Remembering Rivka Shapira, Pioneer of Religious Education for Women

Rivka Shapira, the founder of Midreshet Shuva and a pivotal figure in religious education for women in the Religious Zionist community, passed away at the age of 92. Her passing occurred in the final week of the Hebrew month of Elul, shortly before Rosh Hashanah. Her son, Rabbi Yitzchak Shapira, shared memories of his mother in their family home, which he described as the birthplace of women's Torah study within Religious Zionism.

Shapira, born Rivka Schnur in Afula to a Hasidic father, grew up in a home that contrasted with the secular environment of the city. This duality, her son noted, likely fueled her life's work in bridging different worlds. In her youth, she moved to Jerusalem to study at the Hebrew University, where she encountered a group of young people seeking deeper religious observance, including Moshe Shapira, who would become her husband, and Adin Steinsaltz. This period led to the formation of the Lahavah movement and a profound shift in her own religious life.

Deeply affected by the religious outreach to men, Shapira questioned the lack of similar opportunities for women. This led her to dedicate her life to teaching Torah to women, not through simple lectures, but through in-depth study of Tanakh, Midrash, Halakha, and Kabbalah. She taught at the Kfar Pines Ulpana and the Ora Institute, and later in Yamit before its evacuation. After moving to Ofra with her husband, Moshe, a co-founder of the settlement, they established Midreshet Shuva in 1984. The institution aimed to provide serious Torah study for women, including those returning to religious observance.

Over 42 years, Midreshet Shuva educated generations of students, expanding its programs to include post-military service students, older women, and weekly study groups. Shapira emphasized a holistic approach, integrating not only Halakha and Midrash but also Hasidism, the writings of Rabbi Kook, and creative arts, believing that women's connection to God is expressed through creativity and material transformation. She famously used the metaphor of the sun and moon to describe the complementary roles of men and women, with women illuminating the world at night.

Her students remember her for her unique teaching style, never repeating a lesson and often staying up until morning with them, famously telling them, "I know you better than you know yourselves. You are twenty only once." Despite her extensive educational work, she always identified first and foremost as a family woman. Her son, Rabbi Yehoshua Shapira, recounted how his mother, despite medical advice during her pregnancy with him, refused to terminate it, attributing his survival to divine assistance. Her son Matanya, involved in settlement activities, inherited her passion for expanding Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria, continuing to follow new construction even at age 91.

Her passing is described as peaceful, like "pulling a hair from milk," a testament to a soul not overly attached to the material world. The Shiva, the traditional mourning period, was interrupted by Rosh Hashanah. Midreshet Shuva mourned her loss, asking how the world could exist without its moon, a symbol of her role in guiding and illuminating. Her son Yitzchak believes that while she left a great void, she also left thousands of women equipped to learn and fill it.