Meet Rebeka Tiktiner: The First Jewish Woman to Write a Book

On the day of Hoshanah Rabbah in Prague, about four hundred years ago, the long prayer had ended and the last worshipper had left. The Altnei Schul synagogue was scattered with beaten willow branches. A local maid cleaned the floor in preparation for the upcoming festival, when a large group of women entered the synagogue. They were already dressed for the holiday; their homes were clean, and the festival dishes were ready. They had a significant role: decorating the Torah scrolls for Simchat Torah.

This was the custom in Prague and other prominent cities, where the community's women adorned the Torah scrolls with special decorations for the holiday when the scrolls were taken out and danced with. Some attached flowers, while others borrowed and carefully labeled silver and gold jewelry to return after the holiday. This mitzvah was cherished by the women, who sang special songs while decorating the Torah scrolls. There were no recordings of Chassidic songs then, but the song sung in the Prague community was uniquely written by Rebeka Tiktiner. It was crafted as a piyyut in an alphabetical order and consisted of eighty lines! One woman would read it from the text, and the others would respond in song. This joy was considered equivalent to the men's Simchat Torah the following day.

Who was Rebeka Tiktiner? It's not entirely clear. She wasn’t the wife of a rabbi, but a rebbetzin in her own right. Her song is signed with the initials "Rebeka, daughter of Meir, of blessed memory." Her gravestone can still be found today in the old cemetery of Prague, inscribed with: "She preached day and night to women in every faithful city." It seems she was childless, unfortunately, yet she was the first Jewish woman in the world to write a book. Her song was sung every year from her book, called "Meneket Rivkah." On the book's cover, the publishers wrote: "Who has heard or seen such a novelty. Had it ever happened that a woman composed something from her own mind and read verses and teachings aloud," followed by "The Rebbetzin's Introduction," in which she explains the need for her book.

The book is an "all-inclusive" guide for the Jewish woman. Among other things, it contains a chapter "How a Woman Should Behave with Her In-Laws," and the next chapter: "How a Mother-in-Law Should Treat Her Daughter-in-Law and Sons-in-Law." It seems both sides required proper instruction...

But the book isn’t a collection of casual advice. It is filled with quotations from Jewish sources, ethical books, "Reshit Chochmah," "Sefer Chassidim," and Mishna. All this at a time when most women did not read or write. Despite this, the author delivers a significant message. One issue she addresses is yeshiva students who eat "days" in various households. Rebeka Tiktiner observed that homeowners supplying meals to yeshiva students also asked them to help with domestic chores, like carrying sacks to the market or sweeping mud from entrances. How does this respect the sanctity of Torah? Rebeka Tiktiner asks, pointing out that the whole purpose is for the students to focus on their Torah study. The food is to support Torah learning and nothing else!

Rebeka Tiktiner mentions in her book that some women, when facing a medical problem, turn to various elderly non-Jewish women who offer superstitious treatments. It is not even clear if this is permissible according to halacha, she warns them, emphasizing: there are genuinely effective medical treatments "as I was informed by the dear doctor, Mar Rebbe Shmuel." Seek real doctors, not imposters, quacks, or sorcerers.

This book was written in 1581, over four hundred and fifty years ago. Even non-Jews admired the book and its author, with the German scholar Johann Conard Looft penning a book titled "The Polish Rivka: On a Rare Example of a Learned Jewish Woman" (Rebeka lived and taught in Prague, but she was born in Tiktin, Poland). Ten years later, the book was printed in another edition, and all copies sold out. Today, the original book is considered extremely rare, and we primarily have photocopied editions of it.