Rashi's Daughters, Book II: Miriam (19 page)

Judah saw the uncertainty on her face. “What about you? Have I passed your test?”

Miriam hesitated.
My test?
Judah was undeniably handsome, but he didn’t make her heart race like Benjamin had. Perhaps that was for the best. Judah was a
talmid chacham
, he seemed eager to please her, and he was fond of strawberries. Maybe he was her
bashert
. But there was another thing she needed to know.

“I’ve been training to be a midwife,” she said. “That means I have to stay here in Troyes. If you want to study in the Rhineland or return to Paris, I can’t go with you.”

Judah shuddered. He couldn’t imagine which would be worse, returning to Mayence or living with his mother. “Of course I’ll stay here. Why would I marry the daughter of the rosh yeshiva of Troyes and then go study somewhere else?”

Miriam watched as a heron gracefully flew down and landed in the water. So had he passed her test? She remembered her prayer before
disner
and sighed. Judah certainly looked as different from Benjamin as two men could be, and he was as at home in a yeshiva as Benjamin had been in a vineyard.

Her gaze lingered on the towpath continuing off into the distance. She had asked the Holy One to show her the path to choose and now she was standing on one with Judah. Hadn’t she prayed for a sign and received one?

This time it was Miriam who shyly took his hand. Judah, overcome with elation, stood silently staring at the Seine. Suddenly the air was split with the sound of bells.

“Mon Dieu! They’re chiming None already.” Still holding Judah’s hand, Miriam bolted back to the gate. “We’ve got to get back!”

 

The atmosphere around Salomon’s dining table was heavy with impatience. With no negotiations yet, Azariel plied his hosts with questions about the Champagne fairs. “I hear they already attract more business than Cologne’s.”

Isaac saluted the scholar with his wine goblet. “Because of Salomon’s yeshiva, now only the rare French youth still travels to Allemagne for Talmud study.”

“I have no desire to compete with my masters in Mayence and Worms.” Salomon held up his hand in protest. “Indeed it is impossible that I could. They are far beyond me in knowledge and wisdom, and I am merely grateful to be able to offer some Torah learning to those students who cannot travel such a distance, especially during wartime.”

Mention of the civil war in Germany prompted the conversation to digress into politics. Rivka would rather have heard more about Judah’s family, but she didn’t want to offend Isaac and Azariel. And if all went well, the subject would come up eventually.

“I hear King Henry is holding his own against the usurper Rudolph.” Isaac haParnas had contacts in the Rhineland, whose towns generally supported the king. “In fact, the counter-king is now so desperate for resources that he’s begun appropriating Church lands.”

“And this is the pope’s man?” Salomon helped himself to more capon, shaking his head in disbelief.

Azariel took more chicken and topped his meat with a generous spoonful of quince preserves. “Luckily Henry keeps Pope Gregory too occupied to notice that our King Philippe has ignored the pontiff’s demand that he deny Jews any position in his court.”

“Count Thibault also has no intention of letting papal law dictate whom he may or may not trust in his court,” Isaac said. “He continues to consult me as often as he ever has.”

Azariel leaned forward in his chair. “Speaking of the nobility’s foibles, probably half the women in the Parisian court have their jewels pawned to Judah’s mother, Alvina.”

With his audience’s rapt attention, Azariel continued, “Judah, my uncle, and I are business partners, with Alvina putting up Judah’s share of the capital. We’re a very close family. Alvina is my uncle’s sister-in-law.”

“Your father and his brother married two sisters.” Rivka sounded shocked. “That’s very unlucky.”

“I suppose you’re right, because my father died shortly after Judah was born,” Azariel said with a sigh. “But Alvina has invested her
ketubah
wisely, leaving Judah with the resources to study Torah as long as he likes.”

“There’s no need for us to pry into your financial affairs,” Salomon said. “When my daughter has accepted your brother, then we can speak of money.”

There was more discussion about business as Isaac and Joseph tried to determine which merchants they and Azariel had as common acquaintances. Meir shared the morning’s Talmud lesson with Joheved, and students kept coming in to ask questions.

Finally Rachel offered to run down to the river. “I won’t bother them. I’ll just stand at a distance and watch.”

