Andrew Sanders, My Husband Bar Kokhba (Gefen Publishing House 2003)
Michal, the (fictional) wife of Shimeon bar Kokhba, the man destined to lead the last great Jewish revolt against Rome (132-135CE), recounts her life story to her nephew Yose ben Halafta, who is writing the Seder Olam (the rabbinic view of biblical chronology). The story begins aboard ship en route to Cyrene, where Shimeon is convinced the revolt will begin.
We follow the couple during the days of the earlier revolt, the Kitos War (115-117). We encounter other famous Jewish revolutionaries, Lucuas, Pappus and Julianus, but unfortunately, they never quite become characters, nor do the main characters.
The rebels march from Cyrene for a prophetic forty days into Egypt. The aim is to effect ‘the ingathering of the Nations’, when according to the prophecies of Deuteronomy all the Jews of the Diaspora would return to Jerusalem to worship the One God. However, they never quite make it into Alexandria, held back by the class of rich Jews there who are happy with Roman rule.
Atypically, Michal is invited in to listen in meetings of the menfolk, so we hear the arguments and the military strategy. The ideological battle within the Pharisees is still live, between Hillelites and Shammaiites like Shimeon, the Hillelites leaning toward appeasement, the Shammaiites leaning toward zealotry.
There is a confusion of goals. Some want only to rebuild the Temple; some even believe Hadrian will be their ally in this. Some want to kill Roman soldiers; some want to kill Gentiles. Michal is unhappy that, without a clear order against it, innocents are being killed in the mayhem of war.
The backstory exposition in the first chapter is awkward, with Bar Kokhba telling his wife about recent events that she would certainly have known all about. At a few points, we even head-hop into Hadrian’s point of view, which I don’t think works.
There was very little in historical record for this work to draw upon. Despite the discovery of several letters from the Nasi to his commanders, almost nothing is known about the man. The book portrays the enormity of the ambition to defeat mighty Rome, all the while showing us as well what the womenfolk at home had to do to keep the home hearths burning. A final chapter, a sort of epilogue, recounts what happened to everybody after the defeat, which I found a bit extraneous.
Susie Helme 
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