Paula Dei Mansi

Paula Dei Mansi (died after 1288) was a Jewish scribe and Torah scholar.^[1][2] She is thought to be the earliest known female Jewish scribe.^[3][4] Dei Mansi was the daughter of Abraham Anau of Verona and belonged to a family of scribes that their roots to Rabbi Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome (1035-1110), author of a noted Jewish legal work. Evidence of Dei Mansi’s skill extends beyond that of scribe to that of a Torah scholar. Dei Mansi contributed to her father's biblical commentary, adding her own explanations in the commentary, in addition to translating the work from Hebrew into Italian.^[5] Dei Mansi also transcribed a Hebrew prayer book and added her own explanations as commentary to the prayers. A third work, a collection of laws, is known to have been transcribed by Dei Mansi who wrote the work at the request of a relative.^[6]

References

1. Papers of the Jewish Women's Congress: Held at Chicago, September 4, 5, 6 and 7, 1893. Jewish Publication Society of America. 1894.
2. Lerner, Gerda (1993). The Creation of Feminist Consciousness: From the Middle Ages to Eighteen-seventy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509060-4.
3. Emily Taitz, Sondra Henry & Cheryl Tallan, The JPS Guide to Jewish Women: 600 B.C.E.to 1900 C.E., 2003.
4. Libben, Gary; Jarema, Gonia; Kuperman, Victor (2021-10-15). Polylogues on The Mental Lexicon: An exploration of fundamental issues and directions. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 978-90-272-5961-5.
5. Eskenazi, Dr Tamara Cohn; PhD, Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss (2017-12-04). The Torah: A Women's Commentary. CCAR Press. ISBN 978-0-88123-283-7.
6. "Learned Women in Traditional Jewish Society".