The appearance of Beruria! The only woman whose textual interpretations are included in the Talmud - Beruria is the wife of Rabbi Meir. In her first entrance, and with snappy dialogue (she is the master of the halackic one-liners!), Beruria convinces her husband, who has been harassed by robbers not to pray for their death but for the death of their sins. She does this by neatly flipping one word of a prooftext. With proof in hand, Rabbi Meir prays that the thieves will repent - and they do! In this and other examples, Beruria displays not only compassion, but quick intelligence and the confidence to stand up for her beliefs. Perhaps one can say that she is the exception which proves the rule of what is to modern eyes a highly offensive negation of women in the Talmud - reflecting the reality of a 1,500 year old text. But one can also hold Beruria up as a demonstration of personal strength and respect for intellect. Beruria continues to inspire.
note: although I study every day, I do not post on Shabbat. On these summer days when Shabbat ends so late, I will most likely double post on Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment