The Saturday Wife

At our last synagogue book club meeting, one of the members suggested a Naomi Ragen novel for our next book. She described the plot line and it sounded interesting. 

“Beautiful, blonde, materialistc Delilah Levy steps into a life she could have never imagined when in a moment of panic she decides to marry a sincere Rabbinical student. But the reality of becoming a paragon of virtue for a demanding and hypocritical congregation leads sexy Delilah into a vortex of shocking choices which spiral out of comtrol into a catastrophe which is as sadly believeable as it is wildly amusing.”

Until I went to enter The Saturday Wife into goodreads.com, I had no recollection of reading the book. None at all! I had written just one comment as my review that first time, simply that the main character reminded me of a friend of my mom’s.

The Saturday Wife is Delilah’s story. From her days in college looking for an Orthodox Jewish husband to her life with Chaim, her husband, the rabbi. I don’t get the sense that Delilah was raised in a completely traditional Orthodox household. I wish Ragen had given us a little bit more of a backstory about Delilah. She seemed knowledgeable about the laws and customs, but it didn’t seem to come naturally to her. It seemed like she was always, from high school thru the last page of the novel, always on the sidelines, waiting to be picked to play on the cool girls' punchball team.

Chaim’s first job after his ordination as a rabbi was at his grandfather’s Orthodox shul in an aging community in the Bronx. At first Delilah thought she could be happy in that life. But then she realizes that she wants more. Chaim and Delilah take an interesting route to get from the Bronx to a wealthy, younger community somewhere in Connecticut. Ragen infuses some humor by using caricatures as the supporting characters. Although maybe they aren’t caricatures. Maybe the supporting characters are pretty authentic in a sadly ridiculous way. I’m guessing that I didn’t appreciate the humor the first time I read this since at the time I was in the member of a congregation that could have been the Conservative version of Swallow Lake. Since I can't recall reading the book, I'm exactly sure what I thought about the book, but maybe I was too close to it. I’m so far removed from that in my rereading that I did find the humor less biting and more funny.

It can’t be easy being the wife of a rabbi (or the spouse of a clergy). You become the unpaid employee of the congregation and you’re expected to live to a much higher standard than a mere congregant while living your life under a magnifying glass. This second time around, I was once again reminded of my mom’s friend, the rebbetzin. Her life could not have been easy. Heck, I know that her life wasn't easy!

I look forward to discussing this with my synagogue book club next month.