Middle Ages and even on the scholar Rashi. Even the book jacket is incredibly lame -- instead of artwork of a medieval Jewish woman, we have an Italian mannerist painting of a Christian noblewoman of the 1600s, by the artist Bronzino. (On the first book, there is a portrait by Leonardo DaVinci!). I know authors do not produce or even OK their book jackets, but it's indicative of a generally slipshod attitude towards both history and the reading audience.

In conclusion: not worth the time it took me to read it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine historical fiction, September 17, 2007

By 

B. Maidenberg (Houston, Tx) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rashi's Daughters, Book II: Miriam: A Novel of Love and the Talmud in Medieval France (Paperback)

Maggie Anton has done an outstanding job of allowing us into the house of Rashi. Her dialog flows beautifully and her discriptions color the time and place so that the reader has a vivid mental image of the life and surroundings of the characters. Without giving too much away, let me add that the specific issues that the characters face are treated with compassion and sensitivity. I would recommend the novel to anyone who loves historical fiction. I would recommend reading book one first.