Miriam Shapira-Luria

Miriam Shapira-Luria
Born	Konstanz
Other names	Rabbanit Miriam
Known for	Woman Talmudic scholar
Spouse	Yochanan Luria
Parent	Solomon Shapira

Miriam Shapira-Luria, also known as Rabbanit Miriam, was a Talmudic scholar of the Late Middle Ages. According to academic Lawrence H. Fuchs, she was one of the "most noted" women Talmud scholars. ^[1]

Family

Miriam Shapira-Luria was born sometime in the 13th, ^{[2] [1]} late 14th or early 15th centuries ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]} in Konstanz, on the southern German border. ^[6] Her father was Rabbi Solomon Shapira, a descendant of Rashi, an 11th century commentator. ^{[4] [5] [7]} Shapira-Luria's brother was the noted rabbi, Peretz of Konstanz. ^[7] Her husband, Yochanan Luria ^[4] was a rabbi who was known to interpret the Talmud liberally. ^[1]

Talmud teacher

Shapira-Luria, also known as Rabbanit Miriam, ^[3] taught in Padua, Italy. ^[8] She conducted a yeshiva (a higher institution for the study of central Jewish texts) and gave public lectures on Jewish codes of law. ^{[5] [6]} She was thoroughly conversant in rabbinical writings, ^[7] and Nahida Ruth Lazarus writes that her "Talmudic disputations with other distinguished scholars of her time created a great sensation." ^[9] Female community teachers were rare in Jewish tradition but "not unheard of", according to Norma Baumel Joseph, who lists as other examples Huldah, Bruriah, Asenath Barzani, and Nechama Leibowitz. ^[10]

Shapira-Luria was also known for her beauty, and she taught Talmud to elite young men from behind a curtain so that they would not get distracted by her appearance. ^{[3] [6]}

Descendants

Shapira-Luria was the ancestress of the Luria rabbinical family, ^[7] the grandmother of Solomon Luria (Maharshal), a posek (Jewish law decisor). ^[4]

See also

• Bat ha-Levi

References

1. Fuchs, Lawrence H. (2000). Beyond Patriarchy: Jewish Fathers and Families. University Press of New England. p. 68. ISBN   978-0-87451-941-9.
2. Henry, Sondra; Taitz, Emily (1978). Written out of History: A Hidden Legacy of Jewish Women Revealed Through Their Writings and Letters . Bloch Publishing Company. p.  87. ISBN   9780819704542.
3. Eisenberg, Joyce; Scolnic, Ellen (2001). The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words. Jewish Publication Society. p. 114. ISBN   978-0-8276-0723-1.
4. Brayer, Menachem Mendl (1986). The Jewish Woman in Rabbinic literature, Volume 1. Ktav Publishing House. pp. 104, 113. ISBN   978-0-88125-072-5.
5. Rubin-Schwartz, Shuly (2006). The Rabbi's Wife: The Rebbetzin in American Jewish Life. New York University Press. p. 12. ISBN   978-0-8147-4016-3.
6. Karpeles, Gustav (1895). Jewish Literature, and Other Essays. Jewish Publication Society. p.  117. miriam shapiro.
7. Papers Read Before the Jews College Literary Society During the Session 1886-7. The Jewish Chronicle. 1887. p.  86. miriam schapira.
8. Taitz, Emily; Henry, Sondra (1996). Remarkable Jewish Women: Rebels, Rabbis, and Other Women from Biblical Times to the Present . Jewish Publication Society. p.  42. ISBN   978-0-8276-0573-2.
9. Remy, Nahida (1916). The Jewish Woman. Bloch Publishing Company.
10. Baumel Joseph, Norma. "The Feminist Challenge to Judaism: Critique and Transformation", in Joy, Morny; Neumaier-Dargyay, Eva K.; Gerhart, Mary (1995). Gender, Genre and Religion: Feminist Reflections. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 63.