Osnat and Her Dove: The True Story of the World's First Female Rabbi
As a child, Osnat Barzani persuaded her rabbi father to teach her to read Hebrew and study Torah. A Kurdish Jew born in 1590 in Mosul, Iraq, Osnat’s scholarly skills and interests were unusual for a girl of her time. As an adult, she married a man named Jacob on the condition that he excuse her from chores so that she might continue her Torah study. After her father’s death, Osnat became a teacher at his yeshiva, and when Jacob died years later, she filled Jacob’s position. A respected and beloved teacher, Osnat was also considered a miracle worker. When her pet dove was struck by a hunter’s arrow, she healed it. In another astonishing event, she seemed to call upon angels to preserve the Torah scrolls inside a synagogue that had been engulfed in flames. Richly colored gouache illustrations fittingly walk a fine line between realistic and fantastical in this fascinating story about a groundbreaking historical woman whose deeds are remembered mostly in legends. ©2022 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Illustrated by Vali Mintzi
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 7-11
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Formats:
Biography, Autobiography and Memoir
Picture book
Subjects:
16th Century
Biography
Education
Girls and Women
Iraqis and Iraqi Americans
Jewish People
Teachers/Mentors
Diversity subjects:
Arab
Asian
Middle East
Jewish
Publisher:
Levine Querido
Publish Year: 2021
Pages: 32
ISBN: 9781646140374
CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 296 Samuel