Rashi's Daughters, Book III: Rachel (13 page)

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Authors: Maggie Anton

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Rachel’s ecstasy erupted in waves, each more powerful than before, a crescendo that would surely shatter her body into pieces if it continued. Then she heard him moan as he slammed into her one last, overwhelming time before he collapsed on top of her.
seven
For a long moment they lay together, unable to move or make a sound. Rachel reveled in the crush of his body against hers, the soft prickling of his beard on her shoulder, the smell of his hair—and she began to weep.
“I hate you,” she whispered between sobs. “Why can’t you be here when I need you?”
Eliezer kissed her cheek and gently stroked her hair. “I hate being away from you, I hate that I never got to see our new son before he was buried, and I hate that there’s nothing I can do about it until my sister’s sons are able to take my place.”
And I hate the number of men who know I have a beautiful wife at home alone while I travel.
“There must be some occupation that you can do in Troyes.”
He sighed. “None I can think of that will provide for our family so well.”
Rachel sniffed back her tears. Her husband was right. Papa’s wine production was sufficient to support him and Mama, and in a good year there was profit for her and Miriam. The sisters also divided the revenue from the money-lending business that Judah’s mother, Alvina, had set up. But Alvina was old, and instead of contributing to their income she now needed their support.
“I’m not going to give up. I’ll find something,” she said. “And if it’s not quite as lucrative as what you do now, I’ll just have to cut back on expenses.”
Eliezer chuckled. “Belle, we both know that you do not share your father’s and sisters’ simple tastes. I can’t imagine you wearing badly dyed
bliauts
to save money. And I certainly can’t imagine you giving up your jewels, nice clothes, or fine foods.” He wouldn’t want to give them up either.
“I suppose so.” Her tone was grudging.
“Even if you did spend less, we still couldn’t live on the same income as Miriam and Judah. They have only one daughter to dower, and who knows how many more girls you will bear?”
“Judah will also inherit all Alvina’s wealth, while your father’s went to pay your brother’s widow and your mother their
ketubah
.” The
ketubah
, a woman’s marriage contract, stipulated how much she would receive if her husband died or divorced her. The amount was often so large that there was little left over for the man’s children.
“You’re still angry,” he said sadly.
“I’m not so angry at you anymore.” She sighed and paused a moment. “I just wish things were different.”
He leaned over and kissed her neck. “Remember what it says in the tenth chapter of Tractate Eruvin.”
She pretended to misunderstand him. “You mean where Rami bar Chama said:
A man is forbidden to force his wife in the holy deed, as it is written [Proverbs 19], ‘He who blunders with his feet is a sinner.’ ”
Eliezer was sure his wife knew exactly what he meant, but in between kisses he quoted it anyway. “
Non
, the Baraita just following that.
‘He who blunders with his feet is a sinner’ refers to one who performs the holy act and repeats it. But can this be? Rava said: He who wishes to have only sons should perform the holy act twice.”
Rachel allowed him to pull her close. If she had to share Eve’s curse, she might as well enjoy it. Before she kissed him back, she whispered,
“There is no contradiction. With Rava, the woman consents, but in the Baraita, she does not consent.”
She too wanted another son.
Eliezer’s sleep was disturbed several times by coughing children, but Rachel assured him that this was nothing compared to before. Shibeta was weakening, and they could leave for Troyes in a day or two. Eliezer devoted most of this spare time, when he wasn’t playing with the children, to reviewing Salomon’s latest Talmud lessons. For when the Hot Fair opened, the section Salomon was teaching would require more effort than simply memorizing the text.
Salomon had chosen Tractate Shabbat, starting with the seventh chapter, which describes the various kinds of labor forbidden on the Sabbath. He began with the Mishnah:
The main types of work are forty save one: sowing, plowing, reaping, gathering sheaves, threshing, winnowing, cleansing crops, grinding, sifting, kneading, and baking; shearing wool, whitening it, combing it, dyeing it, spinning, stretching, making two loops, weaving two threads, separating two threads, tying a knot, loosening a knot, sewing two stitches, and tearing in order to sew; hunting a gazelle, slaughtering it, skinning it, salting it, tanning its skin, scraping it and cutting it up, writing two letters, and erasing in order to write; building, pulling down, putting out a fire, lighting a fire, hammering, and carrying from one domain to another.
“These are the labors the Israelites performed in the desert to construct the Tabernacle,” he explained over
souper
. “All work prohibited on the Sabbath is derived from them.”
“Excuse me, Rabbenu.” Simcha blushed with embarrassment. “I know the first group of eleven have to do with preparing bread for the altar, and the second group of thirteen with making the Tabernacle’s curtains, but I’m not sure what each word means.”
“You’re not the only one,” Rachel said. “I don’t know the difference between threshing and winnowing.”
“Of course you do.” Eliezer gave her a suggestive smile. “Your father teaches that in order to avoid impregnating Tamar, Onan threshed on the inside and winnowed on the outside.”
Joheved and Meir exchanged glances, then he waved for her to speak. “Threshing is beating the husks to separate out the grain, and winnowing is tossing the grain in the air so the chaff blows away and the heavier wheat remains.”
Meir’s estate produced wheat, along with sheep and wine, so he easily explained the first twelve terms. “Whitening the wool is the Mishnah’s name for washing it, which we do in the river.”
