The Jerusalem Parchment: A Kabbalist’s Search for an Esoteric Map in the Time of the Crusades

by Tuvia Fogel

A Novel of forbidden love and religious war in the quest to find the mysterious Parchment of Circles

• Centers on the search for the Parchment of Circles, an ancient map said to lead to mystical wisdom that challenges the story of Christ’s resurrection, validates the Cathar faith, and serves as the Templars’ blackmail against the Church

• Includes a complex cast of characters including a rabbi and nun who fall in love, St. Francis of Assisi, Knights Templar, the Pope, and the Sultan of Egypt

Set in the 13th century, this sweeping historical novel opens on the island of Torcello, outside Venice, in 1219, after the Crusaders have lost possession of Jerusalem. Yehezkel, a young yet revered kabbalist and student of Maimonides, is on the island for a secret meeting of rabbis. He is chosen to travel to Jerusalem to seek definitive proof of the Talmud’s antiquity, a search that grows to include the hunt for the mysterious Parchment of Circles. This ancient map could not only help Yehezkel’s quest, but also lead to explosive evidence about Christ’s resurrection that would destroy the Roman Church.

Before leaving the island, Yehezkel rescues a young Cistercian abbess from drowning in the Venetian Lagoon. Galatea, the beautiful nun, has been plagued by mystic visions and prophetic dreams throughout her life, leading her to become a devotee of Hildegard von Bingen. Driven by premonitions of an “enigma in Jerusalem,” she abandons her monastic life and the orthodoxy of the Church and joins Yehezkel on his pilgrimage.

On the way to Jerusalem, after being shipwrecked on Crete, the two meet St. Francis of Assisi in Cyprus and join him across the lines of the Fifth Crusade in his attempt to convert the Sultan of Egypt. Over the year-long trip, they also fall in love.

But the rabbi and the nun are not the only ones seeking the Parchment of Circles: The Pope sends his agents in search of it, and the Knights Templar are also in pursuit of the Parchment, for the ancient map serves as the Templars’ blackmail against the Church. What none of these deadly adversaries know is that the Parchment leads to an even more startling secret with profound religious significance for the future of humanity. It’s not a question of who finds it first, but who survives to unlock the Parchment’s secrets.

Genres: Historical Fiction

560 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 13, 2018

Reviews

[Rianna]

Provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This just isn't the book for me, not right now at least. The premise sounded really cool, but already in the first chapter I was annoyed at the female lead. The subject in the first chapters of this book is romance. It is about a romance between two people from 2 different religions and that is just not what I am interested in right now. Also I'm running out of time (you get a set amount of days when you read through NetGalley) and I just don't have the motivation to try to finish this book. Maybe I will try again one day in the future (who knows, my library might have this soon).

[iamnotabookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this book 2.5/5 old maps.

So, The Jerusalem Parchment is one I got from Netgalley. If you have read a few of my reviews here, I have quite a penchant for books that are about conspiracies, or controversies, or artifacts, especially about religion. This book is one. It's about a parchment in Jerusalem that might destroy the Catholic Church or Christianity.

The book's main characters are two people you will not exactly expect to join forces together back in the 13th century. It's a Jewish kabbalist and a Cistercian abbess. Master Yehezkel ben Yoseph (after Ezekiel in the Bible or the Talmud) and Sister Galatea degli Ardengheschi. The rabbi and the nun met in a very bizarre way. I won't say it was serendipitous because Master Yehezkel saved Sister Galatea from drowning in the Venetian lagoon. See, not a very serendipitous way to meet a person but it was fortunate because if not for the rabbi, the nun would have died and froze in the lagoon. It wasn't serendipity because it was not exactly a very good way to meet a person. It was fortunate because that chance meeting had brought together these two people who were destined to do greater things that would bring them together and find a common ground for both Judaism and Christianity. Some other notable characters in history are also mentioned in this book- St. Francis de Assisi (who was still Brother Francesco), the Knights of the Templars, and the Sultan of Egypt.

To be honest, I almost gave up on this book. Very very close. I think there were a lot of things that should not have been necessary that were included. I think some of the events mentioned here should have been scrapped out all together because they just made the book lengthy but not really contributing anything at all. It took me quite a while to finish the book. I have to stop whenever I feel like the story was just droning on and on and was not really getting to where it should take me. Fortunately, I find it intriguing and curious enough to forge on, though very painstakingly slow.

