Beruriah: A Woman of Wisdom in the Talmud

In late antiquity, rabbinic culture was largely male, yet the Talmud preserves traces of women’s learning through its occasional mention of female figures like Beruriah. Described as the wife of Rabbi Meir and daughter of Rabbi Ḥananiah ben Teradyon, she is portrayed as a woman of sharp intellect who corrected sages and mastered Torah. In b. Eruvin 53b–54a, she rebukes Rabbi Yose and a careless student; in b. Pesaḥim 62b, her vast learning is praised. Whether historical or composite, Beruriah’s story challenges assumptions of male-only authority and reveals how wisdom could transcend gender in the rabbinic world.