Liebliche Tefilloh, Judaeo-German Prayer-Book Printed in 1709

Liebliche Tejilloh1
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A Judaeo-German Prayer-Book Printed in ijog
BY SIEGFRIED STEIN
A. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SURVEY
On the first day oiRausch Chaudesch Adar 5469 — i.e., 10th February 1709 — Aaron
ben Samuel of Hergershausen2 completed his Liebliche Tejilloh. This small townlet
is situated between Diburg and Babenhausen in Hesse, and although the author
does not hide his identity, the name of the publisher and the place where the book
was printed are not given.3 The work was early and persistently taken note of by
bibliographers and scholars in various fields of Jewish studies. Johann Christian
Wolf registered it in his Bibliotheca Hebraica, vol. IV, 1733, p. 1068. Johann Hein-
rich Callenberg (1694-1760), from 1735 Professor of Theology and Oriental
Languages in Halle and well known for his extensive ihissionary activities amongst
the Jews, initiated the publication of a considerable part of the foreword of the
Liebliche Tejilloh. I t appeared in a Bericht an einige christliche Freunde von einem Versuch
A1
A11 transliterations will be given according to the Ashkenazi pronunciation as used by the
author himself. He pointed both Hebrew and German words with an astounding lack of
knowledge and consistency. Misprints abound, and some of the contributions, figuring as his
own, may well go back to older source-material of different dialectical backgrounds. Certain
allowances will, therefore, have to be made to alter his spellings in such a way as to avoid
unnecessary explanatory notes and to make his text understandable to anyone competent in
modern German. Thus I have occasionally transliterated the bilabial voiced plosive 'b' into
voiceless 'p', the velar voiced plosive 'g' into voiceless 'k' and the dental voiceless plosive 't'
into voiced 'd', since only a complete reproduction of the whole book could lead to a useful
comparative analysis of his language. Such a task is not envisaged within the framework of
this article. On the other hand, a translation of some of the relevant parts of the Liebliche
Tejilloh — henceforth abbreviated L. T. in the Notes — into English or even modern German,
would necessarily result in blurring the social stratum to which the book belongs, and the
religious convictions it wishes to convey.
s
Spelled nrmt$n.J"iyn on pp. 15a and 73a at the end of the book. The place name should,
therefore, perhaps be read Hergerswiese, although it is not known as such by archivists of
Offenbach and Darmstadt whom I have consulted.
3
M . Erik, History of Yiddish Literature, Warsaw 1928, p . 212, and I. Zinberg, The History of
Yiddish Literature, vol. VI, Wilna 1935, p. 256, both written in Yiddish, maintain Fiirth to be
the place of printing. Neither of them substantiates his claim. A. Shohet, The Beginnings of the
Haskalah among German Jewry, Jerusalem. 1960, pp. 266 and 304 (in Hebrew), suggests Frank-
furt on Main on the basis qf the abbreviation Abk in Callenberg's Bericht... 1732, p. 234.
I am grateful to Dr. J. Storz, Archivleiter der Universitatsbibliothek, Halle, for confirming
the correctness of this identification from vol. K 93 of the Franckesche Stiftungen.
41
42 Siegfried Stein
das arme jiidische Volk zur Erkenntnis und Annehmung der christlichen Wahrheit anzuleiten,*

and is described as eines heylsbegierigen Juden Vorrede zu seinem Gebetbuch.
Another translation of the same part of the Liebliche Tefilloh was provided by
Rabbi Leopold Stein of Frankfurt on Main5 although he was almost certainly
unaware of his predecessor and his activities. Stein praises Geist und Gemtit des edlen
Verfassets and promises to include some of his prayers in a collective volume to be
called Andachtsbuch filr Israeliten,6 which had been commissioned by the Second
Rabbinical Assembly held in Frankfurt in 1845. Moreover, he supplies information
about Aaron's educational reform programme and the ultimate loss of thousands of
copies of his book, due to the rabbinate's opposition to its contents.7
Max Griinbaum's valuable Jiidischdeutsche Chrestomathie offers a transliteration of
the title-page of the Liebliche Tefilloh, of a berochoch* for die kinder, of selected passages
from the preface, of a tefilloh, V man in die schul geht, and of Aaron's Judaeo-German
version of Psalm CXLVIII. In addition, he gives the headings of two of the many
private devotions contained in the book. Following a brief note by Steinschneider,
he stresses the fact that the edition was printed in vocalised square Hebrew script.
Perhaps one can speculate that a claim was thus made for equality between
scholarly and popular literature since, hitherto, only the unpointed cursive sur
type had been used for Judaeo-German writings.881 These were considered to be of a
lower religious value and were represented by translations of the Hebrew Bible,
prayer-books or simple ethical tracts into the vernacular of Ashkenazi Jewry.
*Siebente Fortsetzung, Kap. V, 1731, pp. 31-51. I am indebted to Dr. S. Cohen, Librarian at the
Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, for kindly sending me xerox copies of the translation of the
preface to L. T. and other parts of the voluminous and very interesting Bericht, which throw
light on the relationship between Aaron and Callenberg's circle. The original complete set of
the Reports is apparently available only in Cincinnati. It was the influence of A. H. Francke,
one of the most prominent Pietists in Halle, that prompted the young theologian and orientalist
to turn his attention to the conversion of the Jews, and subsequently made him the founder
of the Institutum Judaicum in 1728.
6
It was published in 1846 in the Kalender und Jahrbuch fur Israeliten aufdas Jahr 5607, and edited
by I. Busch in Vienna, pp. 175-192.
•It is referred to by Steinschneider in his CLH, Anonyma, p. 480, No. 3185 under the title Israels
Erbauungsstunden, ein Buck der hduslichen Andachtfiir die Bekenner des Judentums. 1. Band, 1. Lieferung,
Berlin 1846. Unfortunately, this is not extant in the Bodleian and cannot be traced in any
other library in England. Comparisons with Aaron's original version, which might have
yielded interesting results cannot, therefore, be made at present.
'Cf. Steinschneider, loc.cit., p. 479, No. 3184.
"Leipzig 1882, pp. 321-324.
8a
There may well be a few more Judaeo-German texts in vocalised square Hebrew characters,
printed before 1709, but they are not known to me. Attention should, however, be drawn
to the fact that Judaeo-German Bible Glossaries, written between 1290 and 1420, occasionally
share the form of their letters and their vocalisation with that of the L. T. Some of these
manuscripts originally belonged to Reuchlin's library. Cf. S. Birnbaum, 'Sechs hundert jor
tehillim af yldisch', in: For Max Weinreich On His Seventieth Birthday, The Hague 1964, pp.
500-526. In contrast to the sur type of Levita's Judaeo-German foreword to and translation
of the Psalms (1544) Adelkind's Judaeo-German postscript is printed in square but unvocalised
Hebrew letters.
Liebliche Tejilloh 43
Middle-High German sagas and their like were also often transliterated into this

script. It was, at any rate, Aaron's explicit purpose to give to unlearned men,
women and children the opportunity of using his Liebliche Tefilloh9 without much
difficulty, however faulty and "substandard" his attempts turned out to be, if
measured by the yardstick of contemporaneous Jewish scholarship.10 Yet it is only
fair to state that he himself persistently disclaimed being a lamden11 (sic), and that
he apologised at the end of the book for the unterschiedliche to'us (sic), that is, the
various mistakes which readers are bound to find for themselves. "Es is ja taitsch.
Man kan's raten, was nicht recht stet."
In the twentieth century, Asaf, the great collector of source-material on Jewish
education from the early Middle Ages to the period of Enlightenment, was particu-
larly interested in Aaron's demand to teach the children in muter loschaun,12 and he
translated some of the relevant passages as well as excerpts from his preface into
Hebrew. A little later, M. Erik13 gave a brief account of form and content of the
Liebliche Tejilloh, again supplying a number of quotations. Paying special attention
to the stratification of classes within the Jewish community, he interpreted Aaron's
views as an expression of general discontent amongst the lantslait or jischuvniks — the
"proletariat", if we may call them thus — with influential lay leaders of the Qahal
and the outmoded pedagogical methods of rabbis, teachers and itinerant preachers.
There is a good deal of justification for his approach, but he makes little if any
effort to evaluate Aaron's complex religious personality.14 I. Zinberg's15 summary
of the Liebliche Tejilloh encompasses a little more than does Erik's, but shares its
limitations.
Shohet's book,16 however marginal his specific interests in our subject were, has
brought the discussion markedly forward. He discovered Gallenberg's interest in
Aaron of Hergershausen and looked both backwards and forwards to come to
grips with the temper of the time to which the two men belonged. In this there is a
challenge for a new and closer look at the Liebliche Tejilloh and its author.
'Grunbaum has noted that this was, in fact, not so much a prayer-book containing the statutory
liturgy for week-and/or holy days than a vademecum for private devotions.
"For Aaron's exceptionally poor Hebrew, cf. L.T. 14b and 15a.
21
A man of rabbinic knowledge. Cf. L.T., 9a and 38b. Aaron shares his self-deprecation and
some of his tendencies with Joseph ben Yaqar, whose Judaeo-German translation of the weekly
and festival prayers appeared in 1554. He, too, describes himself as an 'am ha-1 ares and ein tropj.
His book is extremely rare, but judged by Griinbaum's excerpts from it, of considerable
interest. Cf. pp. 296-321.
"Mother tongue. Cf. L.T., 10a and lla, and Asaf: Toledoth ha-Hinnukh, vol. 1, Tel Aviv 1925,
pp. 173-76.
a
Loc.ciL, pp. 212-214.
14
Cf. my Sejer Giddul Banim: Remember the Days. Essays in Honour of Cecil Roth, Oxford
1966, pp. 166f. and 176f.
16
Loc.dt., pp. 258-58.
"Loc.cit., pp. 105, 285 and 303-05.
44 Siegfried Stein
B. AARON'S USE OF EARLIER SOURCE-MATERIAL

The title-page has already been transliterated by Griinbaum.1 For the reader's
convenience, it may here be quoted in full. Some additional comments are meant
to serve as an introduction to the method of approach to be adopted in this article:
"Labe brider, kauft diese liebliche tefiloh oder kreftige artznai for guf un'
neshomoh,2 die nit in solchem taitschen druk gewesen is, weil (solang) die welt
stet. Un' lost aier waib un' kinder flaissig darihen laienen (lesen) So werden
(sich) Tr gufun' neschomoh recht erkwiken. Den dieses licht wert laichten bis
in aierm herzen. Sobald als die kinder Iber-laienen weren, so weren (sie)
glaich ach (auch) varsten ire tefilaus. Dadurch wern sie genlssen 'aulom ha-seh
un' 'aulom ha-bo' we-chenyehi rozaun."3
The innovation of the square print for books of this kind, unpointed on this and the
last page as well as in the case of chapter headings, is impressive and must have
been judged to be an improvement over the old "sur" type. On the other hand, the
special appeal to women and children had a tradition behind it which reached
across centuries even before the invention of print. Translations into Judaeo-Ger-
man of biblical, liturgical and ethical texts were often addressed to them and their
unlearned husbands and fathers. One has only to give the gist of a few examples to
illustrate affinities and differences between Aaron and his predecessors. As early as
1544, Elijah Levita, the great Hebraist and humanist who was also one of the first
Jewish scholars in the modern sense of the word, translated the Psalms into this
idiom. His preface is written in rhymed prose, and frumefrauen are asked to study
die heilig' iilim. He could say with full justification that such renderings ins teutsche
had not appeared before. Everything was to be verteutscht nach dem dikduk and the
melamdim* who knel their pupils (drum the subject matter into their heads) would
see to it that they would not greisen (make mistakes) in teutschen. He felt, therefore,
that every woman should buy the book and thus acquire the grace of God un' das
licht\e\ gan (eden.h At the end of the book, Cornelio Adelkind, publisher and at
different times supervisor of the Bomberg and other printing houses, extends his
recommendation of the book also to those ba'ale battim6 who had had no time for
study in their youth. The request for payment is repeated. The book appeared in
Venice or, in the words of the title-page, in der grossen stat Venedig.
To come nearer to the beginning of the eighteenth century, we can refer to two
Judaeo-German translations of the whole Bible, one by Yekutiel Blitz and the other
by Joseph Witzenhausen. Both editions were published in Amsterdam, the former
in 1678, and the latter in 1687. By that time, full translations of the Old and New
m
Loc.cit., p. 321.
2
Body and soul.
3
This world and the world to come. Thus may be His will.
•Grammar, teachers.
8
Garden of Eden = Paradise.
•Householders = married men.
Testaments and the Apocrypha had appeared in many European languages,

