Women of Distinction

Read about some of the outstanding women throughout Jewish history who impacted Jewish scholarship.

Rebbetzin Menucha Rochel was a beloved and revered foundation of the Hebron community for 43 years.

The “Shunamit woman” was a perceptive, intuitive woman who merited the ultimate miracle: the revival of her dead son. Here is her story.

Sometimes a woman’s bold action can save her husband’s life, spiritually and physically. Such was the case with the wife of Ohn ben Peles.

A wife illuminates her husband’s eyes by enabling him to see things beyond his natural perspective.

A story of a woman whose prayers were miraculously answered.

Sometimes it’s not what you say, but how you say it.

How often do we become excited by something, and then the excitement subsides?

Metaphorically, a man brings the raw and coarse materials home. The woman has the power to transform those materials into a finished product, thereby elevating and refining the man’s contribution.

Can women, too, reach great heights of scholarship?

Her two sons died suddenly on Shabbat, but she hid the fact from her husband until she found a way to comfort him.

Spending too much time at work trying to make an extra buck? Wondering what the key to G‑d’s blessings is? The Talmud has an interesting formula.

There are few women named in the Talmud. One is Yalta.

Have you ever hosted a dinner party, only to have your plans go awry? Well, you’re not alone. Learn about a Jewish queen’s creative solution that saved the party.

Although he was then a 40-year-old ignorant shepherd, she intuited that if given the opportunity, he could become a great scholar.

Why is she described as a Cushite when she actually was a Midianite?

Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them merited to serve in the position of high priest (at least for one day) during her lifetime.

We’ve all heard of Jonah and the whale, but have you ever heard of Jonah’s wife?

Not only did the woman best Rabbi Yehoshua, but she taught us an important lesson about the proper way to criticize.

She exerted herself in prayer to overturn the terrible decree to good.

Yocheved, the mother of Moses and Aaron and Miriam, surely was one of the greatest Jewish women that ever lived. She was a great lover of Jewish children, and devoted all her time to helping young Jewish mothers and their newly born babies.

The spirit of prophecy came to Miriam when she was still a child. Her earliest prophecy was that her mother was going to give birth to a son who would free the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage.

Tzipporah, Yitro’s daughter, was famous for her fine character and beauty. In Midian, where she lived with her father and six sisters, people often talked of Tzipporah’s kindness and wisdom.

Serach took her harp, which she had not played in her grandfather’s presence during all those years, and she began to play and sing.

First, the five sisters took their case to the lower courts. When the lower courts did not know how to decide the case, they sent them to the next court, until they appeared before Moses himself.

Rahab reassured the strangers of her willingness to protect them. She told them that she was ten years old when the Jews left Egypt, and had followed all that happened to them with the greatest admiration.

Deborah used to sit under a palm tree and speak to the people who flocked to hear her words of wisdom and encouragement.

Ruth did not feel any pangs of regret at what she was giving up: her life of luxury, her royal title, her prospects of wealth and honor.

The prophetess Huldah had an important share in the great spiritual revival of the Jewish people under the reign of King Josiah.

Yehudis has inspired faith and courage in the hearts of Jews throughout the ages.

Queen Salome Alexandra reigned with justice, and the land prospered again.

Mariamne was revolted by her husband’s heartless murder of most of the members of her family in order to satisfy his selfish ambitions.

It is not often that a queen decides to become a Jewess, but such was the case with Queen Helena of Adiabene.

Beruriah was very well-versed in the Holy Scriptures, and could quote from them with ease.

The fame of Maria’s beauty and wisdom reached the royal court in London, and the reigning queen, Queen Elizabeth, sent for her.

The legends that have woven around this extraordinary personality are numberless, but the historical facts prove that she was indeed an outstanding personality.

Glueckel spent her last years writing her memoirs, which are a valuable record about the life of the Jews in Germany, and Jewish life in general.

Ifra Hurmiz admired Rava and didn’t want any harm to befall him.

Rebecca is considered to be the proverbial “rose among thorns.”

“This was not during the rainy season, when I could claim that it was because of the mud that I did not bring her to Hebron. The roads were dry and good. Still, I buried her alongside the road to Ephrath . . .”

What is the mystery of the spiritual qualities represented by these two sisters? What was the secret cosmic schism that would span centuries of history?

He was Israel’s mightiest warrior, revered by friend and foe; yet for the first 28 years of his life he was a lowly outcast . . . The secret story behind the mysterious circumstances of King David’s birth.

An extraordinarily righteous woman who lived in the times of the Second Temple.

The clouds of glory certainly surrounded and protected the women as well as the men, so seemingly, women should be required to fulfill the commandment of dwelling in a sukkah, despite it being a time-bound commandment.