text: Seyder Tkhines: The Forgotten Book of Common Prayer for Jewish Women, 2004 | Online Research Library: Questia
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  By Devra Kay
  The Seyder Tkhines, translated from its original Yiddish by noted tkhines scholar, Devra Kay, and centerpiece of this groundbreaking work, was a standard Yiddish prayer book for women. It first appeared in Amsterdam in 1648, and continued to be published for the next three generations, usually inside the Hebrew synagogue prayer book. A product of an age when mysticism pervaded mainstream Judaism, the Seyder Tkhines provided women with newly composed, alternative daily prayers that were more specific to their needs. Included in this volume is a unique Yiddish manuscript dating from the 17th century - a collection of prayers written specifically for a rich, pregnant woman, which Kay discovered among the rare books of the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England.
  Now, for the first time, these prayers have been skillfully translated and brought to public view. In addition to her translations, Kay presents her own extensive commentary, providing a deeper understanding of the historic, religious, and cultural background of this period in Jewish history. This unparalleled book will have special appeal to those interested in the social, literary, and religious history of women, as well as the history of the Yiddish language and literature. The interest in these forgotten prayers and their significance to the lives of women has now been revived, and these tkhines are ready to be rediscovered by a modern readership.
  Tkhines are Yiddish prayers for women. The word tkhine, from the Hebrew, means "supplication" or "prayer." This book deals with tkhines from their earliest period, which starts in 1648, lasts for three generations, and ends where Chava Weissler begins. My main character, deservedly so, is the Seyder Tkhines, a standard prayer book written especially for women that was printed with the synagogue prayer book, and whose significance goes well beyond supplication and requests to God. It has no equal at any other time in history. It represents strange and fantastic times when both Jews and Christians became intoxicated with a belief in the imminent arrival of the Messiah. The man who first brought the Seyder Tkhines into print was the same man who persuaded Oliver Cromwell to readmit Jews into England with the argument that until Jews were scattered everywhere . . .