Creator Bio
Naphtali ha-Kohen Katz
1649–1719
A kabbalist and halakhic authority, Naphtali ha-Kohen Katz was born in Stepan (Volhynia) and served as rabbi in Ostrów, Poznań (Posen), and Frankfurt am Main, where he was head of the burial society. He died outside Constantinople, while traveling to the Holy Land. Katz created amulets, compiled prayer books, and wrote talmudic and liturgical commentary and piyyutim (liturgical poetry), some of which were collected after his death. His ethical will reflects his focus on the rituals surrounding death.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
Primary Source
Sefer ha-tsava’ah (Book of the Testament): Ethical Will
Now I will give instructions concerning how to look after me from the beginning of my final illness—when the day of judgment comes, during all the period of my illness, and the time of my death, when…
Primary Source
Sefer ha-tsava’ah (Book of the Testament): Rituals on Dying and Mourning
My beloved wife Esther Sheindel, may you live long, since we, on account of our affection, once made a pact, as it were, that if one of us dies, the other should implore God’s mercy for the other to…