Encyclopedia Categories | Jewish Women's Archive

Rashi

The medieval commentator Rashi, through his commentary and halakhic works, was an advocate for improving the status of women, introducing innovative exegesis to support his views. His followers, the Tosafists, would continue to innovate and support Jewish women.

Reproductive Technology, New (NRT)

New reproductive technology has provided the solution for problems of infertility for hundreds of thousands of couples. For halakhically observant Jews, especially in the pro-natal state of Israel and in general in the post-Holocaust era, this technology has been a blessing but has also created a multitude of halakhic problems.

Samaritans of Nablus, 1900-1920, Women During Passover

Samaritan Sect

Samaritan liturgy featured women prominently and showed them in positions of power. However, there is a lack of women in the current Samaritan community, and any Samaritan women are subject to strict laws. Marriage between cousins is common, rules pertaining to divorce and adultery favor the man, and stringent laws surround ritual purity.

Sex

The rabbinic discourse of sex has been simultaneously both empowering and sharply disabling for women. In obliging all women to be wives and mothers, it has severely constrained the possibilities for women’s lives, and to a great extent, women’s roles have been denigrated as well.

Benjamin Aron Slonik

Benjamin Aron Slonik, a Polish rabbi and student of the Maharshal and Rema, was notable for his independent approach to halakha. His rulings often went against his colleagues, including on women’s halakhot.

Medieval Spain

Written histories of Jews in medieval Spain rarely include women, so one must seek alternate sources. Marital status was the frequent topic of rabbinic responsa. Some Jewish women made their own income as merchants and moneylenders. Inheritance laws were problematic for Jewish women – disputes were settled in both Jewish and non-Jewish courts.

Miriam Spira-Luria

Although little is known of her life, legends of Miriam Spira-Luria’s scholarship offer tantalizing hints of an intelligent, accomplished woman almost completely erased from history.

Jackie Tabick

Jackie Tabick, Great Britain’s first female rabbi, also serves as Britain’s first female head of the Reform Beit Din, or religious court.

Tamar: Midrash and Aggadah

The Tamar narrative in the Bible casts the characters in a human, and not very complimentary, light. The later Rabbis sharply criticize Judah and his sons, but they describe Tamar positively, despite the fact that she is a convert. Her actions during her relationship with Judah demonstrate her purity, and her behavior shows the proper way in which all future women should perform.

Tannaitic Literature, Inclusion of Women

Midrashic reading of verses often involves the question of whether or not women were included in the verses. The language used (structure of verbs, prepositions, other parts of speech) often indicates the particular interpreter’s opinions concerning women.

Re-dedication Ceremony of Sarah Schenirer's Gavestone, 2005

Torah Study

Although the obligation of Torah study is one of the most important Jewish commandments, women have long been exempted, or even excluded, from it. Over time, scholars mitigated women’s exclusion by rendering it inapplicable to all content, to all women, or both. Regardless of halakhic rulings, some women have studied Torah in all time periods.

Turkey: Ottoman and Post Ottoman

The Jewish population of Turkey navigated far-reaching changes in the political, social, and geopolitical spheres in the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, as the Ottoman Empire pursued reform and collapsed and the Turkish Republic that took its place imposed a process of “Turkification” on its residents. During this period, Jewish women partook in traditional customs relating to religion, family, and the home, while also accessing new opportunities in the public sphere through education and political engagement.

Wifebeating in Jewish Tradition

The most useful source to study wifebeating is responsa literature, which includes a variety of attitudes towards the phenomenon. While some sources declare wifebeating unlawful, others justify it under certain circumstances.

Jael leads Barak to the corpse of Sisera in her tent.

Yael Wife of Heber The Kenite: Midrash and Aggadah

The midrash praises Yael and includes her among the devout women converts. According to the rabbis, Yael’s actions helped God to realize God’s plan by punishing Sisera measure for measure for his wicked deeds, and by affording Israel a military victory over its enemies.

Yael: Bible

Yael plays an important role in the story of Israel’s wars with the Canaanites, described in the Book of Judges. In the narrative about the military heroine Deborah, Yael kills Sisera, the Canaanite general of King Jabin, after he escapes from the battle with Deborah’s general, Barak.

photograph of a woman with glasses with a loose hat as a head covering, smiling at the camera

Yoatzot Halacha

In 1997, Nishmat, a women’s seminary in Jerusalem, began training Orthodox women to become Yoatzot Halacha, or Jewish legal advisors. Yoatzot Halacha receive extensive training in Jewish legal texts and medical and behavioral sciences; after training, a Yoetzet Halacha might answer questions through a hotline or website or serve in a community in the US, the UK, or Israel. Yoatzot Halacha are one of a number of innovations in the field of Orthodox women’s leadership and literacy.

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef was the Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel and the leader of the Shas political movement.

The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women

Religion: Jewish Law