Sefer ha-ḥayim (The Book of Life)

Paul Christian Kirchner converted to Christianity in 1709. He is the author of Jüdisches Ceremoniel (Jewish Ceremonial Customs), published in Erfurt, Germany, in 1717, which took a critical stance on Judaism but which was later republished by Sebastian Jugendres with more neutral text.

Simon ben Israel Judah was born in Poznań (Posen), Poland. He left the town after it was invaded by the Swedes and settled in Amsterdam. Simon subsequently took his father-in-law’s family name, Frankfurt. He served as rabbi of Amsterdam’s Ashkenazic burial society for more than thirty years. Simon’s best-known book is Sefer ha-ḥayim (The Book of Life), first published in 1703. This was a bilingual (Hebrew and Yiddish) work concerning deathbed rituals, the first text of its kind in Yiddish. It became very popular, shaping Jewish deathbed rituals in the Western world. Simon also composed a book of customs and halakha, Sefer yitnu, which remained in manuscript form, in addition to the poems for special occasions that he penned for his son. His writing reveals great erudition and narrative skill.