Maiden of Ludmir
| Maiden of Ludmir | |
|---|---|
| Maiden of Ludmir | |
| Full name | Hannah Rachel Verbermacher |
| Born | 1805 Ludmir, Volhynia, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) |
| Died |
July 1, 1888 (aged 82 or 83) Sanjak of Jerusalem, Ottoman Empire |
| Buried | Mount of Olives |
| Father | Monesh Verbermacher |
Hannah Rachel Verbermacher (Yiddish: חנה רחל ווערבערמאכער, 1805–1888), also known as the Maiden of Ludomir, the Maiden of Ludmir, the Ludmirer Moyd (in Yiddish), or HaBetula miLudmir (הבתולה מלודמיר in Hebrew), was the only independent female Rebbe in the history of the Hasidic movement.
Hannah Rachel Verbermacher was born in the early nineteenth century in the shtetl of Ludmir, Volhynia, region of modern-day Ukraine to Hasidic parents. Her father, Monesh Verbermacher, was a devotee of Rabbi Mordechai Twersky, known as the "Maggid of Chernobyl", as well as a wealthy businessman. He provided an extensive education for his only daughter, which included many fields of Torah study.
She appears not to have been a remarkable child, but underwent a transformation in her late teens. Declining marriage, she started to fulfill all the commandments, including those not incumbent among women, and increased her Torah study. She gained fame as a scholar and holy woman with powers to perform miracles.
As her fame grew she assumed functions generally reserved for Hasidic Rebbes, such as receiving audiences and accepting kvitlach (prayer request notes), and to preside over a Tish (the traditional Sabbath meal in the company of one's Hasidim) at which she would offer Torah teachings and pass shirayim (leftovers from a Rebbe's meal), although many accounts say that she did so from behind a screen out of modesty.
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