Simon von Geldern

Simon von Geldern was a German merchant, adventurer and traveler. He was born into a family of Court Jews at Düsseldorf. He was educated at yeshivot, and also acquired a secular education. In his thirties he spent many years traveling throughout Middle East and North Africa where he joined a marauding tribe of Bedouins. Eventually, he was elected as their leader or sheik, and thus became the captain of a band of marauders. Periodically he returned to Europe where he shared his stories of his desert adventures. Dressed in exotic Middle Eastern robes and full of interesting stories, Von Geldern became quite popular among the ladies. In 1753, he and his Bedouin company came to Cairo where Von Geldern visited the Ben Ezra Synagogue, thus becoming the first modern visitor to Cairo Genizah, as he mentioned it in his 1773 book, The Israelites on Mount Horeb.

Besides his adventures in North Africa, Von Geldern found the time to engage himself in book trade, mainly selling copies of the Zohar. He published two books, The Israelites on Mount Horeb, and a Hebrew version of the Book of Judith.