Rebecca's Interview with Anita Diamant
author of
The Red Tent.

Rebecca :
Part of me really, really didn't want to go back to Genesis to watch the disappearing of those ancestresses - so much pain & anger, yet another part of me could not wait to be with Dinah & her mothers again.

I came up in a Church of England society yet was always told I was a Jewess like Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe heroine. During an interview with Britain's biggest distillery, the personnel director informed me even though I was “one of The People of the Book” they would not allow me to observe my religious holidays - ah, the good old pre-PC days! I was an adopted war orphan being raised by a religiously mixed family - Jewish Father & a “nothing!”(her word) Mother. I had no idea of what I was.

Anita :
Rebecca, because of the press of time I simply cannot engage in your Interview process. I am, however, forwarding my most frequently asked questions(FAQ) in hopes they will satisfy you. I could answer two of your own questions.

FAQ :
What was the inspiration for The Red Tent?

Anita :
I had just turned 40, needed a new career challenge after writing non-fiction for 20-plus years, & turned to the most venerable source for story ideas: the Bible. Dinah's silence inspired me to tell the story from her perspective.

FAQ :
How did you do your research?

Anita :
My research focused on the everyday life of women in this period of history, in the ancient Near East. I did not study the Bible or rabbinic sources, but concentrated instead on the food, clothing, social organization, architecture, & medicine of the era (ca. 1500 BCE).

I was the recipient of a library fellowship at Radcliffe College at the Schlesinger Library on the History of American Women, which permitted me access to the entire Harvard Library system. I also had access to the Brandeis library system, thanks to the women's studies department, which appointed me a visiting scholar for a year.

FAQ :
Was there really a red tent in ancient times?

Anita :
I did not find any evidence that women in this period of history in this place (ancient Iraq/Israel) used a menstrual tent. However, menstrual tents & huts are a common feature in pre-modern cultures around the world, from native Americans, to Africans. The rendering of what happened inside that tent is entirely my own creation.

FAQ :
What exactly are the midwife's “bricks”?

Anita :
First off, these bricks have nothing to do with the reddish oblongs that comprise houses & fireplaces. Midwife's bricks, which I found mentioned in various historic sources, were probably flat & certainly large enough to stand on. There is some debate about what they were used for. They may have had a purely “magical” function, or they may have helped the laboring mother to keep her footing while she squatted to deliver her baby.

FAQ :
How long did it take you to write The Red Tent?

Anita :
It took me three years to write the book. While I worked on it, I also wrote a non-fiction book & articles for various magazines.

FAQ :
What is your work process?

Anita :
When I'm at home, I try to write most days. I have a home office, which is where I do most of my work. While writing The Red Tent, I also did some writing at the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe College, which provided me with an office. I finished the manuscript in a rented vacation cottage in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

FAQ :
How is it that the female characters worship gods other than the god of Jacob?

Anita :
The Bible mentions the presence of “teraphim,” which are household idols/gods in the house of Laban. At the time of the story, a whole pantheon of gods & goddesses were worshipped. The notion of monotheism grew out of this context, in which the family god or El (a generic name for “god”) of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob, co-existed with other gods.

From a Jewish/Christian perspective, this is long before Sinai & the Ten Utterances, which command “You shall have no other gods before me.” Which is in itself a tantalizing nod to the existence of other deities.

FAQ :
What led you to characterize Rebecca as you did?

Anita :
The biblical character of Rebecca is that of a fierce, headstrong woman. She knows which of her sons is chosen by God, & she manipulates one son against the other, & deceives her husband. From that starting point, I pushed the character further, & made her a kind of oracle.

FAQ :
Why did you change the rape to a love affair?

Anita :
I could never reconcile the story of Genesis 34 with a rape, because the prince does not behave like a rapist! After the prince is said to have “forced” her (a determination made by the brothers, not by Dinah), he falls in love with her, asks his father to get Jacob's permission to marry her, & then agrees to the extraordinary, even grotesque demand that he & all the men of his community submit to circumcision.

Furthermore, I wanted Dinah & all of the women in my story to be active agents in their own lives, not passive pawns or victims.

FAQ :
What is your religious/Jewish background?

Anita :
I did not a formal religious education as a child. My family did not affiliate with a synagogue until I was in high school, nor were we observant beyond lighting Hanukkah candles & holding an annual family seder. My Jewish education has been “remedial.” As an adult learner, I continue to study & explore the vast treasury of Jewish texts, literature, & culture.

FAQ :
Is The Red Tent going to be made into a movie?

Anita :
Movie rights of have been sold to Palomar Pictures, an independent film company in California. It is also available on audio tape, & in large print format. Foreign editions are available or forthcoming in 15 countries around the world, including: Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Portugal, Spain, & Sweden.

FAQ :
Are you writing another novel?

Anita :
Yes. I'm completing a second novel, set in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Obviously, not a sequel, this book tells a contemporary tale of women's friendship.

Rebecca :
As I read I kept getting the impression that women in ancient times were used to living in what we would call polygamy - one husband with many wives. During my years in the counter culture this was somewhat revived which had me I researching early Mormon religious life. When did Jews change to monotheism & why?

Anita :
I assume you mean “monogamy,” & not “monotheism.” I'm not sure of the answer, but I do know that the Ashkenazic Jews & Sephardic Jews came to this decision at different times: the Jews of Northern Africa had more than one wife for much longer than the Jews of Europe, reflecting, I'm sure, the custom of their respective host cultures.

Rebecca :
Oops - a Freudian slip slipped in! Do you think that modern women would benefit by a monthly retreat from the hurly-burly of daily life & could PMS be a symptom of ignoring the spiritual aspects of our cycles?

Anita :
Women need relaxation & rest, more than we get, regardless of where we are in our cycles. I do not have a comment about the connection of PMS to “the spiritual aspects of our cycles,” as I am always suspect about ascribing “causes” to biological phenomenon.

Rebecca :
Anita, you have transformed the quality of those ancient, primal stories & given me back a part of my psyche that I had not realized was lost, thank you. Blessings be upon your path.

Of course the Union of American Hebrew Congregations would have a website - why would I think otherwise? I spent long minutes visiting them & remembering my years back in the 1960s in their Chicago offices & Wisconsin camp. Do check out my review of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, you will be as impressed & inspired as I am.

(Published April 01, 2001)