Ten days since my last post, but I think I've got some good excuses: son getting married next weekend in another city, condo we're selling is in escrow [hundreds of forms to fill out], and negotiating the contract for RAV HISDA'S DAUGHTER series with Plume, the current publisher of RASHI'S DAUGHTERS.
Plus organizing a book tour to Phoenix in February and to Atlanta, New Jersey and NYC in May. For those of you in those areas, and with friends there, check out my new
2011 website schedule and put one of those dates on your calendar.
Now I'm in the middle of Chapter 8, which necessitated a delay while I researched how the ancients grew and harvested flax, and how they turned it into linen. More on that in my next post.
But all work and no play makes Maggie a dull girl, so I'm sharing an amusing website link for all you authors, would-be authors, scholars and would-be scholars, to the Journal of Universal Rejection. No further explanation is needed.
This last Shabbat was "Shabbat Shira," [Sabbath of Song] because the Torah portion, from Exodus Ch.15, includes the songs that Moses and Miriam sang after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, and the Haftarah portion is from Judges Ch.4, which includes Deborah's song. One of our congregants with a Sephardic background chanted a medieval piyyut, a liturgical poem appropriate to the day. I particularly want to share it because of its egalitarian nature: three men, three women, and the people Israel have verses in the Torah that they sing. Yet this poem was composed hundreds of years ago. OK you cantors out there, let's see what tune you can set it to.
Ashira Keshirat Moshe- Piyyut for Shabbat Shirah
Ashira keshirat Moshe shir lo yinashe, az yashir Moshe et divrei hashira
Ashira keshirat Miryam al sefat hayam, vata'an lahem Miryam et divrei hashira
Ashira keshirat Yehoshua al har haGilboa, az yashir Yehoshua et divrei hashira
Ashira keshirat Devora al har Tevora, vatashar Devora et divrei hashira
Ashira keshirat Khana im ba'lah Elkana, vatashar Khana et divrei hashira
Ashira keshirat David mizmorim yatsmid, vaydaber David et divrei hashira
Ashira keshirat Shelomo ba'atara she'itera lo imo, shir hashirim asher liShlomo
Ashira keshirat Yisrael beviat hagoel, az yashir Yisrael et divrei hashira
I shall sing like the song of Moses, a song that will not be forgotten: "And then Moses sang the words of the Song...
I shall sing like the song of Miriam, on the shore of the sea: And Miriam answered them with the words of the Song...
I shall sing like the song of Joshua, upon Mount Gilboa: Then Joshua sang the words of the Song...
I shall sing like the song of Deborah, atop Mount Tabor: And Deborah sang the words of the Song...
I shall sing like the song of Hannah, with her husband Elkanah: And Hannah sang the words of the Song...
I shall sing like the song of David, composing Psalms: And David spoke the words of the Song...
I shall sing like the song of Solomon, at the coronation where his mother crowned him: The Song of Songs that is by Solomon...
I shall sing like the song of Israel, at the coming of the Redeemer: Then Israel will sing the words of the Song...
Instead of working on Chapter Seven of my new novel, I just spent the last two hours online watching the live-stream of Debbie Friedman's funeral. An incredible and moving experience. I first started hearing her songs in the 1980's, when my children brought them home from camp and they started making their way into our synagogue, usually as part of a camp-themed service. In the 1990's, when my husband and I were attending the URJ Kallah [a week of study] each summer in Santa Cruz, Debbie was often the cantor-in-residence.
Her music has been a big part of my Jewish life, and certain songs immediately bring back specific memories I thought I'd forgotten [amazing how music does that to us]. "Youth Shall See Visions" at my children's confirmation services, "Hodu" for Hallel at our family seders, "Not by Might" at Swig's family camp, "Lechi Lach" at Savina Teubal's funeral [Debbie wrote that song for Savina's 60th birthday], and of course, "Miriam's Song" at many friends' and women's seders, including one in Los Angeles led by Debbie herself.
I've heard her "Birchat Havdalah" sung at Reform, Conservative and Modern Orthodox congregations at the end of Shabbat; in fact, I don't recall ever hearing a different melody. It's possible that she's done more to help Reform Jews pray with kavanah than a hundred rabbis' sermons. How bashart that her yartzeit will be the week of Shabbat Shira [Sabbath of Song].
Attention library users! Have you ever wanted to read a certain book but couldn't find it in your local library? Authors - do you want to know which libraries carry your titles? The website WorldCat.org [short for World Catalogue] will search libraries all over the world to find the copy nearest to your zip code. What a super research tool, and one I have used often to track down some of the esoteric texts about Babylonia and Roman Palestine. Unfortunately, the HUC libraries do not appear to have their books listed in the system.
Just for fun, I decided to see how many copies of my books are in various libraries worldwide? The answer sure surprised [and impressed me]. JOHEVED [all editions] in 612, MIRIAM in 431, RACHEL in 324, and SECRET SCHOLAR in 104. This very cool website lets me search for a certain book, starting with the library closest to my home.
For RASHI'S DAUGHTERS in general, which I suspect is mostly the first volume, the nearest university libraries with copies range from LMU in my own zip code, through UCLA, AJU, and CSUN. More interesting are the libraries the furthest away: 2 in Jerusalem, including the National Library of Israel, plus 5 in Australia and New Zealand. Alas, only one copy in all of Europe, in the Netherlands.