In the 1840′s there were among the simple folk many women [in Europe] who did not know how to pray in Hebrew. Still, they felt a great need to pray on the Sabbath, and especially on the High Holy Days. And there were literate women who made a business of their learning, praying aloud for the others for a small fee. Such a woman was called a zogerke (literally, a reciter). In the smaller Jewish towns there might not be such a woman, and then a man (a zoger) had to crawl into a barrel that was put right in the middle of the women’s section [of the synagogue]. From the midst of this fortress, surrounded by women, he read out the prayers. As may be imagined, this custom often resulted in comical incidents. That barrel was an inexhaustible source of new jokes.
On Yom Kippur the zogerke was supposed to recite the prayers in a tearful voice, so as to bring the women’s gallery to weeping and remorse. Now in our community there was a woman, the wife of the butcher, who was hard of hearing. She begged the zogerke to pray a little louder; she’d give her an extra large liver from the shop if she would do it for her. The zogerke answered in her weeping prayer voice, weaving her reply into the recitation:
“The same with the liver, the same without the liver.”
A moment later the men were startled to hear the entire women’s gallery sob aloud in full voice:
“The same with the liver, the same without the liver.”
A little while later one of the women was on her way home and met another woman just arriving at the synagogue.
“Where are they? What prayer are they up to?”
“Nu, the prayer about the liver.”
“Liver? Last year we didn’t say anything like that!”
“Today, efsher (maybe), because it’s a leap year.”
Rememberings: The World of a Russian Jewish Woman in the Nineteenth Century, by Pauline Wengeroff
Ariel Chaim Avrech, ZT'L, May His Righteous Memory be a Blessing.
12 Comments
Emily:
We did not know that zogerkes continue into our age. How interesting.
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This is great! I’m a zogerke myself…..
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Kent:
Liver and onions, yes, a classic Eastern European Jewish dish.
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And here I thought it was the onions that were supposed to make you weep.
(Is liver and onions a dish eaten by orthodox Jews? Forgive my ignorance as a friendly Gentile.)
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Fern:
Glad you enjoyed it.
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Moshe:
Thanks so much for the information.
“There Once Was a World” by Yaffa Eliach.
Here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/There-Once-Was-World-Chronicle/dp/0316232394/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-8405134-6094823?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180558602&sr=1-1
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The zogerke was a community supported position in some shtetls. I can’t remember the author, but see the book, “There Once Was a World.”
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LOL. Cute story.
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Jake:
LOL. Thus, minhagim (traditions) are born.
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Reminds me of the story of the shul in New York on Simchas Torah. At every hakaffah, halfway through, everyone in the procession would suddenly bow very low, walk a few steps, and then rise back up.
Someone asked: “Why do they do that?” An older man answered: “Well in our original Shul downtown there was this very low rafter in the aisles and its a tradition to duck under it…”
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Carol:
You’re welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.
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Thank you Robert. That was hilarious.
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