Description
Rashi’s Daughters is the story of three sisters who lived in 11th century Troyes, France. The great Talmudic authority Salomon ben Isaac, a.k.a. Rashi, 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, midwives, merchants and mothers of the next generation of Talmudic scholars. Built on seven years of exhaustive historical research, Rashi’s Daughters explores what might have been, weaving actual events, as described in Talmud commentaries and responsa literature, into an account of the lives of these extraordinary women. Talmud is an integral part of this novel; readers will learn along with Rashi's students as he explains selected texts. This is also the story of the French Jewish community, how they lived, loved, worked, ate, prayed and interacted with their non-Jewish neighbors. The novel provides a wealth of material about medieval Jewish women’s daily lives, including how they observed life cycle events and holidays.
