The Original Balabusta (Women’s History Day Four)
Perhaps not the first woman Yiddish writer I learned about, Glückel of Hameln is certainly the earliest we’ve been able to get to know. Her diary entries, published by a descendant, portray the life of a woman who never thought her words would be read by others, and encapsulate daily life and the stories of many people around her. She was an unstoppable businesswoman, traveling for work with her husband in ways that modern people often don’t realize occurred in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Glückel was utterly concerned about remaining pious and pleasing G!d, and we read her inner thoughts, prayers, and learn about her relationship with G!d through her words – yet at the same time she was impenetrably practical and ran her household with distinction.
A great drawing of Glückel, capturing her balabusta-ness, from Der Forverts
When I learned about Glückel – her life, family, responsibilities, place, and faith – during a course at the JTS of A, I remember being astounded that we had her words, in her own writing. What a window into a world about which most people only make guesses! Yet, a danger occurs in the fact that we have only one perspective. Regardless, I’m thankful that her family published this diary, and whether historian or everyday reader, we get a glimpse into a life none of us can imagine in our modern world.
