The Libes Briv of Isaac Wetzlar

Isaac Wetzlar was an eighteenth century wealthy merchant from Celle, Germany who spent many years reflecting on the socio-religious circumstances of German-Jewish society. He wrote Libes Brivin Yiddish as a critique of the situation of this society, and offered suggestions which he felt would improve the spiritual and material situation of his fellow Jews. Faierstein presents the text and translation of this important document, along with an analysis

An Early Modern Version of Shalom Aleichem for Women after Friday Candle Lighting

The singing of the hymn Shalom Aleichem upon returning home from the synagogue on Friday night is a well–known tradition. It is assumed that the Talmudic passage in Tractate Shabbat (B. Shabbat 119b) is the source of this tradition. In fact, it is a kabbalistic custom more influenced by the Zohar. There is a second version of Shalom Aleichem to be recited by women after the lighting of the Sabbath candles, that was first published in a collection of prayers entitled Birkhat ha-Mazon, Basel, 1600. This study analyzes the origins and history of this second version of Shalom Aleichem for women

An Early Modern Version of Shalom Aleichem for Women after Friday Candle Lighting

The singing of the hymn Shalom Aleichem upon returning home from the synagogue on Friday night is a well–known tradition. It is assumed that the Talmudic passage in Tractate Shabbat (B. Shabbat 119b) is the source of this tradition. In fact, it is a kabbalistic custom more influenced by the Zohar. There is a second version of Shalom Aleichem to be recited by women after the lighting of the Sabbath candles, that was first published in a collection of prayers entitled Birkhat ha-Mazon, Basel, 1600. This study analyzes the origins and history of this second version of Shalom Aleichem for women

The Melits Yosher and the Audience for Early Modern Yiddish Literature

Rabbi Jacob ben Isaac of Yanova (d. 1623) is best known as the author of the Ze’enah U-Re’enah; the Melits Yosher (“Intercessor before God”) is one of his lesser known works. It was first published in Lublin in 1622 and reprinted once in Amsterdam in 1688. Like the Ze’enah U-Re’enah, it was a Torah commentary, but composed for men who had some yeshivah education, but who could not continue their studies. The commentary on the Song of Songs by Isaac Sulkes is another Yiddish work that addresses the same audience as the Melits Yosher. The purpose of this article is to bring to scholarly attention an audience that has not been noticed or studied in the previous scholarship on early modern Yiddish literature