Renaissance humanism was a cultural, literary, and scholarly movement associated with the rise and expansion of the "studia humanitatis." It inspired a parallel movement, among the Jews of Italy in particular, called Jewish humanism: the expression of humanist cultural programs, literary conventions, and civic aspirations in Hebrew within the context of the Jewish community. David b. Judah Messer Leon (ca. 1465-ca. 1535) was an Italian-Jewish humanist. The paper discusses David's "Shevah ha-Nashim": its historical context; David's extended defense of humanism, contained within the text itself; and finally, David's praise of women, from which he drew the work's title. David composed "Shevah ha-Nashim" in Constantinople, about 1496/7, as a laudatory composition for a particular Jewish lady named Laura, from whom David sought financial support. The text uses the traditional commentary on Proverbs 31 as its framework. David praises his addressee by claiming that she embodies the biblical ideal of the 'Woman of Valor' and by comparing her indirectly with famous women of ancient Greece and Rome (known to David through an anthology by Boccaccio) and to Laura, the beloved of Petrarch's sonnets. David's use of and feeling for Boccaccio, Petrarch, and other classical texts and authors demonstrate the extent of his involvement in Renaissance humanism. Some Jewish groups in Constantinople found this involvement distasteful. They objected to a rabbi's use of the humanities as being subversive to Judaism. As a result, before praising Laura, David defends the "studia humanitatis," especially rhetoric and poetry. He argues that they complement the pursuit of wisdom and Halachic observance necessary to attain (Jewish) religious perfection. This opposition to the humanist paideia demonstrates that Jewish humanism was a unique phenomenon of Italian Jewry. /// [Abstract in Hebrew].