Gallery 4: The Jewish Town, 1648–1772
Tkhine imohos (Supplication of the Matriarchs) is a prayer written in Aramaic and YiddishYiddishthe historic Jewish vernacular of Ashkenazi Jews, a fusion of German dialects, Hebrew and Aramaic, and Judeo-Romance and Slavic languages. The beginnings of Yiddish are in the Rhineland in the Middle Ages. About 13 million people spoke Yiddish before the Second World War. by a woman for women. Leah Horowitz, daughter of a rabbiRabbireligious leader of a Jewish congregation who is qualified to resolve issues on the basis of Halakhah. A rabbi heads the Jewish court (Hebrew: bet din, Yiddish: bezdin), teaches Torah, performs marriages, and certifies that foods conform to the requirements of kashrut. and learned herself, wrote the prayer during the late 18th century. Women were to recite this prayer on the ShabbatShabbat(Yiddish: shabes) – day of rest, from sunset Friday until shortly after sunset Saturday, during which work is prohibited. before Rosh Ḥodesh, the day of the month when the new moon appears, an occasion of special importance to Jewish women. Women also recited tkhines when lighting the Shabbat candles or in relation to childbirth, illness, finding marriage partners for children, success in business, or safety when traveling. Some tkhines were recited at the cemetery in the hope that the dead would intervene on behalf of the living.