'''Sarah Bas Tovim''' ({{langx|yi|שׂרה בת־טובֿים}}, lived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries) was a Ukrainian Jewish woman, author of ''Shloshe Shearim'' ("Three Portals") the most widely circulated of the ''tkhines'', Yiddish-language prayer booklets intended mainly for Jewish women.<ref name=Liptzin>Liptzin, Sol, ''A History of Yiddish Literature'', Jonathan David Publishers, Middle Village, NY, 1972. {{ISBN|0-8246-0124-6}}. pp.16-17.</ref> Dovid Katz refers to Sarah as Sora bas Toyvim and refers to another of her works that have survived, ''Sheker ha-kheyn''.<ref name=Katz2007>{{Cite book |last=Katz |first=Dovid |title=Words on Fire: The Unfinished Story of Yiddish |edition=2 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-465-03730-8 |page=95 }}</ref>
Born in the small town of Satanov in the Podolia region of Ukraine, she claimed descent from Rabbi Mordechai of Brisk.<ref name=Liptzin />
''Shloshe Shearim'', written toward the end of her life, is a cautionary tale based on her own life. She tells of herself as a vain young woman, who came to the synagogue wearing jewels and gossiping and jesting during services, and of how she spent a sad life as a wanderer.<ref name=Liptzin />
Bas Tovim herself became a figure of Jewish legend, such as the story ''"Der Zivug"'' by I.L. Peretz, in which Bas Tovim is given hospitality and leaves behind a pair of golden slippers that eventually lead a young man to his proper bride.<ref name=Liptzin />
Because Bas Tovim was so well known, many Maskilim during the 19th century attached her name to tkhines they created.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/bas-tovim-sarah |title=Sarah Bas Tovim |publisher=Jewish Women's Archive |accessdate=2021-11-01}}</ref>
==See also== * Yiddish language * Yiddish literature
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bas Tovim, Sarah}} Category:17th-century births Category:18th-century deaths Category:Jewish women writers Category:Jewish Ukrainian writers Category:Ukrainian women writers Category:Yiddish-language writers Category:17th-century Ukrainian people Category:18th-century Ukrainian writers Category:17th-century Jews Category:18th-century Jews