Rating: 
Summary: Daring Debut
Review: Ruchama King knows Yerushalayim (Jerusalem). She knows the hearts and minds of the holy, driven, mad, passionate souls who flock there. And she knows the exhilaration of arriving at the nexus point of the thousand golden threads of God's tapestry, woven of seeming chance, which illuminate the life of the Holy city. You cannot help but be compassionate for these characters, empathize with the trapped lives they have created for themselves and rejoice when they finally break through their self-limiting vision. Although there are a few technical issues with the book (for example explaining well known Jewish terms but offering no explanation for the more obscure) the book is very rich. The author's subtle understanding of Torah and psychology hints at entire worlds yet to be explored in her powerful yet delicate and emotionally engaging prose. Who is the author you wonder? After reading this you really weant to meet the author. She has issues: she doesn't think much of Ashkenazim or the yeshivish or chareidim in general - she prefers Sephardim. She has concerns about woman's place even while she is clearly aware that most misconceived canards of orthodox "sexism" are exactly that. In short she's a mix, like most of us. one wonders: Is she more like Tzippy? Judy? Beth? Talya? Lauren? most likely none of the above - but she is clearly a painfully keen observer and these characters are painfully keenly real. The book is a magic carpet ride at ground level through the streets of yerushalayim. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match.
Review: Ruchama King's first novel, "Seven Blessings," is set in Jerusalem. King explores the difficulties and heartaches that Orthodox Jewish men and women have when they seek a mate. Since no potential husband or wife is perfect, how much imperfection is acceptable? Should physical attraction be the main thing? If there is no chemistry on the first date, should a couple go out again? As if matters of the heart aren't complicated enough, the matchmaker has plenty of headaches putting up with demanding clients for whom no potential mate is good enough. One lonely woman seeking a husband is Beth, who is in her late thirties. She is introduced to an attractive man named Akiva, a kind and intelligent person who suffers from an uncontrollable and alarming spasm that comes and goes. Beth does not think that she is emotionally strong enough to accept Akiva's physical problem. Another single individual is the narcissistic and immature Binyamin, a talented artist and yeshiva student who has become cynical about the dating game. He wants a woman who is good-natured, graceful, and strikingly beautiful. None of the many women whom Binyamin has dated measures up to his high standards. King explores not only the problems that plague relationships between men and women, but she also describes her characters' spiritual struggles. Although the people in this book want to live religious lives, they sometimes find themselves riddled with doubts about who they are and where they belong in the world. King nicely describes the beauty and holiness of Jerusalem, and she captures the nuances of her characters' quirky personalities. The second half of the book is not as strong as the first, since King's writing ultimately veers a little too far from reality and becomes overly fanciful. Still, "Seven Blessings" is an intriguing and engrossing novel from a talented and promising new author.
Rating:
Summary: Seven Blessings
Review: Seven Blessings is a heartfelt and touching story about people who through a variety of life experiences become more aware of their own passions. The story takes place in Jerusalem, a city of contrasts where the characters live in a world of Orthodox Judaism and matchmaking is abound. The honesty and depth of feeling make the charachters true to life. Reading this novel, brought me back to my wonderful days and memories of Jerusalem. This book is a great read and I highly recommend it!!
Rating: 
Summary: A Beautiful and Enchanting Book!
Review: The ethereal Jerusalem light captured so convincingly on the cover of Ruchama King's dazzling debut novel mirrors the luminosity of the story that unfolds on the pages inside. Ms. King is a brilliant and gifted storyteller, one of the best and the brightest new stars to emerge on the Jewish literary horizon, and her novel can only be described as "enchanting." Jews and non-Jews alike will be utterly charmed by the cast of quirky characters that inhabit the pages of "Seven Blessings" -
characters that endear themselves to readers immediately despite their obvious flaws and foibles. Actually, perhaps it is the very existence of their warts, wounds and idiosyncrasies that makes them so loveable, and so very real. Ruchama King's characters are three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood
characters, fully and enviously drawn, unique yet reconizable, and extremely authentic indeed. We care about them and are drawn into their respective trajectories and tales. I must confess that I read the book in one sitting! The characters in "Seven Blessings" are, for the most part,
lovable seekers - seeking both spirituality and a suitable mate. Towards the second end, they visit a riotous melange of Jerusalem matchmakers, hysterically funny in both their approach and appearance. Ruchama King clearly knows Jerusalem, spiritual seekers, matchmakers and lonely singles well. Her descriptions of Jerusalem ring true for any one who knows the city, and her
knowledge of Jewish customs and traditions shines through every page. She is very respectful of her subject matter, and clearly loves her characters as much as the reader comes to love them too. I finished the book with a huge smile on my face, and felt good all day long. It's a positive,beautiful and wondrously enchanting novel, and introduces a great new author from whom we will surely hear more from soon!
