Rashi's Daughters, Book II: Miriam (38 page)

Ima Shalom was Rav Eliezer’s wife, by the way,” she added. “Ah ha, here’s your answer. There is no contradiction. Ima Shalom’s conversation refers to words about marital relations, while Yohanan ben Dahavai means speaking about other matters.”

Miriam put Shimson to her shoulder and patted him until he burped. “Now we know that Yohanan ben Dahavai was talking about the couple’s children being affected by their behavior, not the couple themselves.”

“Wait.” Rachel read ahead in the text. “Listen to this.

She looked up at Joheved questioningly, “So all the acts Yohanan ben Dahavai objects to are permitted?”

“If a husband and wife do them.” Joheved nodded and pointed to the next passage.

She turned to Rachel. “So even turning over the table is allowed, provided the woman is willing.”

“The text continues with how children are damaged if the woman is not willing.” Miriam leaned over to consult the page.

She sat up straight and smiled. “Look, Joheved, here’s that saying of yours by Rav Shmuel.

Joheved sat down next to Miriam and between giggles they finished the passage together.

“What’s so funny?” Rachel demanded.

Joheved and Miriam exchanged looks, each wondering how much she should tell their little sister. Then Joheved reached over and closed the book. “This text is also in Tractate Eruvin. It was the first Arayot Miriam and I studied together, while I was pregnant with Isaac. In fact, you could say that my Isaac is a child of brazenness.” Joheved held up her hand to stop further questions. “I’ll tell you about it when we study Eruvin.”

 

Though on many days it seemed to Rachel that the sun would never set, the month did pass. Eliezer and his family arrived in the second week of June and took up lodgings in Samuelis’s empty rooms. As protection against demons, his nephews shared his bed and his nieces roomed with Rachel.

After some discussion, Meir and Joheved agreed that he would let Eliezer transcribe his father’s copy of Tractate Kallah while she loaned his copy to Rachel. After all, why shouldn’t Rachel learn what was about to happen?

But Eliezer’s initial response was rejection. “You don’t need to teach me that Arayot, I’ve already seen it.”

Meir smiled. “You’re thinking of Yehuda Gaon’s Tractate Kallah. You’ll find this one quite different.” He opened the manuscript to one of the more salacious passages. “I really think you should look it over, even if you don’t want your own copy. Especially since Joheved has loaned one to your bride.”

His face reddening, Eliezer added the book to the carryall he was packing. At the sound of women’s voices outside, he hurried to the window and peeked out. “They’re going to the stews now.” He remained at the window until the voices faded away. “They won’t be back from the
mikvah
for a while, but I’d better get over to my brother’s.”

“I’ll walk with you.” Meir threw his arm around Eliezer’s shoulder. “Even in the daytime you shouldn’t be alone.”

Rachel had seen the slight movement behind Samuelis’s window and she knew Eliezer was watching. She blew him a kiss and then, surrounded by her sisters, his sisters, and both their mothers, she made her way through the Broce aux Juifs’ alleys to the bathhouse on the Rû Cordé Canal. There they unpacked a small feast and prepared for an evening celebrating the bride’s first immersion. Rachel took her time undressing before climbing into the large bathtub, making sure that Eliezer’s female relatives had ample time to inspect her body for flaws.

Of course there were none, and Rachel basked in the looks of awe her naked form induced. She leaned back to let Joheved wash and comb her curly hair, while Mama pared her nails. She had to be perfectly clean before she entered the
mikvah
. Wine goblets and meat pies were passed around the steaming room, and the women relaxed into telling stories about their own weddings, each one funnier than the last. Finally the fruit and cakes were consumed, and as dusk fell, the party left for the synagogue.

After immersing, Rachel hurried up the stairs as fast as she could without slipping. In the antechamber, her family members were chatting with Joseph’s new wife, Fleur, who was waiting to use the
mikvah
. It had been scandalous enough that the
parnas
’s son decided to remarry immediately after the minimum three festivals had passed since Johanna’s death. That he chose to marry a virgin only made people talk more. Papa had urged him to marry a woman closer to his own age, but to no avail.

The young woman had obviously not expected company, and Miriam was trying to put her at ease, but there was no hiding the fact that Fleur had been married almost a year and still wasn’t pregnant. Rachel was unsympathetic—the girl’s family had schemed for months, even before Johanna died, for her to marry Joseph and get their hands on the
parnas
’s wealth. It would serve them right if Fleur remained barren.

Rachel imagined herself married to such an old man and shuddered. Thank Heaven for Eliezer. He’d get her pregnant right away, she just knew it, and she wouldn’t have to visit the
mikvah
again for a long time.

R
achel woke to Samuelis’s roosters crowing. Tomorrow morning she would wake up in a different bed, in a different house, and the noisy roosters would be her roosters. Tomorrow morning it would be Eliezer lying next to her, not his two nieces. Her stomach tightened, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. Careful not to disturb the girls, she slipped out of bed to use the chamber pot. Through the shutters she could see the predawn sky, streaked with greyish pink clouds.

She climbed back into bed, but sleep was impossible.
Why couldn’t I have gotten married during the Cold Fair, when the nights are long, rather than today, the longest day of the year?
The
erusin
ceremony would take place at midday, followed by a betrothal banquet. Then, before sunset, they would read and witness her
ketubah
, and chant the seven wedding blessings, so that she and Eliezer would welcome the Sabbath as husband and wife.

Rachel could hear people moving downstairs.
Splash
—somebody was drawing water from the well. She reached under the mattress and pulled out her copy of Tractate Kallah. She’d finished page one when an alarming thought assailed her.

