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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.

Family

Miriam Shapira-Luria was born sometime in the 13th, 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. 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, Italy. 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." 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.

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 (Maharshal), a posek (Jewish law decisor).

See also

• Bat ha-Levi

References

1. ^ Fuchs, Lawrence H. (2000). Beyond Patriarchy: Jewish Fathers and Families. University Press of New England. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-87451-941-9.
2. Henry, Sondra; Taitz, Emily (1978). Written out of History: A Hidden Legacy of Jewish Women Revealed Through Their Writings and Letters. Bloch Publishing Company. p. 87. ISBN 9780819704542.
3. ^ Eisenberg, Joyce; Scolnic, Ellen (2001). The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words. Jewish Publication Society. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-8276-0723-1.
4. ^ Brayer, Menachem Mendl (1986). The Jewish Woman in Rabbinic literature, Volume 1. Ktav Publishing House. pp. 104, 113. ISBN 978-0-88125-072-5.
5. ^ Rubin-Schwartz, Shuly (2006). The Rabbi's Wife: The Rebbetzin in American Jewish Life. New York University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-8147-4016-3.
6. ^ Karpeles, Gustav (1895). Jewish Literature, and Other Essays. Jewish Publication Society. p. 117. miriam shapiro.
7. ^ Papers Read Before the Jews College Literary Society During the Session 1886-7. The Jewish Chronicle. 1887. p. 86. miriam schapira.
8. Taitz, Emily; Henry, Sondra (1996). Remarkable Jewish Women: Rebels, Rabbis, and Other Women from Biblical Times to the Present. Jewish Publication Society. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-8276-0573-2.
9. Remy, Nahida (1916). The Jewish Woman. Bloch Publishing Company.
10. 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.

v t e Women rabbis and Torah scholars
Timeline of women rabbis
Pre-modern figures	Bible and Talmud Deborah (1107–1067 BCE) Bruriah (2nd century) Medieval and early modern era Rashi's daughters (11th–12th century) Bat ha-Levi (12th century) Paula Dei Mansi (13th century) Miriam Shapira-Luria (14th century) Fioretta of Modena (1522–1580) Bayla Falk (16th century) Eva Bacharach (1580–1651) Asenath Barzani (1590–1670) Frehat Bat Avraham (d. 1756) Maiden of Ludmir (1805–1888)
Modern figures	Ray Frank (1861–1948) Lily Montagu (1873–1963) Regina Jonas (1902–1944) Tehilla Lichtenstein (1893–1973) Paula Ackerman (1893–1989) Martha Neumark (1904–1981) Avis Clamitz (1908-1991) Helen Levinthal (1910–1989) Sally Priesand (b. 1946) Mimi Feigelson (b. 1963) First ordination by denomination Regina Jonas (Reform, 1935) Sandy Sasso (Reconstructionist, 1974) Lynn Gottlieb (Renewal, 1981) Amy Eilberg (Conservative, 1985) Tamara Kolton (Humanistic, 1999) Sara Hurwitz (Orthodox, 2009)
Alternate rabbinical roles	Yoetzet halacha Toanot Rabniyot
Organisations and midrashot	Women's Rabbinic Network Yeshivat Maharat Matan Women's Institute Midreshet Lindenbaum Nishmat Center Hadran
Category: Women rabbis

• German women academics
• Talmudists
• People from Konstanz