Medieval France as the Jews would have experienced it comes alive in her hands. Maggie Anton is both a Talmud and history scholar, and in Rashi’s Daughters it certainly shows. The story of their family continues over the course of about eight years, covering in detail what it was like to be a devout Jew, man or woman, in 11th century France. Salomon is a natural teacher and when he sees that his daughter is both devout and curious, he starts to teach her (and Miriam, who has no wish to be left out) Talmud. Joheved is a serious girl and has grown up reading the scriptures in several languages and learning from her grandmother the vintner trade. Salomon has recently had to give up studying abroad as his mother is ailing and he is now required to man the family’s business, winemaking. The narrative begins in 1069 when Salomon is only 29 and Joheved is about ten. Joheved is the primary focus of this book. He also broke with tradition and taught his daughters, Joheved, Miriam, and Rachel, Talmud. He was the first scholar ever to write a Talmud commentary, and that commentary is still being read today. Lately I’ve been searching high and low for different.įirst – who was Rashi? Rashi, we learn in the prologue, is a Hebrew acronym for Rabbi Shlomo ha Yitzhaki, or Salomon Ben Isaac as he is called in the story. But it had a somewhat intriguing cover and title – who was Rashi? – and it looked like it might be different. The medieval period is not my favorite, and I knew nothing about Talmud before I read this book. And this book is set in mid-11th-century France and revolves around a family of Jewish Talmudic scholars. Though there are notable exceptions, generally speaking I’m not a big fan of straight historical fiction. Rashi’s Daughters: Book One – Joheved is a book I never would have picked up had I not received it, more or less by default, for review.
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