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The Scroll
The Scroll is a multi-generational historical novel about the survivors of Masada that draws from a real archaeological find – the divorce document of a real-life woman named Miriam. The document was issued at Masada in 71 C.E., and discovered in the lower chamber of a Bedouin cave in Wadi Murabba‘at in the Judean Desert in 1951. The story begins on Masada’s final, horrific day. It characters must choose between nation and family, and finally, between life and death. Will they learn the lesson of Masada’s downfall, or will enemies --- within and without --- rob it from them? Though it deals with events that took place two millennia ago, The Scroll helps us make sense of the complexities of today’s Israel and the choices its leaders make.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2012
About the author
Miriam Feinberg Vamosh
21 books26 followersMiriam Feinberg Vamosh, an author based in Israel since 1970, is renowned for her works that delve into ancient times in the Holy Land. Her latest book, "Ahōti – A Story of Tamar," co-authored with Eva Marie Everson (Paraclete Press, release date May 2024), takes the tragic story of David’s daughter Tamar to a new place of redemption and healing. Her bibliography includes "Daily Life at the Time of Jesus," which has been translated into over 30 languages, "Food at the Time of the Bible," "Women at the Time of the Bible" (Palphot) and "Teach it to Your Children, How Kids Lived in Bible Days," (AviMedia), the award-winning "Reflections of God's Holy Land: a Personal Journey Through Israel" (with Eva Marie Everson, Thomas Nelson ) and and a historical novel, "The Scroll" (Toby Press). A native of Trenton, New Jersey, Miriam’s passion for the Bible and ancient sources evolved over many years as a tour educator, and her interest in Christianity began thanks to the respect she learned at home for people of diverse faiths and cultures. A member of the translation team on the news desk of the Israeli daily Haaretz for two decades, she has juxtaposed the complexities of writing, translating, and editing about millennia-old events, with her work for a cutting-edge Israeli newspaper. This is the complexity that for Miriam makes life in Israel an unending search for meaning, healing and justice. With the passing of her husband Arik (Aharon), Miriam continues to cherish their two wonderful daughters and sons-in-law and five grandchildren.
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November 12, 2018
This is the first book by Miriam Feinberg Vamosh that I have read and it was enlightening. The novel weaves a historical find of a divorce document issued at Masada and events in the Jewish history during Roman period with a fictionalized life of Miriam, who apparently really was a woman during that time period that was named on the divorce document. I had no previous knowledge of what happened at Masada or this scroll that was found and knew very little of Jewish history before reading the story, so the detailed research and history fascinated me.
The story is told mainly through third person narrative perspective of Miriam but there are quite a few other perspectives thrown into the storyline, which unfortunately confused me. Perhaps it is because of the ebook format, but there were no line breaks or chapter breaks to signal a change in the narrative voice. The shifting narratives made it somewhat difficult to fully connect with all the characters though the struggle of the characters came across clearly.
If you enjoy historical fiction rich in research, details, and with more history than fiction, you will definitely enjoy this book.
I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher via JustRead Publicity Tours and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.
The story is told mainly through third person narrative perspective of Miriam but there are quite a few other perspectives thrown into the storyline, which unfortunately confused me. Perhaps it is because of the ebook format, but there were no line breaks or chapter breaks to signal a change in the narrative voice. The shifting narratives made it somewhat difficult to fully connect with all the characters though the struggle of the characters came across clearly.
If you enjoy historical fiction rich in research, details, and with more history than fiction, you will definitely enjoy this book.
I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher via JustRead Publicity Tours and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.
January 24, 2019
This particular historical style novel would not be my normal style, but I chose out of my comfort zone because the story line seemed interesting and it was. Vamosh did a great job in recreating what can only be described as biblical times. It felt like she brought back to life the hardships and lifestyles of the Jewish community shortly after King Harod's ruling. As I read this story I kept relating it to current Biblical Scripture and it gave me a different or even possibly clearer picture of the true struggles faced during that time period.
The character Miriam took on bravery unheard of millions of years ago and her fight to stay alive is what kept me drawn to the novel. Though this story took place two millienna ago, the CE still struggles to this day, much in the same way. Our riches may be more plentiful but the desires for religious take-over, the need for power, the struggles to survive are all still with us.
Thank you Miriam Feinberg Vamosh for giving me a clearer picture of an era I could hardly perceive. It brings a little more life into the Biblical Scripts I read today.
The character Miriam took on bravery unheard of millions of years ago and her fight to stay alive is what kept me drawn to the novel. Though this story took place two millienna ago, the CE still struggles to this day, much in the same way. Our riches may be more plentiful but the desires for religious take-over, the need for power, the struggles to survive are all still with us.
Thank you Miriam Feinberg Vamosh for giving me a clearer picture of an era I could hardly perceive. It brings a little more life into the Biblical Scripts I read today.
February 4, 2018
It is surprising to consider how pervasive the legacy of Rome is on the global culture. Even those nations which never felt Rome’s touch directly still labor under the political, economic, and social order that the Empire bequeathed to its European children. Tales of the Roman era still find a familiar place in our consciousness. Whether one is looking for the real King Arthur in the detritus of post-Roman Britain, reveling in the semi-mythical exploits of Maximus after the death of Marcus Aurelius, or absorbing the accounts of Christian martyrs in the days of Nero, the grandeur of Rome captivates the imagination. That grandeur certainly includes the glory of the Caesars, the logic of Roman law, the enduring architectural monuments, and the lingering vestiges of Latin, but too often it obscures something else: Rome, the insatiable beast.
