Sarah, ripped from her family’s Jerusalem farm when Nebuchadnezzar’s army takes the Judean people captive, longs for nothing more than to return home. With the Temple destroyed, the Judean people are taken captive and marched across unforgiving desert sands to Babylon. Sarah raises two generations of her family there, watching helplessly as the empire’s wealth and idol worship seduce her children away from their beliefs.
Meanwhile, palace intrigues, betrayals, and even regicide rock the foundations of the Babylonian kingdom. Through it all, the Hebrews try to preserve their religion by compiling biblical stories and replacing Temple sacrifice with prayer and charity. Sarah and her family only survive being uprooted from their homeland by reinforcing their faith and understanding of God’s covenant.
Fiction
Babylon: A Novel of Jewish Captivity
September 1, 2023
Discussion Questions
Courtesy of Michelle Cameron
- The pain of exile from your homeland – a severe type of homesickness – can be quite acute. Have you ever felt something akin to that pain? How did you handle it?
- The exiles in Babylon were tempted to assimilate: to worship Babylonian gods, eat food that wasn’t kosher, and forget their own faith. How do such temptations manifest themselves in your everyday life?
- One way the Judeans kept their faith alive was by recording the stories that later were included into the Bible. Uri was particularly fascinated by the origin of the universe. Which of the stories that he transcribed spoke to you? Which did you wish had been included?
- Amittai was given Sarah’s family farm as Keren’s dowry, yet he knew the farm was acquired by less than honorable means. Do you think he should have accepted it? Why or why not?
- When Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon, he allowed the Judeans to return home. Many, who had created comfortable lives for themselves in Babylon, opted to remain. If the choice were up to you, what would you choose – and why?
- Jerusalem is a disappointment to the returning Judeans – certainly different from what they’d dreamt of during the exile. Have you ever traveled or moved to a place that didn’t live up to your expectations? How did you handle it?
- When Nebuchadnezzar exiled the Jews to Babylon, he didn’t include the lower classes – am ha’aretz. They stepped in to take over abandoned farms, stores, etc., and owned and worked them for two generations. Do you think it was right for the Judeans who returned to reclaim these properties? Why or why not?
- Chava is labeled a “loose woman” and is shunned by Jerusalem society after her misadventure with Uziel. Do you think she deserved such treatment?
- Ancient societies allowed a man to take more than one wife. We’ve since outlawed this as bigamy. How did having more than one wife affect the family dynamic? What inequities arose as a result?
- Ezra is given extensive powers by the Persian king and uses them to dictate sweeping changes in Jerusalem, even “changing the record” to reflect his own perception of history. How do you feel about how he handled himself in the novel?
- Ezra’s directive – to exile the non-Jewish wives and children – tore at the hearts of those who had accepted them into their families. If you were in Uri’s shoes, what would you have done?
- The Hebrews – both Israelites and Judeans – had intermarried for the entirety of their history. Think of Moses and Zipporah, or Boaz and Ruth. It is possible that Ezra’s decision to exile the non-Jewish wives and children ended up meaning that the Jewish people, unlike many other ancient peoples, did not perish into oblivion. This being the case, does it change your mind about the cruelty of this act? Why or why not?
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