Large Handwritten Ornamented Vellum Leaf - Agudat Nashim (Women's Society) Regulations - Halberstadt (Germany) ...

Large Handwritten Ornamented Vellum Leaf - Agudat Nashim (Women's Society) Regulations - Halberstadt (Germany), 1728 - Yiddish - With Signatures of About 40 Women Members of the Society
Handwritten vellum leaf, regulations of the Agudat Nashim (Women's Society) of the Halberstadt (Germany) community. 1728. Yiddish.
Large vellum leaf. Two ornately framed columns. Yiddish in cursive Ashkenazi script.
The text opens with mention of the need for the establishment of the "Holy society for the sake of Heaven" which undertakes to visit the female infirm. This is followed by nine regulations of the society, detailing the women's proper conduct during their visits and instructions upon the death of a sick person. One of the regulations establises the 15th of Kislev of each year as the society's special day.
At the end of the ninth regulation is a line of signature: "… like all engagement agreements (shtarot) of holy societies, drawn today, Monday, Rosh Chodesh Shevat 1728, here in the community of Halberstadt". Several more lines in another handwriting follow this clause.
At the bottom of the leaf are the signatures of about 40 of the society's women members. Among them are signature of wives and daughters of rabbis and notables of the Halberstadt community, such as: "Tzerla daughter of the minister" - daughter of the notable R. Yissachar Bermann Segal (Berend Lehmann), dubbed the "Jewish Finance Minister" because of his position as agent of the royal court; "Perka daughter of R. Shlomo Reinbach" - Rabbi of Halberstadt (died 1691); "Hitzla daughter of R. Lima" [possibly, the sister of Berend Lehmann]; "Keila daughter of Rabbi Feivush" [this R. Feivush is probably the one who signed a document from 1714, together with R. Leib Eiger and other Halberstadt rabbis - see Sinai no. 94, p. 269]; "--- daughter of the Rabbi of Amsterdam" [probably R. Avraham, son of R. Yehuda Berlin, who died in 1729]; "Sorla wife of R. Eliyahu Eiger daughter of R. Feivel" - R. Eliyahu Eiger, related to R. Akiva Eiger [apparently, brother of R. Simcha Bunim Eiger, father of the first R. Akiva Eiger of Halberstadt]; etc. More signatures were added at the top of the leaf [apparently, due to lack of space at the bottom].
Vellum leaf, 47 cm. Good-fair condition. Dark stains. Dampness traces, slight wear. Creases and folding marks.