Whatever good Rome’s empire accomplished in the half millennium of its existence is forever smirched by the wake of broken civilizations, conquered peoples, and extinct cultures ground into the dust under its bootheels. This is no less true of Britain’s Celts as it is of Judea’s Jews – and of scores of other peoples forever altered by Roman domination.
The story of the Jews should be well known both to Jews and Christians, at least up to a point. Christians will be familiar with the accounts of Yeshua (Jesus) and the apostles from the New Testament; Jews will know the accounts of the Great Jewish War that brought the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple, and the epic tragedy of Masada. Thus the first century of this current era is at least generally understood through these two distinct, yet complementary, lenses. What each will find unfamiliar is what happened next: that unexplored dark time between the fall of Masada in 73 CE, and the final destruction of Judea in 135 CE at the end of the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
Miriam Feinberg Vamosh provides invaluable assistance in shedding light on that dark era through her riveting novel, The Scroll. She weaves her story around a genuine archaeological find from the period: a get, or divorce decree, issued to a woman named Miriam at Masada at the time the last of the Jewish defenders eld the fortress against Rome’s legions. Although nothing more is known of the historical Miriam named in the scroll, Vamosh draws on her own extensive knowledge of the period to create a multi-generational saga that is not only entertaining and educational, but entirely believable.
To be honest, the story is not a pleasant one. With the advantage of historical hindsight, the reader knows that the great wars the Jewish people fought against Rome resulted in nearly indescribable tragedy. By the time the Bar Kokhba war had ended, Judea had lost not only every last vestige of independence, but the Jewish people themselves (those few who survived) were scattered in a stateless Diaspora that continued for 1,800 years – continued, in fact, until another Jewish state arose in 1948 on the homeland promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
There is an essential symmetry here. If we are to understand more completely the importance of Israel’s rebirth, we must understand the nation’s death. There is, of course, no other way to describe what happened to Judea in the era covered by The Scroll. It is easy enough to take refuge in dispassionate political analysis: the Caesars did this on this date; their armies conquered these people on that date; they quashed another revolt over there at the same time; and all the while they were oblivious to the creeping rot that eventually brought the Empire down by its own weight. Such is the stuff of dry history classes, but it is not the stuff of this compelling account by Miriam Vamosh. She helps us see beneath the monotonous recitation of dates and battles, helping us connect with real people caught in events over which they have little genuine control.
These real people run the gamut of the eastern Mediterranean world. The many Jewish characters are the ones we expect to meet: courageous women seeking to keep their families intact; merchants looking out not only for their profits, but for the best way to help their communities survive; sons and daughters mindful of their roles in the family, yet seeking their own space to assert their own unique identities; precocious – and pitiful – children overcome by forces they cannot begin to understand. Vamosh paints her Jewish communities with the deep knowledge of an authority on the era, and with the empathy of one writing the story of her own people and nation. They are, above all, Jewish, yet they are caught in a much bigger, much more powerful Gentile world. The tension between the two is unavoidable. The Jews, whether devout of not, are set apart by the decree of the Almighty. It is their identity, and try as they might, they cannot change it. The Gentiles know this, but do not understand why the Jews must be so resistant to the inevitable. In this case, it is the Romans, but the story plays out just the same whether the great power is Persian, Greek, Arab, English, Spanish, Ottoman, or Russian.
That “inevitable” is the tragedy from which we cannot look away. The Jewish characters have no right choices. Whether they opt to resist against the conqueror, collaborate with him, or find some safe space where no one will notice them, their choices always come around to their hurt. That is the nature of the insatiable Roman beast, and that is why we can sympathize with each character’s choices. They are ordinary human beings doing the best they can in impossible situations, and that is why we identify with them.
We identify as well with the others in the story: the soldiers just doing their duty; the Greek slaves who have more freedom of action than one might suppose; the Roman officials seeking to keep the peace; and the merchants looking out for the best deals. Like their Jewish counterparts, these Gentile characters act out their roles in ways we can understand. Even the most notorious among them have rational explanations for their actions. Usually it has to do with being caught up in the system just as thoroughly as anyone else, and therefore seeking first to survive, and then to improve their position. This is no less true of the slave under his master’s watchful eye as the governor charged with carrying out the emperor’s orders. Together they are the face of the Empire – the foreign power that, no matter how indulgent or kind it may seem at any given moment, will in time become the cruel countenance of the conqueror bent on having its way even at the price of a nation’s total demise.
There is yet another element among Vamosh’s characters that may at first appear out of place: the minim, or sectarians. These are Jews who believe that Yeshua of Nazareth is the Messiah, and who remain part of the Jewish national experience during this period. Of course, remaining part of the Jewish experience does not mean that they are a highly regarded part of the society. No matter how good they are, there is still a distance between them and the other Jews in the story. The reader who knows the New Testament accounts of the early Christians will find something familiar here, but Vamosh takes that New Testament image and projects it forward to the next generation. The Christian reader will be perplexed at what seems to be an irrational Jewish rejection of these early followers of Yeshua. The Jewish reader will be perplexed at why any Jewish character could exist in a credible work of historical fiction. Yet what the author helps us understand is that the division between Judaism and Christianity began long before non-Jews became the vast majority of Yeshua’s disciples, and long before any Christian oppression of Jews. The events in The Scroll occur centuries before the Shoa (Holocaust), the pogroms, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the expulsions from one Christian country after another, and yet the same Jewish resistance to the Christian message is there. Why is that? Vamosh provides an answer in the musings of her protagonist, Miriam:
Miriam recalled the persistent tales of a man who had lived some years before she was born. Some had hoped he was the messiah. But then he had been crucified by the Romans for disturbing the peace. That was the end of that – to her and everyone she knew, the idea that the messiah son of David had lived among them and then departed this earth without fulfilling the promises of the prophets was unfathomable. Still, when they taught in the Temple courts, the disciples of this Yeshua never failed to draw an intrigued cluster of listeners, and there had been tales of numerous miraculous healings.
