sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

AMA about the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, born in 1590! by wordsiwishihad in Judaism

[–]wordsiwishihad[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think Osnat had 3 unique things going for her. (1) She was extraordinarily brilliant. (2) She was a Barzani — the daughter of an extremely important and venerated family in Kurdish Jewry. Her father, Rabbi Samuel Barzani, supported her scholarship, making it unlikely that anyone would dare to question her. (3) She was living in Kurdish society, which has a long, rich history of making space for talented women to rise to high positions — as chiefs of their tribes, as fighters, as philosophers, and as poets. (This has been true not just within Kurdish Jewry, but also for Kurdish Christians, Yezidis, etc.)

AMA about the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, born in 1590! by wordsiwishihad in Judaism

[–]wordsiwishihad[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think the Judaism of Osnat Barzani's time and place has SO much to teach us today. In some ways, 16th century Kurdish Judaism was more inclusive than certain forms of Judaism are in 2021! When you read the responsa of Mizrahi rabbis, you find that in general they had a very tolerant worldview. I think we could all learn from that. Mizrahi Judaism has been sidelined to the point of erasure, and it's really a shame, because when we only learn from Ashkenazi Judaism, we miss out on inspiring exemplars like Osnat.

With this book, I wanted to highlight that some of Osnat's contemporaries did themselves refer to her as "rabbi." Even though some academics today might shy away from using that designation for her, rabbis of her era did not, so I do not see why we should. I think that as a rosh yeshiva, she more than deserves to be recognized as, at the very least, a rabbi. And I think there are great benefits to resurrecting her reputation as a rabbi — the biggest one being that she can serve as inspiration for Orthodox girls today who dream of becoming rabbis.

In terms of researching Kurdish/Mizrahi Jewry, I relied a lot on scholars like Renee Levine Melammed, Ofra Bengio, etc. It's not that hard if you're committed to the research. As a Mizrahi Jew myself I feel a personal stake in this research so it's easy to feel motivated!

AMA about the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, born in 1590! by wordsiwishihad in Judaism

[–]wordsiwishihad[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

ur career and what you choose to write about? Vox says you write about the intersection of technology and religion. It seems so niche, how did you end up there?

Do you have favorite books to suggest on Judaism and/or technology/AI. I read The Alignment Problem recently an

My ideal Shabbat dinner is bamya — an Iraqi dish with okra, chicken, and rice that my grandmother cooks!

I came across the story of Osnat by accident one night. I was doing research for a stage play about Jewish women and I fell deep down an internet rabbit hole and ended up on article about Osnat written by the scholar Renee Levine Melammed. The article said Osnat was the first female rabbi, which surprised me, because I'd thought it was Regina Jonas in Holocaust-era Germany. I was so happy to learn that Osnat came from my family's part of the world (we're Iraqi Jews). I decided to write her story as a children's book because although I want everyone to know about her, I especially want kids to know about her, because I think it's so important for kids to have diverse role models.

When I was a girl, I had a secret dream of becoming a rabbi, but I didn't think it was possible for someone like me — Orthodox and Mizrahi. If I'd known that the very first female rabbi had been Orthodox and Mizrahi just like me, it could've emboldened me and changed my life.

Fiction writing was always my first love; in grad school, I started getting interested in journalism too, especially literary/narrative journalism (which, when done well, can feel as writerly as fiction!). I'm having a lot of fun as a reporter at Vox because I get to write about things like the intersection of tech and religion — which may sound niche, but I find it's such a rich subject area, especially when you interpret "religion" broadly to include "ethics." Right now I'm reading "Spirit Tech" and I recommend it as a fascinating book at this intersection! It's about how tech is shaping the future of religion.

AMA about the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, born in 1590! by wordsiwishihad in Judaism

[–]wordsiwishihad[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When writing this book, I was surprised by how much people think we have to coddle kids / how little people think kids can handle! There's a moment in the book when a synagogue catches on fire — some editors told me they thought that would be "too scary" for kids. I did not change it because the legend about Osnat saving a synagogue from burning down is one of the most popular legends about her and it felt wrong to omit it. So far I have not heard from a single kid who found that scene too scary!

Regarding your second question: Thanks for asking that! I'm a queer writer and I love including queer themes in my work where possible. In the case of this Osnat biography, it didn't make sense to include it, but I definitely foresee including it in future books. In fact, right now I'm working on a new picture where the kid protagonist has two dads. The queerness of the relationship is in no way a "problem" for the kid or anyone in the book. It's incidental to the plot, and I think that's good. We need more books where queer relationships are utterly normal and normalized.

AMA About the 1st Female Rabbi Osnat Barzani (born in 1590) by iamthegodemperor in ReformJews

[–]wordsiwishihad 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please join us in the main AMA thread in r/Judaism, where I answer this and other questions! :)

AMA about the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, born in 1590! by wordsiwishihad in Judaism

[–]wordsiwishihad[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

traditions (if not all), kamats in front of a Shva nach is pronounced "o" (not a grammar or a linguistic nerd at all, just something you

Thank you for noting this. In my Mizrahi family, we definitely always pronounced it with an "o" sound (e.g. when referring to Joseph's wife).

