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Savina Teubal

1926–2005

by JWA Staff
Our work to expand the Encyclopedia is ongoing. We are providing this brief biography for Savina Teubal until we are able to commission a full entry.

Savina Teubal, accomplished biblical scholar.

Savina Teubal created space for Jewish women to participate in holidays and rituals, and created a powerful new tradition to recognize her own rite of passage from adult to elder. Teubal grew up in the traditional Syrian Jewish community in Argentina, where Jewish learning was prized, but only for boys. Through her activism and education in England and America, Teubal became a feminist biblical scholar, writing the groundbreaking work, Sarah the Priestess, later revised as Ancient Sisterhood: Lost Traditions of Hagar and Sarah. She also founded Sarah’s Tent, an organization that promotes Jewish spirituality by offering classes, retreats, Shabbat dinners, Seders, and Rosh Hodesh gatherings. When she turned sixty, she collaborated with Rabbi Drorah Setel and songwriter Debbie Friedman to create a powerful ceremony to acknowledge her passage into the final stage of her life, called Simchat Hokhmah (Joy of Wisdom). For the event, she wrote the song “Lekhi Lakh” that Friedman set to music and helped compose rituals and blessings to acknowledge both the gifts of growing older and the realization of her own mortality, writing a guide for women who wanted to celebrate this rite of passage for themselves.

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Savina Teubal." (Viewed on March 28, 2024) <http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/teubal-savina>.