Protestant versions with the intent of bringing the Book to the people, Catholic
ones to stem deviations from traditional exegesis. In his foreword, Blitz attacks the
complacency of those who do not give the man in the street a translation that
conforms to the rules of Hebrew grammar and, at the same time, to the syntactic
and aesthetic requirements of the German, that is, the Judaeo-German language.
"Why," so the people say, "are we worse than the other nations and why do the
Italian and Sefardi Jews excel themselves also in Hebrew?" He sees as the only
remedy a change in pedagogical methods, which must aim at a literary and natural
rather than a midrashic understanding of the Hebrew Bible. The printer adds in his
preface that never before has such a translation, to be used by men and women
alike, been completed in leshaun 'ashkenas.7
There can be no doubt about the superior quality of Witzenhausen's version,
although similar and often identical tendencies prompted his own and his prede-
cessor's undertaking. Yet the opposition expressed in the preface written by his
learned publisher-printer, Joseph Athias, a Sefardi of distinguished descent, against
charifus and chilukim8 in the teaching of Mishnah and Gemara to children who have
not reached their grade in biblical studies, is much stronger than that of Blitz.
Polish teachers are held responsible for the general decline in standards. If not for
them, men or women, boys or girls, even gemaine lait could make satisfactory
progress. Everybody should, therefore, buy the book and thus acquire eternal life:
"Drum kumt zu laufen, tut nit langsam gen, den es is eine mezVoh9 . . . un'
lasst euch euer geld nit verdriessen, den ir wert es noch auf jenem 'aulotn
geniessen".
Apart from the preface, the Liebliche Tejilloh contains translations of selections of the
daily prayer-book, of the Psalms and private devotions. In addition to the excerpts
from the introduction to the Venetian Judaeo-German version of the Psalms and
to the two Amsterdam productions already quoted, Steinschneider enumerates a
number of schbne und neue tefillaus and techinnaus forfrome weiber und maidlech.10 They
appeared in print from the middle of the seventeenth to the early years of the eigh-
teenth century in Amsterdam, Prague, Frankfurt on Oder, Frankfurt on Main and
Dyhrenfurth. The text of the introductions or colophons of such publications is not
markedly different from that of the Liebliche Tejilloh. There are similar exhortations
to buy these books, similar promises of reward for doing so in this world and the
world to come. Above all, the implicit or explicit pleadings for the religious and
educational care for a formerly neglected section of the Jewish community form a
firm link with an essential part of Aaron's work.
'German language, here again meaning Judaeo-German.
'Hair-splitting dialectic.
"Bargain.
10
Cf. his CLH, Anonyma, loc.cit., pp. 477-84: Supplicationes Germanicae, especially Nos. 3169, 3175,
3178, 3184, 3187, 3189 (refu'as ha-nefesh — healing of the soul, or as it would be in German,
Arznei fur die Seele, an expression almost identical with the title-page of the L.T.), 3191, 3201,
3202. In this context tehinnoth has the same meaning as tefilloth.
46 Siegfried Stein
Yet most, if not all of those who preceded him were thoroughly familiar with

biblical, talmudic and mediaeval source-material and knew how to ward off the
opposition of the establishment. In contrast, our author was probably the first
forceful writer and effective representative of the underprivileged lantslait to whom
he himself belonged. Nonetheless, he made use of much earlier, more scholarly
writings of this kind. Many of them, originally written in Hebrew, had by now
become available in Judaeo-German translations, but he had little hesitation about
altering and even falsifying his Vorlagen in order to promote his own ideas.
The general cultural standards of men like Levita, Adelkind and Joseph Athias
enabled them to establish close contacts with eminent Gentiles of their times who
were not only well-versed in Greek and Latin philosophical and theological
literature, but who also showed great interest in what Jerome had called Hebraica
Veritas. Often interrupted by hostilities between the two camps and subsequent
stagnation, a mutual desire had re-emerged to listen to and learn from one another,
however different the motives for such rapprochement had been before, and however
unchanged they remained.
Notwithstanding his low rank in society and in the world of learning, Aaron too,
broke the fences of the spiritual ghetto into which he was born. He started by
reading books in German proper, and by discussing problems of common interest
with his Christian neighbours. Later in life, he is known to have communicated
with students of Callenberg on a number of occasions. At the request of their
teacher, they acted as missionaries in many Jewish communities, large and small.
Meeting Aaron in Hergershausen, they found him knowledgeable and worth while
to talk to, they exchanged views and books and retained a friendly, though perhaps
sometimes precarious relationship.
After what has been said about some apparent distinctions between the Liebliche
Tefilloh and earlier Judaeo-German literature, we can now proceed to a more
detailed account of the contents of Aaron's work. The title-page of the Liebliche
Tefilloh is followed by a Hebrew alphabet printed in ten lines, each containing all
consonants, the different vowels (including the shewa) being added to each letter
of each row. Such a table was obviously meant to serve as a first reading-aid for
children between four and five. Similar alphabets preceded ordinary orthodox
daily prayer-books as late as 1934,11 and perhaps even later. Looking back, one can
refer to a pointed alphabetical table, extant at the Jewish Theological Seminary of
America, and printed in Venice in 1661.12 It obviously also represents part of a
children's primer, because it includes the Shema',13 the grace after meals, and bene-
11
E.g., in Siddur Sha'are Tefillah, 16th ed., Frankfurt on Main, pp. VII and 3. The apparently
early inclusion of the alphabet in the Siddur illustrates the fact that during the Middle Ages
and after, children received no systematic introduction to the prayer-book. Reading in it was
meant to prepare them for full participation in the services of the synagogue, rather than for
making them understand what they were saying. Cf. A. F. Kleinberger, The Educational Theory
of Maharal of Prague, Jerusalem 1962, p. 23 (in Hebrew).
12
See Asaf, illustrated title-page to vol. 3. loc.cit., Tel Aviv 1936.
13
Probably only its first line and the response to it.
By courtesy of the British Museum

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dictions of various kinds. Giidemann quotes a much earlier exhortation from the

SeferHasidhimha-qatanlihy'M.oshe Cohen ben Eleazar, who lived in the latter part
of the fifteenth century in Germany. The author recommends the constant exercise
of acts of piety, such as the writing of mezuzoth and alphabets for children, who
should be taught the Shema' and other brief sentences from Scripture. More
examples of this kind can be found in other standard works of reference.15 They
illustrate the background of the next item in the Liebliche Tefilloh, Aaron's rendering
of the berochoh for die kinder.1* It is to be transliterated as follows:
"Lobet bistu, her, unser got, ain kenig der welt, der uns hat gehailiget mit
sain gebot, das wir solen unsere hent rainigen.17 Die tauroh hat uns mauscheh
rabbenu ( W?l«c) geboten, zu erben der einsamlung Ja'kauv. Brochaus auf
main kopf. Main kint, nera an die zucht daines vaters unt varlos nit das
gesetz dainer muter. Die tauroh sol main glauben sain un' der almechtigo
got wolo in mainer hilf' sain."18
We note the translation her for the Tetragrammaton, which does not seem to
represent old established tradition. Although this rendering appears in Cracow in
1568 in an anonymous Judaeo-German translation of Isaiah xi:10,19 earlier
Christian versions, particularly Luther's, are likely to have brought about a gradual
14
Thus designated by Giidemann, Geschichte des Erziehungswesens und der Cultur der Juden in
Deutschland wdhrend des XIV und XV Jahrhunderts, reprint, Amsterdam 1966, p . 221.
15
Cf. e.g., the anonymous Huqqe ha-torah, belonging to the thirteenth century, first edited in the
original Hebrew by Giidemann, Geschichte des Erziehungswesens. . . in Frankreich und Deutschland
vom. X-XIV Jahrundert, Vienna 1880, p. 272, and again by Asaf, loc.cit., p . 15. In the editio
princeps of Ein schon Frauenbiichlein, Cracow 1577, the duty to guide her children in their first
steps towards a Jewish education is made incumbent on the mother. "Sie sol waschen Ir hend
un' lern sie die berochoh iiber die hend un' die pesukim, die man pflegt den kindern vor zu
sagen. . ." Cf. Griinbaum, loc.cit., p . 272. Early in the seventeenth century, Joseph Hahn in
YosefOmes also gives instructions for the first reading exercises with children, coupled with the
washing of hands, the reading of the Shema' and of other verses from Scripture. Cf. Asaf,
loccit., p. 82.
16
Means here, as in the foregoing examples, a berochoh and quotations from the Bible, both to be
said by the children.
17
Avigdor Sofer of Eisenstadt, in his Judaeo-German translation of the prayer-book for the whole
year, Sedher Tefillah tni-kol ha-shanah, Amsterdam 1650, p. 2, renders the blessing on washing
one's hands in the morning as follows: "gelobt seistu, got, unser got, kenig der welt, dass er uns
hat geheiligt mit seine geboten un' er hat geboten uns, dass mir solen waschen die hand." As
to "einsamlung Jfa'kauv" for qehillath ya'aqobh, see already Witzenhausen in his translation of
Deut. xxxiii: 4. Aaron omitsyahulu, which usually follows berakhoth, in his translation.
18
Apart from the additional modeh 'ani at the beginning, the first sentence of the Shema' and a
quotation from Deut. iv:4 at the end, the afore-mentioned Siddur Sha'are Tefillah has the same
text in Hebrew. The very peculiar composition of this prayer makes it clear that the author of
the Liebliche Tejilloh must also have used an older version.
19
Cf. Steinschneider, CLH, Anonyma, p. 186, No. 1246. He quotes Wolf, loc.cit., vol. I I , p . 202,
according to whom the author of this translation seems to have had Luther's version before
him. Cf. also W. Staerk and A. Leitzmann, Die Jiidisch-Deulschen Bibeliibersetzungen von den
Anfdngenbis zum Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts, Frankfurt on Main 1923, pp. 155 and 159. This
book, too, was meant to be used especially by women.
48 Siegfried Stein
adoption of this usage in Jewish circles. It is not without interest that a convert to

Christianity, Michael Adam, found it necessary to explain to his former correli-
gionists, why he based his translation of the Tetragrammaton as her on the usual
pronunciation of 'adaunoj, meaning 'adnus, that is herschaft.20 His Judaeo-German
version of the Pentateuch, the Hqftaroth and the five Megilloth, appeared in Con-
stance in 1544. In Levita's Psalms, although published only a year later, got still
stands for the Tetragrammaton, and earlier Judaeo-German glosses and transla-
tions seem to have invariably either got or ~er.
One might have expected a continuation of prayers in their normative or
possibly abridged form in the Liebliche Tefilloh. Instead, the alphabet und die
brochohfor die kinder are followed by a long preface of very mixed contents.
Pages lb-15a propagate, in the first instance, the early education of children in
their muter loschaun. What exactly Aaron meant when he pleaded so energetically
for his view is not quite clear at the outset, since the prose of his foreword is heavily
mixed with Hebrew and occasionally with Aramaic. On the other hand, his suppli-
cations for special occasions and his translations of some statutory prayers and of a
number of psalms, especially in the second part of the book, show greater conform-
ity to the linguistic usage of his non-Jewish environment. There can be no doubt
that he felt more at ease when using his normal "jargon" in his preface and the
many autobiographical statements in it. This practice had the additional advan-
tage of establishing immediate contact with his Jewish readers. At the same time,
he had acquired sufficient ability to translate parts of the liturgy and the psalms,
and selected prayers for individual needs, into the almost unalloyed idiom of the
district in which he lived. Aided in his efforts by consulting earlier attempts meant
to serve the same end, he was convinced that:
"Solche tefilaus (in taitsch muter loschaun) weren durch dringen bei got, dem
almechtigen, unt auch dem menschen in sainem herzen, dass er sich in vil
ma'sim21* wert bessern un' wert nit so bes mer sain, un' wert gross scholaum
bringen, den mir sainen bai die iumos21b in verdacht mir he ten tefilaus zu
biten um ramo'us210 unt auch die kinder weren lernen mit ain schen loschaun
reden un' auch schraiben one graisen."22
Aaron's aim was thus twofold — to transmit the religio-ethical message of Hebrew
prayers to the unlearned, and, simultaneously, to prepare the young generation
20
Cf. Staerk and Leitzmann, loc.cit., p. 127. Both the Septuagint and the Vulgate have un-
doubtedly influenced Christian translators to retain the distinction between the Tetragram-
maton and 'Elohim, since both versions render the former as kurios or dominus, the latter as
theos or deus. The Aramaic Targumim do not differentiate between the two.
21
a. Deeds;
b. Nations;
c. Fraudulent business transactions. L.T. lla.
22
Gallenberg's Bericht, loc.cit., renders the passage on dishonesty as follows: "Wir hatten Gebeter
zu beten um Erhohung oder Hoheit. . .," a misunderstanding of the Hebrew, brought about
by the post-biblical formation of the noun, derived from the pi'el of the root ramah, which the
translator connected with the root rum.
Liebliche Tefilloh 49
linguistically for a closer social and economic integration into its environment.

