Created by Gretchen Gwitt on Fri, 03/21/2025 - 11:56
Description:
The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant was publised in 1997. It is a fictionized version of the story of Dinah, that draws inspiration from chapters of Genesis in the Bible.
About the Author:
Anita Diamant is fiction and nonfiction writer. She has published five novels, most notably The Red Tent, and six guides to modern Jewish practice. Born on June 27, 1951, Diamant spent her early childhood in Newark, New Jersery before moving to Denver Colorado when she was 12. In 1973, she received her bachelor's degree in Comparative Literature from Washington University in St. Louis. She then went onto earn her master's degree in English from Binghamton University in 1975. Following the end of her educational career, Diamant worked as a freelance journalist, publishing her work in The Boston Globe magazine, Self, Parenting magazine, and many other issues. She published her first book in 1985 and has continued to write, publishing her latest book in 2021.
Anita Diamant's Religous Life:
At the heart of DIamant's writing are her spiritual and political beliefs. DIamant first joined a Jewish congregation when she was 12, following her family's move to Denver, Colarado. As she grew, her religous and spiritual thoughts began to prosper, eventually finding their place on the page as DIamant became a young adult. As a college student at Washington University in St. Louis, she wrote into feminist journals, joining the conversation of criticism surrounding the oppression women faced in society. While she worked as a journalist in Boston, MA following her eduactional career, it was not until the publication of her book Living a Jewish Life that Diamant's political and religous beliefs would begin to dominate the page. Diamant wrote of Liberal Judaism where she encouraged feminism and Judaism to interact through three movements--Reform, Conservate, and Reconstructionist, all of which ordain women as rabbis, pushing back against the male dominated space DIamant believed the synagoge to be. Diamant also pioneered the revival of the tradition of mikveh. The ritual of submerging oneself into water was often thought to be daunting, but Diamant helped make it a more welcoming space where people can laugh and enjoy the tradition. Her work towards the revival of the mikveh has had a lasting impact on the Jewish faith.
Diamant's beliefs take fictional form in The Red Tent, as she explores the female perspective of the story of Dinah, which was noticably absent from the biblical text. Like the three movements in her book Living a Jewish Life , The Red Tent places women at the center of a male dominated space, pushiing for more inclusion of feminine thought. Diamant's passion for feminism in Judaism shines in The Red Tent. The love and care DIamant infuses into motherly, daughterly, and sisterly relationships fills the pages with the warmth of the universal feminine experience. Through the novel, Diamant asks readers to consider women's perspective, using her spiritual and political beliefs to promote feminism in the Jewish faith.
Source: Naomi Graetz, Last updated June 23. “Anita Diamant.” Jewish Women’s Archive, jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/diamant-anita. Accessed 27 Mar. 2025
The Red Tent begins with narration from Dinah, a daughter of Leah, one of the four wives of Jacob. She begins by telling us stories about her mothers, Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah, the daughters of Laban and the wives of Jacob. Leah, Rachel, Zilpah, and Bilhah met Jacob when he fled to Canaan from his home, where his brother Esau threatened him with death. Upon seeing Rachel’s beauty, Jacob fell in love with her and asks Laban for her hand in marriage. However, Leah, Rachel’s older sister, started to develop feelings for Jacob. Rachel, afraid of the wedding night, was overcome with nerves on her wedding day. Leah and Zilpah trick Rachel to let her wear the wedding veil and marry Jacob. Leah and Jacob spend the next week together on their honeymoon, building a strong connection between them. Months later, Rachel marries Jacob. By then, Leah was pregnant, so Laban offers Zilpah and Bilhah to Jacob as Leah and Rachel’s dowries. Dinah recounts the jealousy that seethed between Leah and Rachel, noting the passionate tension between the two. Leah was blessed with fertility, birthing six sons, and eventually Dinah. Rachel was the favorite wife, but was not as fertile with Leah. She only gave birth to two sons.
Dinah remembers her childhood fondly. Surrounded by her mothers, she spent her time engulfed in motherhood, sisterhood, and laughter. From a young age, Dinah was allowed in the Red Tent when her mothers were menstruating. In the tent, she learned much about the women before her, hearing tales of her grandmothers and goddesses. She learned about midwives and birthing skills from her mothers. She learned to weave. She learned to laugh, love, and cry. Dinah loved her mothers greatly. She looks back on her moments with them with great care.
Growing tired of Laban’s behavior, Jacob decided to move his family back to his homeland to reunite with Esau. Their travels revealed a new world to Dinah. She experienced new landscapes and met new people, including her cousin Tabea, her first female friend having grown up with only brothers. Esau offered land to Jacob, but he refusedd and instead travels to find his family a place to settle down.