In this short passage, Vamosh nails the crux of the division between Christianity and Judaism – and completes the frame around her story. Jews of the period expected Messiah to come and restore the kingdom to Israel. That is why Judea erupted in revolt in 66 CE, and then again a generation later. God had promised deliverance through Messiah son of David; that was – and still is – the Jewish expectation. When Yeshua failed to provide that deliverance, Jewish society as a whole was not prepared to accept him as Messiah simply because he had not fulfilled the prophecies. Yeshua’s followers, however, whether Jewish or Gentile, understood that deliverance in a political sense would come in time, but the first priority was deliverance from sin. As the years turned into decades, and the decades into centuries, this message became the one the non-Jewish followers of Yeshua embraced, to the exclusion of the promises about Israel’s total restoration. Jews, however, clinging still to those promises of restoration, see little in Yeshua’s claims or in the actions of his followers to commend him to them.
As seemingly peripheral as this element is to The Scroll, it is in a sense the core of the story. The time period of the story contains the seeds of Jewish identity and existence as it evolved to the present day. In clearing away the soil around those seeds, Miriam Feinberg Vamosh has done a great service to help us all understand why we are the people we are today.
The Scroll is available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle formats. Additional resources are available on the author’s website at http://miriamfeinbergvamosh.com/.
Whatever good Rome’s empire accomplished in the half millennium of its existence is forever smirched by the wake of broken civilizations, conquered peoples, and extinct cultures ground into the dust under its bootheels. This is no less true of Britain’s Celts as it is of Judea’s Jews – and of scores of other peoples forever altered by Roman domination.
The story of the Jews should be well known both to Jews and Christians, at least up to a point. Christians will be familiar with the accounts of Yeshua (Jesus) and the apostles from the New Testament; Jews will know the accounts of the Great Jewish War that brought the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple, and the epic tragedy of Masada. Thus the first century of this current era is at least generally understood through these two distinct, yet complementary, lenses. What each will find unfamiliar is what happened next: that unexplored dark time between the fall of Masada in 73 CE, and the final destruction of Judea in 135 CE at the end of the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
Miriam Feinberg Vamosh provides invaluable assistance in shedding light on that dark era through her riveting novel, The Scroll. She weaves her story around a genuine archaeological find from the period: a get, or divorce decree, issued to a woman named Miriam at Masada at the time the last of the Jewish defenders eld the fortress against Rome’s legions. Although nothing more is known of the historical Miriam named in the scroll, Vamosh draws on her own extensive knowledge of the period to create a multi-generational saga that is not only entertaining and educational, but entirely believable.
To be honest, the story is not a pleasant one. With the advantage of historical hindsight, the reader knows that the great wars the Jewish people fought against Rome resulted in nearly indescribable tragedy. By the time the Bar Kokhba war had ended, Judea had lost not only every last vestige of independence, but the Jewish people themselves (those few who survived) were scattered in a stateless Diaspora that continued for 1,800 years – continued, in fact, until another Jewish state arose in 1948 on the homeland promised to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
There is an essential symmetry here. If we are to understand more completely the importance of Israel’s rebirth, we must understand the nation’s death. There is, of course, no other way to describe what happened to Judea in the era covered by The Scroll. It is easy enough to take refuge in dispassionate political analysis: the Caesars did this on this date; their armies conquered these people on that date; they quashed another revolt over there at the same time; and all the while they were oblivious to the creeping rot that eventually brought the Empire down by its own weight. Such is the stuff of dry history classes, but it is not the stuff of this compelling account by Miriam Vamosh. She helps us see beneath the monotonous recitation of dates and battles, helping us connect with real people caught in events over which they have little genuine control.
These real people run the gamut of the eastern Mediterranean world. The many Jewish characters are the ones we expect to meet: courageous women seeking to keep their families intact; merchants looking out not only for their profits, but for the best way to help their communities survive; sons and daughters mindful of their roles in the family, yet seeking their own space to assert their own unique identities; precocious – and pitiful – children overcome by forces they cannot begin to understand. Vamosh paints her Jewish communities with the deep knowledge of an authority on the era, and with the empathy of one writing the story of her own people and nation. They are, above all, Jewish, yet they are caught in a much bigger, much more powerful Gentile world. The tension between the two is unavoidable. The Jews, whether devout of not, are set apart by the decree of the Almighty. It is their identity, and try as they might, they cannot change it. The Gentiles know this, but do not understand why the Jews must be so resistant to the inevitable. In this case, it is the Romans, but the story plays out just the same whether the great power is Persian, Greek, Arab, English, Spanish, Ottoman, or Russian.
