Leffmann Behrends

Who was Leffmann Behrends?

Leffmann Behrends was the German financial agent of the dukes and princes of Hanover.

His honorable position is lauded by Mannasseh ben Israel in his Hope of Israel. Behrends frequently used his influence in favor of his coreligionists. His father, Issachar Bärmann by name, was the son of the Talmudic scholar Isaac Cohen of Borkum; and the name "Behrends" was adopted by Liepmann in honor of his father. His first wife, Jente, was a daughter of Joseph Hameln, president of the congregation; his second, Feile, a daughter of Judah Selkele Dilmann. Liepmann had the following children by his first marriage: Naphtali Hirz, who became president of the congregation; Moses Jacob, praised as a Talmudic scholar and philanthropist; Gumpert and Isaac, who, in 1721, were accused of an attempt at fraudulent bankruptcy, in consequence of which they were compelled to leave Hanover. Behrend's daughter Genendel became the wife of the chief rabbi of Prague, David Oppenheim. She died at Hanover June 13, 1712.