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Jewish Women in the Ottoman Empire

Education

The majority of the Jewish women in the Ottoman Empire came from Medieval Spain, where they predominantly spoke and used Ladino. Thus the language they used there traveled with them to the Middle East. Although men spoke Hebrew, many women could not, and were thus limited to Ladino. Their illiteracy in the religious tongue restricted their religious practices and education, as most Jewish prayer and law books were written in Hebrew. Thus, women learned the laws of Judaism by modeling their mothers; their knowledge of Jewish law was limited to what they needed to know in order to run the domestic aspects of a Jewish household. Although, men were responsible for teaching their wives and daughters Jewish law, specifically Hebrew prayers, they often lacked the motivation as most women were illiterate or learning took away time from children and household chores. The only exception was daughters of rabbis, who would be surrounded by talmudic discourse at home and learn religious knowledge formally.

Jewish Day School located in current day Jerusalem

During the Tanzimat Reforms, Jewish philanthropists began funding Jewish schools open to boys and girls. These schools' goal was to raise children in a modern, European fashion. Students were taught general subjects, along with Jewish History, Hebrew, and European languages. Formal education advanced girls' marriage prospects as they learned domestic skills, such as embroidery, along with hygiene and modern science. Higher literacy rates among girls also changed their views on marriage; European books emphasized an ideal "love match" as opposed to a marriage of financial necessity.

Public life

Appearance

Jewish women were conservatively dressed much like Moslems. When women went out in public, they covered themselves in a very large shawl that covered their whole body and wore a scarf on their heads. All women wore the same type of clothing but the quality of their clothing implied whether or not they were wed. Married women had higher quality clothing.

Professions

Women who worked in the Ottoman Empire were often not the breadwinners of their families but working out of necessity, due to being widowed or simply needing the extra money. Peasant Jewish women tended to peddle at the marketplaces, selling chicken, eggs, wine, and other goods. Others worked in textile mills and craftwork. These urban middle-class women were limited to jobs similar to peddling and farming. The poorest women worked as domestic help for wealthy Jews, in hopes of earning a dowry and marrying a man who could take care of them financially.

Other, less common, professions Jewish women held were midwives and medical caregivers. Some women worked as healers. If a woman was ill (and common treatments were unsuccessful), a healer was hired to perform a ritual called indulco that involved the use of several substances including water, rosewater, honey, salt, and eggs. These women were popular in the Jewish community until they were banned by rabbis and public healthcare was established.

Wealthier women living in the Ottoman Empire had greater options towards their occupations. These women acted as merchants, moneylenders, or real estate transactors, which allowed them to have some financial autonomy from their husbands, but also acquire personal liability. Merchants sold silks, jewelry, and luxury goods to elites in the Ottoman Empire. Money lenders and real estate transactors usually worked for their family business where these pursuits could be done from home. This was especially important in the Ottoman Empire as it was undignified for Sephardi women to be seen outside of their houses.Jewish women also acted as intermediaries for Muslim women, as they faced even more restrictions regarding leaving their homes. Jewish women traded Muslim women's goods on their behalf in the market place and acted as brokers.Jewish Women also had the privilege of being recognized as property owners. This allowed them to lease their properties and earn their own living, independent of their husbands.

Women also participated in a lot of philanthropy for the community. Soup kitchens were stocked by more affluent women while breast milk was supplied to infants who were orphaned or in need by poorer women. They offered bread to people poorer than themselves as well as animals.

Public places

Unlike Muslim women, Jewish women in the Ottoman Empire faced no restrictions to venture outside. However, most, especially those from wealthy families, chose to remain within their homes because of strict moral code. Improper or inappropriate behavior could risk being the source of gossip and tarnish the family names. However, lower-class women were forced to leave their homes to complete domestic work and sometimes business ventures. The public place is one where women would go to either do chores, such as using the oven for cooking, using the looms for spinning and weaving, or fetching water for laundry and cooking However, leaving the house was done in groups.

Especially in the Spanish Sephardic society, bath houses were attended regularly by Jewish women and were regarded as places of social gathering. In the Jewish community, the bath house is known as the mikveh. Women were obligated to go to the mikveh after their menses and after giving birth, to change their status of nidah. These women bathed with women of other religions at the mikveh such as Christians and Moslems. Occasionally, this practice was looked down upon by men, as they did not believe people of different religions should associate with each other.

