When author Eva Etzioni-Halevy needed inspiration, she got up from her desk, put on a pair of comfortable shoes and walked to a nearby archeological dig.
Such is the benefit of living in Israel and writing historical biblical fiction.
“I live on location, as you might say, and I was very fortunate to be able to go to excavations and see with my own eyes how houses were divided, how cooking took place, how bread was made — to actually see it,” she said in a slight Israeli accent via telephone from her Tel Aviv home.
Much like Anita Diamant’s book club favorite “The Red Tent,” Etzioni-Halevy delved into stories of the Bible and turned them inside out to make for page-turning fiction.
Etzioni-Halevy’s second historical novel, “The Garden of Ruth,” was inspired by the Book of Ruth. The story revolves around Osnath, who embarks on a journey to unlock the mysteries of the future king David’s great-grandmother Ruth’s secret love affair. She soon finds out that everyone not only seems to be blocking her investigation, but that the interests of David’s family may be threatened by her discoveries.
Below the book’s surface lurks a feminist message about strong and intelligent women who used their feminine strength to cope in a male-dominated society. Enfolded in the novel is also a message of interfaith tolerance. (Hence why the author will speak Wednesday, Feb. 21 at the JCCSF’s Interfaith Connection, among many other speaking engagements in the Bay Area.)
Etzioni-Halevy spent two years, twice as long as the writing process, researching “The Garden of Ruth.”
She said the Book of Ruth always intrigued her, but only upon a more careful reading did she realize she had the makings of a novel.
Why? Well firstly, she said, there is a man whose name is never revealed, but who is referred to as “Ploni Almoni” — that is, the one who is not named. He was Ruth’s deceased husband’s next of kin, and by law and custom was required to take her for his wife. Thereby he would also have acquired her husband’s property, yet he refused.
“It’s the only case where a man is not mentioned by name … I asked myself, ‘Why?'” she said. “What could have been so wrong that his name had to be concealed? Why did he so adamantly refuse to marry Ruth when it could have so enriched him? This is the mystery I started out with.”
Etzioni-Halevy was born in Vienna, and in 1939 moved to Italy with her parents. They spent the war years partly in an Italian concentration camp and, after the Germans conquered the northern part of Italy, in hiding.
That Eztioni-Halevy is a twice-published author is something of an accident. Her background is in sociology and academic writing, and she teaches at Bar-Ilan University in the sociology department.
She turned to fiction when she returned to her Israeli roots. For many years, she and her husband lived in the United States and in Australia, during which time they became less religious and involved in a Jewish community.
“We felt an emptiness inside, and that coming back to Israel would reconnect us to our own roots,” she said.
“The Garden of Ruth” will probably appeal more to women than men, given that the book’s main character is a strong women living in a male-dominated time, Etzioni-Halevy said. The book also explores female friendship, and how those relationships empowered women during biblical times.
Her novel doesn’t shy away from male-female relationships, though.
“People ask me, ‘How can it be that you, as a religious woman, write sensual novels based on the Bible?'” she said. “I say, yes, well, the Bible is a racy book. People don’t realize that parts of the Bible are very, very sensual — those parts they didn’t teach you in Sunday school.”
Opportunities to meet the author
Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m, Congregation Beth David, Saratoga.
Feb. 18, Congregation B’nai Emunah, in conjunction with Congregation Beth Sholom, San Francisco, contact synagogue for time.
Feb. 21, 6:30 p.m., Interfaith Connection dinner at the JCC of San Francisco, $18.
Feb. 22, 7:30 p.m., Congregation Shir Sholom, Sonoma.
Feb. 25, 3 p.m., East Bay Jewish Singles at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square, Oakland.
Feb. 28, 7 p.m., Congregation Beth Shalom, Napa.