Libyan Jewish Women's Lore: from Homeschooling to Formal Education
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Libyan Jewish Women’s Lore Libyan Jewish Women's Lore: From Homeschooling to Formal Education Rachel Simon, Princeton University, Princeton NJ, USA Abstract The source of Libyan Jewish women's lore was the environment in which they lived, which was shaped—intellectually, socially, and economically—by the gender norms of Libyan Jews. These norms were based on Jewish traditions and the surrounding Muslim society, which since the mid-sixteenth century was under Ottoman rule until the Italian occupation of 1911. Formal education for Jewish girls became available in Libya from the 1870s, first through European enterprises and from the 1930s also by the community. This paper examines Libyan Jewish women's lore and what was the impact of the developing educational, social, and economic opportunities for growing numbers of Libyan Jewish women, mainly in the urban society, on their cultural capital from the late nineteenth century until the mass Jewish emigration from Libya starting in the late 1940s. The source of Libyan Jewish women's lore was the environment in which they lived, which was shaped— intellectually, socially, and economically—by the gender norms of Libyan Jews. These norms were based on Jewish traditions and the surrounding Muslim society, which since the mid-sixteenth century was under Ottoman rule, until the Italian occupation of 1911. Since Jewish women were not expected to actively participate in formal religious activities and lead the community, it was not deemed necessary by the all-male communal leadership to provide them with formal Jewish education. Until the late nineteenth century most women were trained at home by older female relatives how to properly run a Jewish home. Formal education for Jewish girls became available in Libya from the 1870s, first through European enterprises and from the 1930s also by the community. This does not mean, though, that women had no spiritual life, but it differed from that of the men: their spirituality was manifested first and foremost orally in female poetry in the local Judeo-Arabic dialect as well as in material culture. This paper examines Libyan Jewish women's lore and what was the impact of the developing educational, social, and economic opportunities for growing numbers of Libyan Jewish women, mainly in the urban society, on their cultural capital from the late nineteenth century until the mass Jewish emigration from Libya starting in the late 1940s. The Education of Libyan Jews In order to be competent to actively participate in synagogue services and lead the community, men had to be able to follow Hebrew and Aramaic texts of the Bible and prayer books. It was usually the community who took care of boys' formal education, which provided them with the basic skills of reading 1 Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary e-Journal Volume 17 Number 2 (2020) ISSN 1209-9392 © 2021 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. Libyan Jewish Women’s Lore texts in the Hebrew alphabet, gradually advancing to recite complete texts. Since, however, the spoken language of most community members was Judeo-Arabic, boys usually did not understand what they read. This kind of education was the basic one for the majority of the men for most of the period; only few continued in more advanced Jewish studies, preparing them to become religious functionaries. Even the continuing education provided for adult men, which was in the form of listening to readings of religious texts, did not enrich most men, since they could not understand those recitations, which were in Hebrew or Aramaic. Thus, although most men acquired an important tool for intellectual growth, they were in fact functionally illiterate, because they did not understand the texts they recited or listened to. Consequently, only few could contribute to Jewish studies and culture.1 Since women's role in life was different from that of the men, girls were prepared towards it differently than boys. Just like most boys, girls often understood only Judeo-Arabic, but they usually were not taught to read the Hebrew alphabet. Instead, theirs was an experience-based education. They were orally taught at home by their older female relatives how to run a Jewish home, namely, how to apply Jewish laws and local practices to everyday life, such as Jewish dietary laws (kashrut) for every day with special rules for Passover, as well as laws regarding work and rest, governing activities during the week, the Sabbath, and holidays, and regulations concerning ritual purity. Thus, although women could not read the laws and regulations which they had to follow, they knew how to execute them properly.2 While most girls were home trained in this manner, few also received some formal education. This could happen when a girl had no brothers and her father chose to teach her to read, in addition to the training she received from her female relatives. In other cases, girls listened while their brothers were tutored at home, or even joined them in their studies. In few exceptional cases, girls actually attended classes arranged for boys by the community.3 But just as it was the case for the boys, this formal education did not enable girls to further their spiritual growth. Women who could read were even ridiculed at times: in the Dar Barukh synagogue in Tripoli, which was mainly attended by Jews with European nationality, some women followed the service in their prayer books, and were mocked by the indigenous ones,4 apparently because they were perceived as pretending to be able to perform functions reserved for men. In addition, few girls, usually from Tripolitan families with economic and social ties with Europe, studied in a Christian school run by nuns, who taught in a foreign language and excluded Jewish subjects.5 A major change in Jewish girls' educational opportunities in Libya started in the 1870s when formal girls' education became available through European enterprises (first Italian, from 1877,6 followed by French, 2 Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary e-Journal Volume 17 Number 2 (2020) ISSN 1209-9392 © 2021 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated. There is to be no reproduction or distribution of contents by any means without prior permission. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors. Libyan Jewish Women’s Lore by the Alliance Israélite Universelle [AIU], from 18967), in both cases subsequently to the establishment of Italian and French boys' schools in Tripoli. The Italian boys' school was founded at the initiative of local Jews who wanted to prepare their sons to join them in their commercial enterprises with Italy and be ready for social interactions with Europeans. It soon became apparent that, in order to improve the social and economic relations of Libyan Jewish men with Italians, a companion institution for girls would be most beneficial. Similar feelings prompted the opening of the AIU girls' school. The main focus of both networks was on Italian or French language and subjects, based on curricula common in Italy and France, complemented with few Jewish topics, including the Hebrew language, as well as some vocational training, especially in the AIU school. Following the 1911 Italian occupation of Libya, the official state educational network in which Jews participated was Italian.8 Consequently, until a local Jewish network, which was open to women, was established, most Jewish girls who attended school received Italian education. Community-based formal education for women started only in the 1930s at the initiative of local young Zionist men in Tripoli, the founders of the Ben-Yehudah Society for the spread of the Hebrew language, who wanted to make Hebrew the primary language of the community. Starting with afternoon and evening classes for boys and men in Tripoli, the founders felt relatively soon the need to include girls and women in this program. Their reasoning was that the role of women as the initial primary educators of the new generation is imperative in order to transform the community to a Hebrew speaking one. Thus, in 1931, classes for girls and women were established and soon witnessed a growing number of students, with women outnumbering men (498 compared to 369 in 1935/36). Contrary to men, who had other options to learn Hebrew, but often did so in the traditional manner, which basically left them functionally illiterate, women studied Hebrew only in a modern way, which aimed to enable them to understand, speak and write modern Hebrew, within a comprehensive national framework. Women were at first instructed by men, but pretty soon female graduates of these classes acquired teaching experience, and started teaching girls and older women. As a result, in a short period of time, girls were taught subjects which had been traditionally exclusive for boys, and even advanced to a prestigious profession: teaching, which was hitherto reserved for men.9 Jewish education suffered during World War II due to the Italian anti-Semitic racial legislation, which prevented Jews from attending state schools and due to the war situation, which also forced the AIU to stop its operation in 1939 (returning in 1947). The community tried to provide some form of education, 3 Women in Judaism: A Multidisciplinary e-Journal Volume 17 Number 2 (2020) ISSN 1209-9392 © 2021 Women in Judaism, Inc. All material in the journal is subject to copyright; copyright is held by the journal except where otherwise indicated.