Bat ha-Levi

Bat ha-Levi (12th-century), was an Iraqi Jewish scholar. She gave lessons to male students and had a remarkable position for a Jewish woman in 12th-century Iraq.^[1]

Her name is not known, and she is known under the name Bat ha-Levi, meaning 'the daughter of the Levite'. She was the only child of Rabbi Samuel ben Ali (Samuel ha-Levi ben al-Dastur, d. 1194), the Geon of Baghdad.^[2]^[3] In the Medieval Middle East, education was normally low for Jewish women, but Bat ha-Levi was a famous exception.^[4] She was active as a teacher and gave lessons to her father's male students from a window, with her students listening from the courtyard below. This arrangement intended to preserve her modesty as well as prevent the students from being diverted.^[1]

A eulogy in the form of a poem by R. Eleazar ben Jacob ha-Bavli (c. 1195–1250), is believed to describe the virtues and wisdom of Bat ha-Levi.^[1]

Her activities were reported in the medieval travel diary Petachiah of Regensburg.

She married one of her father's students, Zekharya ben Berakh'el, who died before her father did.^[2]^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Taitz, Emily; Henry, Sondra; Tallan, Cheryl (2003-02-01). The JPS Guide to Jewish Women: 600 B.C.E.to 1900 C.E. Jewish Publication Society. ISBN 978-0-8276-0752-1.
^ ^a ^b Hirschberg, H. Z. (J W. ) (2024-02-26). A History of the Jews in North Africa: Volume 1 From Antiquity to the Sixteenth Century. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-67110-2.
^ ^a ^b Dubnow, Simon (1967). History of the Jews: From the Roman Empire to the early medieval period. Associated University Presse.
^ Marcus, Ivan G. (2023-04-14). Jewish Culture and Society in Medieval France and Germany. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-94886-8.

Baskin, J. R. (2012). Educating Jewish Girls in Medieval Muslim and Christian Settings. Making a Difference: Essays on the Bible and Judaism in Honor of Tamara Cohen Eskenazi. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix, 19-37.
Emily Taitz, Sondra Henry & Cheryl Tallan, The JPS Guide to Jewish Women: 600 B.C.E.to 1900 C.E., 2003
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/learned-women-in-traditional-jewish-society

[:0-1] Taitz, Emily; Henry, Sondra; Tallan, Cheryl (2003-02-01). The JPS Guide to Jewish Women: 600 B.C.E.to 1900 C.E. Jewish Publication Society. ISBN 978-0-8276-0752-1.

[:1-2] Hirschberg, H. Z. (J W. ) (2024-02-26). A History of the Jews in North Africa: Volume 1 From Antiquity to the Sixteenth Century. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-67110-2.

[:2-3] Dubnow, Simon (1967). History of the Jews: From the Roman Empire to the early medieval period. Associated University Presse.

[4] Marcus, Ivan G. (2023-04-14). Jewish Culture and Society in Medieval France and Germany. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-94886-8.

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See also

References