That “inevitable” is the tragedy from which we cannot look away. The Jewish characters have no right choices. Whether they opt to resist against the conqueror, collaborate with him, or find some safe space where no one will notice them, their choices always come around to their hurt. That is the nature of the insatiable Roman beast, and that is why we can sympathize with each character’s choices. They are ordinary human beings doing the best they can in impossible situations, and that is why we identify with them.
We identify as well with the others in the story: the soldiers just doing their duty; the Greek slaves who have more freedom of action than one might suppose; the Roman officials seeking to keep the peace; and the merchants looking out for the best deals. Like their Jewish counterparts, these Gentile characters act out their roles in ways we can understand. Even the most notorious among them have rational explanations for their actions. Usually it has to do with being caught up in the system just as thoroughly as anyone else, and therefore seeking first to survive, and then to improve their position. This is no less true of the slave under his master’s watchful eye as the governor charged with carrying out the emperor’s orders. Together they are the face of the Empire – the foreign power that, no matter how indulgent or kind it may seem at any given moment, will in time become the cruel countenance of the conqueror bent on having its way even at the price of a nation’s total demise.
There is yet another element among Vamosh’s characters that may at first appear out of place: the minim, or sectarians. These are Jews who believe that Yeshua of Nazareth is the Messiah, and who remain part of the Jewish national experience during this period. Of course, remaining part of the Jewish experience does not mean that they are a highly regarded part of the society. No matter how good they are, there is still a distance between them and the other Jews in the story. The reader who knows the New Testament accounts of the early Christians will find something familiar here, but Vamosh takes that New Testament image and projects it forward to the next generation. The Christian reader will be perplexed at what seems to be an irrational Jewish rejection of these early followers of Yeshua. The Jewish reader will be perplexed at why any Jewish character could exist in a credible work of historical fiction. Yet what the author helps us understand is that the division between Judaism and Christianity began long before non-Jews became the vast majority of Yeshua’s disciples, and long before any Christian oppression of Jews. The events in The Scroll occur centuries before the Shoa (Holocaust), the pogroms, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the expulsions from one Christian country after another, and yet the same Jewish resistance to the Christian message is there. Why is that? Vamosh provides an answer in the musings of her protagonist, Miriam:
Miriam recalled the persistent tales of a man who had lived some years before she was born. Some had hoped he was the messiah. But then he had been crucified by the Romans for disturbing the peace. That was the end of that – to her and everyone she knew, the idea that the messiah son of David had lived among them and then departed this earth without fulfilling the promises of the prophets was unfathomable. Still, when they taught in the Temple courts, the disciples of this Yeshua never failed to draw an intrigued cluster of listeners, and there had been tales of numerous miraculous healings.
In this short passage, Vamosh nails the crux of the division between Christianity and Judaism – and completes the frame around her story. Jews of the period expected Messiah to come and restore the kingdom to Israel. That is why Judea erupted in revolt in 66 CE, and then again a generation later. God had promised deliverance through Messiah son of David; that was – and still is – the Jewish expectation. When Yeshua failed to provide that deliverance, Jewish society as a whole was not prepared to accept him as Messiah simply because he had not fulfilled the prophecies. Yeshua’s followers, however, whether Jewish or Gentile, understood that deliverance in a political sense would come in time, but the first priority was deliverance from sin. As the years turned into decades, and the decades into centuries, this message became the one the non-Jewish followers of Yeshua embraced, to the exclusion of the promises about Israel’s total restoration. Jews, however, clinging still to those promises of restoration, see little in Yeshua’s claims or in the actions of his followers to commend him to them.
As seemingly peripheral as this element is to The Scroll, it is in a sense the core of the story. The time period of the story contains the seeds of Jewish identity and existence as it evolved to the present day. In clearing away the soil around those seeds, Miriam Feinberg Vamosh has done a great service to help us all understand why we are the people we are today.
The Scroll is available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle formats. Additional resources are available on the author’s website at http://miriamfeinbergvamosh.com/.
October 31, 2018
Thanks to the author and JustRead Publicity Tours for providing a copy of the book for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.
The Scroll by Miriam Feinberg Vamosh takes a direct look at the Jewish side of the story at Masada. Descriptions of places and people are full and detailed, sometimes becoming rather complex and hard to unfold. Historically, I cannot argue with the elements of fact as presented. Ms. Vamosh is the historical scholar, and I will trust her reporting.
As a single woman raising a child several decades ago, I was especially interested in the life of Miriam without a husband in this era of history. Many religious organizations today have specific opinions about divorce and the status of women in their churches. I found myself cheering Miriam on in her strength, courage, and determination to continue her life as she had known it earlier. I appreciate Ms. Vamosh’s treatment of this particular character.
Perhaps I am somewhat naive about the degree of horror and vitriolic scenes required in a book of this type. But I must admit that a bit more could have been left to my imagination. Yes, 900+ Jews committed suicide rather than become slaves. I didn’t really need to know specifically how. The word “suicide” suffices. The desire to be free from oppression adds to the decision made. Sometimes “less is more” prevails in my mind.
Also, whether by laxity in proofing or editing, or perhaps a loss in translation, there are syntax errors throughout–missing words or punctuation, long and complex sentences, too many words, misplaced words in a sentence, wrong prepositions–making it difficult to stay on track sometimes.
My Recommendation: If you are a lover of Biblical history turned fiction, you will enjoy Miriam Feinberg Vamosh’s The Scroll. Vamosh sets an appropriate stage for focusing on the Jewish community while weaving the present Christians into her narrative. My objections above are personal and in no way reflect on the quality of Vamosh’s ability to bring a true story to the page and fictionalize it.
