Zipporah. – A Woman way ahead of her times.


I have just finished reading an amazing book Zipporah, by Marek Halter.  It tells the story of the Cushite wife of Moses, the grand old man of the Old Testament and mother of his two sons.
Zipporah grew up in the household of Jethro, a sage/ high priest of the Midian kings, an abandoned baby who grew up with his own children, apple of his eye for her dark skinned beauty and wisdom beyond her years.    In her adopted tribe, she is not accepted as a possible bride, but for the refugee from Egypt, Moses, Zipporah was the wife he felt was made for him.
The story of Zipporah follows the evolution of Moses from a refugee Eygptian prince to a leader of the Hebrew slaves of Egypt, prodded by both Jethro and Zipporah. The trip across the desert to Eygpt was a revelation for her: accepted as Moses’ destiny by both his adoptive and biological mothers, she is rejected by his brother Aaron and sister Miriam; animosity against Moses’ dark-skinned wife is instigated and eventually, she is forced to go back to her father’s land, with her sons, so that Moses may fulfill the destiny that brought him back to Egypt.
When news comes that Moses had succeeded in bringing the Hebrews out of Egypt and led them out after the parting of the waters – which Zipporah had earlier seen in a dream, she goes back to Moses, this time with her sons and Jethro.  
But the chaos and gross mismanagement of the exodus into the desert, the creation of the golden idol by supposedly beggarly Hebrew refugees wreck havoc with Moses and Zipporah’s emotions and cost the lives of both sons.
It is Zipporah and her father Jethro who prod Moses up the mountain again, from where he emerges with the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s command to accept strangers, but it is too late and she is forced to return to father’s home.  Too late – for after Jethro’s death,  another destiny altogether awaits her, leaving Moses bereft and adrift in the sands of the desert with his people for the biblical forty years.
It is another generation altogether that is led into the Promised Land by Moses’ favorite, Joshua, as the Grand Old Man stays back with his memories of the woman who was his, the woman who remains but a foot note in the Old Testament, despite her vital role in the life of Moses.
Zipporah emerges as a beautiful and strong woman, as intelligent as she is intense and loyal.  Her thoughts are strong and analysis immaculate, which make her an Epic Woman, despite being only a footnote in the Testament.
What perhaps makes this depiction of those times unique but sad is the narrative of the evolution of Mankind, with one segment wise and sober, repeatedly  overruled by the petty-minded and rabid mobs – a trend that has prevailed over centuries to our times.

Wonderful read for historical and religious fiction enthusiasts. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Deepika Vs Madhuri

The music channels are full of the  “Deewani Mastani” song. It takes one back Madhuri Dixit’s so many kg ghagra kothawali dance in Devdas.  Pet obsession? Chitpavan women would never be caught in public watching such a performance, as Priyanka Chopra is seen, with perhaps the most authentic expressions crossing her face as she looks on at the interplay between Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone. Deepika, in   her pale gold avatar in a net outfit reminiscent of flamenco dancers, with many   co-dancers, seems to inhabit the same Madhuri  space.   She dances in a huge ornate space, more European than Peshwai in design.    Peshwai architecture was noted for its long, perhaps narrow halls and tall distinctively fluted and carved wooden columns based on stone to prevent damp and   insect damage --- all topped with intricately carved wood ceilings and all polished black in color.   Noted examples are the Mastani resurrected palace at ...
Read more

A New Mastani

MASTANI is  unique book in that it is India’s first historical novel that offers its readers two endings, diagrammatically opposed to each other;  the second one  plugs all the holes left in the story of Mastani left by traditional renderings of the myths and legends that surround the second wife of Peshwa Baji Rao I, widely accepted as India’s answer to Napoleon Bonaparte as a unbeaten general.  Congratulations are due to Mr. Kapish Mehra of Rupa Publications for allowing this to happen. As a history buff, every reading of Maratha history left me bewildered at the steadfastness of historians in never failing to mention Mastani as leading influence in Baji Rao’s life; and then leaving that mention as a single sentence or paragraph without any elaboration of such a ‘towering’ personality, so to speak. Hence the research that went on and on and on to explode all the myths and legends that surround Mastani, to expose her tragedy, her true character and her royal...
Read more

A UNIFORM CIVIL CODE?

This was first published on Jan-2007.   How much has the situation changed? What is this Uniform civil Code? Is it possible? Reasonable? Soon after Independence, Hindu inheritance laws were codified to give weightage to the females of the family. Later others ‘favoring’ women have been added. Despite this codification, dowry continues. Daughters’ inheritance remains as dicey as when the Christian community battled for those rights in the Courts.
 Meanwhile daughters have already been made as responsible for upkeep of aged parents as their brothers. Would the promulgation of a Uniform civil Code push the conservative elements off center stage and allow women their rights? Much of the focus has been on the "plight" of Muslim divorcees, especially victims of talaq, talaq, talaq. In that community, the order of male relatives who must support the woman has been laid down. Whether they do so or not, is another matter altogether. 
But what of our Hindu women, rejected by ...
Read more