This chapter explores various aspects of the question of Jewish women’s education in Europe. It contrasts traditional Jewish historiography with regard to male and female education. Notably, girls remained outside the school, their instruction not being considered obligatory according to the Jewish law. At the same time, however, Yiddish and Hebrew literature of the period abounds with images of pious women reading from the taysh-khumesh (Yiddish version of the Pentateuch), female shopkeepers speaking Polish and keeping the accounts, and even occasionally disputing Torah with men. The chapter thus attempts to explain this dichotomy. It shows how women were able to acquire the knowledge and skills that allowed them to fulfil their roles in society.