The Scroll by Miriam Feinberg Vamosh takes a direct look at the Jewish side of the story at Masada. Descriptions of places and people are full and detailed, sometimes becoming rather complex and hard to unfold. Historically, I cannot argue with the elements of fact as presented. Ms. Vamosh is the historical scholar, and I will trust her reporting.
As a single woman raising a child several decades ago, I was especially interested in the life of Miriam without a husband in this era of history. Many religious organizations today have specific opinions about divorce and the status of women in their churches. I found myself cheering Miriam on in her strength, courage, and determination to continue her life as she had known it earlier. I appreciate Ms. Vamosh’s treatment of this particular character.
Perhaps I am somewhat naive about the degree of horror and vitriolic scenes required in a book of this type. But I must admit that a bit more could have been left to my imagination. Yes, 900+ Jews committed suicide rather than become slaves. I didn’t really need to know specifically how. The word “suicide” suffices. The desire to be free from oppression adds to the decision made. Sometimes “less is more” prevails in my mind.
Also, whether by laxity in proofing or editing, or perhaps a loss in translation, there are syntax errors throughout–missing words or punctuation, long and complex sentences, too many words, misplaced words in a sentence, wrong prepositions–making it difficult to stay on track sometimes.
My Recommendation: If you are a lover of Biblical history turned fiction, you will enjoy Miriam Feinberg Vamosh’s The Scroll. Vamosh sets an appropriate stage for focusing on the Jewish community while weaving the present Christians into her narrative. My objections above are personal and in no way reflect on the quality of Vamosh’s ability to bring a true story to the page and fictionalize it.
November 12, 2018
I was intrigued by this book when it came across my radar. I have enjoyed ancient history and Biblical history. While this book isn't technically Biblical it is ancient with roots if Biblical times. I was completely OK with all of that. However, I struggled with this book. Perhaps, because I was reading it when I had so much else fall unexpected on my plate. Perhaps, because I was limited to reading it on my computer which limited the time I had available to actually read it. There are a lot of perhaps, but I'll share a few of my struggles with you and also some of what I loved.
Here's the thing. The timeline and time jumps in this book were awkward at best and difficult to follow. I had a difficult time connecting with the people in this book. I'm sure that is somewhat, but not entirely, related to the overfull plate and the lack of consistent reading time. Here's the thing, I feel like there was so much information dumping into the narrative that I didn't get the heart of the people. I got their struggle, I got their journey, I got their history and even their future but I didn't get them. I feel more like I read a souped up text book than a book about real living and breathing people. I gained knowledge but I didn't gain people. I grew to appreciate Vamosh's love for the ancient times of the Jewish faith but I feel like that overshadowed the characters she was trying to create.
That being said I learned a lot, and grew interested enough in the times of this book, to do a little digging of my own. I was completely unaware of the scroll that was found that spun into this book. Having never even heard of Masada prior to this book I am interested in this historical place and event. The idea of the caves and how often we find people living in them throughout the book was interested. I'm invested enough now to want to know who the final caves were and the future Rebecca's baby, I don't even know her name! While this book was a tossed salad for me there is definitely an audience out there for it. I may very well be that future audience when I have more time to devote to reading on the computer and am approaching it with the mindset that it's not so much a novel as a fictional text.
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Just Read. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Originally posted at https://fizzypopcollection.com/the-sc....
Here's the thing. The timeline and time jumps in this book were awkward at best and difficult to follow. I had a difficult time connecting with the people in this book. I'm sure that is somewhat, but not entirely, related to the overfull plate and the lack of consistent reading time. Here's the thing, I feel like there was so much information dumping into the narrative that I didn't get the heart of the people. I got their struggle, I got their journey, I got their history and even their future but I didn't get them. I feel more like I read a souped up text book than a book about real living and breathing people. I gained knowledge but I didn't gain people. I grew to appreciate Vamosh's love for the ancient times of the Jewish faith but I feel like that overshadowed the characters she was trying to create.
That being said I learned a lot, and grew interested enough in the times of this book, to do a little digging of my own. I was completely unaware of the scroll that was found that spun into this book. Having never even heard of Masada prior to this book I am interested in this historical place and event. The idea of the caves and how often we find people living in them throughout the book was interested. I'm invested enough now to want to know who the final caves were and the future Rebecca's baby, I don't even know her name! While this book was a tossed salad for me there is definitely an audience out there for it. I may very well be that future audience when I have more time to devote to reading on the computer and am approaching it with the mindset that it's not so much a novel as a fictional text.
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Just Read. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Originally posted at https://fizzypopcollection.com/the-sc....
January 26, 2018
I loved it! But first of all: DO NOT READ THE SUMMARY ON THIS PAGE. Someone apparently put a full synopsis including all the spoilers. I am glad I tend not to read these summaries at all before I dive into the book, so I could read spoiler free.
The story starts at the last stand at Masada in 73 AD and ends with the end of the Bar Kochba rebellion in the 130s AD. Needless to say, it spans over a number of generations.
As I have written a book taking place in the same area between 67 to 100 AD, and currently preparing and researching for a new book that starts at 110 AD and onwards, I find a lot of historical details and knowledge that I recognize. I also notice a lot of knowledge on daily life that I was unfamilliar with. The minute details, like the way a household was run, how the merchants haggled, what food they ate, how a wedding procession took place. All these add to the flavor of the time that the author skillfully builds up.
