Auction 75 - Rare and Important Items
Pinkas of K'hal Sefard in Mishkoltz – 1879-1920 – Unknown Historical Documentation of the Establishment of the Orthodox Communities in Hungary, After the Congress of 1869 – Signature of Rabbi Witriol, First Rabbi of the Community, and Signatures of the Heads and Members of the Community
Opening: $1,000
Estimate: $3,000 - $5,000
Unsold
Large notebook, pinkas of the K'hal Sefard community in Mishkoltz (Miskolc, Hungary), containing the community regulations from 1879, with the signatures of the rabbi and the community leaders. With additions and amendments to the regulations, 1903 and 1920. Hebrew and Yiddish.
The leaves at the end of this pinkas were written in 1879, shortly after the founding of the community. These leaves contain an introduction leaf (in Hebrew) and four leaves comprising 26 community regulations (in Yiddish). The regulations are followed by the signatures of 47 members of the K'hal Sefard community, headed by the signature of the rabbi of the community, R. "Chaim Witriol", and the signature of the community leader, R. "Avraham Tzvi Strauss". Beneath the signatures from 1879, a certificate in German dated 1884 was added, signed by the president of the community, "Adolph Strauss" (the above-mentioned R. Avraham Tzvi Strauss).
The first leaves of the pinkas contain additions (in Yiddish) from various periods (one of them dated 1903), including amendments to the original regulations. With the signatures of the community leaders, headed by R. "Avraham Tzvi Strauss". Further in the pinkas: seven leaves with the names of seven community leaders (one name per leaf, written at the top in large, square letters); new additions to the regulations, dated 1920 (transcript, partly in square script, including the transcribed signature of the rabbi of the community, R. Yosef Shlomo Reinitz, and the names of many members of the community).
The lengthy introduction (from 1879) contains a detailed and noteworthy description (to the best of our knowledge hitherto unpublished) of the famous Congress in 1869, the secession of the Orthodox Jews from the Congress, and the establishment of the Orthodox communities in Hungary, led by "the Tzaddik" R. Yitzchak (Ignác) Reich (first president of the Orthodox Bureau in Budapest), with the license of Emperor Franz Joseph. This introduction also describes the circumstances that impelled a group of Orthodox Jews to break off from the Orthodox community in Mishkoltz and establish K'hal Sefard, after the main community reunited with the Neologs.
The introduction includes sharp condemnation of the Neologs ("members of the Congress community"), as well as of the reuniting of the Orthodox community with them. It first describes the schism of Hungarian Jewry: " And our people were divided… one nation into two nations… since they threw religion behind… and several communities, which originally formed one society, one group… were split up…". It then describes the schism in the Mishkoltz community, how two thirds of the community were affiliated with the Orthodox community, and one third, including the rabbi, defected to the "Congress" (Neolog) community. It documents the ban by Hungarian rabbis on the Neologs, their rabbis, shochtim and synagogues, and how eventually, the Neologs of Mishkoltz yielded and returned to the main Orthodox community. However, this reunion was detrimental to the Orthodox community, since the Neologs introduced leniencies in Torah observance and various reforms. It describes how during Selichot, in Elul 1877, several members of the Neolog community burst into the synagogue accompanied by 18 policemen, disrupted the prayers and caused the imprisonment of several worshippers. In the wake of that incident, the K'hal Sefard community was established, with the license of the Minister of Culture "and with the permission of all the Torah leaders of our times".
This pinkas discloses much information about the establishment of K'hal Sefard in Mishkoltz, some of which is not known from any other source. According to the book Kehillot Hungaria, the Mishkoltz community split in 1870 and the Orthodox established an independent community. The book also states: "In 1875, the factions were reunited as an Orthodox community. A short while later, a group of Jews established a Chassidic community named Kehillah Sefardit, with its own synagogue, Mishnayot society, Women's association and Machzikei HaDat society. Educational institutions in Mishkoltz: a Jewish elementary school, 3 yeshivot and 3 boys' schools, attended by young boys from the entire Borsod county" (Kehillot Hungaria, p. 228). This pinkas indicates that the independent K'hal Sefard community was officially founded after Elul 1877, and its regulations were composed in 1879.
The establishment of separate communities in Hungary and Transylvania began after the famous Congress of 1868-1869, when a national representative organization uniting all the Jewish communities was established at the behest of the government, with the purpose of representing the interests of Hungarian Jewry before the authorities. This body, named National Jewish Bureau, was governed from the outset by the Neologs, and the Orthodox therefore seceded from the founding Congress, and after lobbying by the authorities, were allowed to establish their own independent organization, the Central Bureau of the Autonomous Orthodox Jewish Communities. Thus, in 1870-1872, independent Orthodox communities ("K'hal Yere'im") were founded in many Hungarian and Transylvanian cities, and operated beside the Neolog "Congress" communities. Apart from these, a third faction of communities emerged, who refused to belong to either of the two organizations and interacted with the authorities independently. These communities were called "status quo".
