Nechama Leibowitz

Nechama Leibowitz (; September 3, 1905 – April 12, 1997) was Israel Prize laureate and Israeli Bible scholar and commentator who rekindled interest in Bible study.

Biography Nechama Leibowitz was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Riga two years after her elder brother, the philosopher Yeshayahu Leibowitz. The family moved to Berlin in 1919. In 1930, Leibowitz received a doctorate from the University of Marburg for her thesis, Techniques in the Translations of German-Jewish Biblical Translations. She was advised by philologist Karl Helm. That same year 1930, she immigrated to Mandate Palestine with her husband Yedidya Lipman Lebowitz. She taught at a religious Zionist teachers' seminar for the next twenty-five years. In 1957 she began lecturing at Tel Aviv University, and became a full professor eleven years later. She also gave classes at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem 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.

Her husband, Yedidya Lipman Leibowitz, was also her uncle. Despite much speculation about why they married, including the suggestion that it was to enable her to take care of him without transgressing religious laws, they married for love.

At her funeral, her nephew said that he is like a son to her and many of her students said kaddish for her together with her nephew.

Study sheets In 1942, Leibowitz began mailing out stencils of questions on the weekly Torah reading to anyone who requested them. These worksheets, which she called gilyonot (pages), were sent back to her, and she personally reviewed them and returned them with corrections and comments. These books were subsequently translated into English by Rabbi Aryeh (Laibel/Leonard) Newman.

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 formal "professor". In accordance with her request, "מורה" (morah, "teacher") is the only word inscribed on her tombstone, other than her name and dates. She was strict on marking mistakes in Hebrew test papers, and hated the code-switching "Heblish" of some anglophone immigrants.

Awards and recognition In 1956, Leibowitz was awarded the Israel Prize 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) of the Bialik Prize for Jewish thought.

Published works

ʻIyunim be-Sefer Bereshit : be-ʻiḳvot parshanenu ha-rishonim ṿeha-aḥaronim, 1966; English: Studies in Bereshit (Genesis) in the context of ancient and modern Jewish Bible commentary, 1971 ʻIyunim be-Sefer Shemot: be-ʻiḳvot parshanenu ha-rishonim ṿeha-aḥaronim, 1969; Eng. Studies in Shemot (Exodus), 1976 ʻIyunim be-Sefer Vayikra: be-ʻiḳvot parshanenu ha-rishonim ṿeha-aḥaronim, 1982; Eng. Studies in Vayikra (Leviticus), 1980 ʻIyunim be-Sefer BaMidbar: be-ʻiḳvot parshanenu ha-rishonim ṿeha-aḥaronim, 1994; Eng. Studies in Bamidbar (Numbers), 1980 ʻIyunim be-Sefer Devarim: be-ʻiḳvot parshanenu ha-rishonim ṿeha-aḥaronim, 1996; Eng. Studies in Devarim (Deuteronomy), 1980 Torah insights, 1995 Studies on the Haggadah from the teachings of Nechama Leibowitz, 2002