At the beginning of the 16th century Naftali Herz Treves was the reader of the Jewish community. He lived in the house Eichel, which later became the official residence of the rabbis. He was descended from a famous family of scholars who took their family name from their original home in Troyes, France.
Naftali Herz Treves possessed a deep knowledge of the Kabbalah, the theosophical system within Judaism. "God gave me two ears but only one mouth, so that I would value listening more highly", he wrote in a commentary on the Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses). He was the author of several works on religious law, including a much admired book of prayer, as well as some treatises on the laws of divorce.