The ''Tz'enah Ur'enah'' ( ''Ṣʼenā urʼenā'' "Go forth and see"; ; ), also spelt Tsene-rene and Tseno Ureno, sometimes called the ''Women's Bible'', is a

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 ...

-language prose work whose structure parallels the

weekly Torah portion The weekly Torah portion refers to a lectionary custom in Judaism in which a portion of the Torah (or Pentateuch) is read during Jewish prayer services on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. The full name, ''Parashat HaShavua'' (), is popularly abbre ...

s and

Haftarah The ''haftara'' or (in Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazic pronunciation) ''haftorah'' (alt. ''haftarah, haphtara'', ) "parting," "taking leave" (plural form: ''haftarot'' or ''haftoros''), is a series of selections from the books of ''Nevi'im'' ("Pr ...

s 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, Janów Lubelski belongs to Lesser Poland, and is located in southeastern corner of this historic Polish province. It is the cap ...

(near

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

, Poland), and mixes Biblical passages with teachings from Judaism's

Oral Torah According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law () are statutes and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five Books of Moses, the Written Torah (), and which are regarded by Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jews as prescriptive ...

such as the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

Aggadah Aggadah (, or ; ; 'tales', 'legend', 'lore') is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly the Talmud and Midrash. In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporat ...

and

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

, which are sometimes called "

parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whe ...

allegories As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

, 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 The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

that begins (, "Go forth and see, O ye daughters of

Zion Zion (; ) is a placename in the Tanakh, often used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole. The name is found in 2 Samuel (), one of the books of the Tanakh dated to approximately the mid-6th century BCE. It o ...

", ()). The name indicates that the book was particularly directed at women, who would have been worse versed in

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 ...

, although the title page markets it to men and women equally. The title page of the 1622 Hanau edition acknowledged among the book's sources various Talmudic texts and Biblical commentaries, including those of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...

Nachmanides Moses ben Nachman ( ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ramban (; ) and by the contemporary nickname Bonastruc ça Porta (; l ...

Hezekiah ben Manoah Hezekiah ben Manoah, or Hezekiah bar Manoah, was a French rabbi and Bible commentator of the 13th century. He is generally known by the title of his commentary, Chizkuni (). In memory of his father, who lost his right hand through his steadfastness ...

, Abraham Saba, Isaac Karo, and

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. Biograp ...

. Sol Liptzin 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 Yisrael Meir ha-Kohen Kagan (February 6, 1838 – September 15, 1933) was an influential Lithuanian Jewish rabbi, Halakhist, posek, and ethicist whose works continue to be widely influential in Orthodox Jewish life. He was known popularly as t ...

wrote of earlier generations reading the book ''Tz'enah Ur'enah'' 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 In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

's daughter. Although there are vivid depictions of

Paradise In religion and folklore, paradise is a place of everlasting happiness, delight, and bliss. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical, eschatological, or both, often contrasted with the miseries of human ...

and

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

, there is an emphasis that righteousness is to be found in serving

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

willingly and wholeheartedly, rather than out of hope of reward or fear of punishment.

Charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sha ...

and

alms Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving. Etymology The word ''alms'' come ...

giving are also emphasized.

Editions and translation

There have been at least 300 editions of the book, starting in the 1590s. The oldest surviving edition dates to 1622, printed in Hanau. According to this edition, there were three previous editions - one printed in Lublin and two in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

- but they were already rare, and no copy of any of them has survived.YIVO: Tsene-rene
/ref> The format and contents of the book varied with the edition. The 1622 edition was published as two volumes, while later editions were mostly singular volumes. Other modifications to later publications included illumination, the addition of Biblical apocryphal texts, and updating the text itself to reflect changes to the language of publication over time. Parts of the ''Tseno Ureno'' were translated into German in 1910 by

Bertha Pappenheim Bertha Pappenheim (27 February 1859 – 28 May 1936) was an Austrian-Jewish feminist, a social pioneer, and the founder of the Jewish Women's Association (). Under the pseudonym Anna O., she was also one of Josef Breuer's best-documented pat ...

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 language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

). 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 ArtScroll is an imprint of translations, books and commentaries from an Orthodox Jewish perspective published by Mesorah Publications, Ltd., a publishing company based in Rahway, New Jersey. Rabbi Nosson Scherman is the general editor. ArtScro ...

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''.

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.

Editions and translation

See also

References

External links

Further reading