I recall hearing (as well as saw from this link) that it has been speculated that the author of the Orchos Tzaddikim was a woman.
Did someone originally posit this idea, or is it a rumor that has been passed around?
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From Wiki: "There is speculation that the book was authored by a female, owing to the author's heavy reliance on biblical passages as sources and choosing to publish anonymously, though publishing anonymously may merely indicate the author's very example of character development." Apparently, the Yiddish "translation" is older than the Hebrew "original" too. Judging that Yiddish began as a woman's language (Wieber-Teitsch), it might be a good hypthothis.– ezraApr 4, 2018 at 3:36
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@ezra but who made such a claim? Also, just because of those reasons doesn't make a good hypothesis.– TrustMeI'mARabbiApr 4, 2018 at 3:42
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Hence my use of the word "might". I haven't been able to track down a source. It seems to just be a rumor by mouth from those who have read the book. In all honesty, the anonymity of the author is probably just a reflection of the book's contents... Probably an act of humility on part of the author, similar to how the Chofetz Chaim published anonymously.– ezraApr 4, 2018 at 3:44
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@ezra Vaybertaytsh refers to a particular script used for writing Yiddish for women, not to the language itself. I don't know why you think Yiddish originated as a women's language.– magicker72Apr 4, 2018 at 4:16
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1@ezra on page 14 of that book, it says that the audience for popular Yiddish books was mainly women, not that it was a women's language. It says that explicitly on page 16, along with the definition of vaybertaytsh as a script.– magicker72Apr 4, 2018 at 4:29
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