Let me begin by saying that when I finished reading the engrossing Jerusalem Maiden by Talia Carner (Harper Collins, $14.99), two thoughts flashed through my mind. First, that the inevitable ending was quite satisfying! And, second, that a number of the ancient cultural and religious rituals and practices among the ultra Orthodox Charedi Jews in Jerusalem at the onset of the twentieth century are still being followed, and not just by Charedim. I remember my own grandmother cracking one egg after another to search "its clear part for a red vein of fertilization that would render it impure." A practice I continue to follow. I remember my father reciting "Woman of Valor" from the Book of Proverbs to my mother on Erev Shabbat, as does Aba in "Jerusalem Maiden." I also remember that despite my own joy at giving birth to two beautiful daughters, to say that my mother-in-law was less than pleased would be an understatement. Not until I read the richly detailed Jerusalem Maiden did I realize that the Talmud, Kiddushin decrees: "Happy the man whose children are boys and woe to him if they are girls."

Jerusalem of 1911, at the end of the rule of the Ottoman Empire, was a mixture of isolated individuals -- Arabs, Charedim, Zionists, Chassidim and even a few Parisians -- with such conflicting religious and cultural beliefs you might think they lived on different planets. The animosity between Jews and Arabs is well documented, perhaps not so the resentment of Orthodox Jews toward the "brash" Zionists for fighting, for drying swamplands and for planning vineyards, instead of "waiting for the Messiah to bring salvation." Zionist women were disliked for their slack ways, their lack of respect to men, for speaking up in mixed company. Jerusalem was a miserable place for conservative Charedi women, yet, accustomed to familial and financial struggles, to the laws of the book and of the land, most of these women did not consider their lives that miserable. Working hard and bearing sons was a small price to hasten the arrival of the Messiah.

But the talented Esther Kaminsky, who has the courage and insolence to paint, a forbidden act, refuses to accept this life. Nor will Esther's Parisian teacher, Mlle Thibaux, who recognizes Esther's exceptional talent and does everything in her power to nurture it. But despite Esther's love and respect for her liberal teacher, "None of Mlle Thibaux's arguments carried weight with God." When Esther's God strikes her family with one misfortune after another, certain she is punished for the grave sin of "drawing Hashem's image," she sacrifices her dream, steps on her overwhelming desire to paint and swears to stop creating art.

After a short reprieve from misfortune, Esther allows herself to believe again, believe that her sins might not have brought "Sodom-and-Gomorrah-like wrath" after all, and it would be safe to leave her three children with her sister and join her husband in Europe. But once in the city of lights, the lure of Paris proves irresistible. Esther ignores her husband's letters to return home. Relishing her newfound sense of freedom among a community of Avant-garde artists, she allows her passions free rein, cuts her hair short, wears fashionable clothes, picks up her brushes and paints again. Perhaps Hashem intended her to be an artist, after all, she reasons. This is why He facilitated her journey to Paris and guided Mlle Thibaux and her son, Pierre, back into her life -- the goy sculptor Pierre, who is unfortunate enough to fall in love with a "woman who would be forever claimed and reclaimed from me by her God." The story gathers speed when Esther experiences a short period of happiness as a vibrant woman and an artist. But her wrathful God strikes again. This time more forcefully. The devastated Esther is certain that her sinful conduct in Paris instigated this last tragedy. But why would God punish an "innocent bystander for her sins!"

The main thread running through the story is Esther's continued struggle with her deep-rooted guilt and with God -- the story's main protagonist -- and the ongoing clash between her sense of responsibility to her religious mores on one hand and to her passions and desires on the other. Esther's tumultuous journey leads the reader to 1968 and back to Paris and to the gripping epilogue. We care for Esther. We pray that the older woman has learned to make peace with her God. ( )

The author, herself, came from a long line Haredi Jews of the Old City in Jerusalem. She had her family researched back 10 generations. Meanwhile, she was doing her own research on the customs of the Haredi Jews, and she talked with the oldest members of her family who shared some of their memories, which she incorporated into this novel. You will learn a lot about the Haredi Jewish customs from this novel, and their denigrated views of the female species, and at the same time devoting their lives to worshiping God.

It is the coming of age for a little girl named Esther who struggles with the conventions of the elders’ interpretations of God’s intentions for her life. In 1911 Jerusalem, towards the end of the dangerous and corrupt Ottoman Empire, a woman’s life was not her own, and a little boys life was never safe from being kidnapped by the Turks and forced into the Turkish wars.

Females lived to honor her mother and father, then honor her husband and bear children to speed up the coming of the Messiah (Adonai/God) to save his Chosen people. But, as an 11-year-old, about to become a woman in the next couple of years, upon menstruation, all Esther saw was how life was so unfair to women, especially to little girls who had dreams of becoming an artist. She saw how hard her mother, and all other women were forced to work, while the men sat around for hours studying the Bible and Talmud, and then left for the temple in the afternoons for another few hours of prayer, studying and socializing…the women drudged on with the endless chores and all the children. The women were not allowed to dream, or live them. Esther was to be married off to a stranger at the onset of her period.

Esther’s father sent her to a more modern school to learn French with her Jewish lessons, taught by a French teacher, Mlle Thibaux, who saw an extraordinary gift of art in her. So, she secretly began her art lessons after school. She met Mlle Thibaux’s son, Pierre, also a budding sculptor artist. This was a grave sin in the minds of the Haredi Jew because it was forbidden for them to talk to other males outside of the home and to imitate or draw images or idols that resembled anything that God had made, which pretty much included everything you see. Esther struggled with these two sins against God all her life. Of all of Mlle Thibaux and Pierre’s talk of the new age in Paris, this created the dream of one day seeing this great city.

