0

I'm seeing a couple of secondary sources which suggest, without citing a primary source, that Beruriah may have supplemented her husband's teaching "Women are light-headed", either orally or in writing, with, "...except Beruriah" or "...but not Beruriah"

Is there any primary source that this is based on?

Thanks!

Improve this question
  • 3
    Are these secondary sources a secret? Consider including them in your question. From Rashi, who records the infamous legend about Beruriah (AZ 18b), one can suspect that by her mocking of the observation “Women...” she took exception to it. – Oliver Jun 24 '19 at 20:14
  • See eg this book: books.google.co.uk/… – Zarka Jun 24 '19 at 20:16
  • (I'm familiar with the Rashi, however it doesn't contain the line I'm interested in.) – Zarka Jun 24 '19 at 20:16
  • 1
    That’s the kind of thing you should add in the body of your question - not in a comment. From a quick glance, I don’t see “except for Beruriah” which the author quotes (?) in any of his references sources. (I realize Rashi doesn’t contain it either; only proposing it as indication to the idea that she rejected it as a general rule.) – Oliver Jun 24 '19 at 20:48
4

A partial answer:

The earliest source I know of which contains the emendation by Beruriah is R. Avraham Saba in his Zeror HaMor (end of Bihalotecha; pub. 1522-23). One can assume either he had a variant reading or he misquoted.

R. Gedaliah ibn Yachya in his Shalshelet HaKabalah (p. 32a; pub. 1587) also quotes this emendation but the same assumptions are in place including that he may simply have lifted it from the aforementioned source. Incidentally, the famed Christian Hebraist, Johann Christoph Wagenseil (see more about his oeuvre here), quotes this SH in his book on Sotah (here, p. 500).

Improve this answer
  • Amazing. Thank you! – Zarka Jun 25 '19 at 17:55

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .