The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic

Rereading the Women of the Talmud

A hybrid event (in-person and virtual) by Gila Fine

About The Event

“Women in the Talmud are generally marginal and almost always anonymous – the daughters, sisters, and wives of prominent rabbis. The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic explores the stories of the exceptions, the six named heroines of the Talmud: Yalta the shrew, Homa the femme fatale, Marta the prima donna, Heruta the madonna/whore, Beruria the overreacherix, and Ima Shalom the angel in the house. As their epithets suggest, every one of these women appears to embody an antifeminist archetype. Yet in each case, a careful rereading reveals that there is a lot more to the story than initially meets the eye, that the heroine is far more complex than she first seems, and that the rabbis had rather surprising – so as not to say proto-feminist – views of marriage, sex, childbirth, and what it means to be a woman in the world. In presenting us with archetypes that systematically break down, the Talmud imparts profound moral teachings about how to read the characters of a text and, ultimately, how to regard the people in our lives.”

About The Speaker

Gila Fine is a lecturer in rabbinic literature at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, where she explores the tales of the Talmud through the lenses of philosophy, literary criticism, psychoanalysis, and pop culture. She is the recipient of the Maimonides Award for Excellence in Jewish Education and serves on the faculties of the Nachson Project, Amudim Seminary, the Tikvah Scholars Program, and the London School of Jewish Studies.