m4zlum:International Women’s Day: Asenath Barzani (1590-1670) was a Jewish woman who lived in Mosul.
m4zlum:International Women’s Day: Asenath Barzani (1590-1670) was a Jewish woman who lived in Mosul. She was one of the first women to receive a rabbinic title (Tanna'it).Barzani was the daughter of Rabbi Samuel ben Nethanel HaLevi Barzani, a rabbinic scholar in Kurdistan and Iraq, whose authority was absolute though he held no official position. He had founded several yeshivot and was head of the yeshivah in Mosul. He lived in great poverty and was regarded as a saint. He had no sons, and he was his daughter’s primary teacher. Her few extant writings demonstrate a complete mastery of Hebrew, Torah, Talmud, Midrash, as well as Kabbalah, and her letters are not only erudite, but also lyrical. After her death, many Jews made pilgrimages to her grave in Amadiyah, where her father is also buried.She was given the title Tanna’it, a rare honour for a Jewish woman. Some modern researchers see Barzani’s title and her role as leader of the yeshiva equal to a rabbi, and consider her a rare example of a female rabbi in traditional Judaism.“I’ll speak for the Learning and moan for its vanishing from my land, For the brilliant spark in a cloud of heaven has hidden from my people…” -- source link
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