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Cool new book recommendation website

Back from Israel and catching up with email, a Google alert sent me to a very cool website, Yasiv.com. When an Amazon search result says, "You may be interested in ..." or "People who bought this also bought ..." it's the result of an algorithm. A lot of algorithm stuff is beyond me, but I like to look at pictures, so I checked it out.

Before my eyes, Yasiv turned an Amazon search into a web of pictures. The screen filled with items I could see, much more interesting than a listing of entries. I typed in my name and Yasiv came alive with a tangle of tomes that unwound themselves gradually into a design that reflected their connection to my original title, and to each other. Using my mouse wheel enlarges or decreases the screen, like in map websites. Each item is clickable, with a full description to help me see why Abraham Joshua Heschel's The Sabbath might be related to my historical novel Rashi's Daughters.

Rainy last few days in Jerusalem

Soon it will be my last Shabbat in Jerusalem for who knows how long. The weather has been rainy and windy with occasional bursts of sun shining through the clouds. It was clear when we got up Thursday, but rain was forecast for later, so we hurried off to the zoo, where we got in for half price since many of the animals were in their enclosed quarters due to the inclement weather. We saw lots of interesting birds close up in aviaries, including some very large raptors that were too injured to live outside captivity, but are breeding chicks to be returned to the wild. Best part was that the sun shone for a little while, during which the lions and leopards came out to bask in it. Soon afterwards it began to rain, then to hail, and we took shelter near the gazelles, elands, antelopes, and other such bovid animals, who clustered under the trees as well.

Obviously our zoo trip was over, so we drove to the Bible Lands Museum , where I again got to indulge my archaeology interests. To my delight, they'd just had an exhibition of ancient magic, so I got to see Babylonian incantation bowls and numerous amulets. It was the perfect place to spend a rainy afternoon.

Friday weather was a duplicate of Thursday. We took the new Jerusalem light rail to the Old City and wandered around a bit until ending up at the Davidson Archaeological Park, where we explored ruins of the area just southwest of the Temple Mount, including a continuation of the Western Wall and the Herodian street that flanked it. The visitor center had an amazing exhibit of the myriad of different coins from almost 1000 years worth of soldiers, visitors, and pilgrims who dropped them while in the Holy City, two great videos on what life was like in Jerusalem in the first century CE and how the current excavations were carried out.

Day Seven in Israel

The last three days I did a great deal of driving. Sunday, I had a speaking gig in Tel Aviv at night, but since there were a couple of shopping chores I wanted to do in the area, I left Jerusalem around noon. My first goal was the Archaeological Center in Jaffa, where the owner was selling a selection of Babylonian incantation bowls, known in the Talmud as kasa d'charasha [cup of sorcery]. If you've been following my blog, you know why these interest me, and I hoped to find a nice, and relatively inexpensive, one to bring home. As luck would have it, I ended up buying two, and I'll post photos of them here when I return.

My other task was to obtain a set of Yemeni Talmud, which has just been reprinted. The great thing about the Yemeni Talmud is that it is the one version of the Bavli that hasn't been corrupted by European scribal errors and censorship. In addition, it is voweled, which means that there is much less confusion over what a particular word is. Of course my Hebrew would be inadequate to negotiate with the Yemeni bookseller, but my Tel Aviv hostess was kind enough to drive me to the shop in Bnai Brak and haggle for me. I now have 2 boxes containing all 20 volumes to bring home in my luggage.

Monday I drove to Tiberias and spent a relaxing afternoon visiting Roman ruins and soaking the hot springs at Hammat Gader . Stayed in the area overnight so as to get a good start to Zippori . As both Tiberias and Zippori/Sepphoris figure prominently in Rav Hisda's Daughters, I was eager to spend as much time as needed exploring the excavations. The weather was perfect, a little cloudy but not too cold, and the site was nearly deserted. The mosaics were marvelous, the wildflowers lovely, and I got a good feel for what the city must have been in the third century.

