I'm Judy Petsonk. I’m the author of Taking Judaism Personally: Creating a Meaningful Spiritual Life, and the co-author, with Jim Remsen, of The Intermarriage Handbook: A Guide for Jews and Christians.

In my new novel, Queen of the Jews, I will introduce you to a real queen — dead, unfortunately — who ruled the independent nation of Judea in the century before Jesus was born. She was a contemporary of three Cleopatras, though not the one you’re thinking of. Though you may never have heard of her, she has had an enormous influence on your life and Western civilization in general. Her chaotic, colorful times may remind you a lot of our own.

In future posts, you'll learn more about the tumult that followed the Maccabee victory that Jews remember in the Hanukkah holiday.

Like Queen Salome Alexandra (Shalom-Zion), the heroine of Queen of the Jews, I am the mother of two young adults, I’ve been married for 30 years, and I’m ‘a woman of a certain age.’ But my husband and children are truly lovable and bear no resemblance to the totally dysfunctional family of Shalom-Zion.