Chews Wisely
I was excited to learn last week that this year’s Israel Prize, the State’s highest award for scholarship, will go to Professor Vered Noam, an eminent Talmudist at Tel-Aviv University and the first woman to receive the award for in this field. This not only puts her in the company of the great pillars of the field like her doctoral advisor Yaakov Sussman, but also gives recognition to the prominent contributions of women in a field that was not always as welcoming to gender diversity.
Besides her many learned articles and books, one on the Hasmoneans that I reviewed here, Noam’s current venture is a Facebook group dedicated to the daily page of Talmud in which she posts prolifically, generating reams of scholarly discussion. One of her recent insightful and inspiring posts analyzes the opening of the sixth chapter of Berakhot concerning the blessings recited over food.