| Preface and Acknowledgments | |
| Introduction | |
| The Task at Hand | |
| The Nature of Our Sources | |
| The Sages' Agenda and Our Own | |
| The Five Major Works of Rabbinic Literature | |
| These Five Works as "People" | |
| Some Notes on Style and Translations | |
| Torah Transcends Gender: Women and Sages' Learning | p. 1 |
| Beruriah's Law | p. 2 |
| Beruriah's Lore | p. 6 |
| A Woman Studies Weekly | p. 8 |
| Rabbi's Maid: An Unexpected Expert | p. 11 |
| Women Who Did Not Keep Kosher | p. 13 |
| Women Who Intermarried | p. 14 |
| The Matron: Jew or Non-Jew? | p. 17 |
| Her Background | p. 17 |
| A Role Model for Dealing with Rabbinic Rejection | p. 19 |
| Good Relations between a Sage and Matrons | p. 22 |
| Women's Study Groups Then and Now | p. 29 |
| The Non-Jewish (?) Matron | p. 30 |
| The Matron in the Bavli | p. 33 |
| Why Did Scholars "Erase" the Matron? | p. 37 |
| Entering and Exiting Relationships: Theory versus Practice | p. 39 |
| Dealing with Anger at the Sources | p. 39 |
| The Mishnah's Ideal | p. 40 |
| Ancient Sexual Harassment | p. 42 |
| Becoming Engaged | p. 45 |
| Irregular Betrothals | p. 48 |
| Irregular Betrothals Today | p. 53 |
| Martha's Marriage | p. 54 |
| An Ancient Prenuptial Agreement | p. 57 |
| Divorce | p. 59 |
| Chalitsah | p. 61 |
| Virtue as Power I: Husband-Wife Relationships | p. 65 |
| The Power of Virtue | p. 65 |
| Rachel and Rabbi Akiba | p. 66 |
| Beruriah and Rabbi Meir | p. 68 |
| Imma Shalom and Rabbi Eliezer | p. 69 |
| Other Wives and Husbands | p. 73 |
| Laypeople Have More Virtue than Sages ... | p. 76 |
| ...Sometimes | p. 78 |
| Virtue as Power II: Women and Power in Society | p. 85 |
| Women, Virtue, and Power | p. 85 |
| Rabbi's Maid | p. 86 |
| Helene | p. 88 |
| A Woman in Court | p. 96 |
| A Woman and Her Bequest | p. 98 |
| Virtue and Political Power | p. 100 |
| Yalta and Rav Nachman | p. 102 |
| Women Who Insult Sages | p. 104 |
| The Truth Will Out: Women's Testimony | p. 109 |
| Truth Telling and Rule Following | p. 109 |
| Other Exclusions | p. 110 |
| The Exclusion of Women | p. 111 |
| A Woman Testifies | p. 113 |
| The Daughters of a Sage Testify | p. 115 |
| A Woman Testifies to Become Divorced | p. 117 |
| A Woman and Her Witnesses | p. 119 |
| Diffidence and Distance: The Sages and Childbirth, Nursing, and Motherhood | p. 123 |
| Women's "Gemara" | p. 123 |
| The Idealization of Motherhood: High Priests and Their Mothers | p. 125 |
| Sons Honoring Mothers and Vice Versa | p. 127 |
| The Sages in the Waiting Room: Childbirth, Nursing, and Women's Domain | p. 129 |
| Abaye's Nurse and Her Teachings | p. 131 |
| Pregnant Women and Fasting | p. 133 |
| Nursing | p. 135 |
| Judgment and Jealousy: The Sages, Sex, and Ritual Purity | p. 139 |
| Ritual Purity and Impurity: The Basics | p. 139 |
| The Sages and Women: Sharing Authority over Ritual Purity | p. 142 |
| Intention and Ritual Impurity | p. 143 |
| Ritual Purity and Jewish Diversity | p. 145 |
| Yalta Shares Authority with Sages | p. 147 |
| A Disabled Woman Acts as an Expert | p. 149 |
| The Sages Shared Their Authority with Women | p. 151 |
| Sexual Decorum | p. 152 |
| Rabbi Eleazar and Rabbi Jochanan Take on the Essence of Womanhood | p. 154 |
| Women and Loss: Role versus Reality | p. 171 |
| A Woman's Role in Mourning | p. 171 |
| Martha | p. 172 |
| Beruriah | p. 176 |
| Rabbi's Maid | p. 183 |
| Notes | p. 185 |
| Bibliography | p. 187 |
| Index | p. 191 |
| Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved. |