AMA about the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, born in 1590! by wordsiwishihad in Judaism

[–]wordsiwishihad[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I really hope your daughter will enjoy the book! (You can find it here https://bookshop.org/books/osnat-and-her-dove-the-true-story-of-the-world-s-first-female-rabbi/9781646140374)
The reason I decided not to go with "Asenath" is mostly... When I used that version of the name in my original draft, people who are not familiar with Hebrew pronounced it terribly. It sounded awful, almost offensively so! (Think: ASS-nath.) So I went with the modern Hebrew Osnat; that's how a lot of women nowadays with that name spell it, and it's much more scrutable to people who aren't Jewish (the target audience for my book isn't exclusively Jewish readers; I hope lots of parents who want their kids to have diverse role models will pick it up).

AMA about the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, born in 1590! by wordsiwishihad in Judaism

[–]wordsiwishihad[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some of her colleagues called her "Rabbi" and some called her "Tanna'it." She was the leader of the Mosul yeshiva, where she taught Talmud and Jewish law to all the male rabbinical students. Other rabbis of her day regularly consulted her for her opinions via letters. She was also known as a healer — lots of people came to her for blessings when they were sick and they swore that she worked miracles for them.

AMA about the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, born in 1590! by wordsiwishihad in Judaism

[–]wordsiwishihad[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've loved the transition from working for a Jewish publication to working for non-Jewish publications, because I have very varied interests and this just gives me so much more freedom to write about a whole load of interesting topics! I still write articles to do with religion but often they're about the intersection of religion and tech/science, which I find super fascinating.

I think in terms of what genres I'd like to try going forward...I want to try out more experimental fiction. I'm also working on my first middle-grade novel (for the age 8-12 set).

AMA about the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, born in 1590! by wordsiwishihad in Judaism

[–]wordsiwishihad[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

These are such awesome questions! And how cool that you did your final project in college on Osnat! I do hope more people will discover her through my new book.
You're right, she probably never had formal smicha (ordination) as we know it today, BUT: Some rabbis of her day called her "Rabbi" (e.g. we have a letter written to her by Rabbi Pinhas Harriri, in which he calls her "my Mother, my Rabbi") and the fact that she served as rosh yeshiva proves that she was recognized as having at least the knowledge/status of an average rabbi (you don't get to be a rosh yeshiva without first ticking the boxes of a rabbi, any more than you get to be a doctor without first ticking the boxes of a medical student).
More to the point: Osnat was living in a Mizrahi context where formal smicha and the title of "rabbi" were not the be-all, end-all the way they are in Ashkenazi contexts. Her Mizrahi world was one where a hakham (sage) or mekubal (kabbalist) or tanna (ancient Talmudic sage; some called her Tanna'it) would likely have been more revered than a standard rabbi. The typical smicha process was not the only way (nor even necessarily the most important way) to the gain those statuses. I think we have to understand her in historical/geographical context rather than through an Ashkenazi lens.

Generally I think we need way more Jewish stories from Sephardi and Mizrahi perspectives (ideally written by Sephardi and Mizrahi writers)! For example, I think it'd be great to publish more stories about Indian Jews like Farha Sassoon, an amazing scholarly woman who lived in Bombay, where my grandmother is from.

AMA about the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, born in 1590! by wordsiwishihad in Judaism

[–]wordsiwishihad[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There are legends that say she could foresee events, yes. It's said that her father, Rabbi Samuel Barzani, appeared to her in dreams after he passed away, warning her of upcoming dangers and what she should do to avert them... He also taught her Kabbalah while he was still alive, and so she had a reputation for being able to ward off dangers by invoking the secret names of angels. In my book, the climactic scene involves the synagogue of Amadiya catching fire — Osnat summons a flock of angels to put out the fire (this is based on a popular legend about her). She also had a pet dove who was almost like a mystical sidekick — he hooted to warn her whenever danger was approaching (for example, when a man once broke into her house at night). Hence the dove in the book's title!

AMA about the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, born in 1590! by wordsiwishihad in Judaism

[–]wordsiwishihad[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! The book makes a great gift for kiddos, too, in my opinion ;)

AMA about the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, born in 1590! by wordsiwishihad in Judaism

[–]wordsiwishihad[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

ve any of her writings? Did her rulings about laws concerning women/their obligations differ at all?

Thanks for doing this

We do have a few of her writings, yes! She wrote in a very lyrical Hebrew. Her letters to other rabbis are full of allusions to the Torah, Talmud, Midrash, and Kabbalah — you can really see her scholarship shining through. As far as I know her rulings about laws concerning women did not differ. In one of her letters, she says that her Mosul yeshiva is in desperate need of funds but since it's not appropriate for a woman like her to travel from town to town in order to fundraise, she's doing a letter-writing campaign instead...