Worship

Unlike Moslem women, Jewish women were allowed to attend services in their synagogues. However, in the Spanish synagogues, women were separated from men during the services, a practice which was probably taken from Moslem. Though their presense at prayer services were permitted, most Jewish women could not read or understand Hebrew. This placed a barrier on their participation and the fulfillment of this religious obligation as the service was typically conducted and recited in Hebrew.

Private life

Marriage

It was common practice to be married off young as life expectancy was shorter than today. Usually, daughters were married from oldest to youngest. They had to be well-rounded, respectable, virgin women whose family could offer a dowry.The father of the bride took on the job of finding a good provider and was most concerned about finding a groom that was financially fit to care of his daughter. Usually, people married within their own social class, even if it was to their own relatives. Moreover, elite women had to ability to refuse the spouses their parents chose for them and even initiate divorce. After the couple was wedded, they were to move in with the bride's family to protect the new bride. This allowed the father to keep an eye on the groom and ensure that he was not taking advantage of abusing his new wife.

Syrian Ketubah

The Jewish doctrine of marriage was intended to protect women. The Ketubah allowed a woman to be financially secure and guaranteed that she could stay afloat in the case of divorce or widowhood. It also defended women's rights against abusive husbands. Moreover, Jewish marriage contracts in the Ottoman Empire indicated that whatever a wife earns belongs to her. This assured a married woman's authority over her own assets.

Household

Growing up, girls had to learn how to cook and take care of the home. If they did not, it would reflect badly upon their mothers who were supposed to teach them about domestic work. Women were judged by how they kept up the household. If they did everything that was expected of them with no complaints, did not ask for anything, and the home appeared clean and tidy, they would be known as a nikuchira, or a "good housewife who runs her home properly". Women were expected to treat their husbands like royalty, or else he would find a new wife. Many women were also restricted to their homes and many spent time in kortijo, or interior courtyards. There, they would host guests and work on their chores and embroidering.

Pregnancy

In the middle of a woman's pregnancy, a cortar fashdura, or diaper-preparation ceremony occurred. Only women attended. The birth of a daughter would not be as welcomed as a boy because the family would now have to provide a dowry. The birth of a daughter also came with a fadamiento ceremony where the daughter would be named. The people that attended the daughter's ceremony would light candles to signify the daughters success in life. A son being born would go through a circumcision or Brit Milah ceremony.

Status of Jewish Women

The status of Jewish women was unlike other women in the Ottoman Empire. Generally speaking, a woman's status depended on their wealth and whether they were married. In both Ottoman court and Beit Din, two women's witness testimony was equal to one man's. Moreover, though women were highly dependent on men economically, Jewish women in the Ottoman Empire were recognized as legal property owner, a distinction that did not apply to Muslim women. Lastly, women also had marital privileges. Elite women could initiate divorce and refuse spouses. Additionally, they could also bring claims in Jewish and Ottoman court against their husbands. Though they could have a say in who they married, their societal and economis status was determined by the family they were born into and the one they married into.

Widows

A special status was given to Jewish widows in the Ottoman Empire. These women became heads of households if their husbands passed away. This new status was one of extreme independence, and it was regularly accepted in Ottoman society. Widows controlled their own dowry and inheritances; they also commonly joined the work force and were able to earn their own living. This allowed them to be completely responsible for themselves and any children they had with their husband, giving widows immense power and freedom of movement in society. In fact, many view widowhood as the greatest degree of freedom a woman could have in the Ottoman Empire.

Notable Women

Ester Handali was a Jewish Kira who provided services to the women in the Sultan's harem. Handali not only supplied the women with personal goods, but also acted as the intermediary between the secluded harem and the outside world. Though she began as a merchant to the harem, she was quickly promoted to a more diplomatic position. Handali was used as an intermediary between the harem and foreign embassies.

Esperanza Melchi also served the Sultan's harem as a Kira and acted as an intermediary between Nurbanu Sultan and French royalty. She translated and wrote letters on the royal women's, such as the Valide Sultan's, behalf and delivered them to foreign emissaries.

Image of Dona Gracia Mendes

Dona Gracia Mendes was one of the wealthiest Jewish women in the Ottoman Empire and a great philanthropist. After being widowed, Mendes took over her husband's banking business and went into the international trade alongside her brother in-law. She established a widespread financial and conmmercial network and worked with the Sultan to build business enterprises throughout the empire