The hakdomoh23 begins with a perfect German sentence:
"Got, dem almechtigen alain die ehr,

un' sunst kainem andren mer."
I have no proof for saying that these two rhymed lines were not originally written
by Aaron, but their beautiful simplicity seems to indicate that he borrowed the text
from another book of a comparable genre, written in a more literate manner.2*
After this brief foreword there follows a Hebrew text from the Sefer Hasidhim,
which was compiled during the thirteenth century. Generally attributed to
Yehudah he-Hasidh of Regensburg, it contains contributions of his father, Samuel
he-Hasidh, and of his pupil, Eleasar Roqeah, and has become one of the most
widely read ethical treatises, attaining special popularity amongst the pious
unsophisticated Jews of Germany, and later, amongst the Hasidhim of the eigh-
teenth and nineteenth centuries.
In this passage it is recommended to read the Tefillah,25 the Shemcf and the
benedictions in a language which is understandable rather than in one which is not.
For Aaron such authoritative advice formed a most suitable introduction to his
whole book. It is significant, however, that he, like most of his predecessors, does not
refer to earlier and later halachic decisions on this point, particularly not to the
Mishnah Sotah vii:l.26 In his translation of the Hebrew text, Aaron omits one verse
from Isaiah xxix:12. He may have overlooked it or he may not have understood it.
On the other hand, his zeal to achieve his purpose made him change his Vorlage.
The relevant part of his translation reads as follows:
"(a) Dorum haben unsere chachomim in hovel un' 'erezjisro'el die tefilaus u n '
auch andre seforim in loschaun 'armejim {W>'£mM-sic) gemacht, so(?) dass die
gemaine lantslait ale Tro tefilaus solen rechYvarsten. Dorum haben sie zu
derselbigo zait dolmetscher gehat.
(b) Un' noch sagen die chasidim: der mensch sol sich zwingen, [!] dass er
saine tefilaus bichewonoh27 tut den die tefiloh w"l chewonoh haben."
"Introduction.
24
Callenberg's Bericht, loc.cit., p. 32 makes the following interesting observation: "Besagtes
Gebetbiichlein ist mit einem solchen Stilo verfasst, dass man gar wohl sieht, der Autor miisse
die Bibel nach Lutheri Version wie auch einige christliche Gebetbiicherfleissiggelesen haben.
Massen davon viele Passagen handgreiflich zeugen." Rhymed prose is also frequently to be
found in Judaeo-German literature — for instance, in Joseph ben Yaqar's preface to his prayer-
book (1544), and in Levita's preface to his translation of the Psalms (1545).
"Refers here to the "eighteen benedictions" or 'Amidha, which belong to the statutory prayers,
to be said in the morning, afternoon and evening. Aaron may have used one of at least five
editions available before his time. It is also possible that he copied the relevant paragraph from
an anthology of writings of this kind which may have included a Judaeo-German translation.
I consulted J. Wistinetzki's edition, Berlin 1891, p. 389, par. 1590.
26
Some of the most important codifiers are listed by Wistinetzki ad locum.
27
With proper intention.
50 Siegfried Stein
The Hebrew text of sentence (a) is quite unambiguous and could only be rendered

thus:
" . . . They (our sages) have written the Talmud in Babylon and in the land of
Israel in Aramaic, to enable even the unlearned to understand the miswoth."
Aaron left out the Talmud and commandments, replacing them by prayers and
other books. On a later occasion, he said quite openly to one of the missionaries
sent out by Callenberg28 that he thought little of rabbinic literature. That he
changed Talmud into prayers is particularly strange, because all old and normative
parts of the prayer-book were written in Hebrew. When speaking of andre seforim, he
apparently had the Aramaic translations of the Bible in mind, to which the text in
Sefer Hasidhim in fact refers. T h e rendering of 'amme ha-ares by gemaine lantslait
cannot be read without sympathetic understanding.
Sentence (b) is difficult in the Hebrew text which precedes Aaron's translation.29
Both the Gemara, on which our paragraph in the Sefer Hasidhim is based, and
Wistinetzki's edition of the Sefer Hasidhim make it quite clear that one should not
pray at all unless one is able to turn one's mind to God. Aaron could somehow not
give his consent to this, because belief in the necessity of prayer and faith in its
efficacy were his basic religious convictions. There is, of course, the possibility of a
faulty transmission of his text, but one wonders how he could translate his Vorlage as
he did.
Quoting many sentences from Scripture, he recommends again and again
"unsre tefilaus von grunt des herzens zu tun . . .mit ganzer neschomoh. .. dass mir
sich solen ferchten vor Tm . . .un' lust haben zu saine gebot." He also cites two lines
of the first of the shire ha-yihud which originated in the same circle as the Sefer
Hasidhim:
"Was verlang ich oder beger fun dir, den mainer zu ferchten... Mit gutem
fraidigen herzen mir zu dlnen is mir mer angenem als gute korbonaus."30
One of the seven fairly long "songs of unity" was formerly said on every day of
the week. Weighty rabbinic objections against their recitation in the synagogue
started in the sixteenth century. They were, on the whole, not based on the contents
of these hymns but on the danger of weakening the sublime thoughts they expressed
by all too frequent repetitions.31 Yet customs disappear slowly, and the deep piety
a8
Cf. Callenberg, Bericht, locdL, Neunte Fortsetzung, Kap. 26, 1732, p. 239: "Vom Talmud halt er
nichts". Cf. Shohet, loc.cit., p. 305.
M
The Gemara Berakhoth 30b reads: M e n ' ttS nx \rah f>w ax ,1O2J? nx mx iiD» nbiyb
:ên> h* M6 DXI
Wistinetzki's text shows a slight deviation from that of the Gemara: :1D2y nx mx "WO*1
jmxo r o n s nbsrw ">th Man* Sx ixb oxi :Sên» nansa ^BnnS bw DX
Aaron's version differs from the Gemara and from Wistinetzki's edition: ,1OX>' nx mx ]'2»
.naia nwx nSsnnp »ef> ^ B J V rm:n SSsnn1? bw nx
••Sacrifices, cf. L.T., p. 2a-b.
31
Cf. Elbogen, Derjiidische Gotlesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Entwicklung, Frankfurt/Main 1931,
p. 81 and note ad locum.
reflected in prayers of this kind appealed strongly to Aaron and many of his own

and of following generations. For centuries they appeared in a number of Hebrew
and Judaeo-German editions in separate form or as an appendix to Siddurirn and
Mahzorim32 although only the "Song of Glory", shir ha-kabhodh for Sabbath and
festivals, has been retained up to the present in most orthodox communities.
Aaron also included a few selections of ma'amadhoth and tiqqune hasoth in his
Liebliche Tefilloh. The origin of the ma'amadhoth goes back to tannaitic times. Priests
and Levites ('anshe mishmar) as well as laymen ('anshe ma'amadh) had to represent
those people who were unable to attend the offering of sacrifices in Jerusalem.83
After the destruction of the Temple, when prayers replaced sacrifices, the order of
the old service was changed. Apart from the enumeration of the pentateuchal
ordinances on sacrifices, it also included a variety of scriptural quotations, excerpts
from the Mishnah, Gemara, aggadic material, and special supplications for every
day. Rabh Amram Gaon had already relegated these prayers to domestic use to
avoid undue inconvenience to the community. However, in this case too, they
appeared in print from the sixteenth century onwards, either in Hebrew or in
Judaeo-German.34
The nocturnal devotions, tiqqune hasoth, are part of the many liturgical innova-
tions introduced by the Lurianic Kabbalists of sixteenth-century Safed. Participa-
tion in vigils of this kind became almost institutional among the devout, but soon
attracted wider circles both inside and outside the land of Israel. New dimensions
of piety emerged. All prayers had to have special kawwanoth to bring about the
restoration or tiqqun of man to his former adamitic perfection, to lead him to an
ever closer relationship with God, and through it, ultimately to the redemption of the
Jewish people and indeed the whole of mankind. In the stillness of the night, the
survivors of the expulsion from Spain or their sons were meant to reflect on the
causes and consequences of the destruction of the Temple and to make earnest
supplications for the new order of things expected to come in their own time.35
The sketch on the literary pattern of the ma'amadhoth, as developed after the first
century, allows us to assume that Aaron had little interest in the selection of
mishnaic, talmudic, and aggadic passages. It is also unlikely that he would quote
from those sections which deal with sacrifices. Yet he appears to have been a fairly
regular attendant at daily services in the Synagogue of Hergershausen where these
ma'amadhoth in their full or abbreviated form still belonged to the established
liturgy. His familiarity with their contents could hardly be explained in any other
way.
32
Gf. e.g., Steinschneider, CLH, Anonyma, loccit., pp. 503-05.
S3
Cf. inter alia, Mishnah Ta'anith, IV, 1.
34
Gf. Steinschneider, CHL, Anonyma, loccit., pp. 428-30, and S. Baer, Sedher 'Abhodhath Yisra'el,
reprint Schocken, p. 495.
35
Gf. Elbogen, loccit., pp. 387ff., Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, Jerusalem 1941,
pp. 283-86. For Hebrew and Judaeo-German editions of tiqqune hasoth, see Steinschneider,
CHL, Anonyma, pp. 458ff., and his 'Jiidisch-Deutsche Literatur' in Serapeum, Zeitschrift fiir
Bibliothek-Wissenschqft. . ., ed. by Robert Naumann, February 1849, Nos. 284 and 331.
52 Siegfried Stein
In one case, he cites a mixed list of texts, culled from the Bible,36 from the second

benediction before the Shema', from the daily and Sabbath 'Amidhah and from the
concluding devotional part of the lectionary for Sunday.37 He then goes on to say:
"Aus dieso pesukim3** is zu erkenen dass mir ali tag solen biten um guto
midaus."3Sb
The mystical terminology of the last part of his proof-texts 39points to itg origin in
the ma'amadhoth.
The next lines refer explicitly to another brief extract from them.40 This time the
Hebrew text precedes the following translation by Aaron:
"Her ali(r) welt, das is wissentlich vor dir, dass main wHen wilt geren dain
wilentun, sunder (nur) alain den (der) sauertaig,41 der in mir gepflanzt is,
der verhindert's — das is gemaint der jezer ho-ral.i2 Du, main got un' got
mainer el tern (vater), es wol der wi'len vor dir sain, dass du mich demutigest
und vertilgest die beso gedanken aus maino 248 glieder43 un' los mich nit
von dainem guten weg abgen. Los main harz ali zait guto gedanken haben,
dass ich dain gesetz un' dain wllen tu un' dinet (sic) dir mit ganzem herzen."
Only on one occasion does Aaron refer to the nightly vigils. It is significant that he
introduces his quotation by giving detailed reasons for the desirability of teaching
children in their mother tongue and of making them acquainted with the essential
tenets of their faith:44
36
I.e., from I Kings vii:58, or more likely from a prayer that used to be said at the end of the
morning and evening services. Baer, loc.cit., still included it in his Siddur, p. 155-.
™L.T., p. 3b. Cf. Baer, loc.cit., p. 509.
38
a. Here, quotations from the prayer-book, not from Scripture;
b. Ethical qualities.
39
The five quotations are all given in Hebrew only. It is presupposed that "unsro tefilaus bai ale
menschen bekant. . . [sain]." The last quotation reads thus: }i»3'3n "paÔl 13O3n
and would have to be translated as follows: "Make us wise through your wisdom and make us
understand through your understanding. Let us know the secret of your names and show us
the splendour of your Torah."
40
L.T., pp. 3b, 4a. The text is taken from the ma'amadhoth for Tuesday. See Baer, loc.cit., pp.
519f.
"Part of the prayer goes back to the Gemara Berakhoth 17a.
*2I.e., the evil inclination. Aaron's translation of the whole passage is inaccurate, sometimes
entirely wrong, but the general sense is clear. Unless he had a more reliable Judaeo-German
or, for biblical texts, a German translation before him, his linguistic incompetence becomes
apparent on many occasions and will, henceforth, be mentioned only in special circumstances.
43
The source of this quotation is Nedarim 32b. This and other relevant talmudic and midrashic
source-material is enumerated by J. Preuss, Biblisch-talmudische Medizin, Berlin 1923, pp. 66f.
44
On pp. 17b and 18a of the second part of the L.T., Aaron offers himself a full translation of
'ant ma'amin, the "Thirteen Articles of Faith" according to Maimonides. His rendering has
hardly any Hebrew components. German versions seem to have served him as Vorlage. Cf.,
e.g., Steinschneider, CLH, Anonyma, loc.cit.,p. 351, No. 2332.
5
"Wen man uns fragt von der 'emunoh* * [so stenen (stehen) mir ke-'ilem

