Nechama Leibowitz (Hebrew: נחמה ליבוביץ׳) (born 1905; died 1997) was a noted
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
i
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
scholar and commentator who rekindled interest in Bible study.
Nechama Leibowitz was born to an
Orthodox JewishOrthodox Judaism is a formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim.Orthodox...
family in Riga two years after her elder brother, the philosopher
Yeshayahu LeibowitzYeshayahu Leibowitz was an Israeli philosopher and scientist known for his outspoken, often controversial opinions on Judaism, ethics, religion and politics.- Biography :...
. The family moved to
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1919. In 1930, Leibowitz received a doctorate from the University of Berlin for her thesis,
Techniques in the Translations of German-Jewish Biblical Translations.
Nechama Leibowitz (Hebrew: נחמה ליבוביץ׳) (born 1905; died 1997) was a noted
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
i
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
scholar and commentator who rekindled interest in Bible study.
Biography
Nechama Leibowitz was born to an
Orthodox JewishOrthodox Judaism is a formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim.Orthodox...
family in Riga two years after her elder brother, the philosopher
Yeshayahu LeibowitzYeshayahu Leibowitz was an Israeli philosopher and scientist known for his outspoken, often controversial opinions on Judaism, ethics, religion and politics.- Biography :...
. The family moved to
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1919. In 1930, Leibowitz received a doctorate from the University of Berlin for her thesis,
Techniques in the Translations of German-Jewish Biblical Translations. That same year 1930, she immigrated to Mandate Palestine. She taught at a
religious ZionistReligious Zionism, or the Religious Zionist Movement is an ideology that combines Zionism and religious Judaism, basing Zionism on the principles of Torah, Talmud et al...
teachers' seminar for the next twenty-five years. In 1957 she began lecturing at
Tel Aviv UniversityTel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Israel. In 2006, it had 29,000 students.-History:...
, and became a full professor eleven years later. She also gave classes at the
Hebrew University of JerusalemThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israel's oldest university....
and other educational institutions around the country. In addition to her writings, Leibowitz commented on the Torah readings regularly for the Voice of Israel radio station.
She married her uncle, Yedidya Lipman Leibowitz, who was 30 years older than her. They had no children.
Study sheets
In 1942, Leibowitz began mailing out
stencilA stencil is a template used to draw or paint identical letters, numbers, symbols, shapes, or patterns every time it is used. Stencil technique in visual art is also referred to as pochoir....
s of questions on the weekly
TorahThe term "Torah" , refers either to the Five Books of Moses or to the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts...
reading to anyone who requested them. These worksheets, which she called
gilyonot (pages) would be sent back to her, and she would personally review them and return them with corrections and comments. They became very popular and in demand by people from all sectors of Israeli society. In 1954, Leibowitz began publishing her "Studies", which included many of the questions that appeared on her study sheets, along with selected traditional commentaries and her own notes on them. Over time, these studies were collected into five books, one for each book of the Torah.
Teaching style
When asked to describe her methods she replied, "I have no
derech... I only teach what the commentaries say. Nothing is my own.” She was noted for her modest demeanor coupled with wry wit, and always preferred the title of "teacher" over the more prestigious "professor." In accordance with her request, "מורה" (
morah, "teacher") is the only word inscribed on her tombstone.
Awards
- In 1956, Leibowitz was awarded the Israel Prize
The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
in education , for her work in furthering understanding and appreciation of the Bible.
- In 1983, she was a co-recipient (jointly with Ephraim Elimelech Urbach
Ephraim Elimelech Urbach was a distinguished scholar of Judaism. He is best known for his landmark works on rabbinic thought, The Sages, and for research on the Tosafot...
) of the Bialik PrizeThe Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate prizes, one specifically for "Literature", which is in the field of fiction,...
for Jewish thought.
External links
Further reading
- Leah Abramowitz, Tales of Nehama: Impressions of the Life and Teaching of Nehama Leibowitz. Gefen Publishing House, 2003. ISBN 965-229-295-8.
- Shmuel Peerless, To Study and to Teach: The Methodology of Nechama Leibowitz. Urim Publications, 2005. ISBN 965-7108-55-1.
- Yael Unterman, "Nehama Leibowitz: Teacher and Bible Scholar." Urim Publications, 2009. ISBN 978-965-524-019-1
- Hayuta Deutsch, Nehama: The Life of Nehama Leibowitz Yedioth Ahronoth and Chemed Books, 2008
See also
- List of Israel Prize recipients
- List of Bialik Prize recipients
The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate prizes, one specifically for "Literature", which is in the field of fiction,...