Female Entrepreneurship in the Jewish Quarter

Female Entrepreneurship in the Jewish Quarter. . Sons of the 'Old Yishuv' in Jerusalem typically studied Torah from a young age. Following many years of study, as adult men, they would train to become either a scholar or a professional. , Daughters were destined to be wives and mothers, and their preparation began at a very young age. Girls and women were exempt from Torah study and did not train for industry or trade. Rather, they stayed at home and assisted their mothers in food preparation, cleaning and washing, so that in time they would have the skils to be good housewives (Balbia in Ladino or Balbusta in Yiddish). , As Jerusalem moderenized towards the middle of the 19th century, women's rights to formal education began to take hold. Ashkenzai women in the Jewish Quarter took an interest in supporting their families by running businesses outside of their own homes. They wanted to enable their husbands to continue their Torah studies at the Yeshiva without distraction. , Along "The Jewish Street" and near the 'Hurva' Synagogue entrance, women opened shops and stores: Gittel Dinowitz ran a specialty store of European food imports, Malka Yedler had a dairy shop, and Chesha opened a bakery specializing in (European) "Lekach" cakes. Krisha Berman started a bakery that specialized in mini pastries that grew into one of the largest chain of bakeries in Israel, still known as Berman Bakery. , Further down "The Jewish Street", Pesha Peltz ran a "hospitality house" offering free food and accommodation to the many poor and needy visitors of Jerusalem., (Hebrew transcription not transcribed)