The Madwoman in the Rabbi's Attic: Rereading the Women of the Talmud

Gila Fine & Jan Fingerland

“Gila Fine is one of the great Talmud teachers of our time. It’s vitally important that the
Jewish world hear what she has to say.” Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Women in the Talmud are generally marginal and almost always anonymous – the daughters, sisters, and wives of prominent rabbis. The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic explores the stories of the exceptions, the six named heroines of the Talmud: Yalta the shrew, Homa the femme fatale, Marta the prima donna, Heruta the madonna/whore, Beruria the overreacherix, and Ima Shalom the angel in the house. As their epithets suggest, every one of these women appears to embody an antifeminist archetype. Yet in each case, a careful rereading reveals that there is a lot more to the story than initially meets the eye; that the heroine is far more complex than she first seems; and that the rabbis had rather surprising – so as not to say proto-feminist – views of marriage, sex, childbirth, and what it means to be a woman in the world. In presenting us with archetypes that systematically break down, the Talmud imparts profound moral teachings about how to read the characters of a text and, ultimately, how to regard the people in our lives. Gila Fine, author of the book and recipient of the Rabbi Sacks Award, will be in conversation with Jan Fingerland.

Gila Fine is the author of The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic: Rereading the Women of the Talmud, winner of the 74th National Jewish Book Award and the 2024 Rabbi Sacks Book Prize. She is a lecturer of rabbinic literature, exploring the tales of the Talmud through philosophy, literary criticism, psychoanalysis, and pop-culture. Gila serves on the faculties of Shalem College, the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, the Tikvah Scholars Program, the Nachshon Project, and Amudim Seminary, and has taught thousands of students at conferences and communities across the Jewish world. She is the recipient of the Maimonides Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.