Joheved held up her distaff, identical to her sisters’. As children, she and Miriam had lessened their mother’s complaints about girls studying Talmud by spinning thread during their father’s lessons. “Before placing the wool on the distaff, we comb it into parallel fibers.”
“That makes it easier to draw a good length onto the spindle.” Miriam demonstrated the action, pulling a tuft of wool from the distaff and twisting it around her spindle. Then she let the spindle fall, where it stretched and tightened the thread as it rotated. Finally she wound the thread onto the spindle and began the process again.
“Why does dyeing come before spinning?” Judah asked. “I thought cloth was dyed after weaving.”
Eliezer, expert in dyestuffs, provided the answer. “These days we dye the whole cloth, but in the past it was common to dye the wool.”
Next came “stretching” and “making two loops,” but nobody volunteered an explanation.
“They clearly come before weaving.” Miriam turned to her father. “Does the Gemara explain it later?”
“I’m afraid the Gemara is not helpful.” Judah proceeded to quote it.
“What are loops? Abaye said: two times for the heddle loops and once around the heddle.”
“The heddle?” Rachel scowled. “Now I’m more confused than before.” She looked at her father questioningly.
Salomon stroked his beard. “I need to see some weavers at work. Once I understand what they do, I can explain it properly in my
kuntres
.”
“Our clients include weavers,” Rachel said. “They borrow money during the year to buy flax and wool but don’t get paid until the cloth is sold. When they come to repay their loans, I’ll ask some if you might watch.”
As foreign merchants arrived in Troyes and began struggling with Tractate Shabbat, Eliezer felt a secret pride at knowing both Torah and Greek philosophy. He thought of Hasdai’s grandsons and wondered what it was like to study Aristotle and Plato while simultaneously learning Talmud? What questions would such a student ask?
The morning session was almost over when Salomon tapped his shoulder and pointed to Rachel waving frantically from the door.
It had to be important for her to interrupt their studies.
“Your sister Eleanor is here,” she exclaimed.
“She couldn’t wait until I came home?”
Rachel’s irritation matched his own. “That’s what I asked her, but she insisted on my getting you immediately.”
“My sister still tells me what to do and expects me to do it,” he muttered before lapsing into a fuming silence.
They hurried through the crowded streets, waving off the many peddlers who accosted them on the way. They rushed through the front door to find Eleanor sitting in their dining room, drumming her fingers on the table.
“So you’ve finally decided to visit Champagne’s biggest fair,” Eliezer said, giving her a perfunctory kiss.
“That’s not why I’m here.” She fingered the neckline of her
bliaut
, drawing his attention to the torn edges. “Our mother is in Gan Eden with our father and brother now.”
Eliezer sagged as if she’d punched him. But instead of embracing his sister to share their mutual sorrow, he leaned on Rachel for support. “When did she die? And how?”
Eleanor showed no sadness. “Last winter, of a fever.”
“Our mother died six months ago and you’re just informing me?” Now it was too late for Eliezer to observe shiva or
sheloshim
; Jewish Law allowed merely one day of full mourning when learning of a death after thirty days.
“I sent a letter to Tunis.”
He fought back tears of anger. “I was in Córdoba. I wrote Mama about it.” She had probably died without ever reading his letter.
Eleanor stared knives back at him. “You were supposed to be in Maghreb. Sepharad is Netanel’s territory.”
“I’ll conduct my business how and where I like.”
Rachel didn’t dare speak. Her husband and sister-in-law looked like they were going to tear one another limb from limb, not like siblings mourning their mother. Why was Eleanor so angry? Surely Sepharad held more than enough commercial opportunities for the two men. And why didn’t Eliezer try to placate her by explaining his perfectly good reasons for preferring Córdoba to Tunis?
“So why are you here?” Eliezer asked. “You obviously didn’t come to pay a condolence call.”
Eleanor thrust a piece of parchment at him. “Here’s your inheritance, payable as a credit at the Troyes fairs.”
Eliezer scanned the document and his expression clouded. “Mama saved all the money I sent her.”
“While spending the money we gave her,” Eleanor retorted. “But I shouldn’t be surprised. You always were her favorite.”
“So you’ve always insisted. But I don’t have to listen to your accusations in my own home.” He headed to the door. “If you can’t offer me any sympathy, I’ve missed enough Talmud already.”
The next moment, Eliezer was gone, the slamming front door echoing behind him. Before Rachel could offer Eleanor something to eat or ask if she needed a place to stay, Eleanor stood up and stalked out, leaving Rachel sitting alone.
So Flamenca loved Eliezer more than her daughters, left him more in her will; that’s what lay behind the siblings’ antagonism. How sad that they couldn’t even mourn their mother’s death together. She must be careful not to favor Shemiah over little Rivka and to prevent Eliezer from doing so as well.
Then an alarming thought assailed Rachel—could Joheved and Miriam harbor similar grudges toward her for being Papa’s favorite? Or did they pity her for all the years she suffered Mama’s resentment?
 
Eleanor must have left Troyes immediately, because Rachel did not encounter her in town again. Rachel wanted to ask Eliezer about their estrangement, but he refused to even mention his sister’s name, only reiterating his intention of returning to Córdoba in January.
When he left after Sukkot on his now annual autumn trip east for furs, Rachel suspected she was pregnant. After baby Asher died, her breasts were so swollen that she began nursing little Rivka again for relief. The girl thrived on mother’s milk, and if Miriam could continue to nurse Alvina, six months Rivka’s senior, then Rachel would nurse her daughter too. Thus she avoided being
niddah
for the entire summer that Eliezer was home, but that also meant she couldn’t use a missed menses to confirm her condition.

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