Miriam Shapira-Luria, also known as Rabbanit Miriam, was a

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

ic scholar of the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...

. According to academic Lawrence H. Fuchs, she was one of the "most noted" women Talmud scholars.

Family

Miriam Shapira-Luria was born sometime in the 13th, late 14th or early 15th centuries in

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

, on the southern German border. Her father was

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Solomon Shapira, a descendant of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

, an 11th century commentator. 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, taught in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, Italy. She conducted a ''

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

'' (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 Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...

, and

Nahida Ruth Lazarus Nahida Lazarus (born February 3, 1849) was a German–Jewish author, essayist, scholar, and literary critic. She was born in Berlin into a German Christian family. She was married first to Dr. Max Remy (in her writings she still signed herse ...

writes that her "Talmudic disputations with other distinguished scholars of her time created a great sensation." Female community teachers were rare in Jewish tradition but "not unheard of", according to

Norma Baumel Joseph Norma Baumel Joseph (born 1944 in Brooklyn) is an American-born Canadian professor and Jewish feminist activist. In 1990, Joseph was successful in working with the Government of Canada to pass a law that would protect Jewish women in need of a ' ...

, who lists as other examples

Huldah Huldah ( he, חֻלְדָּה ''Ḥuldā'') was a prophet mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in and . According to the Bible, she was a prophetess. After the discovery of a book of the Law during renovations at Solomon's Temple, on the order of King J ...

Bruriah Bruriah ( he, ברוריה or he, ברוריא, also Beruriah) is one of several women quoted as a sage in the Talmud. She was the wife of the Tanna Rabbi Meir and the daughter of Hananiah ben Teradion. Biography Bruriah lived during the firs ...

Asenath Barzani Asenath Barzani (, 1590–1670), was a Kurdish Jewish female rabbinical scholar and poet who lived near Duhok, Kurdistan. Biography Family background Asenath was born into the Barzani family, a well-known Jewish family in northern Kurdi ...

, and

Nechama Leibowitz Nechama Leibowitz ( he, נחמה ליבוביץ׳; September 3, 1905 – April 12, 1997 ) was a noted Israeli Bible scholar and commentator who rekindled interest in Bible study. Biography Nechama Leibowitz was born to an Orthodox Jewish fami ...

.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. 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.

Descendants

Shapira-Luria was the ancestress of the Luria rabbinical family, the grandmother of

Solomon Luria Solomon Luria (1510 – November 7, 1573) ( he, שלמה לוריא) was one of the great Ashkenazic ''poskim'' (decisors of Jewish law) and teachers of his time. He is known for his work of Halakha, ''Yam Shel Shlomo'', and his Talmudic commenta ...

(''Maharshal''), a ''

posek In Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities a ...

'' (

Jewish law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...

decisor).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapira-Luria, Miriam German women academics Talmudists People from Konstanz

Family

Talmud teacher

Descendants

See also

References