Author Event: Rebecca of Salerno
Tuesday, November 15, 2022
3:00PM - 4:00PM
Location: Online by Zoom
Rebecca of Salerno: A Novel of Rogue Crusaders, a Jewish Female Physician, and a Murder
Author Event with Esther Erman
Live on Zoom
Rebecca of Salerno: A Novel of Rogue Crusaders, a Jewish Female Physician, and a Murder is an homage to Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe.
The Ivanhoe backstory: Jewish women in medieval England do not fall in love with Christian knights like Ivanhoe. Neither do they heal knights from battle wounds. But Rebecca does both—and nearly pays with her life. Rescued by Ivanhoe from being burnt at the stake as a sorceress, she flees from England and the man she loves.
Rebecca of Salerno: In Salerno, Kingdom of Sicily, Rebecca pursues her dreams by attending medical school. Practicing her profession, she defies family pressure to marry Rafael, the man who loves her. But more pressing is the conquest of Sicily by the Hohenstaufens and the arrival of rogue crusaders, both of which threaten Salerno’s long-standing atmosphere of tolerance. When a rabbi is falsely accused of murdering a crusader, Rebecca and Rafael commit to pursuing justice and protecting the Jewish community.
This story provides fascinating history, as of the medical school in Salerno, where women and men—Christians, Muslims, and Jews—studied together. It also exemplifies the recurring Jewish experience of persecution, search for refuge, and resilience to remake lives. Also, Rebecca struggles to balance community expectations and traditions with her desire for fulfillment—one of the great challenges facing women throughout the ages.
Like her heroine, Rebecca, Esther Erman was a refugee. A naturalized citizen, she early developed a passion for language, which led to her earning a doctorate in language education, writing her dissertation about the Yiddish language, and working with international students on many levels. A multi-published author, Esther now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband. When they’re not traveling—especially to be with family in other parts of the US and in England—she loves to bake, quilt, and add to her monumental book collection.
Admission is free. Upon registration, you will first receive a confirmation email. An hour before the program begins, we will email the Zoom link you need to join the event. If you don’t see these emails, please check your spam/junk folder to retrieve them. We suggest you add “notifications@wixevents.com” to your contacts list as well.
Sponsored by the Contra Costa JCC, Congregation B’nai Shalom, and the Jewish Book Council in partnership with Diablo Valley Hadassah.