No Intro Tonight?

ZJOD the logo

Back in ye olden tymes, if Ziggy didn't have the impetus to write an intro for Ziggy's Joke o'the Day, he would just make a snarky comment, then publish the joke. 

I wish I had a joke to publish today, but alas, not my bailiwick. 

Right now, I have a whole bunch of changes to make to the look-book that will make it look even better. I know this is a total long shot, but there are nibbles out there who think it's definitely worth pitching, so I am more than happy to make this thing as snazzy as possible at the same time giving the viewer the push to want to make this limited series. 

Amongst other things, the person who evaluated the look book posed a question he thinks is crucial to answer: why this book now?

He said I had to write a passionate answer. Believe it or not, this is really hard for me. My tendency, when not writing fiction, is more dispassionate. Yeah, you can argue about me and my variety of soapboxes, but when I write about my own book, I tend toward less florid, hyperbolic prose and more towards just the facts, ma'am. 

I like DRAGNET, okay? But here's the thing Jack Webb's Joe Friday really didn't say that on the TV show. Dan Ackroyd, who played Joe Friday in the movie, said it. Which was kinda a parody anyway. It's one of those quotes that didn't really happen like, "Play it again, Sam," or "Judy, Judy, Judy." Not that any of that matters, but right here, right now, you're reading a research dump because I wasn't gonna use the quote unless I was sure it was right, which it's not. Get my drift? 

I may write fiction, but it's historical fiction. The actions of the characters are consistent with the time period. I'm really big on that. But that doesn't answer the question: why this book now?

The snarky answer is that not all Jewish stories are Holocaust stories, and Jewish women are not princesses. Batsheva is definitely not from the whiny princess division. Challenged by events, she figures out how to deal with the challenge, then dispatches it. Frankly, that's the real story of Jewish womanhood, but that image doesn't match the preconceived stereotypes, therefore it's of no interest to the general public. 

Wrong.

I would debate that vociferously; women who are continually challenged by events and continue to meet those challenges incrementally are very much of interest because they  tackle real life head on. The reader may not be able to predict what Batsheva will do next, but it's not because she's flighty; she is thoughtful, deliberate, and, most of all, driven to survive.

From the THE POMEGRANATE:

Lying on her back, staring up at the too familiar drape of the tent, she pondered the future. What would happen to her when he tired of her? Would he leave her in the desert to die? Or would he give her to his men for their pleasure? With no way of knowing where she was or if there was a city nearby to which she could escape, Batsheva had to decide how she would end her days. In all the lessons with the rabbi who came to tutor the Hagiz children, the sanctity of life was always stressed. One could eat pig meat if there was nothing else to eat, for to observe the law and die was worse than disregarding the law to live. God was omniscient. God would know the decisions she made were ones necessary for life. She knew that atop Masada, the people chose death over slavery, Kiddush ha-Shem, sanctification of the Holy Name, but somehow her situation did not warrant so drastic a measure. Not that she would have been able to carry out her own death sentence. In the scheme of all things, there was no choice to be made. She would survive as his slave for that was what she was while she would pray for rescue.

Thus, the decision to live was made. 

The cover of the look-book

The above quote is the best example of how Batsheva the character thinks. And as the days pass, however, she comes to the realization praying for rescue is not enough; she must control whatever she can. This is what Jewish women have done for generations, and still do every day. We did it in Spain, in Germany, in Ethiopia, in Yemen, in the United States...any place where Jews are threatened for being Jews. 

Everyone knows a Batsheva. Jewish or not, she walks the earth amongst us, standing strong for her family, taking shit from no one. She is Everywoman. 

Okay, break time is over....I gotta get back to work on this. If you haven't read the book, read the book. Share it with your friends and family. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Tomorrow is Rosh Chodesh Adar

(the first day of the month of Adar)

There's an old Jewish saying about that:

Be Happy! It's Adar!

Unless you're making Pesach....

then you know cleaning bomb detonation is 6 weeks away. 

Be afraid. Be very afraid. 

Or not.