The Daughters Victorious

Rating:
Summary: FIVE SISTERS' EPIC FIGHT: This Land Really Is Mine!
Review: As one of three in an all-girl family, I can relate to the problems that confronted the five brilliant, bold and beautiful daughters of this book. The story here is historical fiction at its best: the author takes a couple of paragraphs from the Bible and dramatizes the full meaning of what is actually the first women's property rights case in history.

Leading the quest to obtain the sisters' rightful inheritance is the eldest sister whose own romantic struggle is particulary poignant. Like the male author of Memoir of a Geisha, the author -- a Rabbi no less -- writes with extraordinary insight into and compassion for the female soul. Lawyers will love this book for the sisters' case finally goes to the highest Court (Bleak House lovers take note!) -- only the judge is none other than Moses himself.

Against the backdrop of opulent Egypt when the children of Israel were enslaved and then the barren desert where they wandered for 40 years, the lives of these extraordinary Biblical women are depicted with depth and wit. Educators will adore this book for its emphasis on the methods and values of teaching Torah and ethics. I started reading this book while on vacation in Israel and felt it enhanced my visit to the Holy Land. There's plenty here even if you're not a feminist and not Jewish, although it's at the top of my gift list to give to those who are both.

Rating:
Summary: FIVE SISTERS' EPIC FIGHT: This Land Really Is Mine!
Review: As one of three in an all-girl family, I can relate to the problems that confronted the five brilliant, bold and beautiful daughters of this book. The story here is historical fiction at its best: the author takes a couple of paragraphs from the Bible and dramatizes the full meaning of what is actually the first women's property rights case in history.

Leading the quest to obtain the sisters' rightful inheritance is the eldest sister whose own romantic struggle is particulary poignant. Like the male author of Memoir of a Geisha, the author -- a Rabbi no less -- writes with extraordinary insight into and compassion for the female soul. Lawyers will love this book for the sisters' case finally goes to the highest Court (Bleak House lovers take note!) -- only the judge is none other than Moses himself.

Against the backdrop of opulent Egypt when the children of Israel were enslaved and then the barren desert where they wandered for 40 years, the lives of these extraordinary Biblical women are depicted with depth and wit. Educators will adore this book for its emphasis on the methods and values of teaching Torah and ethics. I started reading this book while on vacation in Israel and felt it enhanced my visit to the Holy Land. There's plenty here even if you're not a feminist and not Jewish, although it's at the top of my gift list to give to those who are both.

Rating:
Summary: The first Jewish feminists
Review: Having reviewed over 400 books for the Jerusalem Post,I have discovered that I enjoy reading historical novels. I usually define them as "his-story",but in this case,it will have to be "her-story".

"Zelaphchad put Machla on his shoulders to watch what was happening. At four years of age, she had no true understanding of the great miracle but he hoped she would preserve the picture in her mind."

Despite its length, my attention did not wane especially as I found the courtcases gripping reading. This book takes the few words of text in the Torah relating to the plea of the daughters of Zelaphchad to Moses to receive an inheritance of the Land, and, using the midrashim and a healthy dose of imagination enlightens us on what may have transpired.

This is a very readable account of five highly intelligent and knowledgeble ladies who desperately wanted to inherit a portion of the land of Israel. The numerous mild sexual illusions will make this book out of bounds to many religious young people.

Rating:
Summary: The first Jewish feminists
Review: Having reviewed over 400 books for the Jerusalem Post,I have discovered that I enjoy reading historical novels. I usually define them as "his-story",but in this case,it will have to be "her-story".

"Zelaphchad put Machla on his shoulders to watch what was happening. At four years of age, she had no true understanding of the great miracle but he hoped she would preserve the picture in her mind."

Despite its length, my attention did not wane especially as I found the courtcases gripping reading. This book takes the few words of text in the Torah relating to the plea of the daughters of Zelaphchad to Moses to receive an inheritance of the Land, and, using the midrashim and a healthy dose of imagination enlightens us on what may have transpired.