lau jiftach piw.i5t> So sagen die 'umosi5c (sic) mir weren kain jehudim."
In midrashic fashion and not without ingenuity, he next offers biblical proof-texts
to support his views, but ultimately God himself is asked why he allows such apathy
and lack of understanding to prevail among his people:
"Ach (auch) in dem tikun chazaus stossen mir sich selbert daran. 'Why do
you let us wander from your ways and harden our hearts until we cease to
fear you?' "*•
This brief and sole reference to the nocturnal supplications is in fact a literal
adoption from Isaiah LXIII: 17, but the message reached Aaron only through his
familiarity with its liturgical use.
Of a different kind, though not unrelated to the general contents of the Liebliche
Tefilloh, is a quotation from Ecclesiasticus:47
"Der Ben Sira sagt *es is besser ein geringer chochom mitjir'oh (sic) schomajim48a
als ain grosser chochom mit vartiken (tiicken). Den solcher ben Wom,48b der
ain grosser lamden is un' fercht sich nit vor ha-schem jisborach,i8c der is kain
chochom, . . .ka-kosuv: *im 'en jir'oh, 'en chochmoh."4m
In all probability, the first sentence is a slightly altered rendering of Ecclesiasticus

XIX :24. Apart from earlier German translations of the Apocrypha, Judaeo-German
versions had become available from the seventeenth century onwards.49 Yet Aaron
was probably the first to quote Sira in an anthology like the Liebliche Tefilloh.
The next major source from which he drew inspiration was an anonymous
fifteenth-century tract on attaining moral perfection, 'Orhoth Saddiqim, or The
4S
a. Faith, here almost standing for catechism;
b. Like one who is dumb, who cannot open his mouth (quotation from Psalm xxxviii:14);
c. Nations.
M
L.T., pp. lOa-b. The text is given in Hebrew only. The translation is that of the New English
Bible.
"L.T.,p. lib.
48
a. Fear of heaven;
b. Man;
c. God, praised be He;
d. As it is written, "Where there is no fear, there is no wisdom", quoted from Sayings of the
Fathers iii: 21. On p. 4a Elisha ben Abuya's maxim on the importance of learning in one's
youth (ibid, iv: 25) is held up as an example of Aaron's own ideas on education. For a
correct Judaeo-German translation of 'Abhoth iv:25, cf. Avigdor Sofer of Eisenstadt,
loc.cit., p. 46. Aaron fused the next sentence by R. Josi b. Yehudah with that of Elisha
b. Abuya. On the same page in the L. T. there is a reference to Sefer ha-chochmoth which I
could not identify.
*9Cf. Staerck-Leitzmann, loc.cit., pp. 75f. On Sira, in particular, see Steinschneider, CLH,
Anonyma, loc.cit., p. 262, No. 1358, and Serapeum, loc.cit., Feb. 1864, pp. 41f., No. 391. The
latter refers to a manuscript dated about 1580.
54 Siegfried Stein
Paths of the Righteous. Belonging to the geographical area of southern Germany,50

it was originally written in Hebrew under the title Sefer ha-Middoth,hx and had been
frequently translated into Judaeo-German, for the first time in Isny in 1542.52
According to Steinschneider, this very rare booklet was dedicated to rntOlD
Doctorin der freien Kunst der Arznei, wohnhaftig zu Giinsberg," and "in teutschen
angeschrieben, dass es jedermann verstehen kann." The book contains some
popularised mediaeval science and philosophy, but its extremely wide circulation
was due to the author's warm and genuine piety and talmudic learning, so charac-
teristic of much of mediaeval Musar literature.53 On the other hand, he did not
mince his words when criticizing the spiritual leaders of his time:
"Nowadays, most Rabbis admit themselves that they do not study.. . in a

straightforward manner.. . Because of their. . . idle chatter. . . their cunning
and craftiness. . . they waste (their time) entirely and do not reach sufficient
standards to learn Torah, the Prophets, the Hagiographa, or 'aggadhoth,
midrashim or any kind of science (hokhmah)."
Although such sentiments had been expressed by the anonymous author more than
200 years before Aaron, he identifies himself with them and quotes them. Drawing
first from a passage at the beginning of "The Gate of Fear," 54 his translation,
preceded by the Hebrew text, runs as follows:
". . .Die ganze tauroh lobet55a den ben 'odom nit min (mehr) als dawqo55b mit
jir'oh schomayim, und die jifoh is ain nagel, dass ali nitdaus tauvaus dran henkt
(hengen). Un' die jir'oh blaibt dem menschen alain zu Tmer un' ewig."55c
A little further on, Aaron cites another longer passage from 'Orhoth Saddiqim. He
again first gives the full text in Hebrew,56 and renders it thus:
"Des menschen anfang in der jugent one melamed verglaicht sich als wie ain
behemoh57* un' sain herz is wie als ein naie buch, das man drauf schraiben
S0
Assumed by Zunz, Zur Geschichte und Literatur, loc.cit., p . 129.
51
On Religious Qualities, rather than On Ethics, which would imply strict philosophical connota-
tions.
s2
Cf, inter alia, Steinschneider, Serapeum, loccit., 1848, p . 320, No. 20, and p. 366, No. 138,
CLH, Anonyma, pp. 521-23, Ben Jacob, 'Osar ha-sefarim, Vienna 1880, p. 51, No. 989, and
Giidemann, Geschichte des Erziehungswesens und der Cultur der Juden in Deutschland wahrend des
XIV und XV Jahrhunderts, Reprint Amsterdam 1966, pp. 233-42.
53
Gf., e.g., chapter 27, towards the end on shofar ha-torah, The Gate of the Torah, here translated
from a late edition, Frankfurt on Oder, 1794.
6i
Sha'arj>ir'ath ha-shamqyim, Chapter 28, p. 79.
55
a. Probably a misprint for nutzt, corresponding to the Hebrew mo'elelh;
b. Only;
c. L.T. 3a.
56
Gf. Foreword to 'Orhoth Saddiqim, p. 4.
67
a. Animal;
Liebliche Teftlloh 55
57b
wil. Nun kiimt das buch in aines naren hant un' schraibt alerlai schtus drauf,

bis es verdorben is. Also kan man niks draus ersuchen, wail's der nar unter
die hent hot gehat (gehabt). Aber der chochom schraibt sain chauvas570 un'
gescheften ordintlich. Doer durch (dadurch) hat er sain narung un' spaiset
saino haushaltung dervon. Un' kan durch sainer ckochmoh zu grosse geduloh 57d
kumen. So is ach des menschen sain herz. Kumt ain narischer rebi Iber ain
kint, so lernet er mit dem kint, als wie saino narische midoh51e is. Also erf tit
es sain herz mit lauter unvarstant, aber die klugen losen auf ir herz schraiben
das fundament, gotes wort, das is tauroh un' mizwaus un ali vernunftigo
scheno midaus, bis Iro neschomaus laichten weren wie der glanz fum himel.
U n ' das war die chewonoh57* fun schelaumoh ha-melech,57* dass er sagt, knipf
(kniipf) sie auf deine finger un' schraib sie auf dainem herzen."57h
Aaron's Vorlage covers much wider educational and psychological ground, standing
as it does between the more philosophical treatment of the subject-matter by
Bachya ibn Pakuda (c. 1040-1100) in his Hobhoth ha-Lebhabhoth and the pedagogical
principles and ideas propagated by Yehudah Liva ben Bezalel of Prague, known as
Maharal or der hohe Rabbi Loew (1512?-1609).
In 'Orhoth Saddiqim, careful distinctions are drawn between various types of
children who are born with different traits of character and different intellectual
aptitudes. Through his book, which according to his own words was meant to serve
as a "craftsman's tool," the anonymous author intended to bring the young
generation to an ever higher degree of perfection in piety and action. It is true that
one also comes across an occasional attack against the decline in the leadership of
the rabbinate of his time, such as that quoted above from The Gate of the Torah, but
the foreword under discussion refers to the development of the child without a
teacher. In the Hebrew text, God alone is the Master. The pupils, and indeed all
still capable of changing their nature, are expected to submit themselves to His
authority. They, not their educators, are described as wise or stupid, and they hold
their salvation in their own hands. Aaron's rendering, that "if a foolish rabbi comes
to teach a child, he does so according to his foolish manner," is a distortion dictated
by his tendentious zeal rather than by simple ignorance. It is quite clear that, just as
in the case of Sefer Hasidhim he uses' Orhoth Saddiqim as a peg on which to hang his own
theories, which follow his translation as a kind of comment on the same page of the
Liebliche Tefilloh:
". . .Der ben 'odom zwischen finf jor bis zwelf jor, is sain lev5S* wie ain nai
(neu) buch. Was in der zait drain geschrieben wert, das blaibt Im. Nun
b. Nonsense;
c. Debts;
d. Great wealth. The Hebrew hasyagi'a leto 'eleth gedholah ("He will come to great usefulness").
e. Manner;
f. Intention;
g. King Solomon; cf. Proverbs, III, 3.
h. L.T., 4b, 5a.
"a. Heart;
56 Siegfried Stein
schraibt man chochmaus drauf, dass das kint verstet, so kan das kint ain

chochom weren. Aber wen es lernt zwischen dlse jor un' verstet's nit, so blaibt
sain herz verstokt bis in sainem ent. Den noch zwelf schonim66* is sain lev wie
ain verknzelt papier. Wen es schon dernoch (danach) ein lamden wert, kan
er doch kain chewonoh haben als durch grosse zoraus un jesurim.560 Drum sol
man mit dem kint lernen in der muter loschaun. Wen man aber mit dem kint
ain ander loschaun lernt, das es nit verstet, so akert man mit dem kint sechs
oder sieben jor un' sain herz wais nit was es betait (bedeutet) jir'oh oder
*ahavoh58a oder chazifaus."566
The last item which Aaron quotes from 'Orhoth Saddiqim deals with the influence of
the five senses on ethical conduct. He certainly was not aware of the long pre-history
of the systematic mediaeval attempts to relate them to the "duties of the heart." It
was only at a much later date that David Kaufmann wrote a masterly treatise on
nearly all aspects of the whole problem.59 According to him, Bachya ibn Pakuda
was the first to draw attention to what he called musar ha-hushim, the discipline of
the senses. Through appropriate training and self-control, they become the guard-
ians of morality. Ibn Gabirol developed the theory further, and the author of
'Orhoth Saddiqim popularised it in his Foreword:
"Nothing can be done without thefivesenses. The heart works through them,
because they bring everything to it60 and every action and every thought
follows them. . ."
Aaron merely paraphrases some of the excerpts of the Hebrew text, which in this
case does not precede his translation. One of his additional comments deals again
with language, and although the term muter loschaun is not used, it is clearly implied:
"Wen dise finf kreften bai ainem menschen gebraucht weren un' das herz
waiss niks dervon, als nemlich die oren heren, das herz verstet's nit. . . das
maul ret ain ander loschaun. . . so wert das herz varstokt un kan Im selbert
(sich selbst) kain ezaus61* geben. . . un' der mensch mus im nach leben, wie
es Tm angeboren is, als nemlich yezer ho-ra' mi-neiurow6Va un' lernt ali tag mer
laichtfertige boshait, un' das is sain rechter lusto (lust), bis er verloren wert
me-'aulom ha-seh."81c
b. Years;
c. Suffering and pain;
d. Fear or love;
e. Impertinence.
5i
Die Sinne. Beitrage zur Geschichte der Physiologie und Psychologie im Mittelalter, Leipzig 1884,
especially pp. 29f.
60
The heart here stands for the centre of the emotions and is held responsible for moral decisions.
L.T., p. 6a.
61
a. Advice;
b. The evil inclination [implanted] from his youth;
c. From this world.
The next paragraph62 of the Liebliche Tefilloh is introduced with the following

