Seder mitsvot ha-nashim (The Order of Women’s Commandments): On the Sabbath Eve

Nicolas de Nicolay was a French soldier, geographer, and artist who traveled to the Ottoman Empire at the behest of King Henry II of France (1519–1559) as both a geographer and a spy. His travelogue/survey of the Ottoman Empire was first published in French in 1567 and, considered the first authoritative source of information about the Ottoman Empire for westerners, was often reprinted. In 1565, he was assigned by Henry II’s widow, Catherine de’ Medici (1519–1589), to survey the provinces of the French kingdom.

Benjamin Aron Slonik was likely born in Grodno or nearby Tykocin. He lived in Kraków, where he studied with Moses Isserles and Solomon Luria, the leading authorities of his days. Slonik served as rabbi in Podhajce and Silesia. He wrote his Seder mitsvot ha-nashim (The Order of Women’s Commandments) in 1577, while he was still a young rabbi.