Hadassah’s journey is long and emotionally wrenching. She loses her entire family in the siege of Jerusalem—including her father, her spiritual anchor. She survives the long march and treacherous sea voyage to Rome, and she is sold to a family whose demanding and condescending daughter claims Hadassah as her own. Finally, Hadassah serves her mistress faithfully through two terrible marriages. Through it all, she weathers her own spiritual crises, doubting her courage and ability to bring God’s word to those she believes most desperately need it. Underlying her trials is the constant threat of death. Any infraction or breach of protocol, no matter how slight, can result in her being thrown to the lions like a sacrificial lamb. She is insulted, physically abused, and demeaned for her faith, but she never loses that faith. In fact, her concern is never for herself but only for those around her who do not enjoy the enlightenment of God’s truth. When most human beings would have cracked under the pressure long ago, Hadassah remains steadfast, and her faith—her belief in something she swears by but never perceives with her senses—sustains her. Even at the very end when she faces a terrifying and gruesome death in the jaws of the lions, she is calm, free from fear, and more certain of her faith than ever.