“Very well,” Salomon said, his frustration mounting.

True to her word, Rachel was back in no time. Grinning broadly, she announced, “You can start planning the wedding.”

Rivka’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You said you weren’t going to interrupt them.”

“I didn’t. I came through the St. Jacques Gate and saw them standing on the towpath, and ...” She paused dramatically. “He was holding her hand.”

“He was
what
?” Azariel and Meir were equally incredulous.

Joheved remembered how Rachel had teased them about Judah’s appearance. “You’re not making this up? You actually saw them?”

“I’ll take any oath you want—they
were
holding hands.”

“There’s no need for oaths,” Salomon interrupted. “I believe you.” Then he smiled. “Gentlemen, it’s time to get down to business.”

Isaac and Azariel stared at each other, eyes glittering at the thought of bargaining with such an expert opponent. But then Azariel’s expression softened. “As much as I would enjoy spending days here negotiating a betrothal agreement, in all fairness I cannot. Alvina says that I am to accept any conditions you care to impose.”

“Your family will pay all the wedding expenses.” Isaac shrugged and smiled at Salomon. “I have to make some demands.”

Azariel nodded. “Naturally.”

“New clothes every year at Rosh Hashanah,” Johanna said.

“And at Passover,” Azariel added cheerfully.

“Judah will pay room and board for both himself and his wife,” Joseph declared.

Salomon lifted his hands in protest. “My daughter is not going to pay to eat at my table. Miriam receives the same dowry as her older sister, one third of the vineyard at my death, plus room and board while her husband attends yeshiva here.”

“If your home needs to be enlarged to house the newlyweds, we will pay that expense,” Azariel offered.

“That will not be necessary,” Rivka said. “My sister will share her house with Miriam. Both women are midwives, so their clients will only disturb one household at night.”

“Then allow us to furnish the couple’s room,” Azariel said. “The bed, the linens, the chests, and chairs.”

Nobody could think of anything else to ask for, so they settled back to wait, and wait. Impatience set in again, and Rachel was about to suggest that she go out to find them when the three o’clock bells began to toll. By the time each church in Troyes had had its say, Judah and Miriam were walking through the courtyard gate.

“There you are.” Rachel brazenly called out to them, “What took you two so long?”

Judah could only blush, but Miriam smiled and replied, “It takes a long time to explain all the differences between Hillel and Shammai.”

T
he only thing remaining to discuss was the wedding date. “We must allow enough time to travel to Paris, make preparations, and then return,” Azariel said.

“You have at least three weeks,” Rivka said as they all walked together to morning services. “They should be married under a waxing moon, not a waning one.”

Salomon stroked his beard for a moment and then added, “But we can’t delay until the following month. Weddings are forbidden during the first nine days of Av.”

“Wait—what is the best time of month for my sister?” Joheved had finally become
niddah
again, and was acutely aware that the wedding must be scheduled during Miriam’s clean days.

Miriam blushed as the company turned to her. In the months since they’d returned from Ramerupt, Rachel had come to know her bedmate’s rhythm, so she spoke for her embarrassed sister. “Miriam always has her flowers at the full moon.”

“Her what?” Judah blurted out, and Miriam’s blush deepened.

Salomon walked over and whispered to Judah, “A woman’s ‘flowers’ are her ‘monthly visitor.’ ” He used the Talmudic euphemism for a woman’s menses. “Just as the grapevine flowers before it develops fruit, so too a woman must flower before she becomes pregnant.”

At the same time, Rivka addressed Azariel. “We can have the wedding a week after the new moon, while it’s still waxing.”

“A Friday afternoon wedding would be auspicious.” Meir grinned. “Then we’d have two days to celebrate.”

Azariel considered the practical aspects. “That would give our people in Paris almost a week to get here. We wouldn’t have to stop on the way to wait out the Sabbath.”

“We are agreed then,” Salomon declared. “The second Shabbat after the new moon next month ... the eleventh of Tammuz.”

Azariel shook his hand. “Excellent. Judah and I can leave for Paris tomorrow morning.”

That evening Azariel presented Salomon’s surprised family with a sturdy chest containing Judah’s betrothal gifts. The women crowded around as he opened it, and Rachel sighed with awe. Inside, the box gleamed with precious metals, ropes of pearls, and jewelry set with gems of every color in the rainbow.

