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 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