I don't want to spoil too much by revealing parts of the plot, but it is engaging, emotional, and the end is not as horrible and devastating as the end of Bar Kochba revolt was... the reader is left with a small glimpse of hope despite everything. But you can not read this and expect that the characters you fall in love with will live 'happily ever after'. That does not exist.
The early christians are mentioned and spoken about a few times, and I can tell she has skillfully used the few allusions we have to early christianity in the talmud. She calls them ebionites, and at another place "ebionites and their brethren the nazarenes". Truth is, there is an unsettled academic debate about who these different groups really were, and whether they were the actual successors to Jesus followers or not. She chose a different approach than I did in my book, but both accounts are academically viable.
All in all, a beautiful book, strong female characters, and a scroll that ties the story together. Highly recommended!!
The story starts at the last stand at Masada in 73 AD and ends with the end of the Bar Kochba rebellion in the 130s AD. Needless to say, it spans over a number of generations.
As I have written a book taking place in the same area between 67 to 100 AD, and currently preparing and researching for a new book that starts at 110 AD and onwards, I find a lot of historical details and knowledge that I recognize. I also notice a lot of knowledge on daily life that I was unfamilliar with. The minute details, like the way a household was run, how the merchants haggled, what food they ate, how a wedding procession took place. All these add to the flavor of the time that the author skillfully builds up.
I don't want to spoil too much by revealing parts of the plot, but it is engaging, emotional, and the end is not as horrible and devastating as the end of Bar Kochba revolt was... the reader is left with a small glimpse of hope despite everything. But you can not read this and expect that the characters you fall in love with will live 'happily ever after'. That does not exist.
The early christians are mentioned and spoken about a few times, and I can tell she has skillfully used the few allusions we have to early christianity in the talmud. She calls them ebionites, and at another place "ebionites and their brethren the nazarenes". Truth is, there is an unsettled academic debate about who these different groups really were, and whether they were the actual successors to Jesus followers or not. She chose a different approach than I did in my book, but both accounts are academically viable.
All in all, a beautiful book, strong female characters, and a scroll that ties the story together. Highly recommended!!
October 24, 2018
Masada. It’s the location of a mass suicide in first century Judea. That’s all I knew, and that’s probably only because of a similar event in York, England in 1190. (The location is now a tourist attraction where my father used to work.) I never really took the time to understand or go deeper into why it happened. The Scroll’s opening chapters brought to life the desperation, using the archaeological finds at the ruins and also the works of Josephus as inspiration. Two women supposedly survived the massacre; the author supposes one of them to be Miriam in this novel. The name comes from a document discovered during archaeological excavations near Qumran. The prologue features the real life archaeologists Roland de Vaux and Gerald Lankester and a fictionalized account of their discovery of this particular scroll. Admittedly, this part did not interest me but it is worth reading if only as a reference point for a bittersweet twist at the end.
While we often look at the roles of men during this period of history, The Scroll focuses on two women: Miriam, and her granddaughter. These are women who, erroneously it turned out, thought they could play a major part in the liberation of their people. The readers are given the perspectives of others as well, such as the Jews and Romans they meet on their travels. (I don’t know if it was just the formatting of my electronic download, but the regular changes of perspective were confusing. There were no obvious indications of it happening such as a chapter or section breaks.) Ultimately, the scroll is the star of the tale. This is the story of how a scroll from Masada made it to Wadi Murabba’at where it was discovered in the 20th century. If only that scroll could’ve talked. Perhaps lessons could’ve been learned from all it witnessed.
Thank you to the publisher and JustRead Publicity for my complimentary download of The Scroll.
While we often look at the roles of men during this period of history, The Scroll focuses on two women: Miriam, and her granddaughter. These are women who, erroneously it turned out, thought they could play a major part in the liberation of their people. The readers are given the perspectives of others as well, such as the Jews and Romans they meet on their travels. (I don’t know if it was just the formatting of my electronic download, but the regular changes of perspective were confusing. There were no obvious indications of it happening such as a chapter or section breaks.) Ultimately, the scroll is the star of the tale. This is the story of how a scroll from Masada made it to Wadi Murabba’at where it was discovered in the 20th century. If only that scroll could’ve talked. Perhaps lessons could’ve been learned from all it witnessed.
Thank you to the publisher and JustRead Publicity for my complimentary download of The Scroll.
October 29, 2018
Having visited Masada in 2010, I was super excited to read Miriam Feinberg Vamosh's "The Scroll". I'd seen its ruins and was ready to imagine what it was like 2,000 years ago.
The book unfortunately left little to the imagination. I'm realizing more and more that I appreciate the term "less is more" - in romance and in violence. 900-odd Jews committed suicide at Masada rather than subject themselves to slavery under the Romans; I fully appreciate this is a documented historical event and what the book is based upon, but I don't need the overly descriptive element. My imagination is vivid enough, thank you. I skimmed quite a bit.
I also quickly tired of how frequently several characters leaped to cursing. No specific words were used, and the author simply noted "curses" or "expletives", but still; perhaps my own naivete regarding 1st-century Judaism errs on the side of high caution, but I would have guessed greater care with their words. (Though maybe approaching death changes that element of a person.)
I unfortunately was surprised at the amount of positive reviews. I will say that Vamosh does well at setting the stage and bringing Masada to life. Ruins are sometimes hard to breathe life and interest into; she heard the voices of the rebels across the years and successfully brought ancient history into the present.