sentences:
"Gam 63 * in sefer 'even bauchen (sic) we-derech ha-yoschor6^ klagt d i e neschomoh ser
Iber Irem herz un' sagt zu Im, libi, main herz, du verstokt herz. Worum hostu
(hast du). . .mich so oft betrogen?"
The work he refers to was written by Kalonymos ben Kalonymos, a distinguished

fourteenth-century scholar, who apart from his contributions to Hebrew literature,
is also well known as a translator of Arabic philosophical and scientific writings into
Hebrew and Latin. He came from the Provence and lived for a short while in
Rome.64 His 'Ebhen Bohan, A Cornerstone,65 appeared in a number of editions, the
first in Naples in 1489. It contains a description of moral and religious conditions of
his time. Although highly critical of them, it is not without satirical undertones. A
Judaeo-German translation by Moses Eisenstadt was published in Sulzbach in 1705.
Aaron must have used this edition since Derekh ha-Yashar, The Straight Path, is the
title Eisenstadt himself gave to his version. It is extremely free, and could only with
difficulty be understood without the Hebrew-Aramaic original printed next to it.
This applies even more to Aaron's paraphrasing, which for good reason is not
preceded by Kalonymos' text. All that can be said is that the "translation" is an
almost unrecognisable amalgamation of chapters 7-20 and 90-98. Each of them is
written in the form of a dialogue between the soul and the heart, the former com-
plaining to the latter for having betrayed it by its readiness to succumb to tempta-
tion. Ultimately, the idea appears to go back to the platonic division between body
and soul. Variants of the theme are to be found elsewhere in mediaeval Arabic,
Hebrew, and Latin literature.66
It is unlikely that Aaron sensed the sophisticated satirical element in Kalonymos'
'Ebhen Bohan, but it is possible that he had read with interest his attacks on the
opulent life of Italian Jewry and the degeneracy of its rabbinate in Eisenstadt's
version. The reason for including a summary of the various dialogues in the Liebliche
Tefilloh lies again in the religious inspiration he drew from their contents. He, too,
suffered from a weakness of the heart, that sometimes led him astray:
™L.T., pp. 6a-b.

•3a. Also;
b. For the explanation of the title of the book, see the text of the article.
•4Cf. inter alia, Steinschneider, Gesammelte Schriften, vol. I, Berlin 1925, pp. 196-213.
"See Isaiah xxviii:16.
66
Gf. the article by M. Griinbaum, 'Die jiidisch-deutsche Litteratur' in Winter und Wiinsche,
Die judische Litteratur seit Abschluss des Kanons. . ., vol. I l l , Trier 1896, pp. 552f. For tannaitic
references to a dialogue between body and soul, which Kalonymos incorporates into his
elaborate description of their conflict, cf. Mekhilta on Exodus xv:l, Wa-Tiqrd1 Rabba on
Leviticus v:l, Sanhedrin 91a-b, and other passages, enumerated by Bacher in his Agada der
Tannaiten, vol. II, Strassbourg 1890, pp. 458f. These passages, too, to reflect Hellenistic
influences.
58 Siegfried Stein
"Iber dich hab' ich zu wainen tag unt nacht, aber das hartnekicht (hart-

nackige) verstokt herz lost sich nit ainreden, den das herz kan sagen, maine
gute neschomoh, du hast wor (wahr?) wie du klagest, aber wen du schon
teglich schraiest, so kan ich schwerlich anderst weren. . ."
After this, his text links up with the previous chapter on the five senses, although
Kalonymos has nothing to say on them. Significantly, only sight and especially
hearing are singled out. He feels that, had he been given a proper education, his
soul would be perfectly prepared for the world to come:
"(Al ken,67* main gut' neschomoh, werst du mir kain schuld geben. Den wen
man mir in der jugent die finf kreften nit zu versten gibt, also mus ich gar
verstokt blaiben unt mus erwarten die nevu>oh,91b welche mir versprochen is
fun baide nevVim."67c
Aaron then quotes Jeremiah xxxi: 33f. and Ezekiel xxxvi: 21 in Hebrew and
Judaeo-German as his proof-texts, and concludes by saying:
"Also mus ich arm verstokt herz warten, bis die zait, im jirzeh ha-schem,i7A
kumt. Alsden (dann) werstu (wirstdu) dich, main gute neschomoh, erfraien."67e
Like his ancient and mediaeval predecessors, Aaron thus relegates the hope for the
ultimate restoration of the broken unity of body and soul to messianic times.
G. AARON'S SUMMARISING AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT
So far we have dealt with all traceable source-material which, with or without
justification, our author used in support of his views on meaningful piety and
educational reform. A certain repetitiveness of his predominant motifs must have
become apparent. It will manifest itself even more noticeably in those private
supplications and autobiographical statements, which form the second part of his
Introduction. To do justice to the man behind the work and to see him against the
background of his time and circumstances, it is nevertheless essential to offer a
selection of his sometimes desperate appeals for understanding and help. At the
same time, an impression ought to be transmitted of the astounding energy with
which he pursued the task he had set himself:
•7a. Therefore;
b. Prophecy;
c. Prophets;
d. If God so wills it;
e. L.T., 6b, 7a.
1 l lb
"Ach, *ribaunischel aulom wer wolt, dass (sich) unsro hirten oder chachomim

sich unsrer ernest annemen lc . . .Ich bilt mir aber ain, wen sie schon jaum
we-lajloh mauchiach [sain], ld richten sie schwerlich epis (etwas) aus. Den die
bai joren sain, folgen nit un' die junge kinder wert kain jir'oh un' 'ahavoh
aingepflanzt. Den bai uns is der minheg,le dass ain kint von jugent auf mus
loschaun ha-kaudesch11 lernen, welches sein jung lev gar nit verstet un' ach der
rebi nit anders kan als wie er ach gelernt hat. . .Un' fun ali unser boshait is
das die orsach (Ursache), dass man die Kinder in der jugent iren limud1* nit
zum herzen brengt. Den man siecht (sieht) oft auf dem lant in bes ha-kneses
tisch'oh be-av wie simchas tauroh, lewajis ha-mes wie chasenoh als ain simchohlb
. . .Also tunen (tuen) mir auf dem lant. . .'averaus11 in unsro bes ha-kneses,
welcho man nit wegen chilul ha-schemXi schraiben darf. Ach, ribauni schel
'aulom hochen levovom 'elecho."1*
It is here that Aaron interrupts what might be called a summary of his views by an
autobiographical statement:
"Manchem sain herz hot sicht oft gepresst unt gesifzt (geseufzt) iber solcho
ma'sim ro'im2*, dass er sain maul. . . hot laufen losen mit divre tauchochoh,2b
bis Im die jezer ho-ra' lait2c auf alirlai wais' (weise) mit gutem un' besem
haben weren wolen, dass (damit) er sol stil schwaigen. Im aber get's wie ain
quel, der sich nit varstopfen lost, unt wie ain faier, das da giant, aber entlich
in ainer flam' hervorschlegt. Also wail sain ainf eltige devorim bai deno alten
C1
a. This interjection is very often used by Aaron, not only in his translation of Psalms, but
also in his supplications. It occurs about 120 times in Luther's translations of the Old and
New Testaments. Gf. M. F. Lanckisch, Deutsche, Hebraische und Grieschische Konkordant-Bibel,
part II, s.v. ach, Leipzig 1718;
b. Master of the universe;
c. Ezekiel xxxm:7 and Jeremiah xxxi: 33f. are given as proof-texts in Hebrew and Judaeo-
German. Joseph Athias expresses similar thoughts at the beginning and towards the end
of his preface to Witzenhausen's translation of the Old Testament;
d. Reproach us day and night;
e. Custom;
f. The holy language;
g. Instruction;
h. (Behaviour) in the synagogue on the ninth of Av looks like that on Simhath Torah and a
funeral is, like a wedding, [conducted] as a joyful occasion. Comparable criticism is
expressed by the famous sixteenth-century rabbi and preacher, Solomon Ephraim of
Lenczyc, who describes the synagogue as a "den of robbers." Gf. Giidemann, Quellen zur
Geschichte des Unterrichts bei den deutschen Juden bis zur £eit Mendelssohns, Berlin 1871, p. xxx.
i. Transgressions;
j. Profanation of the divine name;
k. Direct their hearts towards you, I Chronicles, xxix: 18. L.T. 7a-b, 8a.
a
a. Evil deeds;
b. Words of reproach;
c. People with evil inclinations;
60 Siegfried Stein
nit nischma* sain giwesen,2d so schwaigt er nun stil un' lost sainprest2e aus

der feder fliessen. 'Ulqj2t wert es deno kinder ain grossen nutzen sain. Den
das is das fundament fun alim: Welcher mensch, der ha-schem jisborach wil
recht dlnen, der mus In [in] sainer not. . . um hilf ernstlich anrufen . . . Un'
wen es Im wol get, so is der mensch schuldig [Im] zu danken ali minuten
mit simchoh2e. . . aber das kenen mir arme lantslait nit, den mir varstenen
(verstehen) nit ob mir beten oder danken, mir brumlen aines wie das ander
awek.2h Wen mir's nor gisagt haben, is bai uns schon recht. . .
Un' wen man jisro'el recht betrachten wf 1, so sainen sie mit viel gute
rmdaus zu loben als kain 'umoh3a> in der welt. . . Was tunen sie var (fur)
gemilus chasodim un' zedokaus (sic) (anijim?3b Was laiden die armo waiber mit
lro schwero mizwaus nidaus?3c Wie geduldig sainen die mener? Wie halten
sie doch 'isur we -fieter un' ta'nesim?3^ Ach gibt's viel lusten, die mir nit haben
derfen gegen andro 'umos. Nun ergeben mir sich doch un' sain giduldig,
ha-schem jisborach zu dienen, wie unsro minhogim3e auswaisen. Wie laid' sich
(leidet) mancher arme man un' is a nai we-nad. . .3f un' welt [doch] gern das
sainig tun, dass er saino kinder zu tauroh un' ma'sim tauvim kent brengen?. . .
Der gut man hot gemaint er ziehet ain chochom un' ain lamden aus dem kint,
aber durch sain unverstantlichen limud is sain herz varstokt woren. . . Un'
dadurch kiimen mir zu charpaus un' bausches3g unter ali 'umos. . .
Das welen mir versichern: wen die junge kinder Tro tefilaus zwai oder drai
jor auf taitsch lernen, als wie die chasidim haben welen. . . so weren sie mit der
zait rechten abtlt (Appetit) haben die loschaun ha-kaudschoh tefilaus mit 'emoh
un' jir'oh mispalel zu sain.4a Dodurch kenen die gemaine lait auf dem lant zu
chasidus kumen un' ach erliche michjaus^3 haben un' kenten nit so kaleh delausic
als wie mir sain un' varstenden loschaun ha-kaudesch besser als aso (so), wie
tunen die sefardim, die lernen mit den klaine kinder in der muter loschaun.
Dernoch lernen sie loschaun ha-kaudesch mit schauresch un' dikduk*a zwai oder
drai schonim. Dodurch verstenen sie ali loschaun ha-kaudschoh seforim unt lro
d. His simple words were not listened to;

e. Sorrow, related to gepresst at the beginning of the paragraph in the text, cf. also J. and W.
Grimm, Deutsches Worterbuch, Leipzig, 1963, s.v. prest.
f. Perhaps;
g- Joy;
h. Away, related to German Weg.
3
a. People;
b. Acts of loving-kindness and charity to the poor;
c. Laws concerning menstruation;
d. Things forbidden and permissible, and fast-days;
e. Customs;
f. A vagrant and a wanderer;
g. Insults and shame. — L. T. 8a-9b.
4
a. To pray with awe and fear in Hebrew;
b. Subsistence;
c. Frivolous;
d. Root(s) and Grammar. Although many earlier authorities considered the knowledge of
grammar an essential preliminary to Hebrew studies, Aaron refers to it only twice in a
cursory manner;
AB
tefilaus. In Italiah haben ain tail welschoh tefilaus un' sainen doch boki

