By Rabbi Rachel Esserman
Close readers of the biblical text often have difficulty when those biblical characters are portrayed in fictional works. It can be jarring when a novel strays too far from the story as it appears in the biblical text or goes off on a tangent with events that aren’t part of the Bible or midrash (stories of biblical characters told by the ancient rabbis based on their interpretation of the text). Some readers are tempted to simply list – and object to – these differences, but lovers of fiction are often willing to suspend belief. Those who are will find two recent novels of interest: “The Scrolls of Deborah: Book 1 of the Desert Songs Trilogy” by Esther Goldenberg (100 Block by Row House) and “Ahoti: A Story of Tamar” by Miriam Feinberg Vamosh and Eva Marie Everson (Raven/Parclete Press).
Since the biblical text contains two characters with these names, readers might be curious about the focus of each work. The biggest surprise is that the Deborah of Goldenberg’s novel is the Deborah mentioned by name as Rebecca’s nurse in Genesis 35:8. However, the nurse’s name was not noted in Genesis 24:59, which just says Rebecca left home with her nurse when traveling to Canaan. Commentators have questioned whether these nurses were the same women and debated why her name was given only in the second instance. Goldenberg not only creates a back story for Deborah, she spins an elaborate web to connect Deborah and Abraham’s family, a connection not found in the biblical text.
The Tamar of Vamosh and Everson’s novel is the daughter of King David, who was raped by her half-brother Amnon and whose full brother, Absalom, later murders Amnon for the offense. The text does not mention what happens to Tamar once she is taken into Absalom’s house after the rape. The authors imagine the rest of her life based on a lost work “Words of Gad the Seer,” which is mentioned in the books of Chronicles. A proposed version of the book was found among the texts read by the Jews of Cochin, India. The authors thanked Israeli Professor Meir Bar-Ilan, who published a study of that text, and incorporated stories from his work into their novel.
“The Scrolls of Deborah” asks for the most suspension of disbelief: The Deborah of the title is not just the nurse of Rebecca, but the great-granddaughter of Abraham and Sarah. Her grandmother, Hallel, was their first child, born long before Isaac. The patriarchs gave Hallel in marriage to Abraham’s nephew, Lot, but when the families traveled to Egypt to escape a famine, Lot gave her to the pharaoh, and Abraham and Sarah never saw her again. Hallel made a successful marriage to an Egyptian and gave birth to five daughters, including Daganyah, the mother of Deborah. Through some clever plotting, the author arranges for Deborah to return to the branch of the family into which Rebecca was born. It is from there that she returns to Canaan to meet Abraham, although it is too late for her to meet Sarah.
The novel tells the story of Deborah’s life, including her special relationship with Isaac and Rebecca’s children, Esau and Jacob. According to Goldenberg’s version, Deborah was a second mother to the twins and as close to Rebecca as a sister. The scrolls that tell her story are being transcribed by Joseph, who, at this point in time, is Jacob and Rachel’s only child. Joseph is 10 years old when Deborah first tells him her story, but they talk more than six years before her dictation ends. Her emphasis on storytelling – something she learned from her grandmother, who made her repeat her history until she had it memorized – is an important theme in the novel.
The work focuses on the life of women, including their gathering to sing, dance and tell stories under the full moon. Some parts of Deborah’s tales are based on ancient midrash, while others offer contemporary interpretations. The latter include a controversial idea about Isaac’s appearance and behavior. The author also interprets a verse about Jacob’s daughters as not meaning his daughters-in-law as many traditional commentaries suggested, but rather his children by birth. The authors create names for each of these women and give them different personalities.
The prose of “The Scrolls of Deborah” is simple and easy to read, as befitting a story told orally. Goldenberg does a good job combining the traditional story from the Bible with additions not found in the original work. This is not a novel for readers who prefer to stick to the explicit details of the biblical text, but those willing to accept the Deborah’s controversial lineage will enjoy a more personal and intimate look at Isaac, Rebecca and their children.
While “The Scrolls of Deborah” offers plain prose, the writing in “Ahoti” (which means “my sister”) is far more poetic, with beautiful descriptions of places and people. Rather than taking liberties with the biblical text as written, the novel seeks to fill in parts of the story that the Bible is not interested in relating: what happened to Tamar after she was raped. However, it also offers tales about the life of King David, integrating them into Tamar’s story.
Tamar serves as the narrator, telling of her life in Jerusalem as a healer – that is, until her life abruptly changes after her rape. When she learns that some believe that she conspired with Absalom in his desire to become the king’s heir, she no longer feels safe and escapes the palace, not an easy task. Being thought a co-conspirator in her own rape leaves her feeling silenced and insecure. Noting her need to move and begin her life over several times doesn’t spoil the plot because the novel opens when she is being kept prisoner in Gesher, with the king’s army being told to bring her back to Jerusalem.
The last section of “Ahoti” is very suspenseful because that part of the story is not found in the Bible. Its ending is moving and satisfying, although even if the authors had made different choices, it would still have been gratifying to learn about Tamar’s potential fate. Also of interest are the inclusion of midrashic material about the origins of David, and a psychological analysis of Amnon (who was bullied as a child) and Absalom, who, while beautiful on the outside, was cruel. There is a connection to another biblical story, but to say more would spoil that surprise. Readers who wish the biblical authors had paid far more attention to the lives of the women will enjoy this story.