Professor Rachel Elior on the social, cultural and legal implications of female illiteracy in Jewish communities through much of history.

Through much of history the Jewish Hebrew library of the ‘People of the Book’ excluded half of humanity; across all traditional Jewish communities compulsory communal education was only for boys until the turn of the last century.

In her comprehensive study The Unknown History of Jewish Women Through The Ages Rachel Elior examines the social, cultural and legal implications of female illiteracy, from antiquity and the Middle Ages to mid-20th-century immigration to Israel and beyond.

The professor of Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem speaks to London School of Jewish Studies chief executive Joanna Greenaway.

Buy a copy of The Unknown History of Jewish Women Through the Ages by Rachel Elior.

This event will last approximately 1 hour, without an interval. 

Digital events will take place over Zoom, with an event link sent to bookers 24 hours in advance of the event and a reminder email 30 minutes before the event starts. Ticket holders for digital events will also be sent a link to a recording of the event, available to watch until the end of March.

Book Week 24 Digi-Pass gives access to all 16 online streaming events for £39.50.

About the speakers:

Rachel Elior is John and Golda Cohen Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Jewish Mystical Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the author of numerous works on Jewish mysticism and Hasidism, two of which are also published by the Littman Library: The Three Temples: On the Emergence of Jewish Mysticism (2004), and The Mystical Origins of Hasidism (2006). The recipient of many honours, she was awarded the 2006 Gershom Scholem Prize for the Study of Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Joanne Greenaway is the Chief Executive of LSJS. She is an experienced International Arbitration lawyer and formerly Director of Get cases for the London Beth Din. A graduate of Cambridge University, she is part of Ohr Torah Stone’s International Halakha Scholars Program and a Sacks Scholar.