Azariel explained the abundance of jewelry. “To avoid shaming her clients by selling their forfeited baubles in Paris, Alvina has sent some pieces with me to offer at your fairs.” He pulled out a man’s ring with a large, blue stone and presented it to Salomon. “A sapphire, the stone of Issachar, is associated with understanding, especially of Torah.”

Azariel and Judah exchanged pleased looks when Salomon tried the ring on several fingers before allowing it to remain on the third finger of his right hand. Most prominent men wore rings. Emeralds were merchants’ favorite, since the gem of Zebulun was reputed to bring success in trade, while knights prized agates, the stone of Naphtali, for its ability to make a man secure on his mount.

Then Azariel turned to Miriam. “Knowing that you are a midwife, Alvina suggested something with rubies.” He opened a small velvet pouch and removed a gold filigree necklace and matching earrings. The delicate pieces were set with a pattern of small rubies placed to form squares, with a larger ruby in each square’s center.

Miriam held them up for her family to admire. The necklace came to a V between her breasts, and she felt a pang of inadequacy as she imagined the bountiful cleavage this necklace was designed to adorn. The earrings dangled almost to her shoulders. So this was how Judah had the means to study Talmud as long as he liked.

“They’re beautiful,” Miriam said, returning the jewels to their bag. “But I can’t imagine wearing anything so elaborate.”

“These are for your wedding day.” Azariel coaxed her to take the pouch and then handed her a bolt of fabric.

Miriam tried not to grimace as she unwrapped the bright red brocade. And she was expected to wear the ostentatious jewelry as well. Judah hadn’t seemed like the kind of man who expected his wife’s appearance to proclaim his prosperity. Had she misjudged him?

Not knowing the woman’s taste, Alvina had been reluctant to choose a gift for Rivka. Instead she had instructed Azariel to offer her counterpart a choice of several pieces. But Rivka just stared at the small mountain of pearls and gemstones.

“My good mistress, perhaps you would consider this pearl and amethyst set.” He pointed out a modest brooch and earrings. “The amethyst is the stone of Gad, and one who wears it is protected from
mazikim
and not seized by the sudden faintness of heart that they cause.”

“
Merci
, they are very nice.” Rivka gave a sigh of relief and took the amethysts.

“The purple jewels will go well with your wine-colored
bliaut
,” Salomon encouraged her.

Now only Rachel remained without a present, and she alternated between nervous excitement and fear that she would be left out of the gift giving.

“For my young mistress, surely we can improve on your red threads.” Azariel searched the chest again and pulled out a necklace of what appeared to be small red beads. “This is coral found in the Red Sea,” he informed them. “The red stones offer constant protection from the Evil Eye.”

Rachel beamed as Rivka fastened on the necklace and cut the threads around her wrists. “
Merci, merci
. It’s beautiful.” She reluctantly tucked the coral beads under her chemise, where nobody would see her lovely jewels.

 

A week later Rachel was playing in the garden with the new kittens when she was supposed to be weeding. A woman she had never seen before entered the courtyard and knocked on the front door. But nobody answered; Salomon and Baruch were busy in the vineyard, trying to remove the shoots that sprouted everyplace other than on the dressed branches. Rivka and Miriam were in Provins shopping for her trousseau at the Mai Faire. Joheved was in Ramerupt.

The woman walked over to Rachel. “Perhaps you can help me. I’d like to buy some wine.”

“It would be best if you came back later,” Rachel said. Hopefully Papa or Miriam would be back by then.

The buyer crossed her arms over her ample bosom. “I either purchase my wine immediately or not at all.” Her voice was stern. “My barge leaves for Paris this afternoon.”

Rachel knew how to negotiate wine sales; she had seen her sisters do it plenty of times. So she led the woman into the cellar and poured out samples from the casks that had not been set aside for Miriam’s wedding.

The woman was certainly in a hurry, for she scarcely bargained with the price that Rachel heard her sisters start at. The sale quickly made, the woman directed a carter to get her barrels and then removed an emerald ring from her middle finger. “Take this as security for the price of your wine. I’ll redeem it when I return at the Hot Fair.”