Q&A with Laurie R. King discussion

I know Mary has a Jewish background. Does she still consider herself Jewish or has she become wholly secular?

As you read further into the books, you will find that Russell very much considers herself Jewish.

I know she is aware of her Jewish roots. It's more a questions of how she relates to the greater world. I've read almost all of the books except for perhaps the last two, but it's been a while. I'll have to reread them. This time, in order.

Not sure why I feel obsessively compelled to demonstrate that Russell perceives herself as a practicing (although clearly not Orthodox) Jew, but here it is. I took the most examples from BEEK, as I have a copy to hand, but I think there are more examples than I have cited in the other books. I believe that one or two of the following incidents or statements might be discounted, but taken as a whole I think they demonstrate that Russell relates as a Jew:

BEEK:
• Holmes deduces that Russell reads and writes Hebrew
• she says, “I do not normally eat pork, but decided that this time I might make an exception”
• she chooses Israel: “Yisroel. . . .” (Not what an assimilated Jew would call it.)
• refers to Palestine as “birthplace of my people . . . whose only wealth lies in the children she had borne.”
• “the sense of Palestine as a refuge made me a Jew more than any one thing apart from the accident of my birth”
• recites Hebrew psalm upon seeing Jerusalem; and upon setting sail from Acre
• on the boat: “Twice I lit a candle and read to him from the little Hebrew Bible I had bought in the old bazaar in Jerusalem.”
• “It was a long, bitter winter after the warmth of Palestine. I read my Hebrew Bible, and I thought about Holofernes and the road to Jerusalem.”

OJER:
• reflects on the irony of her difficulty of keeping kosher (although she is not strictly so) in the Holy Land
• absolute fascination with Jerusalem
• places a prayer in the wall before she leaves

MREG:
• instructs her new house staff that she does not eat pork or shellfish or cream sauces with meat
• prays and recites Psalms in Hebrew in her captivity

LANG:
• places the mezuzah retrieved from her CA house on the door of the Sussex house

GOTH:
• prays in Hebrew when her plane and its pilot are shot

GARM:
• “I felt quite certain that my people—-Jewish: Wasn’t I Jewish?—-put the ring on the right hand.”

Lenore, thank you, that review is really helpful!

And I can add that yes, Russell considers herself Jewish, although what interests her is less the day to day practice than the big picture of a Jew's relationship with the Divine. However, her mother was more of a practicing Jew, despite marrying a Christian, and in times of stress, Russell tends to return to her childhood nurturing.

Laurie wrote: "Lenore, thank you, that review is really helpful!

And I can add that yes, Russell considers herself Jewish, although what interests her is less the day to day practice than the big picture of a Je..."

I personally really enjoy this aspect of Mary's character. It is so rare (for me) to find a female, Jewish character where her religion is not just a plot device or caricature (her mother feeds everyone!. Mary's Judaism feels real, and as much a part of her as her nearsightedness. Thank you, Laurie!

Laurie wrote: "Russell considers herself Jewish, although what interests her is less the day to day practice than the big picture of a Jew's relationship with the Divine."

Thank you Laurie! This is the beginning of an answer to a question that has troubled me since I first got to know Russell well. What I have tried (and failied) to understand is that at some moments Russell's speech and behavior are so strongly Jewish, and yet her actual Jewish practice seems frequently to be but a whim. Knowing her, I agree that her underlying theology-- her relationship with the divine-- is certainly more important to her than whether her dishes were kashered, and I can also see that she would take a very practical approach to the realities of her life. It would be impossible to keep all 613 commandments according to traditional ways and also lead the sort of life she leads. And as a feminist, I'd be surprised if she'd even want to try! But what has troubled me for years is how inconsistent she can be about when she follows Jewish law or custom and when she doesn't. For example, in Beekeeper's Apprentice she says that “I do not normally eat pork, but decided that this time I might make an exception,” yet in A Letter of Mary, she mentions that Mrs. Hudson had left her and Holmes a "nice rabbit pie." Could she really have known and lived with Mrs. Hudson for so many years and never have mentioned that she'd rather avoid rabbit-- a type of meat that is just as treif as pork? I find that hard to believe.

Judaism is in many ways more a religion of action than it is one of belief, and it is through one's actions that one relates most directly with God. Her "big picture relationship with the Divine" would have to be expressed in myriad small ways. I yearn to hear Russell's thoughts on how she expresses her theology in the choices she makes on a daily basis. I know she'd have such intelligent things to say on the subject. Now, I know that the Mary Russell books are not and never would be treatises on Jewish theology, but surely the only series of novels I've ever known that can refer to a hapax legomenon could throw us a few more tidbits about Russell's personal relationship with God. Please?

Could Mary Russell possibly identify with Reform Judaism?

Shomeret wrote: "Could Mary Russell possibly identify with Reform Judaism?"

It is certainly possible that Russell identifies with Reform Judaism, but -- at least in my experience -- Reform Jews rarely observe any aspect of the dietary laws (even as moderately as does Russell) and are rarely sufficiently indoctrinated to pray and recite Psalms spontaneously in Hebrew. (Yes, I know she's a theologian, but test my theory: Ask the next few Reform Jews you meet, even rabbis, whether they spontaneously recite psalms and prayers in Hebrew in times of trouble.) I think it is much more likely that Russell is simply a highly educated traditional Jew who is not strictly observant, not an uncommon situation. (And, although I usually try to work up a Baker Street Irregular-type of explanation for incongruities in LRK's work, I fear the rabbit pie was just an accidental slip that made it past both LRK and her editor, as rabbit certainly is just as impermissible as pork.)

Shomeret,
You raise a number of points which I have considered. I think Russell certainly would identify with Reform, or more accurately, Progressive Judaism (as she is in England). But I don't find your main assumptions convincing. While they do accurately describe the practices and philosophies of many Reform Jews, they aren't descriptive of nor relevant to those Reform Jews I would consider theologians. Reform Jews may not always base their decisions on the same relationship with Halachah as do their Orthodox brethren, but those who are serious do make their decisions with integrity. I suppose were I not a Reform Jew who keeps kosher myself, I might find Russell's actions easier to understand. (And yes, I know many Reform Jews who recite psalms and poems and liturgy in Hebrew at moments of beauty as well as times of trouble, as you mentioned-- and not even theologians, just members of my synagogue). Sure, there are scores of Jews who ignore Jewish practices-- both Orthodox and Reform, and everything in between-- but I have not found any as intelligent and as interested in theology as Russell is who make their decisions about Jewish practice lightly, nor any who could not frame a cogent basis for their choices. I would just love to hear what Russell has to say on the subject, is all.

That should have been addressed to Lenore, as well. My apologies!

Perhaps it's more Russell Judaism than Reform: a community of the mind and occasionally of the body...