The 1983 film Yentl — a romantic musical drama directed, co-written, co-produced by, and starring Barbra Streisand — told the story of an Ashkenazi Jewish girl in Poland who decides to dress and live like a boy so she can receive an education in Talmudic Law. Jewish girls and women no longer need to cross-dress to study Talmud. In fact, some are actually teaching — including to male students — the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law and Jewish theology.
Quote: “Among devout Orthodox Jews, the intense study of Talmud is no longer just a man’s world. Women are increasingly delving into this central religious work, and American expats in Israel are at the forefront of the trend. They’re following a custom called Daf Yomi, Hebrew for “daily page,” which involves reading a page a day of this centuries-old, multivolume collection of rabbinic teachings, debates and interpretations of Judaism. It takes about seven years and five months to read all 2,711 pages.”
Sources: Introduciton from Wikipedia and NPR.org, quotation from NPR.org
Learn more about the Talmud from Wikipedia. ►
Read “Orthodox Jewish Women Take A New Lead In Talmud Study In Israel” ►
Read “A unicorn in the world of women’s Torah learning” ►
Watch “Advancing Talmud Study for Women: A New VBM Interview with Rabbanit Michelle Cohen Farber!” [18:03]. ►
Photo: NPR
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