be-tauroh nevi'im u-chesuvim. Dodurch kenen sie den 'epikursim teschuvoh
geben. . . 4f un' weren sehen be-aur ha-sechel4e. . . den hefresch ke-jisraun
ho-aw min ha-chauschech.4h. . . Durch dieses (naie) licht weren mir erkenen,
wie finster bai uns giwesen is. . . 4i
Solchem Ibelstand abzuhelfen, hab'ich's gewagt unt hab' mich unterstan-
den, die vornemste zusammengelesene tefilaus unt chewonos samt ain tail
kapitel tehilim5 so gut als ich's gekent hab' in taitsch muter loschaun druken
zu losen . . ." 6
There follows an apology for the misprints and a warm appeal to his Hebe Briider to
read and re-read his introduction with sympathetic understanding and not with
the mockery of those who question his sincerity:
"Es mecht mancher fregen un' sagen, wie kumt es, dass du dich an diesem
stosst. Es sainen so viel chaschuvim un' yaud'im7* un' haben sich niks anginu-
men. 'Al ken wil ichbene'amenumaudi'a sain,7b dass main frumkait oder lamdo-
nes7c das nit tut. . . sunder alain dolaus we-lanijaus (sic), zoraus1^ un' wider -
wertigkait der saun'im7e hot mich gezwungen, dass ich hab ha-schemjisborach
musen um hilf' anrufen, derwail mich maine eltern alain gelosen haben un'
kain fraint in der ganzo welt. Also hab' ich main ganze hofnung zu ha-schem
jisborach gistelt un' hab trost gisucht in deno liebliche seforim71. . . Un' wo
ain posuk is giwesen zu guto midaus, hab' ich ali zait mispalel giwesen un' mich
recht erfrait darlber. Ich hab's gimacht wie die bienen, dieaufaliblumen
sizen un' suglen (saugen) den honig aus. Dodurch hat. . . ha-schemjisborach
mir giholfen noch (nach) mainem varlangen. . . Nun aber sainen maino augen
ain weneg giefnet, dass ich erkene die boshait [en], welcho unter uns im schwank
sain. . . Un' main herz presst sich, dass mir, bene kedauschim,7g solen unsro lieb-
liche tefilaus nit varsten. . . 'Al ken, is mir nit meglich, dass ich schwaigen kan.
4e
. Well versed. Similar admiration for the schools of the Sefardim in Amsterdam and of the
Italians in Ferrara is expressed in the preface by Joseph Athias to Witzenhausen's translation
of the Hebrew Bible. Before him R. Scheftel, (c. 1590-1660) son of Isaiah Horowitz, also
praised the educational system of the Jews in Amsterdam. Gf. Giidemann, loc.cit., as in notes
68f, p. 112.
f. They will be able to answer the heretics;
g. With the light of the intellect;
h. They will see the difference as the advantage of light over darkness;
i. I.T.lOab.
8
Psalms.
7
a. Respected and knowledgeable men;
b. Therefore I want to inform our people;
c. Learning;
d. Misery, poverty, trouble;
e. Enemies;
f. Books;
g. Sons of the holy;
62 Siegfried Stein
Wen ich an der widerwertikait' denk, so wmsch ich mir das leben nit7h. . .

Den in mainerjugenthab' ich zedokoh un' beleten71 musen nemen, unnach mai-
ner berochoh1* hot mir's gor (gar) Ibel gangen. Mit ali zoraus un'jesurim bin ich
behaft' gewesen. Kain fraint in der ganzo welt, aber saurHim genug. . . Ich
suchet aber trost in der liebliche tauroh, welcho ich nit verstanden hab\ . .
Also kauft'ich mir taitschen seforim gegen die loschaun ha-kaudschoh un' suchet
flaissig fun grunt maines herzen die getliche chochmoh zu erkundigen. Do
lernt ich gor viel, was ich main lebinstag nit gewlst hab'. . . Ich docht mir,
wail du doch kain zuflucht zu menschen hast, so wiltu (willst du) tun, was in
die seforim stet. Den es is kainer varlosen worden, der sain hailige tauroh
gifolgt hot. Dorum war ich flaissig in deno suchen unt hof' sie bis in mainem
ent zu suchen."
As if to prove the success of his method, Hebrew summaries of Aaron's endeavour

appear now more frequently in his Judaeo-German text. Thus he expresses his
gratitude to the "good God, who deals kindly with all" and prompted him, in
spite of his manifold adversities, to take the inkstand of the scribe. It was then that
he said to himself: "What, sound asleep, you lazy one? Get up, call on your God,"
and He will give you success in all your undertakings. Have you not got a treasure in
your hand? Through it you will be able to keep yourself alive. . . and God will be
your help.8
A little further on he announces proudly that he did not give sleep to his eyelids,
until he brought his book in the "German" language to the printer's office, as it is
written: "Honour the Lord with all you possess."9
The end of the preface, too, is written in Hebrew. Aaron emphasises that he had
no intention to glorify himself by what he had written. His only aim was to enhance
the merits of many who were like him. Especially those men, women and children
who had even less opportunity of making themselves acquainted with literature of
this kind, are encouraged to acquire a copy of the Liebliche Tefilloh and to study it
carefully, in order to awaken and to retain an all-pervading fear of God, and thus
h. Here follow proof-texts from Psalm LV, 7-10, Nehemiah I, 5-16 and another Judaeo-
German prayer, in which he thanks God for sustaining him in all his tribulations, again
supported by various quotations from Scripture;
i. Charity and "Beletten", sometimes pronounced "Pletten". Tickets were issued by the heads
of the community to enable the poor to have their meals on certain days of the week or on
Sabbaths and holy days with influential members of the congregation who offered their
hospitality to them. Cf. Giidemann. Geschichte des Erziehungswesens und der Cultur der Juden in
DeutschlandwahrenddesXIV und XV Jahrhunderts, loc.cit., p. 102. The custom is referred to by
Yair i/ayyim Bacharach (1637-1702), but goes back to earlier times;
j . Wedding. Cf. Giidemann, loc.cit., pp. 120f.
8
The passage combines slightly altered proof-texts from the grace after meals, Deuteronomy
XXVIII, 48, XXXIII, 26 and Ezekiel IX, 2. Especially the quotation from Jonah I, 6 makes
ingenious and not inelegant use of a reference, which in its original context has nothing to do
with the present one.
'Here again we have a conflation of Psalm CXXXIII, 4 and Proverbs III, 9, interrupted by an
account of his efforts to get his book published.
to become worthy of seeing with their own eyes "the splendid building in the midst

of Jerusalem."10
D. SELECTED TRANSLATIONS OF PSALMS, OF NORMATIVE PARTS OF

THE LITURGY, AND OF SUPPLICATIONS FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS
Aaron's anthology of Judaeo-German psalms and prayers comprises pages 15b-73a

of his Liebliche Tejilloh. The selection offered is the major justification for the title
of the book, although the extraordinary variety of its contents and its disorderly
sequence cannot be found in any earlier comparable publication by Jewish or non-
Jewish printers. For general information, a list of the various items will be enumerated
in the note below1 since only a few of them can be dealt with in somewhat greater
detail to illustrate the complementary relationship between the two parts of the
book.
Psalm VI affords a good example with which to start. Aaron renders it thus:
"2. Ach straf mich nit in dainem zorn un' zichtige mich nit in dainem
grim. 3. Ach got sai mir gnedig, den ich bin gar schwach. Hailo mich, main
got, den maine gibain (knochen) sain erschroken 4. unt main neschomoh is ser
erschroken, ach, du got, wie lang wert es noch weren? 5. Ach got, wendo
dich un' beschirm main neschomoh, helfo mir urn dainer gnado wilen. 6. Den
im tot gedenkt man dainer nit, wer wert dir in der grub' danken? 7. Ich bin
so mit fun sifzen, ich schwemo (uberschwemme) main bet die ganze nacht
unt nezo main leger (lager) mit maino treren. 8. Maine augen sainen veraltert
wegen zorn unt sainen ungestalt [wegen] maino laidiger. 9. Waicht fun mir
ali ungerechto, den got erherit main waino. 10. Got erherit main demut,
main gebet wert got annemen. 11. Ali maino fainden weren derschreken unt
verschemt weren unt sich zuruk keren unt werden in ainem augenblik zu
schanden weren."
It strikes the reader immediately that there is only one Hebrew word in the whole
10
L.T. 10a-14b.
D1
Thefollowing psalms appear in translation: 1, 3, 13, 15, 23, 25, 30, 31, 34, 35, 38, 41, 43, 44,
71, 74, 75, 86, 90, 112, 119, 120, 123, 124, 125, 128, 140, 145, 146, 147, 148, 150. Psalm VI is
included in the kleine we-hu' rahum, (L.T. 63a) which, with certain exceptions, belongs to the
morning and afternoon services during the week, and is usually referred to as tahanun, supplica-
tion, or nefilath 'appayim, prostration. Of the other liturgical passages, the benedictions and
prayers of the children and 'ani ma'amin, the declaration of faith, have already been mentioned,
although their recitation is not an integral part of public worship in the synagogue. Apart
from nefilath 'appayim, Aaron's translations of obligatory prayers include 'ahabhah rabbah, Great
Love — the second berakhah before the Shema1 (Deuteronomy VI, 4-9), and the two other
lectionaries, that is, we-hqyah 'im shamo'a (Deuteronomy XI, 13ff.) and the ordinance on
wearing fringes (Numbers XV, 32ff.). Contrary to old-established halachic rulings, hodu
la-shem, qir'u bi-shmo (I Chronicles XVI, 8-36 etc), comes after the Shema', and so do psalms
CXLV-CXLVIIIandCL,aswell as wa-yebharekh dawidh (I Chronicles, I, 29ff. etc.) and the
Song of Moses. All other passages in the Liebliche Tefilloh are supplications for special occasions.
64 Siegfried Stein
psalm, neschomoh. Throughout his book Aaron shows a remarkable preference for it,2

and it occurs at least a hundred times, even in non-statutory prayers such as ain
teftlo, wen man in die schul kumt.z For him neschomoh was a key concept, meant to guide
his every thought and action. To purify it by prayer, uttered with understanding
and devotion, was his basic aspiration.
The psalm as a whole can no longer be described as a Judaeo-German version of
the original, but although we are no longer concerned with Aaron's mistakes, we
are in a position to check his direct or indirect dependence on his predecessors from
manuscript glossaries of the end of the thirteenth to printed editions of the end of the
seventeenth century.4
Aaron's omission of the heading of the psalm, as given in verse 1. of the masoretic
text is not unique.5 Some glossaries leave out the whole or part of it, and it is also
lacking in later Judaeo-German translations. Luther includes the headings.8 As to
verse 2., the interjection ach is to be found in Luther and in Blitz. Both render
'al teyassreni as zuchtige mich nit. Others before Blitz, and Witzenhausen after
him use the verb "kestigen" (bestrafen). 3. Honneni, ki 'ummlal 'ani: Only Luther has
sey mir gnddig, denn ich bin schwach. Blitz translates: "Ach got, sai mich
laitselig (sei leutselig zu mir), den ich bin verschmten." His predecessors and
Witzenhausen read: "Derbarm dich" or "laitselig mich." Earlier versions have
either "schwach" or "verschnitten." Aaron adds "gar" to "schwach" 4. Only he
translates nqfshi as "main neschomoh", variants are "main laib, sel," or "gemiit."
we- 'attah ha-shem 'adh mathay: Luther: "Ach du Herr, wie lange?" Blitz: "Ach, du
got, wie lang noch?" Jewish glossaries and printed editions often make other brief
additions to complete the sentence. They are comparable but not identical with
Aaron's. 5. Shubhah: Only Luther has "wende dich", all others "wlderker" or as in
the Reuchlin manuscript, according to Birnbaum written in 1420, "kehr wieder".
Hallsah: Blitz's and Aaron's "beschirm" follow older Jewish traditions, which also
have "zlh aus" in the sense of "befreie". Luther has "errette." 6. Ki 'en ba-maweth
sikhrekha: Glossaries and early versions have "wen" for ki. Only from Luther, Blitz
and Witzenhausen onwards, this is replaced by "den." Aaron follows Luther almost
literally in the first stichos. In the second, too, "danken" takes the place of the old
"loben", though she'ol remains the traditional "grub" instead of Luther's "hell".
7. Luther's and Aaron's translations are again practically identical. 8. Neither
Luther's nor Aaron's renderings are acceptable, though Aaron's attempt conforms
more closely to the masoretic text and that of his Jewish predecessors, especially by
using "laidiger" (Feinde) for sorerim. 9. Suru mimmenni: "waicht fun mir" for older
2
In verses 4 and 5, it replaces nafschi.
3
Cf. e.g. "Main neschomoh verlangt ali zait nach dainem hailigen namen." (L.T. 16a.) In this
case, there seems to be no need at all to interrupt an otherwise almost entirely German text
by a Hebrew word, because there is no verse in Scripture, which might explain a partial
retention of his Vorlage.
*Gf. S. Birnbaum, loc. cit., pp. 500-526. The author deals specifically with Psalm VI.
5
He himself adds the heading occasionally, as for instance to Psalm XG.
6
Cf. M. Luther's Werke, Kritische Gesamtaiisgabe, vol. X, part 1, Weimar 1956, pp. 116-119.
Judaeo-German "kert ab fun mir" appears again to have been taken over from

