The Scroll
Miriam Feinberg Vamosh, 2016
Menorah Books
290 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781940516462 - print
9789655556186 - e-book
Summary
A sensational but little known archaeological find, the divorce document of a woman named Miriam issued at the desert fortress of Masada is the basis for this new historical page turner.
Beginning with a fateful decision by Miriam, a strong-willed survivor on Masada's final, horrific day, the tale spans three generations of her descendants.
This saga extends from the depths of her despair on a barren desert plateau to the glittering city of Alexandria where Miriam sought love and a future, and back to the Holy Land, where, amid the clashing cultures at Beit Guvrin, the storied city of Zippori and, finally, at the emerald oasis of Ein Gedi, the past continues to stalk her, threatening to devour her children.
The Scroll is an adventure-rich voyage through the ancient customs and beliefs of Judaism and early Christianity and the challenges both faced in a hostile world. Readers are transported to the very roads and markets, palaces and hovels, synagogues and village squares of ancient Judea, where The Scroll's characters choose between nation and family, and finally, between life and death.
Will Miriam's descendants learn the lessons of her life, or will enemies—within and without—rob those lessons from them? (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—December 30, 1953
• Raised—Trenton, New Jersey, USA
• Education—B.A., Hebrew College Boston; M.A., Leicester University (UK)
• Currently—lives in Har Adar, Israel
Miriam Feinberg Vamosh grew up in Trenton, New Jersey, and has lived in Israel since 1970.
An author, editor and translator, Miriam started her love affair with the Bible and ancient sources as a tour educator in 1975, when she began specializing in weaving together Jewish literary sources, traditions and beliefs with the origins of Christianity and teaching about them on-site throughout Israel.
Miriam writes, translates and edits articles and books about Jewish and Christian heritage and archaeology. She holds a master's degree in Archaeology and Heritage from Leicester University in the U.K. She wrote her M.A. thesis on the subject of the presence of women in the archaeological record at the ancient site of Megiddo (the traditional site of Armageddon).
Books
Miriam's books include Daily Life at the Time of Jesus (2000, Palphot), an illustrated, lively, wide-ranging exploration of everyday life during Second Temple times, which has been translated into over 30 languages.
She has also authored Food at the Time of the Bible and Women at the Time of the Bible (both in 2007, by Palphot) and Teach it to Your Children: How Kids Lived in Bible Days (2012, Avimedia). Together with Eva Marie Everson, she wrote the award-winning Reflection of God's Holy Land: A personal Journey Through Israel (2008, Thomas Nelson).
Other works include Israel, Land of the Bible (2004, Palphot) and Pathways Through the Land of the Hart (1996, Gefen).
Miriam is on the editorial staff of the English edition of the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz. She is married to Arik, has two married daughters and three grandchildren, and lives near Jerusalem. (From the author.)
Visit Miriam's website.
Follow Miriam on Facebook.
Book Reviews
A special book that crosses the miles and the years. While Miriam Feinberg Vamosh weaves together an ancient story of community disunity, the book provides us with much to learn and apply to the challenges of contemporary community strife. This intriguing volume includes subtle textual references that provide the reader with insights into the daily lives of this historical Jewish people
Dr. Kerry M. Olitzky - Big Tent Judaism:
How can we possibly understand the present? How can we do better, be better, in the future if we don't know the past? In a story based on one woman's survival of Masada, Miriam Feinberg Vamosh has done what few writers can: bring the past to life, determined to make us all think: What would I do if ?? This story is not only for today's Jewish community, but for Christians as well so that we may all reflect on the meaning of the years that comprised the first century of our Common Era.
Eva Marie Everson - President, Word Weavers International; Best Selling, Award-winning Author
Discussion Questions
A Note from the Author:
The Scroll shows how ancient Jews and the first Christians responded to Rome’s heavy heel on the Holy Land around the time of Jesus. By reading this book, you’ll learn through the eyes of Miriam, a survivor of Masada, and her descendants about the cultures and beliefs of both faiths and how they faced some of their greatest challenges.
While writing the book, I placed myself in that time to discover how I might face those challenges. How would you? I believe there are important lessons for today’s Jews and Christians tucked within this story. As you read The Scroll on your own—or in your book club—I hope you’ll find the questions below thought-provoking and enriching.
Thematic Questions
1. Which group of people presented in The Scroll did you identify with the most and why—Pharisees, Sadducees, Rebels, or Early Christian Believers?
2. When Elazar decided to have his followers take their own lives, he may have thought they were the only Jews left on the face of the earth. Put yourself in Elazar’s sandals to imagine other reasons for him to decide as he did. Are there any circumstances in which you would consider his solution?
3. "The ancient Jewish sages ask, "Why was the first Sanctuary destroyed?" What is your answer?
4. Three [evil] things prevailed there: idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed. So why do you think the second Sanctuary was destroyed, seeing that in its time they were occupying themselves with Torah, [observance of] precepts and the practice of charity? Could it be that groundless hatred is considered even in gravity with the three sins of idolatry, immorality, and bloodshed?
5. The ancient Jewish sources also present a story epitomizing "baseless hatred" called "Kamza and Bar Kamza." You can download and read this story in the articles section of my website. Every year on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction, the relevance today of "hatred without cause" or "baseless hatred" is discussed widely in Israel, even in opinion pieces in daily newspapers. How can this discussion be applied to your community or country?
Application Questions
1. Here are some junctions where characters in The Scroll acted or made fateful decisions. What were their other options? What would you have done differently?
- Mordechai of Tekoa rejects Miriam.
- Miriam decided to return to Judea.
- Jacobides rejects his son Menachem.
- Gabriel allows his daughter to leave with Samuel.
- The families of Ein Gedi follow Itamar and Rebecca to the caves.
2. Read my article on "baseless hatred" and the story of Kamza and Bar Kamza. The wealthy man in the feast was not the only "bad guy" in the story and it is not always action that leads to disastrous results. Sometimes it is inaction. Who do you think are the "bad guys" in The Scroll? What were their actions or inactions?
3. Find the places in The Scroll where early Christians interact with Jews. What do these encounters say about Christians at the time? What do they say about Jews?
4. What do you imagine happened to Judith and the baby after the book ends?
(We'll add specific questions if and when they're made available by the publisher.)