Seyder Tkhines: The Forgotten Book of Common Prayer for Jewish Women » (1ST)

The Seyder Tkhines, translated from its original Yiddish by noted tkhines scholar, Devra Kay, and centerpiece of this groundbreaking work, was a standard Yiddish prayer book for women.

It first appeared in Amsterdam in 1648, and continued to be published for the next three generations, usually inside the Hebrew synagogue prayer book. A product of an age when mysticism pervaded mainstream Judaism, the Seyder Tkhines provided women with newly composed, alternative daily prayers that were more specific to their needs.

Included in this volume is a unique Yiddish manuscript dating from the 17th century—a collection of prayers written specifically for a rich, pregnant woman, which Kay discovered among the rare books of the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England. Now, for the first time, these prayers have been skillfully translated and brought to public view.

In addition to her translations, Kay presents her own extensive commentary, providing a deeper understanding of the historic, religious, and cultural background of this period in Jewish history. This unparalleled book will have special appeal to those interested in the social, literary, and religious history of women, as well as the history of the Yiddish language and literature. The interest in these forgotten prayers and their significance to the lives of women has now been revived, and these tkhines are ready to be rediscovered by a modern readership.

Publishers Weekly

Now largely forgotten, these works of popular piety emerged in a time of remarkable messianic expectation and fervent holiness. Kay, who began researching these prayer books for her doctoral dissertation, writes that the prayer books flourished for approximately three generations and had no precedents in the history of Jewish prayer, since they were vernacular prayers written by and for women. Kay traces the development of the cottage industry of these prayer books, which proved to be financially profitable for printers and spiritually beneficial for women, who did not participate in many of the male-oriented rituals in the synagogue. Particularly interesting is a prayer book written specifically for an unnamed pregnant woman, who is encouraged to repent of her sins and be ever-ready for a possible departure from this world. One prayer explicitly beseeches God for an easy labor and a safe delivery. Kay does readers a great service by collecting these historic prayers into this volume and providing helpful commentary.