Did Eliezer know she’d read this? He knew she studied Arayot, but this was far more explicit. Should she pretend to be innocent and let him seduce her? Or should she be brazen like Leah with Jacob?

She skimmed the parts about love charms and special foods to increase desire, focusing her attention on the book’s description of caresses recommended to arouse a virgin bride. When she’d memorized them, she slipped Tractate Kallah back under the mattress and pretended to let the girls wake her.

The morning passed even more slowly than she’d anticipated. She was never left alone, not even when she used the chamber pot. Heaven forbid she should venture outside and use the demon-infested privy. Five different people offered to brush her hair, each one finding new knots that the demon Feltrech had tied in her curls the night before.

When Mama finally declared that it was time to dress, Eliezer’s nieces begged to stay behind and help. They smiled with delight as Mama laid out her bridal outfit.

“Look how the gold threads shine in the light.” The younger girl couldn’t resist reaching out to touch the emerald green brocade. “It’s going to sparkle when you dance.”

“The embroidery is real gold,” her sister said.

Rivka held up the pale green chemise for Rachel to slip over her head. “The
bliaut
is fine silk,” she said, pulling the sleeves down to her daughter’s wrists. “But this chemise is extraordinary. The fabric is soft and subtle, yet it’s not silk. And it takes color so well.”

“It’s called cotton and it comes all the way from Egypt,” the older girl said. “Papa only started getting it last year.” She lowered her voice in awe. “It’s very expensive.”

Rachel held still as her mother sewed up the chemise’s sleeves. The cotton material felt incredibly smooth against her bare skin. What a change from the linen underclothes she usually wore, material she would not have called rough before.

Rivka helped her daughter into the green silk
bliaut
, then stood back to survey the result, her face beaming with pride. “May the Holy One protect you, Rachel, you do look lovely.”

“You look very nice, too, Mama.” After refusing to get a new
bliaut
for either Joheved or Miriam’s wedding, Rivka had finally given in. Together they bought her a length of mauve silk to match her amethyst jewelry.

The younger girl stared at Rachel. “Your eyes are the same color as your
bliaut
.”

“Quiet,” the older niece interrupted her. “I think I hear the musicians.” In the silence that followed, faint strains of music could be heard in the distance.

Rivka handed Rachel the emerald brooch and earrings that Eliezer had given her at their engagement. “Quickly now, put these on. We’ll arrange your veil downstairs.”

In the courtyard Rachel mounted the waiting white horse, then, surrounded by musicians and her family holding torches—
Why do they need torches in the middle of the day?
—she was led to the synagogue. After a brief stint in the women’s gallery to receive her wedding girdle and headpiece—gold and emeralds again, but somehow she wasn’t as thrilled as with her engagement presents—Joheved anointed her with perfume.
How do they make this? It smells just like roses.

Now, downstairs into the courtyard, all the people were staring at her, whispering how beautiful she was. Suddenly Eliezer ducked under her veil with her. He looked so serious, not excited or eager. What was he thinking?

They blessed the cup of wine for
erusin
, and he put the ring on her finger, reciting the ancient Hebrew words that legally bound them: “Behold, you are consecrated to me with this ring, according to the Law of Moses and Israel.” His voice was a whisper and he wouldn’t look her in the eye.
Is something wrong?

Before Rachel could squeeze his hand reassuringly, wheat was flying at them from all directions and everyone was yelling, “Be fruitful and multiply.” The musicians burst into song, and immediately Eliezer was dragged away by a line of dancing men while she was surrounded by a circle of women.

The dancers led them into the street, where tables, benches, and stalls laden with food filled the road now closed to traffic. In the center, under a canopy to shade them from the sun, stood a table with the two carved chairs usually used at a
brit milah
. She took her seat at Eliezer’s right, where a tray with bread, salt, two boiled eggs, and a cooked chicken waited for them. Their parents sat down on either side of them, Eliezer made the blessing over the bread, and the feast began.

All sorts of succulent dishes were brought to them. Rachel downed her food eagerly, but Eliezer was barely touching his.
Is he that nervous about tonight? Maybe I shouldn’t act so brazenly?

In no time the sun was low in the sky, and people began walking back to the synagogue courtyard. A pathway in the crowd opened for Mama and Papa to lead Rachel to the raised platform in its center. She heard sniffles behind her, but to her surprise it was Papa crying, not Mama. She reached over to take his hand, and he held it tight until she reached the steps. Then he leaned over and gave her a kiss before relinquishing her to Eliezer.

Soon she and Eliezer would be alone. Her heart began to beat faster.
Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten so much.
Rachel knew she should listen carefully as her
ketubah
was read, but she couldn’t concentrate on the Aramaic words. Papa would make sure her
ketubah
was correct. The hazzan was chanting the seven wedding blessings, after which Eliezer would break the wine cup and ...
I mustn’t give in to panic.
But it was the sixth blessing already.

“Oh give abundant joy to these loving companions, even as You did gladden your creation in the Garden of Eden
. Baruch ata Adonai
, Who gives joy to groom and bride.”

Mon Dieu, help me tonight
.
Please make everything go well. Don’t let me do something wrong and be ashamed
. She was dimly aware of the final blessing, the sound of the wine cup crashing against the synagogue wall, and cheers as she was picked up and carried through the streets, into her father’s courtyard, past the front door of her new house, and finally into Samuelis’s old bedroom, where Joheved was waiting for her.

The room smelled of roses, and sure enough garlands of them hung from the bedstead. Joheved helped her out of her wedding
bliaut
, then took out a small needle and began removing the stitches on the chemise’s sleeves. “How are you feeling? Any final questions?”