Aisha bursts out, “But you are a girl. How do you know how to read and write? The Hebrew tongue, no less”

When you live within the babble of other people, it is harder to hear the voices of the people inside you

Jerusalem is a city of fire. Tzfat is the city of air, and it is the place where we go when we can no longer breathe

The words are hidden now, but the answer is clear: Moneylending to those of the Christian faith is permissible

They do not listen. Instead, they begin a chant: “Traitor, traitor, traitor.”

People think that enemies are born from jealousy, but it is not true. They are born from indebtedness

A girl goes from her father’s home to her husband’s. If she cannot live in either of those homes, what place does she have in the world?

“I am Bilhah. A newcomer.” She has picked up a few words of Ottoman Turkish, and she uses it now, though she can try again in Spanish or Greek

A son announces not just a presence, but a dynasty. Not just a woman but a matriarch