Baruch ben Jacob of Schklov. Derech Yesharah [on personal hygiene].

(MEDICINE)

Leib Soesmanns

The Hague

1779

First Edition. With illnesses listed in both Latin and Hebrew.

Vinograd, Hague 10.

This scarce work on personal hygiene describes “the straight path upon which one should conduct one’s spiritual and physical actions in order to preserve one’s health” (preface). The author (1740-1812) positioned himself between the worlds of traditional Eastern-European learning and that of the budding Maskilic community. He began his rabbinic career serving as a dayan in Minsk but left to study medicine in England. R. Baruch published works on astronomy, anatomy, medicine and translated Euclid into Hebrew - a work inspired by the Vilna Gaon’s belief that important scientific texts should be translated and made available to the traditional Jews of the study-hall.