Fanny Neuda

This first Jewish prayer book for women by a woman was composed in German by Fanny Neuda nee Schmiedl.

Her book - Hours of Devotion (Stunden der Andacht) - was first published in 1855, a year after the untimely death of Fanny's husband, Rabbi Abraham Neuda (1812-1854) of Lostice (now in the Czech Republic), an important personality in the history of the reformist Judaism in Central Europe. The book became an instant best-seller. By the early years of the 20th century it was reprinted dozens of times, including a number of English editions that followed the first translation by M. Mayer (Rabbi Moritz Mayer, 1821-1867), published in New York in 1866.

For a full study on Fanny Neuda and her book please review Dinah Berland's website. Dinah Berland is the author of Hours of Devotion - Fanny Neuda's Book of Prayers for Jewish Women - Schocken Books / ISBN: 978-0-8052-4245 http://www.dinahberland.com/index.shtml

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/neuda-fanny

Additional links: Fanny Neuda, in Jewish Women's Archive http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/neuda-fanny

Neuda, Fanny Schmiedl (1819–1894), writer. Born in Lomnice (Lomnitz), Moravia, to a family of rabbis, Fanny Schmiedl Neuda was the daughter of Juda Schmiedl (d. 1855), a rabbi. Her brother, Adolph Schmiedl (1821–1913), was a rabbi in Prostějov (Prossnitz) and Vienna. Fanny was married to Abraham Neuda (1812–1854), a rabbi in Loštice (Loschitz).

After her husband’s death, Neuda published the first Jewish women’s prayer book to be written by a woman. In addition to containing formal Jewish worship practices, this work covered both public and private events in the life of a Jewish woman. Published as Stunden der Andacht: Ein Gebet- und Erbauungsbuch für Israels Frauen und Jungfrauen zur öffentlichen und häuslichen Andacht (Hours of Devotion: Book of Prayer and Edification for Jewish Wives and Young Women; 1855), the book consisted of more than 50 prayers for Jewish women relating to all aspects of their lives. The collection attained great popularity among Jewish women in Central Europe, and was published in more than 30 editions (some of which were illustrated); the latest printing was issued in Basel, Switzerland, in 1968.

Neuda’s prayer book was translated into English by the German-born rabbi Moritz Mayer (1821–1867) under the title Hours of Devotion: A Book of Prayers and Meditations (1866). Martha Wertheimer published a revised version in German to account for the special conditions exisiting in Nazi Germany, titled Alle Tage deines Leben: Ein Buch für jüdische Frauen (All the Days of Your Life: A Book for Jewish Women; 1935).

Neuda also wrote stories about the domestic life of Jews of Bohemia and Moravia. Two of her other books appeared in Prague: Noami: Erzählungen aus Davids Wanderleben (Noami: Tales from David’s Life of Wandering; 1864) and Jugend-Erzählungen aus dem israelitischen Familienleben (Tales of Jewish Family Life for Youngsters; 1876). Neuda died in Merano (Tirol).