The ''Tz'enah Ur'enah'' ( ''Ṣʼenā urʼenā'' "Go forth and see"), also spelt Tsene-rene and Tzeno Ureno, sometimes called the ''Women's Bible'', is a
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
-language prose work of c.1590s whose structure parallels the
weekly Torah portion
It is a custom among religious Jewish communities for a weekly Torah portion to be read during Jewish prayer services on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. The full name, ''Parashat HaShavua'' ( he, פָּרָשַׁת הַשָּׁבוּעַ), is p ...
s and
Haftarahs used in
Jewish prayer services. The book was written by
Jacob ben Isaac Ashkenazi (1550–1625) of
Janów Lubelski
Janów Lubelski is a town in southeastern Poland. It has 11,938 inhabitants (2006). Situated in the Lublin Voivodship (since 1999), Janów Lubelski belongs to Lesser Poland, and is located in southeastern corner of this historic Polish province ...
(near
Lublin, Poland), and mixes Biblical passages with teachings from Judaism's
Oral Torah
According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law ( he, , Tōrā šebbəʿal-pe}) are those purported laws, statutes, and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five Books of Moses, the Written Torah ( he, , Tōrā šebbī� ...
such as the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
's
Aggadah
Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ''Haggāḏā''; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ''ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ''; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism ...
and
Midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
, which are sometimes called "
parables,
allegories, short stories, anecdotes, legends, and admonitions" by secular writers.
[ Liptzin, Sol, ''A History of Yiddish Literature'', Jonathan David Publishers, Middle Village, NY, 1972. . pp.10-11.]
The name derives from a verse of the
Song of Songs that begins (, "Go forth and see, O ye daughters of
Zion", ()). The nature of the source of the name indicates that the book was intended for women, who would have been less versed than men in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, the Jewish
liturgical language. The title page of the
Basel
, french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese
, neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...
edition of 1622 acknowledged the book's sources as including the earlier popularizer
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...
(1040–1105) and the 13th century
exegeses of
Bahya ben Asher
Bahya ben Asher ibn Halawa (, 1255–1340) was a rabbi and scholar of Judaism, best known as a commentator on the Hebrew Bible.
He is one of two scholars now referred to as Rabbeinu Behaye, the other being philosopher Bahya ibn Paquda.
Biog ...
, as well as
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
ic sources.
Sol Liptzin
Sol Liptzin (July 27, 1901 – November 15, 1995) was a scholar, writer, and educator in Yiddish and German literature.
Life
Liptzin was born in Sataniv, Russian Empire, and moved to New York at the age of nine. He graduated from City College o ...
describes the ''Tseno Ureno'' as "a fascinating, didactic book which could win the approbation of the strict moral leaders of Eastern European Jewry, and at the same time accompany women as their favorite literary and devotional text from girlhood to old age. For generations there was hardly a Yiddish home that did not possess a copy."
Yisrael Meir Kagan wrote of earlier generations reading the book "Tzenah urenah" each Sabbath.
Because of its orientation toward women readers, the book is particularly focused on the biblical matriarchs, the various courtships mentioned in scripture, and the rescue of
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu ( Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pr ...
by
Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until th ...
's daughter. Although there are vivid depictions of
Paradise
In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in para ...
and
Hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
, there is an emphasis that righteousness is to be found in serving
God willingly and wholeheartedly, rather than out of hope of reward or fear of punishment.
Charity and
alms
Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of virtue or charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving, and it is a widespread practice in a numbe ...
giving are also emphasized.
Editions and translation
There have been at least 300 editions of the book, starting in the 1590s. According to the 1622 edition, the first three editions - one printed in Lublin and two in
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...
- had by then not survived.
Parts of ''Tseno Ureno'' were translated into German in 1910 by
Bertha Pappenheim as ''Zennah u-Reenah''. Only the first part of her translation of the Women's Bible appeared (''Bereschit'', corresponding to the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...
). The translations of the second and third books (''
Schemot'' and ''
Wajikra'') have apparently been lost.
Morris M. Faierstein published a first critical translation into English in 2017.
The book continues in print today, especially for Hasidic communities.
ArtScroll published a two-volume English translation in 1993 (), under the title ''The Weekly Midrash: Tz'enah Ur'enah the Classic Anthology of Torah Lore and Midrashic Commentary''.
See also
*
Bible translations into German German language translations of the Bible have existed since the Middle Ages. The most influential is Luther's translation, which established High German as the literary language throughout Germany by the middle of the seventeenth century and which ...
*
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
*
Yiddish literature
References
External links
Tseno Ureno printed in Sulzbach, 1798* Blitz, Avi
“The Tsene-rene: In Search of a Seventeenth-Century Yiddish Bible in Modern-Day Jerusalem.”''In geveb'', May 2019.
Further reading
*Norman C. Gore: ''Tzeenah u-reenah − a Jewish commentary on the Book of Exodus''. Vantage Press, New York 1965
{{Authority control
History of the Hebrew Bible
Aggadic Midrashim
Yiddish
Judaism and women
Jewish literature
Yiddish-language literature
1590s books