Abraham Hayim ben Zvi Hirsh Braatbard (1699-1786) was an 18th-century

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

typesetter Typesetting is the composition of Written language, text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging metal type, physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''char ...

from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and the author of the

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

chronicle ''Ayn Nayer Kornayk fun 1740 bis 1752''.

Overview

Braatbard's chronicle focuses on Jewish political and community life in the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

and is a continuation of the work of

Menahem Amelander Menahem Mann Ben Solomon ha-Levi Amelander was a Dutch-Jewish author and historian of the 18th century. He died before 1767. Life His 1743 Old Yiddish chronicle, ''Sheyris Yisroel'' (''Remnant of Israel'') is a continuation of his Yiddish tran ...

. Braatbard discusses the failed Doelist movement in Amsterdam in some depth. Braatbard wrote, "As long as the world shall exist, never again will there be a time like these twelve years." Braatbard documented the succession battles of the

House of Orange The House of Orange-Nassau (, ), also known as the House of Orange because of the prestige of the princely title of Orange, also referred to as the Fourth House of Orange in comparison with the other noble houses that held the Principality of O ...

and the tax collectors' rebellion or ''

pachtersoproer The pachtersoproer was a Dutch rebellion in the 18th century. The origin of the uprising was to be found in the economic malaise of the 1740s as a result of the Austrian War of Succession. It was the system of commercial tax-collection called ''p ...

'' of 1748. He compares Daniel Raap to

Haman Haman ( ; also known as Haman the Agagite) is the main antagonist in the Book of Esther, who according to the Hebrew Bible was an official in the court of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian empire under King Ahasuerus#Book of Esther, Ahasuerus, comm ...

, and had great confidence in

William IV, Prince of Orange William IV (Willem Karel Hendrik Friso; 1 September 1711 – 22 October 1751) was Prince of Orange from birth and the first hereditary stadtholder of all the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 1747 until his death in 1751. During his who ...

, who was a friend of

Isaac de Pinto Isaac de Pinto (10 April 1717 – 13 August 1787) was a Dutch merchant and banker of Portuguese Sephardi Jews, Sephardic Jewish origin who was one of the main investors in the Dutch East India Company, as well as a scholar and philosophe who co ...

. Braatbard's manuscript likely remained in private possession until 1940 and was found after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the ruins of Jewish Amsterdam. It portrays his strong opinions of the political events in Amsterdam in idiomatic Yiddish and Ashkenazic cursive according to the common usage at the time, and does not reflect above-average education. He also uses a number of Hebrew words and

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

words. It was translated by Leo Fuks in 1960 who brought it to wider knowledge. The chronicle was likely written after 1755. It ends in 1751, at which time Braatbard had taken over his father's business.

Personal life

Braatbard married Sipra Hyman in 1729 and had 9 children, 6 daughters and 3 sons. The Braatbards lived in

Houtgracht The Houtgracht (; Wood Canal) was a canal in Amsterdam that defined one side of Vlooienburg island. Houtgracht and the connected Leprozengracht canal were filled in 1882 to form the Waterlooplein. History In the late 16th century it was decided ...

. Braatbard worked a typesetter for various Jewish printers and was familiar with the Ashkenazi bookstores and meeting places for intellectual life in Amsterdam. He worked as a typesetter from at least 1725 to 1732, working on several projects for Moses Frankfurter. He also worked for Naftali Herz Levi Rofé and Joseph Dayyan.

References

{{Jewish-hist-stub 1786 deaths 1699 births Jewish historians Historians of Jews and Judaism 18th-century_Dutch_Jews Jewish Dutch writers