British-born author wins Sacks book prize

The British-born author of a book on women in the Talmud is this year’s winner of the Rabbi Sacks Book Prize.

Gila Fine, who teaches Talmud at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem, was awarded it for The Madwoman in the Rabbi’s Attic.

In his citation, Yeshiva University’s Sacks-Herenstein Centre said: “Fine utilises literary and cultural theory to present novel readings of the rabbinic narratives that not only elucidate the talmudic tales but also convey relevant messages for the contemporary reader.”

Fine, who made aliyah with her family from London at the age of two, started off as a books editor whose authors included Rabbi Sacks.

She has recalled how one day after she had given a talk, he told her, “You have to stop editing my books and you have to go and write your own.”

She will be teaching at this year’s Limmud Festival, which begins on Friday.