historical study

I loved this book. Perhaps I should say that I like old memoirs and journals, particularly by women [and there are so few of them!] and that I also enjoy reading historical documents and about history of certain places and certain centuries. That may be one of the biases of these lines. I might also add I am not Jewish.
What is fascinating and intriguing is how this person,living 400 years ago, comes out alive and well, in this text. That we understand her and her motives, her sense of humor. We commune with her preocupations which give or take small differences are preoccupations we have today: the raising of offspring; providing what you can to insure your child's future better than your own; guidance through religious beliefs and wisdom against false new religious leaders; the conduct of ethical and profitable business.
Glückel also reveals surprising details of everyday life. For instance, she required special permissions to travel and to stay within the borders of towns for being Jewish; she travels more frequently than I expected, despite her being a woman, despite the difficulties of lodging, depite her jewishness. Sickness is awful anytime but here we see how absolutely dreadful it could be even for a well to do merchant family. She also comandeers her business decisively and dynamically. Her errors in judgment are few for anyone, in any century! And she loves her husband, and she is loved by him, even though she probably had an arranged marriage just like the ones she provided for her children.
I love this book because Glückel puts me in touch with the 17th century daily life, but more than that, she reminds me of the infinite chain that links us all; and in particular infinite connection that all women share, Jewish or not. Glückel simply reminded me of the universality of our experiences, transcending centuries, religions and cultures. Few books can do that.

This woman had 14 children, 12 of whom survived to adulthood and 11 of whom she betrothed while she was alive. The book is bogged down in details of their betrothals, i.e. in writing up marriage contracts, negotiating dowries, visiting the future in-laws, attending their weddings, etc. But it doesn't stop there: you'll hear how big of a dowry her brother was offered, who were his marriage prospects and who he ended up marrying. The details of her sisters' arranged marriage as well as proposals to her widowed mother are also there. There is hardly a page where she doesn't talk of dowry amount.
If you are looking to learn how an average Jew lived in a German city during late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, you will be disappointed. She hardly ever talks about her direct interaction with the Gentiles of Hamburg, or for that matter of any Gentiles at the fairs she goes to or to whom she lends money. In all fairness, the book has a few anecdotes where her real sense of humor and ability to tell a story is revealed. However, these anecdotes are like needles in a haystack of countless names she mentions and amounts of money she talks about.
A number of times she says "I will talk about so and so later," but never does. So all you get is the person's name and no idea of his or her character, personality or any description whatsoever. One counterexample is Bulletproof Jacob, who has to accompany her and her family back to Hamburg after the plague is over. If the book was filled with more anecdotes, descriptions and her own perspective on what was going on around her at the time, it would be indispensable.

This beautiful and electrifying book has, after twenty years, replaced Testament of Youth as my very favorite. I am personally responsible for Schocken Books rising 1 1/4 points on the New York market, in giving every single person I know (and some I do not) this book as a gift. My refrigerator has not been defrosted in over a year, and the rabbi is wondering when I will agree to read Torah again at shul, and my husband is wondering why my paychecks have been on the slender side lately, but I am out there on the streets making sure at least one more person a day learns of this wonderful book.

Gluckel was a Jewish woman who lived in Germany, with enough privilege to be often given permission to travel outside of the shtetl, and see other parts of the country. She traveled sometimes with her husband, a merchant, and at other times to meet and make arrangements with other families for the marriages of her children. More often, though, she stayed home with her fourteen children during the long periods of her husband's absences.

She and her husband were very much in love, albeit undoubtedly had had an arranged marriage, just as the ones she made for her children. In fact, the marriages of her children occupy much of the text.

Some of the rest is given to stories, stories that entertain as well as instruct, and can fairly be call aggadot, midrashim, and parables. But there's quite a lot of history: there is a fascinating first-hand account of the mission of the false messiah, Shabbtai Tzvi. I don't believe there exists another first-hand account of this event in this tenor: Gluckel does not know she is writing of one of the major events of history.

Gluckel's stated intent is to write the story of her family, so that her children will always know what sort of people they came from. This is the rest of the text: anecdotes about grandparents, aunts and uncles.

Gluckel's explanation for her need to compile such a document is that since her husband died, she finds it hard to sleep, and needs something to occupy the night hours, "to drive away the idle melancholy thoughts that torment me."

Nonetheless, with all the recent expulsions and migrations of the Jews, Gluckel saw families split apart, and children growing up separated from cousins and grandparents, confined to different shtetls, in different countries (when the diary was begun, in 1690, less than 150 years had passed since the Catholic Church had consigned Jews to shtetls). So just as Jews in exile had compiled the Talmud, Gluckel may have been driven to keep written records as oral communication became difficult.

Fortunately that never happened. Still, we have Gluckel's wonderful memoir. She is a natural writer: she doesn't waste words, even when gossiping. This book is a page turner.

Gluckel came to life as I read this in a way few characters in books do-- I would swear, as I held it, I could feel a pulse. By the time I turned the last page, I felt as though I'd made a friend.