Who was the first female „rabbi“?

not only in the present but also by future generations.

Asenath Barzani was born as a daughter of Samuel Ben Nathanel Halevi

Barzani in 1590 AD in the Kurdish town of Mosul in Southern Kurdistan. Her

father, Tannaim Samuel, became her teacher, he taught her Kabbalah and

excused her from all the daily chores done usually by girls of her age.

Asenath Barzani devoted her life to studying and remembering the Holy Word

of God. Asenath was quoted by rabbi Tirsy Firestone in "The Restoration of

Women's Wisdom, page 112" "Never in my life did I make a step outside my

home. I was King of Izrael’s daughter... I was educated by scholars. I was

coddled by my deceased father. He gave me lessons about all  the heavenly

things. "

 Asenath married her  cousin Jacob Ben Abraham. Her father guaranteed her

devotion to religious work, so she was not distracted from her religious

studies by usual household duties done by other women. She gave her husband,

Jacob, two children - a son and a daughter.

After her husband's death, Asenath was the head of the Moses Yeshiva,

teaching the Torah in Kurdistan until her son reached the appropriate age

and became the head of the Yeshiva. Modern scholars consider her the first

Jewish woman rabbi in southern Kurdistan because of her leading position in

Yeshiva .

Asenath died in 1670 in the historic city of Amedi in Southern Kurdistan.

Her grave used to be and still is a place of pilgrimage for the Jews up to

now.    

Nowadays Asenath Barzani is not only considered the first Jewish rabbinical

woman, but her story is the oldest record on the role of Kurdish women in

history and is still kept alive in Israel, Kurdistan and the Jewish-Kurdish

archives. Asenath Barzani has been showing the role of Kurdish women in

society for centuries. Her story as a woman philosopher and theologian will

be remembered by Kurdish and Jewish women not only in the present but also

in the future generations.

Asenath Barzani was named Tanna'it. This denomination is a rabbinical

title, but it is not identical to the title of rabbi. Since her father was

labeled as such and not as a rabbi, it is clear that in Kurdistan of the

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the rabbi usually performed as Tannai

(Tanna'it's female form), so it was determined. It is therefore likely that

Asenath Barzani was the first woman rabbi, while Regina Jonas (1902-1942)

was the first woman who was called the Rabbi.

The most combative Kurdish family is called Barzani, the family that has

been waging the 100-year Kurdish liberation war. The name of the legendary

leader of the Kurds, who also resided in Prague, was Mustafa Barzani, and he

was not only a loyal friend of the legendary Moshe Dayan but of the whole

Israel!

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Ceska verze clanku je zde :https://uzunoglu.blog.idnes.cz/blog.aspx?c=471663