The Prisoner
Lines and brick, what does it mean? She sees them when she closes her eyes at lights-out. She palpates her temples, feeling deep grooves from electrodes’ repeat scarring. Her jaws clench and she shudders in sympathetic memory of cold metal tables and burly, hairy arms holding her down. Her fetal curl tightens.
She doesn’t cry anymore. All of her tears have released themselves. She knows she is waiting.
One midnight, a nearby explosion shakes her cage. Gunfire, smoke, screams fill her senses.
“We’ve come for you, Rabbi,” says a deep voice.
She turns to see a familiar face; remembers.
[99 words]
I tried to learn if women can be rabbis in the Jewish faith and did not find a definitive answer. In the world of fiction they can.
Update: multiple people have commented that there are female rabbis.
Rochelle Wisoff-Fields is the host of Friday Fictioneers.
Not among the Orthodox but the Reform synagogues are quite a bit more liberal and have both male and female Rabbis.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh ok, good to know. Maybe that’s why I got conflicting info on the search.
LikeLike
Just like Christianity has various denominations, religious Judaism isn’t a single, monolithic thing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exactly what James said. The daughter of one of my friends is a rabbi. Your story was rather unsettling.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for reading. It makes me wonder why she was kidnapped, imprisoned, and tortured and happy that her compatriots found and released her.
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes, I believe they can!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s really an unsettling set of events, Lisa. Great story! 👍
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yasan, thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome, Lisa! Have a wonderful day! ☺️
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m hoping this is rescue. I think it s
LikeLiked by 1 person
Neil just re-read it and see where it could be ambiguous. Yes it is a rescue. Thanks for reading and your comment.
LikeLike
Glad she was released. The world seems to have no reason any more. (K)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great build up of tension in this piece Lisa🙌
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ange, thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Lisa,
I read a few other stories, I liked yours the best because it is within the word limit and it is historical fiction.
About female Rabbi… I saw a female Rabbi on a TV show.
Have a good day,
Surabhi
LikeLiked by 1 person
Surabhi, thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I found your story very intriguing…an interesting twist.
There was a comedy program of the radio some years back… the central Characters were Rabbis …one from a reform synagogue was a woman. The program was called The young Rabbi. 💜💜💜
LikeLiked by 1 person
Willow happy you found the story intriguing. Cool on The Young Rabbi and that women can be them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Attractive_Young_Rabbi
LikeLiked by 1 person
Willow, thanks! I looked out on YouTube and found this: https://youtu.be/w-AOM8VbNUY?si=FeFwWBvcsbd46lIM
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you liked and I looked at the video you found thanks 💜💜
LikeLiked by 1 person
<3
LikeLiked by 1 person
That was an interesting one, Li.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Chris.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A very poignant story
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks much, Sadje. I’m glad they liberated her from the prison.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes indeed. No innocent should be incarcerated.
LikeLiked by 1 person
thank goodness, she has been saved. 🙌
LikeLiked by 1 person
:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my, what a story, Lisa.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Keith.
LikeLike
FWIW, I have met women rabbis.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy to hear it, Liam. We have exactly one Jewish house of worship and one rabbi in this town afaik.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Lisa,
Wonderful piece! And to answer the question this article was sent to me recently. I’ll copy and paste. I’ve been saving the info for an FF piece myself. ;)
Regina Jonas was quietly ordained as the first female rabbi in recorded history in Berlin in 1935, after most established rabbis refused to sign off on it. When she was deported to Theresienstadt in 1942, she didn’t stop being a rabbi. She kept lecturing, kept counseling the sick and the grieving, kept doing the work she’d spent years fighting to be allowed to do, inside a place designed to strip people of exactly that kind of dignity.
She was murdered at Auschwitz in 1944, and her role there was barely documented until decades later, when her papers surfaced in an East Berlin archive in 1991.
Her name sat mostly forgotten for nearly fifty years after the war. What does it take for someone’s history to finally resurface that long after they’re gone?
Shalom,
Rochelle
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rochelle, thank you so much for the information on Regina Jonas. I’m glad she kept going despite the resistance to change by established rabbis. What a horrible end and then to be forgotten for so long. I’m glad you found her <3 It feels like this might be her story, but one with a happy ending.
Shalom,
Lisa
LikeLike
Li, this was chilling, tense until the very end. I’m glad she was rescued.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Michele, thank you for reading and me too on her rescue!
LikeLike
A scary story. You built the tension beautifully. I’m glad she was found and rescued. Nicely done
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks very much, Laurie, glad you liked the story.
LikeLiked by 1 person