10 special women

From the Talmudic era to pre-war Europe, these women impacted Torah scholarship

By Yehuda Shurpin

Throughout Jewish history, there have been many women who made an impact on Jewish scholarship. This list is just a sampling of these outstanding women.

1. Beruriah

The Talmud recounts many stories about Beruriah, wife of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Meir and daughter of Chananiah ben Teradion. She studied daily, and the sages would ask her views regarding matters of law, especially those laws that applied to women.

Once there was a dispute between Beruriah and her brother. The rabbi who adjudicated the case declared: “Rabbi Chananiah’s daughter Beruriah is a greater scholar than his son.”

2. Sheindel (Schöndlein) Isserlin

Rabbi Yisrael ben Petachyah Isserlein (1390–1460) was the author of the classic halachic work Terumat HaDeshen, an important source of Ashkenazic practice. His wife, Sheindel, was highly educated and is known to have written at least one responsum on the topic of family purity (it was published in his name in Leket Yosher, a collection of Rabbi Isserlein’s customs and rulings).

3. Bayla Falk of Lemberg

Bayla was the only daughter of Rabbi Yisrael Edels, a wealthy philanthropist and head of the Jewish community in Lemberg (Lviv), which flourished in the early 17th century. Bayla married Rabbi Yehoshua Falk (Katz), author of the classic halachic work Meirat Einayim, a commentary on Choshen Mishpat (which covers interpersonal laws).

Students of Rabbi Falk recounted how Bayla would sit by her husband’s side, listening to pupils’ questions and occasionally offering her own answers. One of her greatest halachic contributions concerns candle lighting, and her opinion was later acknowledged by noteworthy rabbis.

4. Estellina Conat

Estellina Conat took a lead role in running one of the earliest Jewish printing presses in Mantua, Italy, founded by her husband Abraham ben Solomon Conat in 1475. She is the first woman named as an editor in a printing house, Jewish or non-Jewish. Seven out of eleven of the earliest Hebrew manuscripts were printed in their press.

5. Rivkah bat Meir of Tiktin Rivkah bat Meir (d. 1605) of Tiktin (Tykocin), near Bialystok in Poland, was a teacher of women and the author of the Yiddish work Meineket Rivkah (“Nursemaid of Rebecca”). She would visit various communities and give lectures about the role of the Jewish woman. Her written work, seemingly a summary of some of her lectures, focuses on interpersonal relationships, social practices and an ethical approach to marital life.

6. Chava Bacharach

Chava Bacharach (1580–1651) was born in Prague and was a descendant of Rabbi Yehuda Lowe, the Maharal of Prague. She acquired a vast knowledge of Hebrew and rabbinic literature to the point where she often assisted rabbis in solving textual difficulties. “[When even great scholars] were confused by various texts... she came and explained,” testified her grandson, Rabbi Yair Chaim Bacharach (1639–1702), a leading halachic authority in the seventeenth century known by his work Chavot Yair.

7. Osnat Barzani

Osnat Barzani (1590–1670) was born into a well-known rabbinic family in Kurdistan, an autonomous region in Iraq. When her husband (and cousin) Rabbi Jacob Mizrahi became head of the yeshiva in Mosul, she began teaching students and providing them with rabbinic training. When her husband passed away, the leadership of the yeshiva was passed on to her, and she became known as the lead teacher.

8. Odel

Odel (c. 1720–1787) was the only daughter of Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Chassidic movement. She was a wife and mother, but was also very active in her father’s court and bested the other students in learning. Many of her father’s students would later turn to her for advice, blessings, and clarifications.

9. Ellus bat Mordechai of Slutsk

One of the classic works on the laws and customs of death and mourning is the Ma’avar Yabbok, published in 1624 by Rabbi Aaron Berechiah of Modena. Ellus, the daughter of Mordechai of Slutsk (18th century), translated sections of the Ma’avar Yabbok from Aramaic and Hebrew into spoken Yiddish so women could learn how to care for the deceased. The translation played—and continues to play—an important role in the work of the various Chevra Kaddisha burial societies.

10. Sarah Schenirer

Sarah Schenirer (1883–1935) was born into a Chassidic family in Poland. Seeing the allure of the Enlightenment movement on the one hand, and the lack of quality traditional Jewish education for girls on the other, she founded a network of Torah schools for girls under the banner of Bais Yaakov (literally “House of Jacob,” referenced in the Torah to the women).

By 1935, when cancer took her life at the age of 51, nearly 40,000 students were studying in her rapidly expanding empire of schools. The Bais Yaakov network has forever altered the course of Jewish education for girls and women. Many Jewish schools for girls were later modeled after it.

Ben Turgeman, 29, was born and raised in Denver, Colorado. He received a bachelor’s from the University of Colorado, majoring in psychology and double-minoring in international studies and political science. He also lived in Israel, where he has relatives. He completed his Master’s in international relations at the University of Haifa, specializing in diplomacy studies.

Moving to Tucson: I moved to Tucson about a month ago to accept a job with the U.S. Department of State as a Passport Specialist (Adjudicator) at the Western Passport Center.

Currently reading/learning: Lessons in Tanya, and preparing for diplomatic exams.

Favorite Mitzvah/holiday: Rosh Hashana - I like the significance of welcoming the new year and starting it off

By Benjamin Weiss

sweet. I also like hosting and cooking for Shabbat.

Cherished Jewish memory: My Bar Mitzvah in Tiberias. It was during the 2006 Lebanon War, and air raid sirens went off as I was reading from the Torah. The ground vibrated from the Katusha rocket fired by Hezbollah into Israel. Because of the situation, I didn’t get to have an actual party, but I did the important part, so it will always be special for me.

Jewish app on phone: Siddur (prayer book).

Go-to Yiddish or Hebrew word: Achla (pronounced ah-ch-la). I use it to describe something or someone wonderful or awesome.

Languages: English, Hebrew, a little Spanish, and phrases in Romanian and Arabic.

Historical Jewish figure: I’ll name two because it’s difficult for me to choose - Menachem Begin (Former Israeli prime minister) and Abba Evan (Israeli statesman). Both played a prominent role in the early days of Israel.

Chabad: Warm and down-to-earth rabbis who project joy regardless of what’s happening around them.

Tzedakah: A rabbi once jokingly told me, “You don’t need acid to do chesed” (kindness and charity). Everyone is able to do good.

Happiness: Embracing our heritage and living it.

Hobbies:

Hiking, fishing, cooking, weightlifting, cars, fashion, fine arts.

Comfort food: Shakshuka (poached eggs in tomato sauce and spices), which I often make.

Kvetch: Relatives arguing that their Moroccan fish recipe is the best.

Kvell / nachas: My time in Israel. It was a chance to get in touch with my roots, my relatives and the Israeli life.

Your claim to fame: Using the Covid pandemic to travel to Romania, Turkey, and Jordan.

Something you’re looking forward to… Getting to know the Jewish community in Tucson!