Jump ahead to 1920’s Paris. It was a great time for artists, and after several years of marriage to a stranger, following the Haredi Jewish rules of life for women, and three children later, she found herself in Paris, without her children and without her husband. She was freed to do as she pleased….which, I didn’t particularly care for this transition in the story. She was there for months and finally met up with Pierre by accident. She became involved with other artists and began drawing again. She discovered that one of her earliest artwork, done at the age of 12, was housed and viewed with other great artists of the time at one of the galleries called the Louvre. She moved in with Pierre, and they became great lovers without a second thought of her marriage or her three children who were being watched over by her sister, Hannah, who she talked herself into believing was a better mother than herself and was doing Hannah a favor because she had no children of her own. It wasn’t until she got news that her son, Gershon, had been run over by a carriage and had to have his legs amputated and was barely hanging onto life when she realized what her children meant to her. As punishment to herself, on the day she was to have a viewing of all of her paintings, she tore into and destroyed all of them and departed for home, leaving Pierre and all behind.

In the prologue, Esther had unknowingly left Paris pregnant with Pierre’s baby. She would have a son, but he died in the war at the age of 21, but not before marrying and having a child, a girl, Pierre’s granddaughter, Sharon, who would travel back to Paris to meet up with him. When Pierre was told that Esther’s husband had passed, he immediately booked a flight back to Israel to meet up once again to rekindle their love. ( )

This is a very beautifully written book about the little known sect of Jews who lived in Israel during the Ottoman Empire. They are almost cult like in the orthodoxy. Quite frankly I usually avoid books like this because reading about ultra-orthodox religions of any kind annoy and infuriate me. Inevitably woman are subjugated, people are encouraged never to think for themselves, and irrational "laws" govern behaviour, often to horrible results.

In this case the writing was so good that I was somewhat able to shelve my personal emotions about religion from the equation and just delve into the characters and their lives.This is a novel that came from the author's family history as well as a great deal of research. Having read Carner's blog further enhanced my enjoyment of the novel. ( )

Jerusalem Maiden was a book chosen by a friend for a book club reading.

The book is the coming of age story of Esther Kaminsky. She is a young Haredi girl, a Jerusalem Maiden; who's life is pre-ordained, because she is one of the Chosen by Hashem to help in the bringing of the Messiah and the help of the entire Jewish nation. The laws governing the Haredi are extremely strict: no images can be reproduced, no music, no dancing... There are laws to govern all. Her primary "job" as a Jewess is to get married, produce children and work to support her husbands yeshiva study. This is non-negotiable.

The book begins with Esther in her French teacher's home, where she's learning Art. Her struggle to be the self she wants to be and the self that society (or her klal) wants her to be are the very first paragraphs of this book. We first see her as a young girl with a gift of art. She is learning of color and the combination of different colors to make new, different and more rich colors. She is drawing a gecko, but knows that there are laws that forbid the drawing of Hashem's creatures. She is committing a sin by drawing this gecko. This is the set up of Esther's life. The fight between what is in her heart and the religion is she is born under.

Her life is extremely difficult and the choices she makes, make life that much more difficult. Very early on she recognizes her "calling" to be an artist, but this conflicts with what she understands her role in life to be. Esther, to me, was extremely difficult to like. She is by turns, convinced of this calling to be an artist (and she is an extremely gifted artist); and will switch in a heartbeat to the laws governing what a Haredi girl should be. She never makes a decision for herself. She is constantly waiting for Hashem to speak to her through "signs". Except that she is capricious in what she thinks these "signs" are, or what they mean.

She stands in her own way all the time. There are those that are willing to help her, but she is contrary to everyone. If the person is asking to help her be an artist, she wants only to be a Haredi girl. If they want her to be a Haredi girl, she wants to be an artist. She makes a decision to escape, a "sign" will appear and she must stay. She makes decision to stay, a "sign" will appear and she must go. She was extremely frustrating to me to sympathize for her. There were moments that were difficult, and being a parent and a woman, I can understand. There were more moments, however, that I simply did not like her.

I can never speak to the religious pressure she was under. There are, however, expectations that we all are born into. There are expectations that all parents have for their children; that society has for it's people and for their women. I also can't speak to having this gift of a calling (this Primordial Light) that Esther had. But there are things about myself that are true no matter what. I found her to be so different to me, that I felt no common bond with her. As women we all struggle with choices about what is best for us and how will we fit into society. I feel, however, that we must make the decision. We must choose the path we want to take. As hard as it may be, waiting for someone to guide you, or make decisions for you seems self defeating. I could not respect the choices made by Esther.

I felt most touched by Ruthi (and most saddened by her ending).

This was a frustrating read for me. I felt bad for everyone, and helpless about the life the Haredi women have to lead, but then this is their religion. How can you feel bad for that? Faith is difficult and I shouldn't judge someone else's faith; however, I found it foreign and sad. It is a thought provoking book. I just wish I had connected more to Esther.
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I did not care much for the very plain writing, but this book did get me thinking. It showed me how a person can attribute any events she chooses to G-d's will, and that was an insight I appreciated. I also was pleased with the ending proving that many adjust to whatever is necessary. ( )