Seligman Ulma

Judah ben Jacob Seligman (Zelikman) Ulma-Gunzburg (the name Ulma indicates that his family originated from Ulm in Germany, the Jewish community of which dates to ancient times) served as chief assistant and editor at the Jewish press in Hanau (established 1609), where he was involved in printing numerous works. However, complaints reveal that he encountered difficulties when working on complex Hebrew texts, possibly due to problems with his eyesight. Seligman Ulma also produced a popular book of Hebrew parables and maxims with Yiddish translations and explanations, Der tsuktshpigl (Heb: Mar’eh musar), which was first printed in Hanau in 1610 and subsequently reprinted in Eastern and Central Europe. There is no indication that he was a rabbi, but he had a great command of Jewish sources, as evidenced by his translation of more than five hundred maxims from the Mishnah, Talmud, and other works, in alphabetical order, and he was a skillful translator.