HIST 2050 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Rabbinic Literature, Encyclopaedia Judaica, Ktav Publishing House
Sam Gritz
HIST 2050
Professor Schwartz
10/26/17
Jewish Women of the Middle Ages
My interest is in the treatment and status of Jewish women in the middle ages because it is a
field of research that I feel does not get talked about enough. All the information that we have about
women were written by men, for men. This is because women were not taught Hebrew and could not
get the type or degree of education that men received. Furthermore, the major writings that form the
religious beliefs behind Judaism were solely written by men. My general working thesis is that during the
middle ages, the general attitude towards Jewish woman in religious communities was that they
belonged in a separate sphere; legal writings and Rabbinic literature provide the evidence for this
peripheral view. The three main points that I will be considering include the education of women,
women in domestic life, and women in the religious realm; I will be looking a wide variety of documents
and research that include reponsa literature, contracts of marriage, divorce, and inheritance (Rabbi
Eleazer of Worms), business correspondence, historical books, and research articles and periodicals.
Furthermore, I will be answering the general questions of who is a Jew and how have the boundaries of
Jewishness changed by comparing the attitude towards women in the middle ages to religious as well as
less religious communities in modernity. For example, this can include the various orthodox
communities across the world in places such as Europe, the United States, and the Middle East
(specifically Israel); the role of women in the military and in government can be another direction to
approach for this topic.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
My interest is in the treatment and status of jewish women in the middle ages because it is a field of research that i feel does not get talked about enough. All the information that we have about women were written by men, for men. This is because women were not taught hebrew and could not get the type or degree of education that men received. Furthermore, the major writings that form the religious beliefs behind judaism were solely written by men. My general working thesis is that during the middle ages, the general attitude towards jewish woman in religious communities was that they belonged in a separate sphere; legal writings and rabbinic literature provide the evidence for this peripheral view. Eleazer of worms), business correspondence, historical books, and research articles and periodicals. Furthermore, i will be answering the general questions of who is a jew and how have the boundaries of.
