Jephte's Daughter

Jephte's Daughter

A Novel

Naomi Ragen

The pampered daughter of a wealthy Hasidic businessman, Batsheva Ha-Levi grows up in the affluent suburbs of Los Angeles. But everything changes when she turns eighteen and finds that her loving father has made a secret vow which will shatter her life, forcing her to marry a man she hardly knows and sending her to the exotic, golden city of Jerusalem.

On her wedding day, she enters a strange and foreign world steeped in tradition and surrounded by myth. Shackled by ancient rules, she soon understands that to survive she will have no choice but to fight for her freedom, to reconcile her own need to live in the modern world with her ancestral obligations, and to choose between the three men who vie for her body, her soul, and her love.

Now a classic listed among the one hundred most important Jewish books of all time*, Jephte's Daughter is bestselling author Naomi Ragen's beloved first novel. With poignancy and insight, it takes readers on a groundbreaking and unforgettable journey inside the hidden world of women in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community.

*100 Essential Books For Jewish Readers, Rabbi Daniel B. Sync and Lindy Frenkel Kanter

“An emotionally potent book.” —Kirkus
“Eloquent writing and vivid characters.” —Publishers Weekly
“Ragen weaves the religious issues throughout the plot so that they become part of the suspense, giving this skilfully rendered page-turner... real substance.” —Jewish Week
“First rate.” —Susan Isaacs, author of Long Time No See and Past Perfect
“Terrific!” —Jacqueline Briskin, author of The Naked Heart

About the Author

Naomi Ragen is an American-born Israeli novelist whose fiction explores Jewish life, faith, and history. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she earned her degree at Brooklyn College and moved to Israel in 1971, where she has lived in Jerusalem ever since. Her books, which have been widely translated, are popular with Jewish and general readers alike.

Her novels often take readers inside the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox worlds, with a particular interest in the lives of women. In books such as Jephte’s Daughter, Sotah, and The Sacrifice of Tamar, she portrays devout communities in Jerusalem and New York with affection and honesty, examining the tension between religious tradition and individual conscience. Her characters wrestle with family loyalty, communal expectations, and the cost of silence, while the strength of their faith and bonds is shown with equal care.

Ragen also draws on Jewish history. The Ghost of Hannah Mendes follows a family of Portuguese Jews who were forced to hide their faith, and later novels such as The Saturday Wife and The Covenant address contemporary American Jewish life and the realities of modern Israel. Across her work run recurring themes of identity, continuity, courage, and moral responsibility.

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