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Tamar Kadari

Tamar Kadari is a senior lecturer in Midrash and Aggadah and former Dean of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. She teaches at the Schechter Institute and Bar Ilan University. Her synoptic edition of Midrash Song of Songs Rabbah, based on extensive manuscript research, was launched in 2014 on the Schechter website. She is the author of Minkhah L'Yehudah: Julius Theodor and the Redaction of the Aggadic Midrashim of the Land of Israel (Jerusalem: Schechter/Leo Baeck, 2017), a study of a major figure in the modern study of rabbinic literature and his influence on the modern study of midrash. She is the academic advisor for and author of the introduction to Dirshuni: Contemporary Women’s Midrash, Brandeis University Press (2022). Her articles have appeared in leading scholarly journals. Tamar is also a sculptor whose work has been exhibited in galleries in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Articles by this author

Leah: Midrash and Aggadah

Leah is the sister of Rachel and the wife of Jacob. God blesses Leah with children; she has six sons and one daughter, and two of her sons become ancestors of two of the twelve tribes. She may not have been Jacob’s preferred bride, but she is interpreted as extremely selfless and generous.

Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael: Midrash and Aggadah

Midrash and Aggadah present both a positive and a negative take on the marriage of Esau, son of Isaac and Rebekah, to Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael.

Jephthah's Daughter: Midrash and Aggadah

Jephthah’s daughter is portrayed in midrash as a wise and practical woman, well-versed in halakhah and the Torah. The rabbis place the blame for her murder on her father and the High Priest Phinehas.

Jezebel: Midrash and Aggadah

Jezebel is portrayed by the Rabbis as a wicked woman who represents the negative influence of Gentile women who turned Israel’s heart to idolatry; an evil woman who causes the king of Israel to stray from the ways of the Lord. Nevertheless, the Rabbis also indicate a favorable aspect of her character.

Jochebed: Midrash and Aggadah

The midrash portrays Jochebed as a wise woman who was righteous and God-fearing. By merit of her good deeds, she gave birth to the three leaders of the Exodus generation: Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.

Keturah: Midrash and Aggadah

Keturah was one of Abraham’s wives. The Rabbis describe her as a woman of virtue, for which she was worthy of being joined to Abraham.

Hannah: Midrash and Aggadah

Hannah is depicted by the Rabbis as a righteous woman who was devout in her observance of the commandments and tested by God through her infertility. Her story is the basis for much of the rabbinic conception and rules of prayer.

Hagar: Midrash and Aggadah

Hagar is the subject of much interpretation by the rabbis, who portray her as a spiritual and even righteous woman. The rabbis often depict her relationship with Sarah as harmful and fractious, though some traditions identify her with Keturah, taken as a wife by Abraham in Gen. 25:1; in this interpretation, after their divorce she remarried Abraham after Sarah’s death.

Eve: Midrash and Aggadah

Eve’s character is posited to be that of the original and quintessential woman. The Midrash interprets her traits as representative of the negative aspects of femininity. Eve’s punishment for her sin is also tied to the traditional ideas of the fundamentals of womanhood – childbirth, pregnancy, and male spousal domination.

Deborah 1: Midrash and Aggadah

Rebekah’s nurse Deborah died when Jacob was on his way to the Land of Canaan, close to Bethel, where she was buried under a tree. The rabbis describe her as having a close relationship to Jacob.

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How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Tamar Kadari." (Viewed on March 29, 2024) <http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/author/kadari-tamar>.