Bruriah: Encyclopedia - Bruriah

Bruriah

Bruriah is the only woman quoted as a sage in the Talmud. She was the wife of the Tanna Rabbi Meir and the daughter of Rabbi Hananiah Ben Teradion, who is listed as one of the "Ten Martyrs." She is greatly admired for her breadth of knowledge in matters pertaining to both halachah and aggadah, and is said to have taught the rabbis 300 halachot on a single cloudy day (Tractate Pesachim 62b). Her parents were put to death by the Romans for teaching Torah, but she carried on their legacy.

Bruriah was very involved in the halachic discussions of her time, and even challenges her father on a matter of ritual purity (Tosefta Keilim Bava Kama 4:49). Her comments there are praised by Rabbi Judah Ben Bava. In another instance, Rabbi Joshua praises her intervention in a debate between Rabbi Tarphon and the sages, saying "Bruriah has spoken correctly" (Tosefta Keilim Bava Metzia 1:3).

She was also renowned for her sharp wit and often caustic jibes. The Talmud (Tractate Erubin 53b) relates that she once chastised Rabbi Jose, when he asked her "Which way to Lod?" claiming that he could have said the same thing in two words, "Where's Lod?" instead of four, and thereby keep to the Talmudic injunction not to speak to women unnecessarily. Some commentators see this as an angry response to the rabbinical injunction itself, while a number of modern commentators put a cynical twist on it: although Rabbi Jose was in the presence of a scholarly woman, all he could bring himself to ask her was the way to Lod.

In the Midrash on Psalms 118 it states that Bruriah taught her husband, Rabbi Meir, to pray for the repentance of the wicked, rather than for their destruction. According to the story, she once found Rabbi Meir praying that an annoying neighbor would die. Appalled by this, she responded to him by explaining the verse "Let the sinners be consumed from the earth, and the wicked shall be no more" (Psalms 104:35), that the verse actually states: "Let sin be consumed from the earth," adding that "the wicked shall be no more" because they have repented. She is also described as having strong inner strength. The Midrash on the Book of Proverbs tells that her two sons died suddenly on the Sabbath, but she hid the fact from her husband until she could tell him in a way that would comfort him. In response, Rabbi Meir quoted the verse, "A woman of valour, who can find?" (Proverbs 31:10).

In the Talmudic commentaries (Tractate Avodah Zarah), a story explains how she died. According to the story, she mocked a Talmudic assertion that women were lightheaded. In order to prove her wrong, Rabbi Meir sent one of his students to seduce her. He succeeded, and Bruriah committed suicide out of shame. Rabbi Meir, who never expected things to spiral out of control in this way, imposed exile on himself and left Palestine for Babylonia.

Despite her tragic death, Bruriah remains a subversive figure in the Talmud, a model for Jewish women of the future, and a reminder to men of the potential inherent in women.

Category: Mishnah rabbis

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Bruriah", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki