Should any woman, on the basis of her gender, refrain from studying Torah?  If a woman does study Torah, what status can she achieve?  Can she become a Talmid Chacham and would people treat her as such?

Our Gemara toward the end of amud beis mentions Beruriah, the daughter of Rav Chananya ben Tradyon and wife of Rabbi Meir. She was a great Torah scholar who learned three hundred Halachos from three hundred rabbis in one day. She is even quoted in a machlokes between the sages and Rabbi Tarfon in Tosefta Keylim Metzia 1:3

There are many known discussions about women and Torah study, so I will not focus on the frequently quoted sources.  Rather, I would like to bring up interesting and less known ideas on this matter put forth by great sages.  The Torah Temimah (Devarim 11:19) quotes a sage, Rav Shmuel Arkuvelti who has a bold and creative assertion regarding this age old discussion.  

Since I am about to quote him, here is some background information about Rav Arkuvelti and his stature.  He was Rav of the Kehilla in Padua in the 16-17th century.  Additionally, we find his work on grammar quoted by Tosafos Yom Tov in Mishna Tamid 7:4. http://old.piyut.org.il/articles/683.html )

Rav Arkuvelti suggests that the prohibition against teaching one’s daughter Torah mentioned in Sotah (21a) and codified by Rambam (Laws of Torah Study 1:13) is literally referring to a daughter, that is, a young immature person.  Essentially, as women are not tasked with Torah study there is little value to introducing it to them when their minds and emotions are less developed.  However:

“Women whose heart moves them to draw close to the work of the Lord, stemming from their own free-will to choose what is good, they shall surely ascend the mountain of the Lord. They shall dwell in His holy place because they are wondrous women. It is upon the scholars of their generation to praise such women , revere them, and to support their efforts to study Torah. Such women should receive Divine blessings and assistance.”

Whoa, how come we never learned that in Yeshiva?  While we are noticing revolutionary teachings hiding in plain sight, here are a few more sources on this topic:

The Chid”a in his Shem Hagedolim under the word Rabanit list several cases of learned women throughout Jewish history. The introduction to the Perisha describes his mother as greatly learned and quotes two chiddushei Torah of hers.

One final assertion from the Chid”a can be found in his Bircay Yosef commentary on Shulkhan Arukh (Choshen Mishpat 7:12):  A learned woman can serve as a halakhic authority, though she cannot serve as Dayyan in a Beis Din.  That is to say in colloquial terminology, she can receive semikha in Yoreh Deah but not Yadin Yadin.  (Serving in the rabbinate as community leader is an entirely different discussion and also subject to debate and interpretation.)

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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