Shabbat in Jerusalem

I spent a sublime and fascinating two days enjoying the Israeli weekend, Friday and Saturday. Friday morning was raining, so that seemed like a good time to visit Sorek's Stalactite Cave in the Judean Hills near Beit Shemesh [of recent notoriety]. The cave, while small compared to more famous caves like Carlsbad Caverns, has the advantage of numerous amazing calcite formations - stalactites, stalagmites, macaronis, curtains, corals, and mushrooms - in a relatively small space. This enables the visitor path to pass close enough to see their detailed construction. Because of the rain, water was seeping into the cave and dripping down, leaving the formations glistening in the dim lights. It was quite an unworldly experience.

Saturday morning the weather had cleared and I awoke just before dawn. Concerned about finding a local synagogue that met our egalitarian needs, I recalled that our home shul, Beth Chayim Chadashim, would be live streaming a special service at 8 pm LA time - or 6 am in Israel. I wasn't sure I'd wake up in time, but when I saw that it was nearly 6 am, I opened my laptop and logged on just in time to the cantor open the service. My husband, partially awake, couldn't figure out where the music was coming from and why it seemed like he could hear our cantor's voice in Israel.

So even halfway around the world, I could davan with my own congregation. But here's the best part. Our hotel room faces east and with the storm clouds clearing, I was treated to a glorious Jerusalem sunrise at almost the exact moment the cantor was leading Kriat Shema. It was a truly awesome moment - me praying the morning Shema in Jerusalem at sunrise along with my home congregation praying the evening Shema in Los Angeles.

Day Two in Israel

We are now comfortably ensconced in our Jerusalem hotel, trying desperately to stay up past 9 pm before going to bed. We arrived slightly early to Ben Gurion Airport, which was curiously empty – no lines for passport control or picking up our rental car, a little stick-shift Chevy that's the same size as a Smart Car. That's when the adventure started.

By the time we got on the road to Jerusalem, the sun was setting. Of course the other drivers were exceeding the speed limit, except the slow trucks I kept getting stuck behind. It was difficult enough learning to drive a new car in the dark, but I was driving in Israel, notorious for its aggressive and rude drivers. I made it to Jerusalem without incident, then promptly got lost once inside the city. The directions from Google maps were wrong, and I passed by our hotel on the other side of the Begin Hwy 3 times before I figured out how to get there. Thank Heaven it turned out that we'd actually stayed at this hotel, or one very close bye, twice before. When we finally pulled into their parking lot, it was due to my good memory rather than any maps or directions.

Spent a gorgeous Thursday at the new Israel Museum , completely redone since my last visit in 2007, with time to see all the exhibits without rushing. The archaeology section was fascinating and of course I took a special interest in the time Roman and Byzantium periods. There was an entire room focused on the history of glass making in the region, and it was amazing how many gorgeous pieces survived until today. I will definitely have to focus on this subject in next volume of "Rav Hisda's Daughters," since Roman glass was one of the highly sought after items that Jewish traders took to India and China on the Silk Road.

Heading to Israel tomorrow

I can hardly believe it, but my husband and I are flying to Israel tomorrow afternoon, leaving our daughter home to feed the cat, take in mail, etc. We haven't been there since Jan 2007, when I did a book tour promoting "Rashi's Daughters." This time we're mostly staying in Jerusalem, where our son and daughter-in-law are studying, although I have two speaking events: Feb 12 in Tel Aviv and Feb 15 in Rehovot.

Also I'll be meeting with Tal Ilan, editor of Feminist Commentary of the Babylonian Talmud, and another woman who writes a Talmud blog. Plus we plan to visit Tzippori [Roman Sepphoris], Tiberias, and Hammat Hot Springs – all locations that feature in "Rav Hisda's Daughter." Since our hotel is supposed to provide free wifi, I hope to blog regularly about my adventures.

Now my publisher's second question [and answer]

Now back to those difficult questions from my publisher. You know, the ones I mentioned last December and only started answering at the beginning of the year.
Well, here's question #2, and its answer:

Q. How did the idea originate? Remember that often the most incidental stories make interesting publicity.

A. I've now been studying Talmud for almost 20 years. When something possessed me in the mid 1990's to write historical novels about women who had some connection to Talmud, I was intrigued by the story of Rav Hisda's daughter in Bava Batra 12b - who, when presented with a choice of which of her father's best two students she wanted to marry, said "both of them." But Rashi's learned daughters also fascinated me, and writing about them seemed easier, as 11th century France would be simpler to research than 3rd-4th century Babylonia. So I did that series first.