Aaron ben Samuel of Hergershausen
Aaron ben Samuel of Hergershausen | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1665 Hergershausen, Hesse |
| Died | circa 1732 |
| Occupation(s) | Author, merchant, distiller |
| Known for | Advocating use of vernacular (Yiddish) in Jewish prayer |
Aaron ben Samuel of Hergershausen (1665–circa 1732) was a Jewish author from Hesse, acknowledged as the pioneer in Germany advocating for the use of the vernacular language instead of Hebrew in everyday Jewish prayer practices.
He began his career as a modest merchant and later operated as a distiller, retailing brandy through his tavern. In 1709, he released in Frankfurt Liebliche tefiloh, oder kreftige artznai for guf un neshomoh ('A Lovely Prayer, or a Tonic for Body and Soul'), a compilation of prayers and personal petitions written in Yiddish. Although not the earliest Yiddish prayer book adaptation, his publication was distinguished by its literary enhancement of the vernacular through extensive elaboration on traditional prayers. His explicit intention was to substitute Hebrew with Yiddish in contexts where Hebrew comprehension had diminished.
During the early 1800s, numerous copies were uncovered in the attic of a synagogue. Rabbi Leopold Stein later proposed that the text faded into obscurity due to an alleged prohibition by the Orthodox rabbinate of the Palatinate; however, no documentation substantiates this assertion.