Sarah bas Tovim

Little is known about the life of 18th-century tekhine composer Sarah bas Tovim, with some even suggesting that she did not exist at all. However, there is reason to believe that she was in fact born in Satanov, Ukraine, and was the great-granddaughter of Rabbi Mordecai of Brisk (other details of her parentage vary across texts). She composed two major tekhines, Shloyshe sheorim (The Three Gates) and Sheker ha-kheyn (Grace is Deceitful); the former is her more famous work and among the most beloved tekhines. She described her own life as a fall from a wealthy youth to an impoverished old age, which she attributed to the sin of talking in synagogue.