Reminiscent of Lynn Austin's "Gods and Kings" and Suzanne Collins' "Hunger Games".
I received a copy of the book from JustRead Publicity Tours. All opinions are my own.
The book unfortunately left little to the imagination. I'm realizing more and more that I appreciate the term "less is more" - in romance and in violence. 900-odd Jews committed suicide at Masada rather than subject themselves to slavery under the Romans; I fully appreciate this is a documented historical event and what the book is based upon, but I don't need the overly descriptive element. My imagination is vivid enough, thank you. I skimmed quite a bit.
I also quickly tired of how frequently several characters leaped to cursing. No specific words were used, and the author simply noted "curses" or "expletives", but still; perhaps my own naivete regarding 1st-century Judaism errs on the side of high caution, but I would have guessed greater care with their words. (Though maybe approaching death changes that element of a person.)
I unfortunately was surprised at the amount of positive reviews. I will say that Vamosh does well at setting the stage and bringing Masada to life. Ruins are sometimes hard to breathe life and interest into; she heard the voices of the rebels across the years and successfully brought ancient history into the present.
Reminiscent of Lynn Austin's "Gods and Kings" and Suzanne Collins' "Hunger Games".
I received a copy of the book from JustRead Publicity Tours. All opinions are my own.
November 5, 2018
With an avid interest in history, and having taken college courses on the Old Testament of the Bible; Judaism and Islam, I foolishly believed I had a fairly good grasp of what is commonly known as ancient history, even biblical history. After reading The Scroll I’ve learned I understand next to nothing of the history of Judaism. It is authors like Miriam Feinburg Vamosh who brings knowledge and understanding through her writings. Renewed understanding of Judaic history will further understand the decisions and actions of today’s Israel.
Beginning in 73 CE, the fall of Masada through 135 CE when the final destruction of Judea occurred, The Scroll is the story of three woman, their lives and experiences during those tumultuous years. Miriam is a young woman, probably middle to late teens, when the city of Masada was seized and eventually fell, a city completely destroyed.
Written with knowledge and understanding, the reader may find themselves at Masada or in the cliffs where Jews hid or in the beloved city of Jerusalem after the destruction of the temple.
The story closes with young Judith, a 14 year old who rescues Miriam’s great granddaughter, barely alive, from the depths of a cave and with the Scroll swaddled within her coverings. Determined to rescue the baby, Judith climbs out of the depths of the Dead Sea to high in the mountains.
I would love to read more, perhaps a sequel to The Scroll. I learned so much from important historical events to customs of the time to foods and meal preparation.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher via Good Reads Tours, and am not required to provide a positive review. All thoughts and opinions, therein, are solely my own.
Beginning in 73 CE, the fall of Masada through 135 CE when the final destruction of Judea occurred, The Scroll is the story of three woman, their lives and experiences during those tumultuous years. Miriam is a young woman, probably middle to late teens, when the city of Masada was seized and eventually fell, a city completely destroyed.
Written with knowledge and understanding, the reader may find themselves at Masada or in the cliffs where Jews hid or in the beloved city of Jerusalem after the destruction of the temple.
The story closes with young Judith, a 14 year old who rescues Miriam’s great granddaughter, barely alive, from the depths of a cave and with the Scroll swaddled within her coverings. Determined to rescue the baby, Judith climbs out of the depths of the Dead Sea to high in the mountains.
I would love to read more, perhaps a sequel to The Scroll. I learned so much from important historical events to customs of the time to foods and meal preparation.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher via Good Reads Tours, and am not required to provide a positive review. All thoughts and opinions, therein, are solely my own.
May 6, 2019
This historical fiction began by imagining the story behind a cryptic archeological find from the ruins of Masada, that last stand of Jewish zealots after the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Romans. Feinberg Vamosh takes the reader into the 1st and 2nd centuries of this scroll's travels in the hands of its keepers.
This true archeological find--a divorce document, is what prompted the author, a student of ancient Jewish life and practice, into this sensitive tale. She weaves the enigma of this document, lovingly treasured and passed down from the Roman conquest in 73 AD at Masada into the possession of subsequent generations. The reader is taken through the horrors of life in vanquished Jerusalem, to a wealthy home in Alexandria, village life under later Roman dominion back in the land, accommodation in Ziporoi and finally a cave in Ein Gedi where the scroll was buried with bodies. This divorce document is a sort of talisman, a silent witness to the tension being lived out by its holders. The questions raised out of the historical context are as lovingly painful as the document itself, exploring the tension between accommodation and separatism, between letting free and/or dying for the greater good.
This true archeological find--a divorce document, is what prompted the author, a student of ancient Jewish life and practice, into this sensitive tale. She weaves the enigma of this document, lovingly treasured and passed down from the Roman conquest in 73 AD at Masada into the possession of subsequent generations. The reader is taken through the horrors of life in vanquished Jerusalem, to a wealthy home in Alexandria, village life under later Roman dominion back in the land, accommodation in Ziporoi and finally a cave in Ein Gedi where the scroll was buried with bodies. This divorce document is a sort of talisman, a silent witness to the tension being lived out by its holders. The questions raised out of the historical context are as lovingly painful as the document itself, exploring the tension between accommodation and separatism, between letting free and/or dying for the greater good.
October 31, 2018
Travel back two thousand years and enter the world of oppression and persecution the Jewish people suffered under Rome’s rule.
