Moses' Women
Moses’ women were the women of Exodus, the second book of the Bible. These included Yocheved, his mother; Miriam, his sister; Batya, who rescued him from the waters of the Nile; and Zipporah, his wife. Drawing on the Talmud and the Midrash, Tuchman and Rapoport “entered the lives of these heroic Hebrew women” who were enslaved by the pharaohs, isolated from their husbands, and ordered to kill not only others but also their own children. Tuchman and Rapoport write in the introduction that during the last 15 years she has tried to understand the women by analyzing and deconstructing biblical words, phrases, and sentences, aided by traditional orthodox commentators and their midrashic explanations. This richly detailed book is a compelling read. --George Cohen