Rachel Morpurgo - 19th-century Italian Jewish poet

Judaism, Wntr, 2000 by Yael Levine Katz

THE ITALIAN JEWISH POET RACHEL MORPURGO, A MEMBER of the prominent Luzzatto family, [1] was born in Trieste in 1790, and died in 1871, at the age of eighty-one. Rachel's Hebrew poems were published in her lifetime in the Hebrew literary journal Kokhevei Yizhak ("The Stars of Isaac"), issued in Vienna. [2]

On the occasion of Rachel's one-hundredth birthday, Rabbi Hayyim (Vittorio) Castiglioni (1840-1911), a native of her hometown, Trieste, and subsequently chief rabbi of Rome, compiled her writings, publishing them in Cracow as a volume of their own, entitled Ugav Rahel ("Rachel's Organ"), appearing some nineteen years after her death. Ugav Rahel contains fifty of Rachel's poems, as well as letters and additional miscellaneous writings. The introduction to the work also includes a biography of Rachel. [3] This was based, in part, on materials found in the writings of her cousin Samuel David Luzzatto, known as Shadal. Castiglioni was also assisted by Perla, Rachel's daughter, who filled in various details pertaining to her life, and provided him with the manuscripts of her mother's writings that were in her possession. An essay on the position of women in Judaism opens the volume, preceding the biographical account, [4] and followed by a scholarly article authored by Castiglioni on contemporary Italian Hebrew p oetry. [5]

Rachel Morpurgo never received any formal education, but acquired her knowledge mostly of Jewish subjects by studying with private tutors and relatives. By twelve she had studied the Pentateuch with her mother's brother, David, who never married. Prior to that, she had studied the ethical work Hovot ha-Levavot, by Bahya ibn Paquda of the eleventh century, [6] and other biblical texts with the commentaries of Mezudat David and Mezudat Ziyyon by David Altschuler of the eighteenth century. [7] With tutors she studied the commentary of Rashi as well as the popular ethical work Menorat ha-Ma'or by Isaac Aboab of the fourteenth century. [8] At the age of fourteen, she commenced studying the Babylonian Talmud with a rabbi from Mantua. With him she completed the study of the entire tractate Megillah as well as several other Talmudic sections. She also studied Reshit Hokhmah by Elijah de Vidas, a kabbalist to the sixteenth century. [9] With Shadal's father, Hezekiah, she studied Talmud and math. The various tutors hi red by Rachel's father to instruct her brother Isaac, later to become a businessman in Trieste, taught her as well.

Shadal was born in the very same building as Rachel. When he was eight, his family purchased a house on the outskirts of Trieste. Every day Shadal would go to Rachel's home to utilize the library of Hebrew books that had been bequeathed to Rachel's brother, Isaac, by his uncle David. It was from that library that Rachel and Shadal acquired most of their Judaic knowledge. They spent many hours together studying and discussing issues of Torah and wisdom [10] Shadal, a rationalist, related that Rachel once asked him to secure her a copy of the Zohar. He indeed located one, and she reimbursed him for the expenditure. She then asked him what he would like in return for his effort. He said that all he requested of her was not to believe what was written in it. She responded by saying: "You have asked a difficult thing" (II Kings 2:10). Her reply quoted Elijah's response to Elisha following the latter's request that a double portion of the former's spirit pass on to him (II Kings 2:9). [11] Rachel worked in the fam ily business, as a turner on a lathe (drechsler), a skill she learned from her uncle and father. She also sewed, making most of her own clothing. [12]

Rachel insisted on marrying Jacob Morpurgo from Gorizia, a businessman, despite opposition on the part of her parents and other relatives, refusing to meet other men. Shadal composed a sonnet on this matter in 1816 entitled "To a Wise Woman, the Daughter of My Father's Sister." This commences with her praise, but goes on to criticize her for her tenaciousness in wishing to marry Morpurgo, and her reluctance to meet other young men. In response, Rachel likewise composed a sonnet, similar in meter and form to that of Shadal. The opening portion is based on the Zohar. She professed that she had found a fine man who was not interested in money, but rather in family pedigree. She acknowledged her parents' refusal to acquiesce, and concluded with the assertion that she would marry no one, save Jacob, not even the Messiah. [13] After several years, her parents finally relented, and the couple was wed on Friday, March 5, 1819, shortly before her twenty-ninth birthday. In honor of the occasion Rachel herself composed the following poem. [14]

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And this is the poem Rachel composed for her wedding.

Thanks to an awesome God

I will be desolate no more:

I shall cast off all fear,

I will be silent no more.

A bright-eyed bridegroom

Will be the glory of my head:

The Master of the Heavens gave

He whom my soul loves.

Bless our joyous day,