More than half of The Scroll is told through the eyes of Miriam—a woman whose greatest possession is a divorce document given to her from her husband at Masada and who escaped. The remainder of the book follows the procession of the document through Miriam’s bloodline.
There were several points of view and at times it got a bit confusing where perspective would shift in the middle of a scene or chapter, but the descriptions of Israel—from Masada to Jerusalem to the caves and more—leave the reader feeling as if they are walking the land themselves.
And though this book has some heavy content with little joy, anyone interested in the geography of Israel or Jewish history will enjoy the details Mariam Feinberg Vamosh pours into The Scroll.
Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
More than half of The Scroll is told through the eyes of Miriam—a woman whose greatest possession is a divorce document given to her from her husband at Masada and who escaped. The remainder of the book follows the procession of the document through Miriam’s bloodline.
There were several points of view and at times it got a bit confusing where perspective would shift in the middle of a scene or chapter, but the descriptions of Israel—from Masada to Jerusalem to the caves and more—leave the reader feeling as if they are walking the land themselves.
And though this book has some heavy content with little joy, anyone interested in the geography of Israel or Jewish history will enjoy the details Mariam Feinberg Vamosh pours into The Scroll.
Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
November 12, 2018
The Scroll takes the reader back to 73 AD at the last stand at Masada. You are taken through a number of generations ending at the end of Bar Kochba in the 130 AD. Miriam Feinberg Vamosh takes you into the constant tension between the Jewish people and the Roman government. This was an inspiration to him from the divorce scroll which is an actual archeological found in the 1950s. This tale begins with the failed rebellion against the Roman Empire at Masada and goes through several generations. You find yourself learning about their history and culture. You see the characters struggle to survive. If you want to learn about Jews this would be a great book to read. For example, how the household was run and how women were treated. This is a "happy ever after" novel, but it sure does pull at your heart. I felt bad for a lot of the characters. I found The Scroll to have some really interesting historical information, however, I have a hard time following the characters, but then again I have always had a hard time following anything in this time frame unless it is in a documentary.
November 11, 2018
The Scroll is a wonderful story that gave me the opportunity to learn more about first century Israel. Miriam Feinberg Vamosh was inspired to write this story after coming across a divorce document that was discovered in 1951. The story starts with Miriam, who is divorced by her husband after surviving Masada, and follows the story of her life down through several of her descendants. I thought that Vamosh did a wonderful job of tying the story together and bringing history to life!
I received this book from JustRead Tours. This is my honest review and is in no way influenced by receiving a complimentary copy.
I received this book from JustRead Tours. This is my honest review and is in no way influenced by receiving a complimentary copy.
November 13, 2018
I won't pretend to be very knowledgeable about this time in history or exactly what exactly conspired in this time period between the Romans and the Jews. All I know is that it was a time of persecution and an Empire trying for hold on to the power it had over the people. I'm very interested in archaeological finds in this area of the world and how it sheds light on the past. So this story was educational and intriguing. One Scroll affects several generations and inspires hope and tells of loss. How can one divorce scroll held by one woman change many lives? You'll have to read to find out! You won't be disappointed! I'm interested in reading more from this talented author!
January 21, 2019
I had a lot of trouble getting into this book. I found it to be confusing as it changed character perspective within the chapter. The rapid changing of scenes and time made it confusing as well. There were some violent parts in this book. I didn't know about this sad time period of Jewish History before reading this book. It's gives me a better understanding of this troubling time period.
I received this book from the publisher to give my honest review.
I received this book from the publisher to give my honest review.
October 23, 2018
I loved this book. Written from the Jewish point of view this story takes you into what life was like under the Roman rule. All the historic details make the story feel real without bogging it down with the research. If you like Biblical era books or archeology, you'll enjoy this one.
March 25, 2016
I loved this book. The author wove an amazing amount of history into a story that felt true--even though it was a creation of fiction that just strung historical events into a possible narrative. From the horrible siege of Masada to a bittersweet ending of hope and endurance, the characters the author created move relentlessly. I loved the Jewish perspective on this period of history, but with the acknowledgement of the early Christians among them.
The only negative thing to watch for is the occasional syntactical error in translation--too many words, wrong word order, wrong preposition, something that makes you shake your head to figure out what is meant--but that is almost part of the flavor of the book at the end.
The only negative thing to watch for is the occasional syntactical error in translation--too many words, wrong word order, wrong preposition, something that makes you shake your head to figure out what is meant--but that is almost part of the flavor of the book at the end.
September 28, 2018
I found the book riveting. I had just read a book on the archaeology of the 1950’s that discovered the scroll, ‘Bar Kokhba’ by Yigael Yadin that I would strongly recommend as a companion piece to ‘The Scroll’. In the end I felt a little let down as I had hoped to gain some insights in the Bar Kokhba event and I felt the book simply only touched upon this war.
As a story though, the book was a great read and gave a feel for life under the Romans in this period.
As a story though, the book was a great read and gave a feel for life under the Romans in this period.
January 21, 2019
I had a lot of trouble getting into this book. I found it to be confusing as it changed character perspective within the chapter. The rapid changing of scenes and time made it confusing as well. There were some violent parts in this book. I didn't know about this sad time period of Jewish History before reading this book. It's gives me a better understanding of this troubling time period.
I received this book from the publisher to give my honest review.
I received this book from the publisher to give my honest review.
October 30, 2018
Intriguing story, richly woven with historical insight of the Jewish plight
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