Lev tov (A Good Heart): Ten Commandments for the Married Woman

Isaac ben Eliyakim of Posen

ca. 1620

This is the story of a queen who gave her daughter in marriage to a young king and then gave her the following instructions, inasmuch as she was about to be married. Since she was sending the daughter away for her marriage she said to her: “My dear child, I am giving you away and am turning you over to a stranger, and I don’t know what sort of a…

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Creator Bio

Isaac ben Eliyakim of Posen

Early 17th Century

The only two things we know about Isaac ben Eliyakim are that he wrote the Yiddish book Lev tov (A Good Heart), and that he had some undefined connection to the city of Poznań in Poland. Lev tov, first printed in Prague in 1620, is an example of the genre of Yiddish-language ethical works known as sifre musar (morality books), which were meant to provide general religious and moral guidance in the vernacular shared by Ashkenazic Jews of the time. Printed frequently, even in present times, Lev tov was warmly recommended by such authorities and authors as Shabbetai Sheftel Horowitz, Glikl Hamel, and Jonah Landsofer.

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