The Red Tent

I first read The Red Tent by Anita Diamant when it came out in 2007 so this was a re-read for me. If it wasn't a book club read, I probably wouldn't have read it again. Even though I loved the book the first time I read it and merely liked it this time. I think I got a lot more out of it reading it now.

The story came about because of a reference to Jacob's lone daughter, Dinah, in Genesis 34 in the Bible. In the Bible, there's just a small mention of Dinah. Diamant creates a story about women roles and society during Biblical days with Dinah as the central character. 

My thinking about women in Biblical stories has evolved over the years, in part due to some classes I've taken with the spiritual leader of my synagogue. She's all about the women. In 2007, I took a lot of what I read at face value. What was also different for this reading is that we were reading the story of Jacob and his wives and then his reunion with his brother, Esau, in synagogue at the same time I was reading and discussing the novel. That made me read the novel differently and it also made me read the Torah portions differently. A very rich experience.

The discussion at book club was primarily about women's roles and the relationships between Jacob's wives and his daughter. The "red tent" refers to the tent where women retreated to during the times of their periods. We're (unintentionally) an all-women's book club and we all agreed that it would have been lovely if we'd been able to have our own red tent back when we were menstruating.

If you haven't read this, I'd strongly suggest you do.