Lee I. Levine on the Ancient Synagogue-V
Part V of a series of interviews in Reform Judaism magazine with Lee I. Levine titled “In Search of the Synagogue Part V” is available.
Did women hold leadership positions in the synagogue?
Yes. Synagogue inscriptions from different locales identify women with the titles archisynagogos/archisynagogissa (head of a synagogue), archegissa (leader), presbytera (elder), mater or pateressa (mother), and priestess. The titles vary depending on the region. For example, women are mentioned in the role of “archisynagogue” in only three synagogues—Smyrna, Crete, and Myndos—all in the Aegean and Asia Minor. In addition, a woman treasurer (gizbarit) is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 62a), but no details are offered regarding her specific duties or where she performed them. There is no reason to doubt that such titles referred to actual official positions and were not necessarily honorific titles, as was assumed by earlier scholars. In contrast, there is no evidence to suggest that women held defined communal positions in the First or Second Temple periods (except for such charismatic biblical figures as Miriam and Deborah). Once again, this phenomenon probably reflects the customs of the larger society impacting on local Jewish communities.
For earlier parts of this series of interviews see here and here and here for a previous post on this series.