Jerusalem Maiden: A Novel Paperback – May 31, 2011

Many in the modern world believe that Muslim females are abused by virtue of the requirement that they wear clothing that totally covers them, while the women who wear the garb insist that they are just honoring their religion and do not feel oppressed. The issue is whether or not these women have been indoctrinated during their childhood so as to believe that doing or not doing things they were taught meant something significant under the religious rules they were taught they had little or no choice but to accept and honor. I mention this as this book has minimal value in its text save for the very clear reinforcement of the argument that religion, when carried to an extreme, indoctrinates and actually denies its followers the utilization of the very self will that, if there is a god, he/she granted them. I found it hard to read the book after about 18% completion at which point I was ready to quit reading as I felt so sorry for the youthful female children of the Jewish family (yes orthodox religious Jews and ultra religious Muslims are very much the same in many respects, and certainly as to how women are treated (mistreated). Perhaps the book has other messages that I missed out of inability to remove from my mind how sorry I felt for Esther, a young girl, who was frustrated in her attempt to draw (she having the talent to draw and paint) and understand why it was that daddy told her that her role in life was not to draw as only god can create, and that her job was to be a wife to whomever he chose for her to marry.So in conclusion reading this book will not enable the reader to justify any form of prejudice or disdain of those who choose to live in accordance with their religion, no matter how silly so much of it may seem in the modern age, but it does make one think about the impact it has upon women and how much of a better world we would have if the women who were indoctrinated as children had the ability to exercise their self will and create, speak up, and engage the world and its occupants, male and female, as they saw fit. The best part of the book, which is well written and easy to read, and is enjoyable as well as educational, was that the woman heroine who was so indoctrinated found her way to real life though love of a man who bought her such pleasure that she simply assumed that her god had delivered him and her artistic talent to her and that enabled her to overcome the restraints organized religion had imposed. The lessen from the book is that we are humans who have emotions, physical needs, and desires that do not always fit together with the stringent often seemingly ridiculous rules imposed by church leaders who contend the rules came not from them but from God, and the sad part is how many people accept that as factual and miss out on lifes pleasures and the freedom that comes from self will if allowed to be exercised.

When I first began the book, I thought I wouldn't be able to finish it because it upset me so much. The book so detailed the agonizing life of the ultra orthodox and Esther that I felt my heart break for her at almost every turn. I could almost taste her agony. I know about a lot of their traditions and beliefs, but learned so much more. This is the type of book I love to read. I was infuriated at times, but then had to sit back and realize that this is what they believe, if G-d said it, they do it, the end!! I applauded Esther for following her heart. She always had G-d in her heart and head and wanted to have G-d's approval, yet she tried to be true to herself. She truly lived between two worlds, trying to live her life, becoming the artist she was meant to be, yet keeping true to what she felt G-d wanted from her. Once she finally gets a taste of what her life could be, she begins to blossom, but then is pulled back. This is a book that I didn't want to end. Talia Carner did a great job.

Paula E. Hyman, in her scholarly treatment of “Gender and Assimilation in Modern Jewish History: The Roles and Representation of Women,” argues, “Women’s history has altered our understanding of the nature and definition of community among Jews and has revealed hitherto unrecognized complexities in the issue of assimilation.In Talia Carner’s best selling novel “Jerusalem Maiden” Her main character, Esther Kaminsky, goes through her life changing her understanding of community underscoring Hyman’s thesis. As she moves from a little girl to a grown woman and beyond, her perception of Judaism changes as her perception of life changes. In other words, she becomes less religious and more modern, the absolute definition of assimilation.The issue of the religious Jew struggling with modernity, to take part in the world but still hold true to God’s word is a common theme running through Jewish literature for the last 150 years. This, like Carner’s character says more about the Jewish experience in general than it does about any one specific character in a story. Since the beginning of the Haskalah, (Enlightenment) Jews have been forced to make the choice of living in the world and becoming part of it, or living on the side lines and watching it.The examples of this in literature are numerous, Shalom Aleichem’s “Tevye’s Daughters,” better known through the Norman Jewison film, “Fiddler on the Roof,” tells of a father’s dilemma marrying off his daughters colliding tradition with modern living. Chaim Potok’s “The Chosen” follows an Hasidic boy who’s genius leads him through god’s hand to leave his community and study the secular world of Freudian psychology. Even a post modern approach of the film, “American Pop,” by Ralph Bakshi uses four generations of American Jews to go from the Hasid, an ear locks bearing immigrant in 1890’s America to a 1980s street tough in New York city making bank through selling drugs and dealing in common street crime. You have to know Bakshi to understand the connection to Jewish culture this has and how this theme plays perfectly into Jewish literature.In each of those examples there’s a defining element which drives the character to move into a more modern, less religious and emancipated life. For Carner, she uses the fine art of painting on canvas to drive her character. Esther rethinks every belief she had known growing up to find her place in the world to which she can be comfortable as a modern human being while still searching and finding grace in her own Jewish identity. All the while, she follows the natural urges to paint, to love, and to live in the world of 1920’s Europe. Esther ends up a million light years away from Mea Shararim, her community where she grew up, nestled away in the winding serpentine streets and alley ways of early 20th century Jerusalem, purposely shut off from the rest of the world while waiting for the Messiah.Esther liberates herself, artistically through her art, sexually through a young French artist who she cannot resist even to the point where she abandon’s her family, divorces her husband and becomes part of the bohemian lifestyle of pre world war II Paris.A fifteen to twenty year transition Esther becomes the woman she knows she has to become. Carner leaves Esther no choice. Her personal freedom must be got, and she knows it. The author does an excellent job juxtaposing the grainy black and white world of an all encompassing, religious existence with the colorful, sexually free, libertine, life in 1920s modern Paris. It was called “Gay Paris” for a reason. Now we have a different definition of that word “Gay” but then it meant happy, fulfilled, and joyous nature for someone of Esther’s spirit with the liberated aspect of one of the great art movements of 1920s western civilization. As a grown woman in Paris, her personality and her zeal to create something that was not God, but man, left her no choice but to regard her upbringing as suffocating, and this world as enlightening.Carner takes us on a journey not only through time but through existential thought running the gambit from one extreme of life to the other. Such a dramatic change might have broken weaker personalities, but Carner’s Esther has her art which she transverses her religious belief and this is what saves her.The end of the book I will not reveal so as to not to spoil it, but it brings together this notion of the Jewish struggle to belong as mentioned earlier with all of its rewards and consequences. Within that struggle lies the strength of the Jewish people to adapt to their surroundings throughout their history. It might be one of the reasons why the Jews have survived and the ancient peoples they were born alongside have long since disappeared. Carner brings this to life in her book. And, that ending—well—read it, and you will understand.

Such an interesting historical novel. I’m learning so much about Jewish customs, and the expectations for, and the struggles of, a young woman under the extreme pressures of religion and the times. Also like learning about the country before it became the Israel of today. It’s extremely well written.

A very strong story, the focus is on one character so you don't loose track of what's going on. I read it three times by now and will read again, writing is fluent and pleasant.

The story was compelling,describing a young girl's life in an ultra-orthodox early 20th century Jerusalem home. The struggle to remain true to her upbringing and to fulfill her artistic yearnings was chronicled in a very convincing manner. I would recommend this book.

Jerusalem Maiden. Interesting book. Can recommend, especially if you like art and/orParis. About an arranged marriage in the waning days of the Ottoman empire.

Amazing book about a determined young girl.