Asenath Barazani | Rosh Yeshiva in Kurdistan | Prof. Renée Levine Melammed

As the only daughter of a charismatic rabbi in Kurdistan, Asenath Barazani married her father’s finest student who then himself was appointed the Rosh Yeshiva. Yet the scholarly and practical Asenath faced continuous financial difficulties as she inherited this impressive position after both rabbis passed away. This woman kept her faith in times of hardship. For that she has been revered for centuries and is considered a sage among the contemporary Kurdish community.
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Throughout history, women have always had to seek creative ways to overcome obstacles. In this series, we will meet three Jewish women from different historical periods who have encountered hardship and prevailed. In XV century Portugal, Doña Gracia Mendes faced life as a conversa, having to hide from greedy inquisitors; Asenath Barazani struggled to maintain a yeshiva on her own in XVII century Kurdistan, and Bouena Sarfatty fled from the Nazis after their conquest of Salonika, now Thessaloniki.

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