“Which child was born first? The boy, or the girl?” What does it mat­ter?

Sarah Cohen’s twins, Rachel, then Yakov, should be twice the bless­ing. But when her hus­band, Ben­jamin, asks her to lie, their mar­riage begins to crack.

The Cohens live on the edge of the Black For­est, in a small vil­lage called Chelm. Accord­ing to their neigh­bors, Chelm is pop­u­lat­ed by fools. Lit­tle do they know, it is also the home of The Coun­cil of Wise Women, an orga­ni­za­tion ded­i­cat­ed to heal­ing, found­ed in bib­li­cal times by the Matri­arch, Sarah. 

As the Cohen chil­dren grow, it becomes clear that young Rachel is bril­liant. Yakov, to Benjamin’s con­ster­na­tion, is not. In a patri­ar­chal soci­ety, can a girl excel?

Sarah’s life begins to unrav­el, and it is up to the Coun­cil and Mrs. Chaip­ul, the cater­er, to step in and help. How much is too much?

The Coun­cil of Wise Women breaks the famous sto­ries of Chelm wide open. With laugh­ter, com­pas­sion, and rich vibrant char­ac­ters, it tells a sto­ry of love, loss, and independence.