SHIMON BEN JACOB ABRAHAM OF COPENHAGEN. Sippur Bechi Naharoth

(GERMANY)

Widow and Orphans Proops

Amsterdam

1784

FIRST EDITION. Printer's device of priestly hands on title, f.6r. and f.21r

Vinograd, Amsterdam 2136; Roest, Yodea Sepher 281

The author, R. (Aaron) Shimon of Copenhagen, was the son-in-law of R. Yehudah Miller of Bonn and a significant protagonist during the Cleves Get controversy. Here he provides a detailed narrative of the severe ice-storms that occurred in the area of Westphalia. When the snows melted in the early Spring, the River Rhine subsequently broke its banks and residents of surrounding communities fled to higher ground. R. Aaron records the special prayers composed by the rabbis in Bonn and Cologne and the mass feelings of spiritual succor. The manuscript leaves contain further historical details about the 1784 flood, especially in the town of Deitz, and similar occurrences in later years