Book Review ~ Rashi's Daughters - Book One/Jocheved

I am not one to reach for historical fictions; especially those which revolve around (or strongly feature) religion. In the past, I found it fascinating; nowadays, I would rather look into the facts of X spirituality instead of the myths...

But I found my way to this book because it was slated to be reviewed by a [frum] women's group that meets on Shabbos afternoons. Well the group organizer was looking for something to compliment the 900th yarhtzeit of Rabbi Isaac ben Solomon ("Rashi") and thought this book would be it. Well she quickly realized that the book was a bit too raunchy for these women, so the selection was axed. But I already had my copy, so I figured I might as well add it to my pile of "entertainment reading".

The voice of the book is in the 3rd person, but it focuses on the life of Jocheved, Rashi's oldest daughter, from ages 12 to 20 (approx.) - young adulthood practically (the notion of the "teenager" is a modern one), following her from the commencement of studies with her father up until the birth of her first son. Ms. Anton did a marvelous job of weaving in the historical stage; with enough detail given of 11th century France to make you feel like you are there, but concise enough to read through without the descriptors being tedious. However, early on, I found myself getting a little peeved about the surface fact that while Ms. Anton did more than her share of research on medieval modes of living, she seemed less knowledgable about Orthodox Jewish living. For example, when Meir (Jocheved's future husband) accompanies his sister to her monthly tevillah (the counters the norms of modesty in Orthodox Judaism beyond the point that a brother is acting as an attendant for his sister's immersion; but also that no one except a husband and wife should know her niddah status!). However, I will freely admit that I am far from being a historian on Jewish observance. The book also features Jocheved as being a sandek for her son's bris. If I would have read this only one month prior, I would have balked at the idea; but I read in Rabbi Falk's sefer עוז והדר לבושה that there were letters from the gedolim on the breach of tznius in respect to this practice (so it must have been widespread). I did not compare dates however. It would also be interesting to cross reference a source book on medieval Jewry in Europe and see the full background behind the congenial attitude of the non-Jewish French people towards the Jews at this time. Tolerance of Jews was fickle in the majority of European countries in that day and age; so it would be interesting to see when the tide changed.

Getting back to Jocheved, I you couldn't help but to like her. She was smart and articulate - saying the right things at the right time. She also had her faults and struggles in that she held little regard for her female Jewish peers who were wealthier, but not so studious; she seemed find no conflict intellectually between her defiance of social expectations and acting on her heart's desire; she was brazen (by the standards of the time) in her sexuality. This gave her character an undertone that was just a bit too formulatic. Almost as if you put a 21st century mind into this 11th century body. It will be interesting to see how Ms. Anton handles Miriam's (the next daughter) book, in that Miriam seems to behave a bit more within the confines of frum Jewish girl from that day and age.

I enjoyed the wealth of information I learned about the operation of the French Jewish community that Rashi existed in. Although the book is marketed to tell the story of these women who "boldy defied tradition and learned Talmud", it isn't presented in that over-the-top dramatical style. Instead, it's all quite believable. Rashi needed to leave the yeshiva (which was in Worms, Germany) and come back to France for parnassah to help his family. Feeling out of his element without Talmudic students, he found solace in instructing his daughters. When he acquired male students to learn with him, the were regulated to only listening in an adjoining room; saving their questions privately with their father later. It almost seems as if such an occurence wasn't so novel after all (while other young women didn't have a father like Rashi, the probably did pick up bits of Talmud here and there via their fathers, brothers or sons in a similar fashion). This presentation felt believable and without a modern pretense.

If only the same can be said about the focus on sexuality throughout the book. It seems as if Ms. Anton aptly feel into the neo-liberal agenda and felt the need to add "excitement" to the book by highlighting the sexuality of just about every major character. While it's probably no worse than what you would see in an R-rated film (and is not copious enough to be totally tasteless), it all could have been presented on a lower key. Sure it is important to understand the attitudes towards sex in that setting; especially in a tale told about a family when marriages, births, and puberty are occurring. But that can be done without describing the physical reflexes of certain male and female body parts in the midst of coitus. With this, Ms. Anton probably effectively tuned out the Orthodox Jewish consumer; which is unfortunate since the rest of the book is written masterfully.

While the concensus seems to be that this book is excellent, I would resign myself to only considering it "good". Excellent would have been a book that didn't so openly estrange the very community that the book is suppossed to illuminate. The literary skill is plainly apparent; perhaps even the historical supports are just as impressive. But since Ms. Anton was writing this book with no apparent regard for the modern religious Jewish reader; you get the feeling that in and of itself, that takes some credibility away from the story. It's almost as if she's contributing to the myth that Orthodox Judaism sees shame in the disclosure of these notions about Rashi's daughters; that only the non-religious have a right to be privy to such things.