Osnat and Her Dove: The True Story of the World’s First Female Rabbi

Gr 2-4–This loose biography relates the little known story of the first female rabbi, Osnat Barzani, a Kurdish Jew whose knowledge of the Torah and leadership of a yeshiva in ancient Iraq broke gender barriers. In language reminiscent of a fairy tale, a child named Osnat is born in 1590—“almost five hundred years ago, when almost everyone believed in miracles.” Born into a family with no sons, and surrounded by books, she convinces her father, a rabbi in the yeshiva, to teach her to read. As Osnat (and her knowledge and reputation) grows, her father intervenes to arrange a marriage conducive to her continued study of Hebrew scriptures. After her father and husband die, Osnat receives a vision in a dream from her father to assume leadership of the yeshiva. Legends of Osnat, such as her healing of her pet dove and of the sick, as well as a supernatural intervention during a fire at a synagogue, are included. There is an author’s note, and while there is no glossary, words such as davul and kubbah are clearly understood in context. Gouache illustrations with mostly full-page backgrounds of blue, red and gold depict Osnat’s tale, and include religious symbols such as a dove (denoting peace) and the number seven (considered a perfect number in Judaism).