Nechama Leibowitz

Finally, I created a portrait of a Jewish woman thought leader.

Nechama, the “Queen of Questions” was born in 1905 in Latvia and moved to Israel in 1930. While traditional in observance, she dared to bring in varied voices of interpretation, including certain non-Orthodox and non-Jewish thinkers such as Martin Buber and Thomas Mann. Influenced by Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, and Ludwig Aryeh Strauss, she implemented various techniques for literary analysis of the Bible.

Nechama used an unprecedented analytical approach to compare the ideas of various Bible commentators. Nechama was often criticized for daring to ask, “What is the problem with the solution offered by Rashi?”

Nechama was not swayed by critics and insisted that this approach is necessary for active engagement with Torah and its commentators. She believed that Rashi knew full well what the deficiencies were in his explanations but he realized that this was the best possible solution. Her focused attention on classic Bible commentaries, such as those of Rashi and Nahmanides had been somewhat disregarded by both the Yeshiva world–whose focus lay almost exclusively on Talmud study–and the secular world–whose interest lay in biblical criticism and history.

Nechama would end her questioning by asking, “What meaning does this Biblical verse and commentary have for us? What insight do we gain for our lives?”

Leibowitz had no children, and despite all her achievements, was known to confide that she would have given it all up to have children. At her funeral in 1997, her nephew announced, “All those who feel as I do, like a son to Nechama, may join in the Kaddish prayer with me.” Around the room, dozens of voices rose in unison: “Yitgadal v’yitkadash shemei raba.”