This book is an homage to Walter Scott’s creation of Rebecca in his 1820 novel Ivanhoe. Rebecca, perhaps the first positive image of a Jew in European literature, deserves her own story. Her path is, as so often for Jews through the centuries, one of persecution, the need to find a hospitable place to live, and then the need to leave when that place turns inhospitable.
Broken-hearted after fleeing England and her ill-fated love for the Christian knight Ivanhoe, Rebecca discovers the medical school in Salerno, where Jews, Christians, and Moslems — men and women — can study together. Still in thrall to Ivanhoe, she resists traditional and societal demands on women to wed and bear children, instead building her life as a physician. But the dawn of the thirteenth century brings political changes that threaten the security of Jewish life in the Kingdom of Sicily. When a rabbi is falsely accused of murdering a crusader, Rebecca and Rafael, the man who loves her, throw themselves into pursuing justice and protecting their community.
Fiction
Rebecca of Salerno: A Novel of Rogue Crusaders, a Jewish Female Physician, and a Murder
September 1, 2021
Discussion Questions
Courtesy of Esther Erman
- What choices did Rebecca, as a Jewish woman, have when she fell in love with Ivanhoe, a Christian man? What choices did they both have?
- What impact did the existence of the medical school in Salerno have on Rebecca’s life? How might she have proceeded if attending the medical school hadn’t been an option?
- How did Salerno’s Jewish society treat Rebecca? What were the reasons for this treatment?
- Why did Rafael persist after Rebecca repeatedly turned him down? Should he have given up on her and sought another bride?
- What was the nature of relationships between Jews and Christians in Salerno?
- How did the Jewish community deal with Rabbi ben Shmuel, especially after his arrest?
- How did Rebecca and Rafael’s pursuit of justice for the rabbi change once they knew the identity of the real killer?
- What was Duke Henry’s role in dealing with the murder of the crusader?
- How would you characterize the Mendoza family’s behavior following the murder? How would you judge their behavior in the context of Jewish law and philosophy?
- What conclusions can be drawn from the outcome of Rebecca and Rafael’s pursuit of justice for the rabbi?
- How did the advice of women such as Leah Sara Garcia and Signora ben Levi impact Rebecca and influence her choices?
- Did Rebecca and Rafael choose wisely on the question of emigrating from Salerno to Barcelona?
- How do Rebecca’s relocations — England to Salerno to Barcelona — relate to the three-millenium Jewish history?
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