Rachel Morpurgo - 19th-century Italian Jewish poet

(50.) "If Hannah, wife of Elkanah, who was not known as one of the important people of the nation, was so well versed in the language of poetry (I Samuel, chapters 1-2:21), what can be said of the wives of prophets, kings and princes? When King Solomon spoke in the book of Proverbs of the merits and virtues of the "woman of valor" (Proverbs 31:10-31), he was not referring to the wife of a king or prince, but to that of a working man, which points to the high rank of a woman in her family at the time. From his words, it can be assumed that the reality of such women of valor, crowns to their husbands (Proverbs 12:4), was not at all uncommon. [For opposing and concurring views, see literature mentioned in my article: "'Eshet Hayil' ba-Pulkhan ha-Yehundi" (Hebrew), BethMikra31 (1986): 339, n. 2.] 1 will not be able to dwell at any length upon the bravery of Queen Athaliah (II Kings, chapter 11), Jezebel's power in royal matters (I Kings 16:31-22:40), the magnanimity of Judith and Esther who saved their people from their enemies, and the many other such glorious women."

(51.) Sefer Hasidim, edited by Reuben Margaliot (Jerusalem: Mossad ha-Ray Kook, 1973), #233, pp. 207-208. (In the edition of this work utilized by Castiglioni, the section was stated as 233-234.) Earlier sources for this quote are: Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, edited by Hayyim Saul Horovitz and Israel Abraham Rabin (Jerusalem, [1970.sup.2]), Tractate Amalek, chapter 3, p. 212 (compare Yalkut Shimoni by Simeon of Frankfurt, Be-Shallah, #244); Mekhilta de-Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai, edited by Jacob Nahum Epstein and Ezra Zion Melamed (Jerusalem, 1957), to Exodus 20:15, pp. 154-155. The references hereafter were in the main brought down by Castiglioni parenthetically in the text, without any mention of the editions used. Castiglioni then goes on to "present three additional proofs from the talmudic literature which outweigh all of the others. And they are the following: 'A person should always be careful not to insult his wife for since her tears are frequent, she is easily hurt' (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Mezia 59a). Sec ondly: 'A man should always be careful to honor his wife, since blessings rest on a man's home only on account of his wife' (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Mezia 59a). Thirdly, it is written: 'Any man who has no wife lives without happiness, without blessing, without goodness, without Torah, without a protecting wall, without peace' (Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 62b). Is it possible for all these benefits to accrue from a servant or chattel? On this matter it is also stated: 'Any man who has no wife is not a complete person, as it says: 'He blessed them and called them Man' (Genesis 5:2) (Midrash Bereshit Rabbak, edited by Julius Theodor and Hanokh Albeck [Jerusalem, [1965.sup.2]], 17:2, pp. 151-152. An earlier source for this quote is Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 62b). The two together are called a person."

(52.) KY l2 (1848): 2 [=UR, p. 57].

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