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1. What does the Introduction say about Gluckel's achievements as a woman?

The Introduction describes how Gluckel bore fourteen children and raised twelve from infancy through betrothal and marriage to adulthood and the death of some. Gluckel was a faithful and fully God-fearing seventeenth century traditional woman who set the gold standard for contemporary feminism.

2. What does the Introduction say about the value of The Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln as a historical artifact?

Robert S. Rosen notes in his introduction that Gluckel's "Memoirs" are an invaluable reference source for historians and others interested in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The story of her life as a Jew in Europe also provides a seventy-year portrait of the time she lives in from 1646 through its completion in 1719.

3. What reasons does the Introduction give for Gluckel writing the memoirs?

Both the Introduction and the text indicate that Gluckel wrote the book as therapy to recuperate from the sudden death of her husband in 1690. She believed that writing it might help lessen her melancholy and get her through sleepless nights. Gluckel wrote the story for her children to read as a chronicle of her life.

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