Rating:
Summary: You must read this book!
Review: This book takes place in my home, Jerusalem, and I have never read a book that so captures the magic, the quirkiness, the spirituality, as well as the beauty of this city and the people who live here. Seven Blessings is also very sweetly romantic, and Ruchama King has molded its characters with great sensitivity and insight.
I couldn't put it down, and I have recommended this book to every single person I know. I've also recommended it on my website, www.JewishPregnancy.org. Do yourself a favor, and buy this book TODAY!
Rating:
Summary: Set in Jerusalem as a stand-in for Heaven
Review: This is a beautifully evocative tale of the age old search for love. As much about the love between friends and the passionate connection between people and G-d as it is about dating and marriage, SEVEN BLESSINGS chronicles the romantic adventures of several Americans living abroad in the holy city. My favorite character was the aging spinster who seems to have a crush on a dying sage and who uses a grocery store clerk as an intermediary to pique the rabbi's interest. The author, Ruchama King, handles that story line with wit and delicacy and, for me, it played out as a marvelous bit of suspense writing! I well understand why Library Journal compared King's writing to that of Jane Austen. Her characters come to fascinating life and they remain with the reader long afterward. SEVEN BLESSINGS has much in common with EMMA, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, PERSUASION and of course with PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. If you relish the experience of visting another world when you read a book, a great treat awaits you inside the pages of SEVEN BLESSINGS. King offers up Jerusalem and I think more than a little bit of Heaven in this book. I can't wait for her next!
Rating:
Summary: Faith in love and faith in God
Review: This is a beautifully written story set in Jerusalem about men and women searching for love and companionship, and about the lives of the matchmakers who try to help them. In this book we are introduced to Beth, Akiva and Binyamin. All are expatriates living in Jerusalem and all are longing to make a shidduch, a match. Tsippi Krauthammer, who runs a local grocery store, and Judy Bartosky, a homemaker and wife of a former rabbi, are the matchmakers who try to help them while at the same time coping with challenges and struggles in their own lives. I am not Jewish but have always held a deep regard for the way Judaism is not just a religion but an entire way of life. Before reading this novel I did not realize how many Jewish people travel to visit and live in Israel because for them it is like coming home. I was so impressed with this book not only because of the lovely story but also because the characters are so dedicated in their belief and their efforts to learn more about Judaism while also dealing with the constraints it places upon them as they search for love. A beautiful, beautiful book!
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable, intelligent, insightful novel of spiritual life
Review: This one I really liked. It was exactly what I wanted - a portrait of the ultra orthodox inner world, showing their relationship to God and how it shapes their relationships to people and the world. Good-natured, good humored, insightful without being sharp. A loving and lovely portrayal of the search for love and God.
Rating: 
Summary: A Shiduch in Jerusalem
Review: This volume represents still another attempt at a novel dealing with contemporary Orthodox Jewish life in the last 30 years. Almost all these novels have been written by women. Apparently Orthodox Jewish men are too involved in their Talmudic studies or their professional careers , thus unable to devote their creative energies to the arts and humanities.
This is a good attemt at a first novel. The characters are a tad one dimensional, being solely driven to get married and being Jewish. Do they not have any other components in their composite beings.
In addition since the subject of this book is marriage it is amazing as to how little a role sexuality plays in this book. Indded there are 1 or 2 allusions to sexual tension, but the bulk of the book treats dating and marriage in a sort of business manner, with religion being the sole factor in comptability.
Yet the book is interesting , makes for fine and easy reading, and is universalistic in appeal.
The characters are representative to real types of Baale teshuvah one meets in Israel and the United States.
Her depiction of Jerusalem is wonderful and some of the secondary characters in the book , chiefly the rabbis, and teachers are wonderfully constructed.
I hope the author continues her writing career and I am certain her second novel will be even better than this one.
I can highly recommend this novel for any serious reader interested in Orthodox Judaism, israel, love and marriage.
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