for her father Jacob was wed to four dif-
ferent wives. Rachel, Leah, Zilpah and
Bilhah each fulfill some maternal role
for Dinah.
Through Dinah's voice, Diamant
sketches a believable scenario of what it
must have been like in those ancient
times to lose one's innocence and ulti-
mately reach maturity. Most impor-
tantly, she draws a vivid picture of how
and when women received reverence
from their own gender and about
women being accorded a much lower
status by males. In that manner,
Diamant succeeds in bridging the past
with the present and provides a collec-
tive voice for women's rites of passage
everywhere.
Reviewers and audiences often have
challenged Diamant about the
"midrashic license she exercised with
her book as well as her loyalty to bibli-
cal text.
The Temple Israel audience was no
exception.
"Inasmuch as any interpretive work
can be considered midrashic, The Red
Tent is," she said, "but I always intended
it to be a novel, to be fiction.
Diamant got a collective chuckle
when she quipped, "I think the Divine
and female consciousness have always
been interspersed. So I thought it was
my birthright."
She told the crowd that she did
extensive historical and anthropological
research to write her work, which was
her first novel. Previous works include
Living a Jewish Life and The New Jewish
Baby Book. Diamant also has a Web site
program on Judaica and has contributed
to international publications.
Evelyn Wecker Freeman of
Farmington Hills enjoyed the talk,
while saying, "I would have liked to hear
more details about the specific facts
Diamant uncovered when she was doing
her research."
Educator and storyteller Corinne
Stavish of Southfield, who works closely
with biblical Midrash, railed Diamant a
"fine speaker. She handled her audience
well, and showed an accurate grasp of
history.
Andrea Rosner Najer of Commerce
Township was married last summer. "I
used parts of The New Jewish Wedding
(another Diamant work) in my own ser-
vice. I think she's wonderful. And I
enjoyed learning about her different
ways of writing."
An unidentified man said his wife got
him to read The Red Tent. "I thought
the book was terrific," he said, "but
when it was handed to me, I thought it
was about a certain hockey team."
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