Gluckel of Hamelin: Writing as a Form of Prayer

If you were to step into your local Jewish bookstore on any given day, you’d be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of published memoirs on the shelves. But a few hundred years ago, that was unheard of. And a published memoir of a woman no less? A true rarity.

Gluckel bat Leyb, born in Hamburg, Germany in 1645, started writing in 1691 as a recent widow¹ “with a deeply grieving heart.”² She began writing about her life, her marriage, her children, her faith, and her business dealings as a diversion from “a surfeit of worries, troubles, and heartache” that caused her sad, sleepless nights, as she writes in her memoir:

“My dear children, I began writing this, with God’s help, after the death of your pious father, since it afforded me some pleasure when the melancholy thoughts were upon me…”³

Gluckel didn’t intend to publish her memoirs at first.  But we are grateful that she did, because through her narrative, Gluckel provides us with a unique glimpse not only into her exceptional life, but also into the broader society of her time, and the hardships as well as resilience that Am Yisrael portrayed.  In her memoirs, Gluckel reveals how business transactions and disputes were managed, the complexities of arranging marriages, and the impact of the ever-changing geopolitical landscape on the Jewish community.

Her story is remarkable, told with honesty, skill and wit by a woman with innate wisdom of the human make-up.

She published seven memoirs in total – ‘seven little books’⁴ she called them, that are huge in their literary prowess and the exceptional character of the writer – Gluckel. While her seven original manuscripts are lost to history, one of her sons, Reb Moshe Hamel, made two copies that survived. In the late 19th century, a descendent of Gluckel’s named Bertha Pappenheim first translated her memoirs from Old Yiddish into German. It has since been translated into Russian, French, Hebrew and English.⁵

Let’s take a peek inside them into the fascinating trajectory of Gluckel’s life as well as some of the events she writes about. 

Married at just fourteen, Gluckel’s life saw her through joy and plenty of pain. She gave birth to fourteen children, twelve of whom lived to be young adults. When her husband passed away, leaving her with eight young children, including a baby, she faced the daunting task of raising and providing for them all by herself. Lost without her anchor, her greatest supporter, Gluckel was left reeling, alone, bereaved and floundering. This is when Gluckel used her penchant for writing as a steady relief to quiet her grief, and this is the period where most of her memoirs were written.⁶

Despite Gluckel’s husband’s untimely passing, Gluckel was determined to ensure that her children married into “respectable” families, which meant she needed to come up with substantial dowries and support for each couple.

Before her husband’s death, Gluckel and her husband, Chaim, were part of the wealthy class of Jews at the time. They made their living trading in gems, gold, silver, and loaning money. While they prospered, they also experienced setbacks from bad investments and theft. Gluckel took an active role in their business, and her husband trusted her judgment completely.

“Life in those days was so much happier than it is today, although people did not possess even half of what they have nowadays – may they enjoy it and prosper“

After Chaim’s death, Gluckel took over the business, traveling to trade fairs in distant towns. When her son’s fabric business failed, she stepped in, bought his stock, and successfully ran the business herself. Despite a brief, unsuccessful second marriage that left her in debt, Gluckel managed to rebuild her fortune and clear her debts through her own fortitude⁷.

In her writing, Gluckel worries over her husband’s health during his business travels and collaborates with him on strategies to recover from financial setbacks. In her writing, readers catch a glimpse as she mourns the loss of several children and tries to guide a son who consistently makes poor decisions.

In her memoirs, she reflects on the challenges of raising children, and acknowledges that some of their struggles can be shared openly, while others are better kept private. She fondly recalls a time when life was simpler and happier, despite having fewer material possessions than people do today⁸.

“Life in those days was so much happier than it is today, although people did not possess even half of what they have nowadays – may they enjoy it and prosper.”⁹

Throughout the many ups and downs of her life, Gluckel used her inkwell and pad to write of her travels, travels and experiences. Her writing was in a sense, her personal ongoing prayer to Hashem; her thoughts and longings constantly entwined with His Will.

Gluckel lived through one of the most turbulent times of Jewish history, and through her writing, she gives us a glimpse of her experience as a Jewish woman living at the time. One of her earliest memories is of her father sheltering ten refugees who had fled Poland during the notorious Chmielnicki massacres, part of a political uprising by Ukrainians against Polish rule. The mass murder of tens of thousands of Jews is also known as “Gezeras Tach v’Tat,” the evil degree of 1648-49. Though the refugees were ill with infectious disease, Gluckel’s father took them in – at great personal risk – and arranged for them to be cared for in their attic. Gluckel’s grandmother, who insisted on climbing the stairs several times a day to help care for them, died as a result.¹⁰

Glickl also lived in the times of Shabsai Tzvi , the false Maschia’h- one of the most tragic periods in Jewish history – and shares her devastation when Shabsai Zvi and his messianic promises were revealed as a fraud. She recounts how her father-in-law was one of Shbsai Tzvi’s most fervent believers and how he had sold his home and packed his belongings in a trunk, waiting for the letter to arrive indicating the time had come to move to the Holy Land. Gluckel shares:

“When I recall how young and old alike all over the world began repenting of their sins, as is well known, it cannot be described. Ah God, Lord of the universe, we were hoping that You, compassionate God, would have mercy on Israel, Your wretched people, and redeem us…”¹¹

But the running theme of Gluckel’s utmost faith and belief in her Father, continues in the hardest of times, as she writes:

“Your people do not despair; they await Your mercy daily that You may redeem them. Even though he may tarry, still I await him every day.”¹²

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Nearly 300 years after Gluckel’s death in 1724, her work has gained worldwide acclaim and her name has become synonymous of the faith and tenacity of the Jewish woman – her memoir may have been meant for her family only, but we are grateful that her name and her pages have been gifted to us all. 

1. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/glueckel-of-hameln ↩︎
2. https://aish.com/the-life-and-times-of-glikl-bas-leyb-a-17th-century-woman-for-the-ages/ ↩︎
3. https://aish.com/the-life-and-times-of-glikl-bas-leyb-a-17th-century-woman-for-the-ages/ ↩︎
4. https://aish.com/the-life-and-times-of-glikl-bas-leyb-a-17th-century-woman-for-the-ages/ ↩︎
5. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112295/jewish/Glueckel-of-Hameln.htm ↩︎
6. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112295/jewish/Glueckel-of-Hameln.htm ↩︎
7. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112295/jewish/Glueckel-of-Hameln.htm ↩︎
8. https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112295/jewish/Glueckel-of-Hameln.htm ↩︎
9. https://aish.com/the-life-and-times-of-glikl-bas-leyb-a-17th-century-woman-for-the-ages/ ↩︎
10. https://aish.com/the-life-and-times-of-glikl-bas-leyb-a-17th-century-woman-for-the-ages/ ↩︎
11. https://aish.com/the-life-and-times-of-glikl-bas-leyb-a-17th-century-woman-for-the-ages/ ↩︎
12. https://aish.com/the-life-and-times-of-glikl-bas-leyb-a-17th-century-woman-for-the-ages/ ↩︎