Book Review: A Woman's Tale of Faith & Art in Jerusalem 1911

JEWISH JOURNAL
By Dora Levy Mossanen

Let me begin by saying that when I finished reading the engrossing “Jerusalem Maiden” by Talia Carner (Harper Collins, $14.99), two thoughts flashed through my mind.  First, that the inevitable ending was quite satisfying!  And, second, that a number of the ancient cultural and religious rituals and practices among the ultra Orthodox Charedi Jews in Jerusalem at the onset of the twentieth century are still being followed, and not just by Charedim. Not until I read the richly detailed “Jerusalem Maiden” did I realize that the Talmud, Kiddushin decrees: “Happy the man whose children are boys and woe to him if they are girls.” [link]