A free-end Inscription of a Voyage to America from Merzig, Germany, 1866

The year was 1866, a brother and sister were embarking on a long and treacherous journey from their hometown, the small town of Merzig, in Germany. Their destination was the New World, to start a new life in the United States, as part of the increasing migration of German Jews over the Atlantic.

A record of their trip, I found in a miniature Hebrew-German Siddur which they brought with them on their voyage. On the free-ends of the small volume, I found a unique personal prayer for their safety on their journey written by the Chazan of their town of Merzig, Chaim Gershon Schnerb.

The Jewish Community of Merzig was a small but old German Jewish Community. The travelers, Mayer and his sister Miriam were from the Hanau family, a prominent family of the town, whose family members we find in the town for centuries. In his prayer, the Chazan C. G. Schnerb beseeches God, in the merit of the Sacrifice of Isaac, the prophecy of Samuel, Eliyahu and Elisha and the holiness of the tzadikim of all generations. The prayer requests that God protect them from the dangerous creatures of the sea, asks that the sea remain calm and that the sailors and captain of the ship do their work diligently and without laziness.