Luther. 10. Tehinnathi: Only Aaron has "main demut" against Luther's "main
flehen" and Witzenhausen's "main erbermlich gebet." 11. Though mixing up the
order of the first two words, Aaron agrees more with his Jewish Vorlagen than with
Luther, for whom yebhoshu means "es miissen zuschanden werden."7 Judaeo-Ger-
man glossaries and versions have invariably "verschemt werden." As to rega\
Luther has "plotzlich", all others prefer "in ainem augenblick."
It becomes clear that Aaron consulted both Jewish and Christian translations
and that he chose freely between them. By using Luther, he sometimes achieved
greater elegance than Levita, who had still not emancipated himself from the
deliberately slavish adherence to the Hebrew word order, and even Blitz or
Witzenhausen. Yet he did not ignore some of the old-established modes of rendering
Scripture into leshon 'ashkenaz, which in his hands nearly became German proper.
Above all he remained faithful to himself by introducing a phrase here and there
which reflects his personal attachment to what he was doing.
The selection of psalms which he included in his Liebliche Tejilloh is in itself
characteristic of the religious message he intended to transmit: The love and fear —
or rather in the order which he seemed to prefer — the fear and love of God, abso-
lute faith in his mercy, study and observance of the Liebliche Tauroh, a life of strict
ethical conduct and, last but not least, a deep longing for and belief in the ultimate
redemption from the betribliche golus. Against these, his main concerns, only very
few psalms, describing events in biblical history, form part of the anthology.
Reading of "enemies", which occur in neutral contexts, Aaron seems to have
identified them with those who used to mock at the sincerity of his convictions and
to speak with "falscho lefzen (lippen) un' schalkhaftigo zungen... wen ich rede,
fangen sie an zu krlgen."8 The psalms thus complement his autobiography, and his
autobiography is complemented by the psalms.9
A confirmation of this assessment becomes also evident in other parts of the
Liebliche Tejilloh. We know from a report of a missionary which appeared in the
Berichte, that Aaron "testified before the living God that he never reviled the
[Christian] Messiah. . . and that he believed that what occurred happened accord-
ing to the will of God..." The paragraph ends, however, with the admission that
Aaron could not be persuaded to accept the new faith and that he remained in
seinem bisherigen £ustand.10
This account of his discussion is connected with and explains some omissions in
his translations. Verses 1-8 of Psalm CIX are fairly innocuous and may again have
been taken as a fitting description of his own experiences and thoughts. . . "Wicked
men have heaped calumnies upon me, they have lied to my face and surrounded me
with words of hate and in return of ray love they have attacked m e . . . But when
'In his first draft, written in J524,"Luthertoo has "es xavssen sich schamenS'
"Psalm GXX, L.T. p. 57a, b.
•His introductory remarks to Psalm GXIX may serve as an example: Wer dlses kapitel flaissig
sagt, der wert sich gewiss mit vil gute midaus bessern.
10
Gf. Gallenberg's Bericht, Neunte Fortsetzung, April 1732, loccit., p. 229.
66 Siegfried Stein
judgement is given, the wicked will be exposed. . . May his days be few and may

another take his wealth."11 These lines are followed by curses of increasing fierce-
ness against evil-doers, their wives, and their descendants. Aaron discontinues his
translation and adds: "Was anbelangt, die anderen schweren kelolaus,12 hob ich nit
schraiben megen." Only after verse 19., he resumes his task. He could do so, be-
cause the rest contains little more than the psalmist's prayer, that God may save
him by his unfailing love.
He also leaves out the whole of psalm CXLIX, in spite of the fact that it belongs
to the statutory prayers which precede wa-yebharekh dawidh and normally include
psalms GXLV—GL. Apart from CXLIX all of them appear in the Liebliche
Tefilloh. Here he makes no comment. There could be no objection to the beginning
of the excluded part which refers to a new song to the Lord, to be sung in the as-
sembly of the faithful. . . ."He accepts the service of his people, he crowns his
humble folk with victory..." It is the end of the psalm that seems to have brought
about its omission from the anthology. Aaron may not have wished to identify
himself with the thought that "high praises will be on the lips of the devout and a
two-edged sword in their hand, to wreak vengeance on the nations and to chastise
the heathen, to load their kings with chains and put their nobles into iron."
Yet there is no consistency in his method, or to put it differently, there is in him a
religious uncertainty, subject to moods or circumstances. Thus we find a supplica-
tion, to be said on the Ninth of Av or another fast-day, which contains quotations
from many parts of Scripture.13 Here the collective despair of the Jewish people
breaks through and becomes entirely his own. It is, of course, possible that we have
here a prayer before us, which Aaron found in another collection and included in
his Liebliche Tefilloh. The frequency of Hebrew words and particularly the reference
to the Mishnah on the four different kinds of death, which could be inflicted by the
Beth Din upon criminals, increases the likelihood of the assumption.14 Yet in this
case, he did not hesitate to cite the relevant passages of psalm LXXIX, 6, 10-12:15
"SchTte dain grim aus Tber die velker, die dich nit kenen un' Iber die kenig-
raich, die dain namen nit anrufen, den sie haben Ja'kauv verdorben unt
Iro wonung varwist... Los unter die velker var unsro augen kunt weren die
nekomoh1* des blut[es] dainer knechte, das sie vargosen haben. Los var dich
kumen das sifzen un' geschrai der gefangno Jisro'el17 unt vargelte unsro
u
The translation follows approximately the New English Bible.
12
Curses.
"E.g. Lamentations, V; Psalms XLV; LXXVIII; LXXIX; GV.
14
Gf. Mishnah Sanhedrin, VII, 1. The quotation could also have been known to him through its
occurrence in the liturgy of the Day of Atonement.
16
See also the almost parallel passage in Jeremiah X, 25. Luther has "Heiden" instead of
"velker".
"Revenge.
17
The Hebrew text has only 'enqath 'asir. His addition conforms to rabbinic exegesis, to be found
in Rashi, Ibn Ezra and Qimhi. •
schechenim18 sibenfeltig in irem bus (busen) Tren laster, domit sie dich, got,

gelestert haben."
There is no need to quote more than one of his translations of the statutory prayers.
We have already mentioned that they as well as the psalms appear in the Liebliche
Tefilloh without concern for their order in the authorised liturgy or in the Bible. The
first part of the Shema' will, therefore, suffice to illustrate his method of rendering
the text:19
"Here Jisro'el, got, unser got, is ain ainiger got. . . Du solst got, dain got, lib
haben fun ganzem herzen un' mit ganzer neschomoh20* unt mit ali daino var-
megen2Ob (Vermdgen). Unt diso worten, die ich dir haint gebito, soltu zu
herzen nemen unt solt sie dainen kindern scherpfen (einscharfen) unt derfun
reden, wen du in dainem haus' sizest oder auf dem weg gest, wen du dich
nlder legst oder aufstehst. Unt solt sie binden zum zeichen auf dainer hant
unt solt dir ain denkzaichen oder teftlin200 sain zwischen daine augen. Unt
solt sie auf daine haustlren schraiben unt an daine toren."
Here too it is quite clear that Aaron followed in all essential parts Jewish exegesis
in his translation. Yet again there is no consistency. Other selections like the Song
of Moses have no Hebrew components, if one ignores the names of the various
nations referred to in it. aod
The number of supplications for special occasions is considerable, although many
collections of a similar kind preceded that of Aaron. Some are still to be found in
one form or another in Siddurim or special editions printed during the last hundred
years.21 Often the general trend of their contents as well as their headings indicate
"Neighbours. — L. T. 53b — 55a.
19
L.T. 19a.
20
a. Here again for nafshekha in the text.
b. The translation goes back to Mishnah Berakhoth I X , 1 and to the Gemara Berakhoth, 61b.
c. Gf. Targum Onqelos ad locum.
d. L.T. 24b-25a.
21
Cf. e.g. Baer's Sedher 'Abhodhath Tisra'el, loc.cit., or S. E. Blogg's Sefer ha-Hayyim, Frankfurt on
Main 1905. For earlier editions see note B.10 of this paper. Non-statutory prayers in the L.T.
comprise the following: Ainjtefiloh, e' man in die schul get; . . .wen man in die schul kumt;
ain schener schevach (praise) zu ha-schemjisborach, ain demutige techinoh auf tehilim L I ; ain unduj
(Gf. Steinschneider, CHL, Anonyma, loc.cit., No. 3255, and Zedner, Catalogue of the Hebrew Books
in the Library of the British Museum, p. 446, London, 1867.); tefiloh wider die ta'waus Cibaus
(desires of the heart); a prayer based on Psalm I I I , 4f.; ain schener schevach var die narung; ain
tefiloh for the fast on the Tenth of Teves; tehXlim LXXIV, den kan man auch am ta'nis (fast-day)
sagen; tehilim XLIV le-ta'nis; ain schen tectiinoh var ain lantsman, der kain lamden is; . • .var
ain 'tschoh (woman); zu biten var tegliche narung; ain schen tefiloh, zu blten urn derllbliche
demut;. . .dass man un' waibllblich lebensolen; ain tefiloh var ain'Yschoh me'uberes (Cf. Stein-
schneider, CLH, Anonyma, loc.cit., Nos. 3186, 3191, 3192, 3292, and Zedner, loccit., p . 447); ain
schene teftloh var kinder; . . .var ain meschores oder ain bilzel (man-servant or maid-servant);
. . .var ain jungen oder besuloh (young girl); . . .e' man schlafen get; . . .var ain 'almonoh
(widow); tefilas ha-derech (a prayer for a journey); ain schene tefiloh, die man ali tag sagen sol;
. . .var dem chauleh 'azmau (for the sick, to be said by himself); tefiloh var tisch'oh be-'av, teliilim
L X X I X we-gam (and also) var a ta'nis; demutige tech'inoh var schwache oder alte lait.
68 Siegfried Stein
a close link with very old Jewish traditions. Occasionally a brief talmudic statement

or a midrashic observation gave rise to their gradual development. Confessions of a
person about to die, for instance, are referred to in the Gemara Shabbath 32a, whilst
daily confessions are mentioned in the thirteenth century Sefer TereHm by Eliezer b.
Samuel of Metz. No less than four times we come across prayers for fast-days. In the
tefillah for the Ninth of 'Abh, which we briefly discussed before, Psalm LXXIX
served as one of Aaron's proof-texts. In it his interpretation did not differ from that
of Jewish mediaeval commentators. Mutatis mutandis, he followed traditional pat-
terns in the remaining three. There are also two supplications to be said on every
day.22 The first includes a prayer:
"var erliche narung, dass mir kenen frume lamdonim Tber unsrem tisch
halten [!] . . . un' dass mir derdurch kenen 'aulom ha-bo' genisen... Also
bite ich var ali diejenigen, die wissenschaftf!] haben fun dainer liebliche
tauroh."
The second is of greater interest. It starts as follows:
"Ach, ribauni schel 'aulom, ich lebe, aber ich waiss nit wie lang. Ich mus
sterben unt waiss nit wen."
On reading these lines one is struck by their simplicity of expression and by their
unusual style. The author of the Berichte23 confirms the immediate impression. In
connexion with his statement on Aaron's dependence on Luther, he adds:
"Manfindet [bei ihm auch] das schone christliche Gebet: Ach, lieber Herr
und Gott, ich lebe aber ich weiss nicht wie lange; ich muss sterben und weiss
nicht wann mit einer geringen Veranderung."
I do not know to which prayer the account of the missionary refers and what it
included. Two things, however, become clear. He, or perhaps Gallenberg himself,
must have read the whole of the Liebliche Tefilloh and not only its first part, most of
which appeared in German proper in the Berichte. Aaron, on the other hand,
incorporated his source into his "schene techinoh", introducing it by "ribauni schel
'aulom" instead of "lieber Herr und Gott". Aaron continues:
"Du, main hlmlischer vater, waisst es, ach got, sol dlse scho'oh*** oder diser
tag oder dise nacht die letzte maines lebens sain . . . Derzu (dazu) bin ich
berait, dass ich main ganzo hofnung auf dich, got alain, sezo im leben unt im
sterben. Alain, gewero mir nor dlse bit, dass ich nit Iberfalen wer plizlich in
maino 'averaus un' 24b chato'im zu sterben unt varderben. Geb mir doch
"L.T. 26a-27b and 51b-52a.
*3Gf. Gallenberg, Bericht, Siebente Fortsetzung, loc.cit., p. 32.
a4
a. Hour;
b. Sins and transgressions;
2ic
rechto erkentnis un' charotoh iber maino chatoHm un' stel mir main 'averaus

