Yalta

Anyone interested in history will know that the Yalta Conference was a meeting between the leaders of the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union that took place in February 1945, towards the end of the Second World War.

There is a famous photograph of Roosevelt and Stalin sitting next to an unhappy Winston Churchill, who realised he was being marginalised. As we now know, Stalin suckered Roosevelt into believing him to be an honourable man. When in fact he was a murderous fanatic. And it seems so far that Putin is going to sucker Trump over Ukraine and I fear Iran will too. Like Roosevelt, Trump wants a deal. But as Obama has shown, imitating the unfortunate British Prime Minister Chamberlain, naive appeasement is the road to disaster. Only time will tell if this is going to be another example.

But here, by way of distraction, I am writing about a person. This Yalta was a distinguished lady from a noble and wealthy family who lived in Babylon between the end of the Second and the Third centuries. She had a strong sense of self-worth and self-confidence in an era of almost total male dominance. She was, according to Rashi, the daughter of the Exilarch, the head of the Jewish community in Babylon. She was familiar with Jewish law. But she had a temper. When she thought she was being slighted. She smashed four hundred barrels of wine after a guest offended her and women in general (TB Brachot 51b.)

Yalta showed her expertise in kashrut matters. In a debate that raised current questions about what constitutes meat when it is produced artificially, she asked her husband about kosher food that would taste like meat cooked in milk. She argued the halachic case expertly. And he accepted the argument (TB Chullin 109b). She also argued the law in other matters, such as purity.

 Yalta was a doctor, too. She personally took Rav Amram to the bathhouse to soak in hot water for a cure when he was stricken with an unknown disease (TB Gittin 67b). And she offered her husband counsel on how to deal with someone who was arguing with him disrespectfully (TB Kidushin 70b). Perhaps not in themselves major issues. But indicative of her importance in that society. Where the only chance women had beyond the home depended either on independent wealth or a compliant husband.

The more famous Talmudic woman, however, was Bruria, the daughter of the saintly Chaninah Ben Teradion(an outstanding scholar, from a very wealthy family and martyred by the Romans). She was the wife of Rebbi Meir, who lived in Israel during the second century CE. He is the third most frequently mentioned rabbi in the Mishnah.

She was admired for her breadth of knowledge. She was said to have learned 300 laws from the rabbis on a single cloudy day (TB Pesachim 62b) and was happy to challenge rabbis she thought less knowledgeable than she was. She was also renowned for her sharp wit and often caustic jibes, which frequently targeted men for underestimating women. Rebbi Meir was sorely troubled by local louts and prayed that they should die. Bruria argued that he should rather pray that evil disappear. Not people.

Bruria scoffed at the Talmudic assertion that women are “light-minded” (TB Kidushin 80b). A later and much disputed tradition (obviously propagated by less open-minded commentators), says that Rebbi Meir himself sent one of his students to seduce her. She resisted the student’s advances; some say she eventually capitulated. When she realised what she had done, she committed suicide. Other sources have it that she fell ill emotionally due to shame because of the rumour. Rebbi Meir, in turn, exiled himself from Israel and fled to Babylonia. An example of the disastrous effect that rumour can have, as in our era of social media and fake news. You can see how reluctant men were then to accept female intellectuals. But to be fair, that was a thousand years ago, and only now have women gained equality (in some countries).

And finally, Rav Chisda’s daughter. Her actual name is never mentioned. She was gifted with the power of prophecy. She predicted her marriage to her father’s two students (consecutively). First, she was the wife of Rami Bar Chama; after his death, she married Rava (both were Amoraim of the third generation). She is mentioned many times in the Talmud and commentaries in the Talmud and its commentaries only as “the daughter of Rav Chisda.”  The Talmud (TB Bava Batra 12b) says she sat on her father’s lap as he taught Torah in the academy and taught her and her sisters Torah and laws, personally. There were rabbis in those days and later who recognised the value of female scholarship and empowerment. Even in times when the rest of the world resolutely refused to encourage it.

I fear that trying to show leadership through creativity and flexibility may be too much. Most are being silenced by the plague of conformity and the fear of stepping out of line.  However, the reality is that an increasing number of women within the Orthodox world are pursuing the highest levels of education and making their mark. There are signs of their campaigning to achieve political power too. More power to their elbows (so long as they are covered, of course)!! You can’t keep a good woman down for ever. And more young men are volunteering to serve in the army.

But Trump seems to have learnt the lesson of Yalta. But will his natural desire for a long-term deal end up with his being suckered by Iran’s Shiite, well-established ideology of deceit to achieve victory? Time will tell. Meanwhile, I pray Israel will take a long, hard look at its divisive politics.

Rabbi Jeremy Rosen lives in New York. He was born in Manchester. His writings are concerned with religion, culture, history and current affairs – anything he finds interesting or relevant. They are designed to entertain and to stimulate. Disagreement is always welcome.