Title Page of the Register of a Jewish Midwife

1794

Manuscript page with two columns of writing in Yiddish and Hebrew and a decorated border.
This detailed bilingual Hebrew-Yiddish register kept by Roza, a Jewish midwife in the Jewish community of the Dutch city of Groningen in the years from 1794 to 1832, provides basic information about the households she served, in turn shedding light on the social structure of the Jewish community in the Netherlands at the time and on the vital role played by midwives in Jewish society. Roza served both Jewish and non-Jewish women and their families, and produced a register of births in Dutch as well, documenting her work among non-Jews, an indication of a long-standing tradition of Jewish midwives working across communal boundaries as well as evidence of Jewish midwives’ literacy, status, and level of education. (This latter register in Dutch does not seem to have survived).

Credits

Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 6.

Engage with this Source

Related Guide

Life Writing: Biography, Autobiography, and Ego Documents, 1750–1880

The famous and the obscure, women and men, in epitaphs and private letters, ethical wills, cookbooks, and religious reflections, all reflect aspects of Jewish life in a period of great transition.

You may also like

The Celestial Race

When you see the planets and constellations circling heaven at all hours, do not imagine that they are speeding, like a runner in a valley, to show off their prowess. No, it is a sublime cause that…
View Source
Page of Hebrew text with pointed top and floral border.
Tooltip info icon

Karaite Ketubah (Crimea)

While ketubot (marriage contracts) are usually written in Aramaic, Karaite ketubot are written in Hebrew. They are often pentagonal in shape, most often with a pointed bottom. This example has a…
View Source