I think there were only about a few very interesting parts of this story and I can actually name them. One is how Yehezkel and Galatea met and how they realized that they have to join forces and go to Jerusalem together. The other one is when Brother Francesco de Assisi made an appearance in the story. His character is really larger than life. Even here, he seems to be so captivating. His personality, his brains, and his fervor for his faith are really admirable. I think Brother Francesco's inclusion in this story has been a saving grace for me because I would have totally dropped this book and forget it. I think how the author portrayed Francesco here is his best and the best part of the book. I was really awed how he has captured the soul of the saint in the pages. It was like the saint's essence is tangible. Like I can feel it in my bones. It's one of the strengths of this book. Then, there was the Sultan of Egypt. When he meet Brother Francesco and he sort of agreed to a debate about religions- Muslim faith versus Christianity, that was probably the most amusing and entertaining part of the story. And then, the part when they get to Jerusalem, the discoveries and realizations there were very astounding.

One thing that strike me in this story is the Averroism philosphy. It's a belief that holds no religion possesses the whole truth, which I totally agree. I know a lot of people or those that claim to be religious would tend to strongly disagree on this because I am sure they would claim that their religion holds the only truth and the only path to salvation of the soul. But I think, this book is right about that. I don't say that we have to give up our religions but I think it's telling us to be open-minded. To be open to the idea that each religion holds some truths, just not the complete and single truth. That somehow, we can learn from the teachings of Judaism, or from the Muslims, or from Buddhism. I'm sure, they have great ideas that could also illuminate and help us live our lives fully, justly, and meaningfully.

All in all, I am thankful that the book finally got to Jerusalem and circled on that most talked about parchment. I thought it wasn't ever going to do that. I think it was going around in circles just like the Parchment of Circles that is the objective of Yehezkel and Galatea's quest here. How the book ended was enough to actually conclude this very lengthy and arduous quest, especially for me reading it. The ending, at least, made it up for me and really got to the story. Finally!

So, with that said, I give this book 2.5/5 old maps. I was thinking 3/5 but the let down that the adventure I was promised was not really how it turned out is just so hard to ignore. It keeps coming back to me. As I have said, I was just relieved when the pair finally reached Jerusalem. Finally, it was getting to where the story should be. I think, if I were to read this book again, I would have skipped the middle part. I would just read the beginning and then get to the last quarter of the book. Those contain the most important parts of the story and it could do without the rest. I was very disappointed that it got so so painstakingly long for the pair to get to Jerusalem. More so, because the part in-between did not hold as much attention as the beginning and the ending. I think, this story could have done a lot of polishing. Stripping away the parts that were not really essential. If they were intended to build up the suspense and the anticipation, it did not do so. It was a let down and I really thought that even without them, the story would still be substantial enough and would have been more adequate for me.

So, I would say, read at your own risk. After finishing this, I am not sure I want go through the ordeal again. The title and subject is very interesting and the short summary is also very intriguing but delving into the whole story was quite a chore for me. I went in hungry for an adventure and ready to be blown away by what this Jerusalem Parchment is but was a bit miffed that the adventure promised was not that all very engaging. Time and time again, I had to drag and convince myself to finish the book. And I guess, that was the most painful thing for me. I would say, this was like the Iliad (Dover and Thrift edition) for me. Until now, I still haven't picked it back up. I stopped when the story was enumerating names. I think the book has been with me for 10 years. I am just glad that I finished this book because I was so close to just leaving it and move on to something more. This is a very interesting topic but it somehow failed in its delivery.

But Augustine also said, Jews shouldn't be killed, since exile is their punishment for refusing to accept Jesus as the Messiah. In a sense, we Jews owe him our survival in Christian lands.

In other words, Jesus wasn't a magician, but a kabbalist who took a wrong turn, a rabbi whose kabbalah was full of errors.

Two parallel straight lines are two lines that meet where it pleases Allah.
If they didn't want to seem disrespectful, they could have said, it was Allah who decided they could never meet.
And if somewhere, some day, two such straight lines should meet, how great is the power of Allah.
- Tuvia Fogel, The Jerusalem Parchment -

Thanks again, Netgalley, Destiny Books, and Tuvia Fogel for the copy.

[Allan Susoeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was a wonderful story. I saw some of the Dead reviews accused it of not being so hot but I have to disagree.

I will say this, it's not an easy read. The author went into fantastic detail to the point where I was smelling the smells and hearing the sounds in my head while reading a book. Many times I had to go look words up understand what was going on. But even with a novel, isn't that the point, to exercise our brains?

After all, if I wanted to be completely passive I wouldn't be reading a book to begin with.

Big kudos to Tuvia Fogel.