Yuspa Shamash

Jepthah Joseph, son of Naftali Hirsh Manzpach, known as Yuspa Shamash, was born in Fulda. He arrived in Worms at the age of nineteen to study at the local yeshiva and remained there for the rest of his life. In the 1630s he became the community’s scribe and from the 1640s its shamash (sexton), a position he filled for the rest of his life. He also worked as a shoḥet (ritual slaughterer) and mohel (circumciser). His masterpiece, Minhage de-kehilah ha-kedoshah Vormaiza (Customs of the Holy Community of Worms) includes a rich description of local traditions and rituals. He began writing the book in 1648 and continued revising it, leaving a number of extant manuscript versions. Yuspe Shamash also wrote a collection of stories about the Worms community (Ma‘aseh nisim [Miraculous Events]), a commentary on prayers (Likute Yosef [The Compilation of Joseph]), and other texts on Jewish prayer.