Rebbetzin Rivka Tiktiner: The First Jewish Woman Author and Her Legacy in Prague

It was Hoshana Rabbah in Prague, about 400 years ago. The long prayers had just ended. The last worshiper left the Altneuschul, the famous medieval synagogue. The floor was strewn with willow branches from the day’s ritual, and a local maid swept the floor in preparation for the coming festival.

Then, a large group of women entered the synagogue. Dressed already in their holiday finery, their homes cleaned and their meals prepared for the two days of the festival, they came for an honored task: to decorate the Torah scrolls for Simchat Torah.

This was a cherished custom in Prague and other major Jewish communities: the women of the community would adorn the Torah scrolls with special decorations in honor of the festival, when the scrolls would be taken out for joyous dancing. Some attached flowers; others decorated them with borrowed gold and silver jewelry — carefully labeled and returned afterward.

As they worked, they sang. And the song they sang was a special 80-line Hebrew acrostic poem, arranged alphabetically, written centuries earlier by Rebbetzin Rivka Tiktiner. One woman would read from the text, and the rest would sing in response. For them, this joyful ritual was their own Simchat Torah, equal in spirit to the men’s celebration the following day.

Who Was Rivka Tiktiner?

Surprisingly, we know little about her. She was not “a rabbi’s wife” but a learned woman and teacher in her own right. Her initials appear in her work as “Rivka, daughter of R. Meir, of blessed memory.”

Her gravestone still stands in the Old Jewish Cemetery of Prague, inscribed with the words: “She taught day and night to women in every faithful city.”

It seems she had no children, yet she achieved a legacy few of her time could imagine — she became the first known Jewish woman to publish a book.

Her book, titled Meneket Rivkah (“Nursemaid of Rivkah”), was treasured among Jewish women for generations. On its title page, the printers marveled: “Who has ever heard or seen such a thing? Has it ever occurred that a woman composed a book of her own mind, citing verses and Midrash in her writings?”

The introduction, written by Rivka herself, explained why she had written it.

A “Jewish Woman’s Guide” from the 1500s

The book was a “Kol Bo” for Jewish women — a practical and moral guide for daily life. It included chapters such as:

• “How a woman should behave toward her father- and mother-in-law.”

• “How a mother-in-law should treat her daughter-in-law and her sons-in-law.”

Clearly, both sides needed guidance! But this was no mere collection of advice. The book was deeply rooted in classical Jewish sources, filled with citations from the Talmud, Midrash, ethical works such as Sefer Chassidim and Reishit Chochmah, and even Mishnah references — all this in an era when most women were illiterate.

Yet Rivka Tiktiner’s voice was her own — sharp, compassionate, and practical.

A Voice of Wisdom and Courage

In one remarkable passage, Rivka protests the exploitation of yeshiva students who boarded and ate meals with local families. She observed that some hosts expected the young scholars to repay them by doing household chores — carrying heavy sacks to the market or cleaning mud from doorways.

“How can this be fitting?” she asks. “The purpose of providing them with food is to enable them to study Torah — not to make them your servants.”

In another section, she warns Jewish women against turning to pagan healers and superstitious remedies when ill. “Some women,” she writes, “when they suffer from illness, go to gentile old women who offer strange cures and charms. Not only is this against halacha, but it is foolish when there are true remedies from wise doctors.”

She even cites advice she had personally received from “the honorable doctor, R. Shmuel,” encouraging women to seek real medical care instead of magical practices.

The Legacy of a Pioneer

Meneket Rivkah was first printed in 1581 — over 450 years ago, and even non-Jewish scholars spoke of it with admiration.

Although Rivka lived and taught in Prague, she had been born in Tykocin (Tiktin), Poland, from which her family name derived. Ten years after its first printing, the book was reprinted, and all copies sold out quickly. Today, only a few rare copies survive, with most of what we have coming from photographic reproductions.

A Celebration of Faith and Learning

The women of Prague continued to sing Rivka’s hymn every year as they decorated the Torah scrolls before Simchat Torah — preserving her words and melody across generations.

Through her book, her teaching, and her song, Rebbetzin Rivka Tiktiner became a symbol of Jewish women’s scholarship, creativity, and devotion, centuries ahead of her time.

In an age when few women could even read, she dared not only to write — but to teach, to lead, and to inspire an entire community in song and faith.