Nechama Leibowitz (1905-1997)

Nechama Leibowitz, the noted Biblical scholar, teacher and commentator, was born in Riga, Latvia and passed away in Jerusalem, Israel in 1997. Leibowitz studied in the Universities of Berlin and Marboug. After receiving her doctorate, she made aliyah and taught for many years at the Mizrachi Women Teachers Seminary, Tel Aviv University and other schools, including Hesder yeshivot. In addition, she lectured widely and was one of the regular Bible commentators on Israeli radio. She was appointed professor in 1968.


Professor Leibowitz is best known for her stenciled pages of questions on the weekly Torah portion. Over the years the "Pages" (gilyonot) were mailed to students all over the world. The gilyonot were designed to encourage those who tried to answer them probe the text and gain a greater understanding of the material. For years, she personally checked each set of answers. Eventually, at the insistence of many of her students, she agreed to publish the answers along with the questions, though she included other questions for further study. She also wrote dozens of articles and books on Bible research and instruction. Professor Leibowitz was awarded the Israel Prize for Education in 1956 and is recognized as one of the leading Torah teachers of the twentieth century.
The above image originally appeared on the jacket of the Nehama Leibowitz printed series © WZO/JAFI and is reproduced here with permission from the online series © The Pedagogic Center, The Department for Jewish Zionist Education, JAFI.