Talk Back

[malabar]

A bestselling novel based on the story of Dinah, the only daughter of Jacob mentioned in Genesis (a single line in Chapter 30 and all of a short Chapter 34), The Red Tent speculates on what life might have been like for women in early Biblical times. The story of Dinah's abduction and its aftermath is only the smallest part of the book, which focuses on her childhood and her experiences after leaving her family in Canaan.

What struck me initially about this book was the perspective it gave on the early days of Judaeo-Christian monotheism. While in retrospect, it seems obvious that nobody could actually have been Jewish in Dinah's time - it would be hundreds of years before any kind of tradition could solidify - it never hit me so forcefully before. I suppose this is due to my being raised Jewish and having been introduced to Genesis from that viewpoint. The temptation to take Diamant's reconstruction as fact is very strong, a testament to her skill as a writer; I had to keep reminding myself that this was fiction.

In The Red Tent, the women (Jacob's wives and their servants) worship their own set of deities, mostly concerned with everyday facets of women's lives: brewing beer, fertility, healing, and the like. Their fairy tales are stories from the Epic of Gilgamesh, and they carry around an impressive array of statues representing various gods and goddesses. The women have a rich culture that is almost totally separate from the men's, and the eponymous tent is where they retreat when they are menstruating - a time for them to be excused from their normal duties rather than an occasion of punitive segregation. Jacob and his sons, in contrast, are bound to El, the aloof and mysterious god of Jacob's father and grandfather, who demands circumcision of all men around him - but they don't concern themselves with what the women do. When Jacob, his wives, and their children leave their home near the Euphrates and settle in Canaan, there is a culture clash - Jacob's brother Esau has adopted a more patriarchal form of worshipping El, which includes forbidding the women's mysteries as abominations.

Another thing that struck me was the scale of living. In Diamant's world, a mighty tribe is little more than an extended family; and the one-day all-powerful god is a newcomer, worshipped only by one man and his relatives. The great battles recorded in the Bible could well have been very localised scuffles, with less territory changing hands than is controlled by an average street gang.

As you can see, I found this book very thought-provoking. You might do as well.