LAZA OF FRANKFURT

LAZA OF FRANKFURT (fl. late 17th–early-18th century), learned woman and translator of religious writings. Laza was the wife of jacob ben mordecai of schwerin . In 1692, she rendered her husband's work, Tikkun Shalosh Mishmarot ("Prayers for the Three Night Watches"), from Hebrew into Yiddish, adding her own Yiddish introduction. Around 1709 Laza wrote, with Sara Oppenheim, a scroll of Esther. This was probably a Yiddish translation of the biblical text to be read to women who did not know Hebrew. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Kayserling, Die juedischen Frauen in der Geschichte, Literatur und Kunst (1991), 178; E. Taitz, S. Henry, and C. Tallan, "Laza of Frankfurt," in: The JPS Guide to Jewish Women, 600 B.C.E.–1900 C.E. (2003), 142–43. (Cheryl Tallan (2nd ed.)