Years later, Dinah got her period and was celebrated by her mother in the Red Tent. Soon after, she started traveling with Rachel, a midwife, to learn more about medicine. While traveling with Rachel to deliver a king’s son in Shechem, she met Shalem, the prince, and fell in love with him. The queen, Renefer, took a liking to Dinah and invited her back to the palace, where she spent the night with Shalem. While in bed, he called her his wife. Dinah fell more and more in love with Shalem. The king, Shalem’s father, approached Jacob and offered him a bride price, but was rejected. Instead, Jacob’s sons asked that all the men of the kingdom be circumcised. And they were. However, Simon and Levi, feeling that Shalem defiled their sister, snuck into the kingdom and murdered all the men in their sleep, including Shalem, who was in bed with Dinah. Simon and Levi carried their heartbroken sister home.
Dinah fled from her home, screaming at her brothers and father. She returned to Shechem to live with Renefer, where she found out she is pregnant. She gave birth to her son Re-mose. He, against Dinah’s wishes, is raised by Renefer. Only in her time alone with Re-mose, could she call him her son. Regardless, Re-mose lit up her life, giving her purpose every day. Scarred by the murder of her husband, she never left her castle but instead found contentment in her mundane life. Re-mose grew up and left for school. Dinah met Meryt a midwife and developed a friendship with her. Meryt ha much respect for what Dinah knows about delivering children and is curious about the practices Dinah inherited from her mothers during their time together. Dinah eventually remarried to a man named Benia.
Years later, Dinah, who was practicing as a midwife, was called by Re-mose to deliver his boss’s son, who happens to be Dinah’s brother Joseph. Dinah, living in shame and fear of the truth that her brothers were the ones to kill her husband and all their men, finally told Re-mose the truth. Enraged, he tried to kill Joseph, but Dinah stopped him.
Upon hearing of their father’s death, Joseph asked Dinah to travel home with him to say goodbye. She brought Benia with her. She never saw her father, as he did not remember her. But while there, spoke with a young girl, one of her nieces, who told her the story of Dinah. Hearing that her name was not forgotten brings her satisfaction. While there, her brother gave her a token her mothers left her, Rachel’s ring. Dinah returned home, reminded of the love she shared with her mother and lives a peaceful life with Benia, until she passed away, dreaming of her mothers, heading to meet them in another life.
Biblical material relevant to The Red Tent:
The Red Tent is inspired by the story of Dinah found in chapter 34 of Genesis. The novel is a highly fictionalized book about Dinah’s story that acts a supplement to the biblical telling, as it includes what the Bible does not—a female perspective. The novel draws heavily from Genesis, using the genealogy, plot, and characters to structure the story.
In the Bible, chapter 34 of Genesis begins: “Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the region. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the region, saw her, he seized her and lay with her by force. And his soul was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob” (Genesis 34: 1-4). The Red Tent, follows this structure, using characters of Dinah, Jacob, Shechem (named Shalem in the novel), King Hamor, and Dinah’s brothers. As the story progresses, in comparison to the Bible, it is clear where Diamant fictionalized. While the bones of the story remain the same, like the murder of the men in Hamor’s kingdom: “On the third day, when they were still in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, took their swords and came against the city unawares, and killed all the males” (Genesis 34: 25), the capture of Dinah: “They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem’s house, and went away” (Genesis 34: 26), Diamant creatively manipulates other key parts of the biblical story. For example, while the Bible portrays the rape of Dinah, Diamant takes a different approach. Instead, she writes that Dinah and Shalem (a.k.a Shechem) fall in love and have consensual sex. Diamant writes: “He [Shalem] looked into my face to discover my meaning, and seeing only yes, he took my hand and led me down an unfamiliar corridor into a room with a polished floor, and a bed that stood on legs carved like the claws of a hawk. We lay down upon sweet-smelling black fleece and found one another” (190). Some of the most touching parts of the book are the love Dinah and Shalem shared. If you had not read the biblical story of Dinah first, you would not imagine that Shalem ever raped Dinah. Diamant writes a beautiful, heartbreaking love story between the two characters, providing a completely opposite plot from the story in the Bible.
Diamant also offers an ending to the story that the Bible does not. She depicts Dinah running away from home and back to Hamor’s kingdom after she was captured by her brothers. From there she has her late husband’s child and lives a life of peace and quiet where she finds love and friendship again. Some of this story includes influence from the story of Joseph, her brother, found in chapters 37 to 50 of Genesis. When Dinah's son, who ends up working for Joseph, he tells her son: "Two of my brothers bloodied their hands...All of us were punished...She [Dinah] cursed us all. Some of my brothers fell ill, others saw their sons die. My father lost all hope, and I was sold into slavery" (290). Some of this story reflects the biblical story of Joseph and the jealousy of his 12 brothers.