var augen auf diesem vargenglichen 'aulom, dass sie mir nit [am] jaum ha-din%iA
vor augen gistelt weren unt ich nit dadurch var mal'ochim2ie unt menschen
varschemt werdo. . . Erhero doch main stun' un' hailo mich an guf un'
neschomoh un gib' mir doch chochmoh. . ."
'Ain schen tefiloh var ain meschores oder bilzel'25 is unlikely to belong to a collection of
Jewish sources, although one cannot be certain. It depicts a form of society in
which either or both of them normally belonged to an ordinary middle-class
household or a farm in which their help was needed. They are no revolutionaries.
They pray to God to be able to live according to his liebliche tauroh, to satisfy their
ba'l ha-bajis and ba'l ha-bajso26, and thus to assist them to improve their economic
conditions. Through their faithfulness, they hope to merit the world to come.
E. SUMMARY
It is difficult to portray Aaron as he emerges before us in his Liebliche Tefilloh. Born

in 1665,1 he was fourty-four when he had it published. By that time he had suc-
ceeded in shedding the poverty of his youth and could afford to pay for the printing
of three thousand copies of his book. Having started as a small trader, perhaps as a
pedlar, he became a distiller in his later years.2
Both his Jewish and non- Jewish environment stood on the threshold of a new
era. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the rabbinate had lost much of its
former authority. Itinerant preachers, too, however learned, lacked fixed institu-
tional ties and sometimes ecclesiastical approbation, although they were not aiming
at reform in the conventional sense of the nineteenth century. Their function has
been well described as an emotional safety-valve. On the other hand, Jewish prayer
was still public prayer and private supplications were regarded as an exception.
The stratification of society into the learned, the rich, and the lamme ha-'ares was
still clearly noticeable, particularly since scholarly distinction continued for some
time to serve as a substitute for wealth. Jews and Gentiles, unless the former were
Hojjuden and as such employed by big landowners, government officials or counts,
came together only with some extraneous, practical aim in mind. Few of their
meetings were designed for their own sake.3
Against this background, Aaron stood like his namesake of old "between the
24
c. Repentance;
d. Day of Judgment;
e. Angels.
™L.T. 47b-48a.
2S
Master and mistress of the house.
E1
Cf. Gallenberg's Bericht, Neunte Fortsetzung, 1732, loc.cit., p. 235.
mid., pp. 234 and 239.
8
Gf. J. Katz, Tradition and Crisis, New York 1961, pp. 174, 208 & 254.
70 Siegfried Stein
living and the dead." Whilst the old structure of the Qahal was gradually declining,

the new development towards religious individualism, enlightenment and tole-
rance was beginning to take shape in various forms. There can be no doubt that the
author of the Liebliche Tefilloh still felt a strong attachment to much of mediaeval
Jewish civilisation, however many faults he found in some of its manifestations. He also
seems to have attended the services held in the synagogue of Hergershausen with fair
regularity. On the other hand, he may well be regarded as the first and perhaps the
only "Jewish pietist" of whom we have literary evidence. Pietism was the great
movement for a revival in the Lutheran Church during the later seventeenth and
the early eighteenth centuries. Its aim was the reform of an orthodoxy, by now
petrified in its dogmatic concepts and established organisations. At this point life
began to take precedence over the teaching and rattling away of the catechism, true
religious spirit over the public function of the clergy, genuine conviction over cant.
A more intimate relationship to Scripture was advocated and supported by new
religious poetry, to be sung in the Church. Biblical theology took the place of
scholastic theology. Sharp polemics ensued between the parties concerned, but
most of the influential representatives of pietism tried to avoid an open secession
from the Protestant community, and Luther remained the most permanent in-
fluence of the new movement.4
Aaron's writings and mode of life reflect his awareness of and agreement with
the new ideas. His contacts with rabbis were sporadic, and his opinion of them was
critical rather than sympathetic. The number of his private supplications is greater
than that of his translations of the statutory parts of the liturgy. There is not a
single Judaeo-German version of the prayers for the holy days, the New Year or the
Day of Atonement, nor a direct quotation from the Talmud. Where quotations
from it do occur, they are, as in the widduy, reproduced in the second part of the
Liebliche Tefilloh, in all probability borrowed from earlier collections in which they
were included. The confession quoted requires a genuine change of heart and not
just a momentary regret. It thus appealed to him as it would have appealed to the
pietists. There is also no reference to a Teshibhah,6 then still the main institution of
higher learning amongst the Jews.
The fact that Aaron, in spite of the circumstances of his upbringing, was able to
make a literary contribution to the discussion on educational methods makes his
achievement the more remarkable, however limited his success turned out to be. It
should be observed, however, that amongst Gentile pietists, too, craftsmen and
other people belonging to the lower stratum of society often gave new impetus to
the development of the movement.8
As to his demand for teaching children in their muter loschaun, he owes the term
definitely to the influence of pietist educationalists. Francke (1663-1727), for in-
*Cf. Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, third edition, s.v. Pietismus, and Evangelisches Kirchenlexikon,
Gottingen 1959, s.v. Pietismus.
6
Talmudical College.
6
Gf. W. Mahrholz, Deutsche Selbstbekenntnisse. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Selbstbiographie von der
Mystik bis zum Pietismus., Berlin 1919, p . 142.
Liebliche Teftlloh 71
stance, included in his pedagogical programme instruction in handicrafts and the

promotion of the Muttersprache.1 He also insisted that everything should be taught
in such a way as to arouse piety in the hearts of the children. Punishment should be
replaced by exhortation, the severity of the Law by the " Lieblichkeit des Evangeliums."
There is hardly any need to refer to Aaron's libliche tauroh, libliche teftloh, libliche
seforim, libliche schechinoh, tiblicher wile or libliche worte. It is clear that the frequent use
of this adjective, too, was ultimately due to Christian, though not necessarily
pietist, influence. The word occurs already many times in the writings and transla-
tions of Luther and in other branches of literature before him.8 Hebrew, particu-
larly Biblical Hebrew, has no real equivalent for lieblich which could qualify any of
the afore-mentioned nouns.
Aaron did not put forward any plans for the establishment and organisation of the
kind of model schools that the prominent pietists of his time had set up. The mixed
and disorderly contents of his book were unsuited to serve as a useful example for a
concrete and comprehensive educational reform programme. Only in a general way
could his appeals stir the conscience of his readers. His concern for the sick, old, and
underprivileged, right down to the meschores and bilzel, as expressed in many of his
supplications, must have added to their confidence in him. They certainly suffice to
illustrate the godly life he tried to live.8
The pietists' endeavour to hold communion with those "brothers and sisters,"
who share the views of the Stillen im Lande,10 or at least to discuss matters of
common interest with them, is also lacking in the Liebliche Teftlloh. Only on one
occasion Aaron makes at least an indirect appeal to his readers to imitate his mode
of prayers:
"DIso maino tefiloKwe-schevach we-haudojoh11 dint andro guto lait zu nachricht."

The Berichte, however, tell us a little more about the communications between him
and other Jews and Gentiles. We are informed that one of the former once came
specially to consult him about some of his religious problems. Whilst waiting in the
village inn, he entered into conversation with a missionary who also stayed there.
The Jew admits that both Jews and Christians have the word of God, but he, too,
cannot agree that Jesus is the Messiah, because peace has not come to the world,
and "everybody should live under his [own]fig-tree." 1 2 a On another occasion a
7
For him and his predecessors cf. A. Reble, Geschichte der Pddagogik, index, s.v. Muttersprache,
Stuttgart 1962.
8
J. and W. Grimm, Deutsches Worterbuch, loc. cit., s.v. lieblich, and M.F. Lanckisch, Deutsche
. . .Konkordantz-Bibel, loc.cit., s.v. lieblich.
9
Cf. e.g. 'Ain tefiloh wen man in die schul kumt', L. T. 16a: Los mich doch maino oren nit ab-
wenden, wen die arme lait schraien.
10
Cf. Luther's, Blitz's and Aaron's translation of Psalm XXXV, 20, L. T. 56b. Originally the
term was employed in a derogatory sense against the pietists by their opponents. Later on, it
was used as a term of praise.
n
L.T., 12b.
12
a. Cf. Gallenberg, loc.cit., p . 236;
b. Ibid, p . 237.
72 Siegfried Stein
missionary met the village mayor and some peasants in Aaron's house. All of them

participated in a subsequent discussion "with great pleasure", because [!] he often
reprimanded them to fear God and to be humble. The talk lasted for four hours and
at the end Aaron expressed the wish to continue the discussion.121*
He wrote the Liebliche Tefilloh twenty-three years before this meeting took place.
At that time he could not have known Callenberg or his students, and reports of
this kind could, at any rate, hardly be expected in his book, much less Aaron's
request to Callenberg to approach the Government to force the Jews to teach their
children in their Muttersprache.1Z The Berichte concede that many Jews, including
at the beginning Aaron's wife, refused to have any contact with the missionaries.
Others sought it, and studied the pamphlets given to them. Copies of them were
also distributed to Jewish children who were playing in the streets.
It is impossible to estimate with any degree of certainty the number of Jewish
converts to Christianity in Germany during this period. Shohet14 quotes a figure,
transmitted by a Christian contemporary, who believed that there were many
thousands of them. This seems hardly credible. Moreover, most of these converts
acted as they did only to obtain material advantages and returned to Judaism as
soon as they felt free to do so. Some are known to have undergone "conversions"
many a time. Yet there appeared no less than thirty-six anti-Jewish publications,
written by baptized Jews, between 1705 and 1750.
The Berichte confirm on more than one occasion that Aaron remained a Jew, and
he is known to be buried in the Jewish cemetery at Sickenhofen near Hergershausen.
The confiscation by the rabbinate of all copies of the Liebliche Tefilloh which it
could obtain, and their dispersal in various communal buildings in the vicinity of
Hergershausen, can perhaps be explained by the fact that Aaron's contact with the
missionaries and his efforts to interfere on governmental level with the autonomous
jurisdiction over matters and methods of Jewish education had come to the know-
ledge of the ecclesiastical and lay leaders of the community.*
lz
Ibid., pp. 234f. We are also informed that Aaron had published a Judaeo-German version of
Proverbs and that he wrote a book entitled 'Orech Chqjim (Way of Life). Elsewhere mention
is made of another work he is supposed to have written on his zoraus untjesurim. None of them
seems to be extant.
14
Gf. his Beginnings of the Haskalah . . ., loc.cit., pp. 175-197. The whole chapter offers a great
deal of valuable evidence, culled from a great variety of source-material, including rabbinic
responsa.
•Unforeseen circumstances have made it impossible for Professor Stein to check the final
proofs of his essay which would account for any errors in the transcriptions. - Ed.

Liebliche Tefilloh, Judaeo-German Prayer-Book Printed in 1709

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Liebliche Tejilloh1

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By courtesy of the British Museum

Title-page of the Liebliche Tefilloh

JP Q r •• a a- 3f- •— 5?" R- y* £ c* R ?: 8-^ f- S:ft.,f *

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"Got, dem almechtigen alain die ehr,

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In all probability, the first sentence is a slightly altered rendering of Ecclesiasticus

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"Nowadays, most Rabbis admit themselves that they do not study.. . in a

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The work he refers to was written by Kalonymos ben Kalonymos, a distinguished

™L.T., pp. 6a-b.

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G. AARON'S SUMMARISING AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

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d. His simple words were not listened to;

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As if to prove the success of his method, Hebrew summaries of Aaron's endeavour

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D. SELECTED TRANSLATIONS OF PSALMS, OF NORMATIVE PARTS OF

Aaron's anthology of Judaeo-German psalms and prayers comprises pages 15b-73a

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The second is of greater interest. It starts as follows:

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It is difficult to portray Aaron as he emerges before us in his Liebliche Tefilloh. Born

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"DIso maino tefiloKwe-schevach we-haudojoh11 dint andro guto lait zu nachricht."

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