Miriam Shapira-Luria Explained

Miriam Shapira-Luria
Birth Place:Konstanz
Other Names:Rabbanit Miriam
Known For:Woman Talmudic scholar
Spouse:Yochanan Luria
Parents: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] late 14th or early 15th centuries in Konstanz, on the southern German border. Her father was Rabbi Solomon Shapira, a descendant of Rashi, an 11th century commentator.[3] [4] [5] Shapira-Luria's brother was the noted rabbi, Peretz of Konstanz. Her husband, Yochanan Luria was a rabbi who was known to interpret the Talmud liberally.

Talmud teacher

Shapira-Luria, also known as Rabbanit Miriam,[6] taught in Padua, Italy.[7] She conducted a yeshiva (a higher institution for the study of central Jewish texts) and gave public lectures on Jewish codes of law. She was thoroughly conversant in rabbinical writings, and Nahida Ruth Lazarus writes that her "Talmudic disputations with other distinguished scholars of her time created a great sensation."[8] 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.[9]

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.[10]

Descendants

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

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Fuchs, Lawrence H.. Beyond Patriarchy: Jewish Fathers and Families. 2000. University Press of New England. 978-0-87451-941-9. 68.
  2. Book: Henry. Sondra. Taitz. Emily. Written out of History: A Hidden Legacy of Jewish Women Revealed Through Their Writings and Letters. registration. 1978. Bloch Publishing Company. 87. 9780819704542 .
  3. Book: Brayer, Menachem Mendl. The Jewish Woman in Rabbinic literature, Volume 1. 1986. Ktav Publishing House. 978-0-88125-072-5. 104, 113.
  4. Book: Rubin-Schwartz, Shuly . The Rabbi's Wife: The Rebbetzin in American Jewish Life. 2006. New York University Press. 978-0-8147-4016-3. 12.
  5. Book: Papers Read Before the Jews College Literary Society During the Session 1886-7. miriam schapira.. 1887. The Jewish Chronicle. 86.
  6. Book: Eisenberg. Joyce. Scolnic. Ellen . The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words. 2001. Jewish Publication Society. 978-0-8276-0723-1. 114.
  7. Book: Henry. Sondra. Taitz. Emily. Remarkable Jewish Women: Rebels, Rabbis, and Other Women from Biblical Times to the Present. 1996. Jewish Publication Society. 42. 978-0-8276-0573-2. registration.
  8. Book: Remy, Nahida . Nahida Ruth Lazarus

    . Nahida Ruth Lazarus. The Jewish Woman. 1916. Bloch Publishing Company.

  9. 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.
  10. Book: Karpeles, Gustav . Gustav Karpeles

    . Gustav Karpeles. Jewish Literature, and Other Essays. miriam shapiro.. 1895. Jewish Publication Society. 117.

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