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A review by livannsams
Hadassah: One Night with the King by Tommy Tenney
1.0
DNF at page 214
Some will say it’s along the lines of The Red Tent — they couldn’t be more wrong.
I got this book as a gift for my college graduation from my grandmother, with a lovely little message from her on the inside cover, so I was excited to read it. However, it really just felt very contrived and, as a Jewish reader, from a very modern and Christian lens.
My biggest, most immediate frustration I had was fact that Haman’s symbol was the swastika. Yes, that symbol was used to mark the regime and individuals that brought about a genocide with the Shoah, but before that it was used in other cultures and religions as a positive sign. In Hinduism it symbolizes prosperity and good luck. At the time that this would have happened, it would have been used in such ways, not as a symbol for hate like it became in the 30’s and now.
In relation and juxtaposition, Hadassah’s necklace of the Magen David is also not historically accurate. Yes, it is a symbol for the Jewish community that has existed for centuries, but it existed in a much different way in that time an culture as opposed to modern day. The modern use of the Star of David as symbol for all Jews began in the 17th century in Prague—up until then, it was used mainly to represent priests and religious aspects of Judaism specifically, not just Am Israel itself. So, Hadassah would not have had such a pendant.
Then there’s the whole issue of HaShem’s name. The author is careful to write “G-d,” but has no issue writing out the four letters of the name. Hypocritical, in my opinion, as Jews don’t speak the name, much less write it in a document that can be defiled easily.
There really are so many things I had issues with. The writing style was slow. The addition of the modern storyline is just incredibly Christian to me because our (or at least my view) of Esther’s story isn’t something we parallel to modern day, it’s something we look to with thanks and learn from—we shouldn’t commit a genocide on people who want to genocide us, we only act out of self preservation, not malice. And on top of that, the phrasing and the way everything was paralleled and described just did not feel like it was coming from an authentic lens.
Overall, the author could have done with more research. A lot more.
In the beginning I mentioned The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. That has been a novel close to my heart, while possibly blasphemous to others, I truly loved it. I’ve heard this book was similar and it absolutely wasn’t. Diamant wrote a novel about women, from a woman’s perspective, with all the elements of ancient sisterhood and culture that made it a compelling, emotional read. Tenney does no such thing. It’s flat, boring—cultureless, frankly. And beyond that, it truly feels like and idealization and mild fetishization of the humble, sweet, doe-eyed Jewish woman. I hated it. I really did.
All in all, the Megillah has always been one of my favorite books of the Tanakh, and I’ve yet to find a book written about it that I enjoy and don’t have to force my way through. This one is sadly the same, and even worse in some ways, as this is the one adaptation I couldn’t force my way through.
Some will say it’s along the lines of The Red Tent — they couldn’t be more wrong.
I got this book as a gift for my college graduation from my grandmother, with a lovely little message from her on the inside cover, so I was excited to read it. However, it really just felt very contrived and, as a Jewish reader, from a very modern and Christian lens.
My biggest, most immediate frustration I had was fact that Haman’s symbol was the swastika. Yes, that symbol was used to mark the regime and individuals that brought about a genocide with the Shoah, but before that it was used in other cultures and religions as a positive sign. In Hinduism it symbolizes prosperity and good luck. At the time that this would have happened, it would have been used in such ways, not as a symbol for hate like it became in the 30’s and now.
In relation and juxtaposition, Hadassah’s necklace of the Magen David is also not historically accurate. Yes, it is a symbol for the Jewish community that has existed for centuries, but it existed in a much different way in that time an culture as opposed to modern day. The modern use of the Star of David as symbol for all Jews began in the 17th century in Prague—up until then, it was used mainly to represent priests and religious aspects of Judaism specifically, not just Am Israel itself. So, Hadassah would not have had such a pendant.
Then there’s the whole issue of HaShem’s name. The author is careful to write “G-d,” but has no issue writing out the four letters of the name. Hypocritical, in my opinion, as Jews don’t speak the name, much less write it in a document that can be defiled easily.
There really are so many things I had issues with. The writing style was slow. The addition of the modern storyline is just incredibly Christian to me because our (or at least my view) of Esther’s story isn’t something we parallel to modern day, it’s something we look to with thanks and learn from—we shouldn’t commit a genocide on people who want to genocide us, we only act out of self preservation, not malice. And on top of that, the phrasing and the way everything was paralleled and described just did not feel like it was coming from an authentic lens.
Overall, the author could have done with more research. A lot more.
In the beginning I mentioned The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant. That has been a novel close to my heart, while possibly blasphemous to others, I truly loved it. I’ve heard this book was similar and it absolutely wasn’t. Diamant wrote a novel about women, from a woman’s perspective, with all the elements of ancient sisterhood and culture that made it a compelling, emotional read. Tenney does no such thing. It’s flat, boring—cultureless, frankly. And beyond that, it truly feels like and idealization and mild fetishization of the humble, sweet, doe-eyed Jewish woman. I hated it. I really did.
All in all, the Megillah has always been one of my favorite books of the Tanakh, and I’ve yet to find a book written about it that I enjoy and don’t have to force my way through. This one is sadly the same, and even worse in some ways, as this is the one adaptation I couldn’t force my way through.