This is a very readable account of five highly intelligent and knowledgeble ladies who desperately wanted to inherit a portion of the land of Israel. The numerous mild sexual illusions will make this book out of bounds to many religious young people.

Rating:
Summary: The first Jewish feminists
Review: Having reviewed over 400 books for the Jerusalem Post,I have discovered that I enjoy reading historical novels. I usually define them as "his-story",but in this case,it will have to be "her-story".

"Zelaphchad put Machla on his shoulders to watch what was happening. At four years of age, she had no true understanding of the great miracle but he hoped she would preserve the picture in her mind."

Despite its length, my attention did not wane especially as I found the courtcases gripping reading. This book takes the few words of text in the Torah relating to the plea of the daughters of Zelaphchad to Moses to receive an inheritance of the Land, and, using the midrashim and a healthy dose of imagination enlightens us on what may have transpired.

This is a very readable account of five highly intelligent and knowledgeble ladies who desperately wanted to inherit a portion of the land of Israel. The numerous mild sexual illusions will make this book out of bounds to many religious young people.

Rating:
Summary: A Highly Enlightening Book
Review: I found The Daughters Victorious to be fun to read and also highly enlightening. Although I have a substantial religious education, I learned things from the book that I never knew before and I have recommended the book to numerous friends and family members. I have also passed the book on to my two (Orthodox) teenage daughters, as I believe it presents fascinating insights into what life truly was like for the generation that left Egypt and wandered in the desert on the way to the Promised Land.

I was deeply dismayed, however, to read in Dr. Ben-Dov�s generally positive review that �numerous mild sexual illusions (sic) will make this book out of bounds to many religious young people.� I am sure that this work must be among the most appropriate I have ever read. There are no descriptions of sexual activity in the text and no questionable language. Plus the book was written by a well-known Orthodox Rabbi and was endorsed by five highly respected Orthodox scholars.

This work, of course, is not a children�s book. The subject matter may not be suitable for the very young because it introduces a world with which they are not familiar. It deals with a time when multiple marriages were permitted in Judaism and romance between a married man and a single woman was sanctioned. Today�s teenagers, whether religiously observant or not, should have no trouble dealing with this type of subject matter. Jewish children are taught the Torah from the earliest ages. Sexual passages in the Bible are not presented by allusion but are extremely explicit. No one has suggested that the Bible be �out of bounds� to young people. I feel that The Daughters Victorious handles its subject matter in a very proper manner.

I, personally, had trouble putting The Daughters Victorious down once I began reading it and I strongly recommend it to readers of all ages and backgrounds.

Rating:
Summary: A Highly Enlightening Book
Review: I found The Daughters Victorious to be fun to read and also highly enlightening. Although I have a substantial religious education, I learned things from the book that I never knew before and I have recommended the book to numerous friends and family members. I have also passed the book on to my two (Orthodox) teenage daughters, as I believe it presents fascinating insights into what life truly was like for the generation that left Egypt and wandered in the desert on the way to the Promised Land.

I was deeply dismayed, however, to read in Dr. Ben-Dov's generally positive review that 'numerous mild sexual illusions (sic) will make this book out of bounds to many religious young people.' I am sure that this work must be among the most appropriate I have ever read. There are no descriptions of sexual activity in the text and no questionable language. Plus the book was written by a well-known Orthodox Rabbi and was endorsed by five highly respected Orthodox scholars.

This work, of course, is not a children's book. The subject matter may not be suitable for the very young because it introduces a world with which they are not familiar. It deals with a time when multiple marriages were permitted in Judaism and romance between a married man and a single woman was sanctioned. Today's teenagers, whether religiously observant or not, should have no trouble dealing with this type of subject matter. Jewish children are taught the Torah from the earliest ages. Sexual passages in the Bible are not presented by allusion but are extremely explicit. No one has suggested that the Bible be 'out of bounds' to young people. I feel that The Daughters Victorious handles its subject matter in a very proper manner.

I, personally, had trouble putting The Daughters Victorious down once I began reading it and I strongly recommend it to readers of all ages and backgrounds.