Orgiah

Orgiah (also Urania or Orania bat Avraham, Hebrew: אורגיאה; d. 11 February 1275) was a Jewish precentress in medieval Ashkenaz (Rhineland and the Palatinate).[1] Orgiah's role as a precentress, one of a handful of women known to be serving in this capacity in this region in the 13-14th centuries, is attested on her grave stone.

Little more is known about Orgiah save that she died a young woman, the daughter of a Rabbi Avraham. The exact pronunciation of her name is uncertain. Rochelle Furstenberg spells the name as Urania--likely relating this woman's name to "Heavens,"[2] while David Sperber spells her name Orania.[3]

The grave of Lady Orgiah

Orgiah died on Adar 6 (February 11), 1275, likely in the morning. Her tombstone, in the city of Worms, reads as follows:

האבן הזאת הוקמה לראש הזאת הגברת
מרת אורגיאה הבחורה החשובה הנבחרת
בת החבר ר' אברהם ראש המשוררים תפלתו לתפארת
בהוד קולו בעד עמו בנעימת עתרת
והיא גם היא בקול זמרה לנשים משוררת
בפיוטים ובהעתרת לה תהיה למשמרת
ובששה באדר ביום א השלימה נפשה ובז' בו הייתה נקברת
בעדן חנייתה לטובה תהי נזכרת

This stone was first erected for this woman:
The lady Orgiah, the important, chosen, young woman,
Daughter of the initiated Rabbi Avraham, head of the singers, whose prayer [was] as beauty,
In the glory of his voice, for the sake of his nation, in the melody of a plea,
Whereas she too, with the sound of song, would sing for women:
Prayer-poems and, as a plea for her, she would become guarded.
But on the sixth day of Adar, on the first day, her soul was consumed, and on the seventh day of this, she was buried.
In Eden is her rest; she shall be remembered for good.[4]

References
  1. Sperber, David (5763 A.M.). "הנשים המפללות לעצמן: עולמן הרוחני-תרבותי ותפילת נשים, בראי האמנות היהודית". In Sperber, Daniel (ed.). Minhagey Yisra'el VII (in Hebrew). pp. 68–91. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. Furstenberg, Rochelle. "Medieval Jewish Women Were Leaders in Religion and Business". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  3. Sperber, David (5763 A.M.). "הנשים המפללות לעצמן: עולמן הרוחני-תרבותי ותפילת נשים, בראי האמנות היהודית". In Sperber, Daniel (ed.). Minhagey Yisra'el VII (in Hebrew). pp. 68–91. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. "Tombstone" (PDF). Wikimedia. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
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