Chapter 29 of Genesis is also as source of inspiration for Diamant. In chapter 29 of Genesis, we read the story of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah, who are the father and mothers of Dinah. Diamant begins her novel with a recollection of Dinah’s early childhood memories, which include her father, Jacob, and her mothers Rachel, Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah, all daughters of Laban. Similarly to the influence of Gensis 34 on The Red Tent, Genesis 29 provides inspirations for Diamant’s characters and gives a subtle structure to her story. She draws from the genealogy of Laban and his daughters and Jacob and Esau, making them all foundational characters in her novel. Diamant also draws from the plot of Genesis 29, as she depicts the tumultuous relationship between Leah and Rachel concerning their relation to Jacob. However, Diamant alters the story of Rachel and Jacobs marriage. In the Bible, Laban switches Rachel with Leah on her wedding night, saying: “This is not done in our country—giving the younger before the firstborn” (Genesis 29: 26). Since Leah is older, it is culturally appropriate that she is offered as Jacob’s wife first. However, in The Red Tent, Diamant depicts Leah, who was in love with Jacob, tricking Rachel to replace her on her wedding day. Diamant gives women more agency in her novel, emphasizing the jealousy between the sisters because of their relationships to Jacob. Diamant also depicts Rachel as having a barren womb, while Leah is very fertile and able to birth many sons. This is both influenced by the Bible and adds on to the bubbling jealousy between the sisters. Rachel, like in the Bible, is portrayed as the favorite wife. However, she is not punished with a barren womb because of this. There is no reasoning for her barren womb. It is simply the way her body works. Diamant utilizes the structure of the story of Rachel and Leah in Bible, supplementing it with fictionlized stories o the women.
The Red Tent is inspired greatly by different chapters of Genesis. There is even a small part of the novel that finds influence from the story of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau's mother. While many of the stories are parallel in plot and characters, Diamant offers a more emotional, characterized telling of these stories. Her novel acts as a supplement to the Bible, portraying the feminine perspective and emotions that were failed to be included in the biblical scripture.
Relationship between The Red Tent and the Bible
The Bible is an intrinsic part of the The Red Tent. It is felt in every page of the book as the biblical characters fight, laugh, love, and cry. The fictional world Diamant creates provides an opportunity for a more modern relationship the Bible. As readers of the Bible of today, we can recognize the monumental impact it has had on the literary canon. Different stories and parables are familiar, their themes influencing contemporary literature. But because of periodic and cultural differences, it is hard for a reader today to find a connection with the literature of the Bible. While they can find religious connections, the age of the text puts generations between the reader and the characters. Diamant’s interpretation offers a bridge to the biblical stories. While important to remember that the novel is highly fictionalized, its close relationship to the Bible itself, guides readers to the original biblical text. As I spent time reading this novel, I became more involved in the biblical stories of Rachel and Leah and the rape of Dinah. Diamant offered such emotional representation of the women, I found myself more involved in the biblical story. While I may have enjoyed the fictionalized version more, I found that Diamant was presenting biblical text in more contemporary language, making the stories themselves easier to connect to. However, it is important to recognize that if read alone, readers may not understand what fiction is or not. It is in reading the two texts side by side, one can understand the biblical truth. But that is how I believe this novel should be read. As a supplement to the Bible, The Red Tent offers characterization and the feminine perspective that the Bible does not, making it a more accessible, contemporary analysis of the biblical stories.
The most powerful part of The Red Tent is its connection to the feminine experience and motherhood. Diamant uses Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, Zilpah, and Dinah to portray the unifying love between women in a family. Their intrinsic closeness leads to a deep understanding of one another. They understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. They can feel their moods shift in the change of each other’s breathing. They can see each other’s tears coming before they stain their faces. They are each other’s warriors, but also enemies. They are the source of the deepest love, found in the tradition of the red tent, and that of the deepest pain, in jealousy, hatred, and competition. Diamant offers a commentary on women that stands tall as time passes. The same bold, feminine love found in the red tent lives under the asphalt roofs of suburban homes today. I saw myself in every one of Diamant’s women. And the women of the next generation will feel the same way. Diamant fills a gaping hole in the Bible. We finally get to see and understand the women. We see Leah and Rachel tear down their relationship with each other in pursuit of Jacob. We warm to Bilhah’s kindness and sympathize with Rachel’s sorrow as she struggles to conceive. While seeped in biblical history, the experiences of the women in The Red Tent are eternally universal. Diamant uses the Bible to advocate and communicate for women past, present, in future. Her memorable prose sits deeply in readers' hearts, reminding them of the complex, undying love of motherhood and sisterhood.
“If you want to understand any woman you must first ask about her mother and then listen carefully” (Diamant 2).
Images in order:
All from Wikipedia (Public Domain)
1. Cover of the Red Tent (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Tent_(Diamant_novel))
2. Anita Diamant at a book signing in London, March 2010 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anita_Diamant)
3. The abduction of Dinah, by James Tissot (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinah)
4. 17th century depiction of the rape of Dinah (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinah)
5. Vision of Rachel and Leah, Dante Gabriel Rosetti, 1855 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leah)
6. Jacob and Rachel by Tanzio da Varallo, 1625 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel)