Jewish Women in the Ottoman Empire Response

4. What kinds of occupations did women engage in? 

Some Ottoman Jewish women engaged in commerce selling jewelry, silks, and other luxury items to elite women in their homes. Some women had real estate interests. Less well-off women worked in family businesses, mostly at home or in workshops. These women would produce embroidery, sew decorative textile goods, make lace, and produce custom made clothing, or clean and press clothing for wealthier families. There were others that worked in the silk industry where Jewish and Greek women would raise silk worms and spin and loom textiles. The poorest women worked as servants in the homes of wealthy Jewish families. For the most part, Jewish women dominated the domestic sphere of activities.

5. What were women’s religious practices and how did they learn about them? What religious beliefs did Jewish women hold?

Women's religious life and responsibilities were focused mainly around maintaining a proper Jewish home and raising children. Their religious knowledge came from their mothers and mixed Judaic tradition with a rich system of folk belief. Most women learned only the domestic aspects of Judaism, like keeping a home, home-based activities for major holidays, life-cycle events (birth, brit millah, weddings, and death), religious observances concerning the mikvah, and women's purity requirements. Women's belief systems (while based on Sephardic Judaism) revolved around general Middle Eastern and Mediterranean folk religion. There was a belief in the evil eye, ojo malo, and its related practices such as amulet wearing or the heating of lead in water to break bad luck. Blessings to bring good fortune and curses to ward off disaster were commonly used. A lot of folk religious practices revolved around health concerns.