Women’s Voices in the Talmud

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In general, only men issue halakhic statements in the Talmud. But women appear often in anecdotes about how the law was carried out. A close reading of some short anecdotes reveals that women took the law into their own hands and made changes in it for personal reasons. By looking closely at some of these anecdotes, we will see the kinds of changes women made in the law and the reasons for these changes. Text handouts in Hebrew and English.

ABOUT THIS SPEAKER: Rabbi Judith Hauptman is the E. Billi Ivry Professor (emerita) of Talmud and Rabbinic Culture at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. She is the first woman to be awarded a PhD degree in Talmud. Her research focuses on two main areas, tracing the history of the text of the Talmud and teasing women’s history out of rabbinic texts. She is the author of three books and numerous articles. Her volume, Rereading the Rabbis, A Woman’s Voice (1998), has been called a founding work of the new Jewish feminism. She is a fellow of the prestigious American Academy for Jewish Research. In 2004, she established Ohel Ayalah, a free, walk-in High Holiday service for Jews in their 20s and 30s. Hundreds attend Ohel Ayalah’s holiday services and Passover seders each year. Rabbi Hauptman is a popular speaker, having taught at LimmudUK, the Global Day of Jewish Learning (NYC), and the Tikkun Leyl Shavuot of Downtown Jewish Life (NYC) for many years. She served as volunteer Jewish Chaplain at the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation for ten years, until it closed. Her articles on contemporary issues of Jewish interest appear frequently in the Jewish Week. She is currently at work on a book about short halakhic anecdotes in the Babylonian Talmud.

LM