In several places, two Orthodox communities were established – an Ashkenazi community, alongside a Chassidic "Sefard" community. Since one could not receive government license to establish two Orthodox communities in the same city, an original solution was reputedly devised. In various cities in Hungary (Temeshvar and elsewhere), there were old Sephardic communities established by Spanish exiles, who emigrated to Hungary during the Ottoman rule. When an Orthodox or Chassidic group wished to establish an independent community, they called themselves K'hal Sefard, the rabbi was titled Chacham, and they thereby received a government license as Sephardic Jews. Such communities were established during the 1870s in Mishkoltz, Klausenburg, and other cities.
The first rabbi of the "Sefard" community in Mishkoltz was Rabbi Witriol. His first name is not recorded in historical documents, and only in one source was he documented as "R. Moshe Witriol" (A. Fuchs, Yeshivot Hungaria BiGedulatan UveChurbanan, II, p. 127). In this pinkas, however, he signed his name "Chaim Witriol" (see picture 71b).
In 1885, R. Yosef Shlomo Reinitz was appointed rabbi of the "Sefard" community in Mishkoltz, and he held this position until his passing in 1925 (see: Shmuel BeRama, Jerusalem 1985, pp. 294-295). The synagogue of K'hal Sefard was located on Kölcsey Street (Kedoshei Mishkoltz VehaSevivah, p. 13). In 1926, R. Chaim Mordechai Yaakov Gottlieb, author of Yagel Yaakov, was appointed rabbi of the community (the foreword to the new edition of Yagel Yaakov, Brooklyn 2014, contains some information about the history of K'hal Sefard in Mishkoltz).
[18] leaves (including approx. 22 written pages). 41 cm. Fair-good condition. Many stains. Dampstains. Marginal wear and tears, not affecting text. Final leaf blank and pasted to the preceding leaf. New leather binding.
The leaves at the end of this pinkas were written in 1879, shortly after the founding of the community. These leaves contain an introduction leaf (in Hebrew) and four leaves comprising 26 community regulations (in Yiddish). The regulations are followed by the signatures of 47 members of the K'hal Sefard community, headed by the signature of the rabbi of the community, R. "Chaim Witriol", and the signature of the community leader, R. "Avraham Tzvi Strauss". Beneath the signatures from 1879, a certificate in German dated 1884 was added, signed by the president of the community, "Adolph Strauss" (the above-mentioned R. Avraham Tzvi Strauss).
The first leaves of the pinkas contain additions (in Yiddish) from various periods (one of them dated 1903), including amendments to the original regulations. With the signatures of the community leaders, headed by R. "Avraham Tzvi Strauss". Further in the pinkas: seven leaves with the names of seven community leaders (one name per leaf, written at the top in large, square letters); new additions to the regulations, dated 1920 (transcript, partly in square script, including the transcribed signature of the rabbi of the community, R. Yosef Shlomo Reinitz, and the names of many members of the community).
The lengthy introduction (from 1879) contains a detailed and noteworthy description (to the best of our knowledge hitherto unpublished) of the famous Congress in 1869, the secession of the Orthodox Jews from the Congress, and the establishment of the Orthodox communities in Hungary, led by "the Tzaddik" R. Yitzchak (Ignác) Reich (first president of the Orthodox Bureau in Budapest), with the license of Emperor Franz Joseph. This introduction also describes the circumstances that impelled a group of Orthodox Jews to break off from the Orthodox community in Mishkoltz and establish K'hal Sefard, after the main community reunited with the Neologs.
The introduction includes sharp condemnation of the Neologs ("members of the Congress community"), as well as of the reuniting of the Orthodox community with them. It first describes the schism of Hungarian Jewry: " And our people were divided… one nation into two nations… since they threw religion behind… and several communities, which originally formed one society, one group… were split up…". It then describes the schism in the Mishkoltz community, how two thirds of the community were affiliated with the Orthodox community, and one third, including the rabbi, defected to the "Congress" (Neolog) community. It documents the ban by Hungarian rabbis on the Neologs, their rabbis, shochtim and synagogues, and how eventually, the Neologs of Mishkoltz yielded and returned to the main Orthodox community. However, this reunion was detrimental to the Orthodox community, since the Neologs introduced leniencies in Torah observance and various reforms. It describes how during Selichot, in Elul 1877, several members of the Neolog community burst into the synagogue accompanied by 18 policemen, disrupted the prayers and caused the imprisonment of several worshippers. In the wake of that incident, the K'hal Sefard community was established, with the license of the Minister of Culture "and with the permission of all the Torah leaders of our times".
This pinkas discloses much information about the establishment of K'hal Sefard in Mishkoltz, some of which is not known from any other source. According to the book Kehillot Hungaria, the Mishkoltz community split in 1870 and the Orthodox established an independent community. The book also states: "In 1875, the factions were reunited as an Orthodox community. A short while later, a group of Jews established a Chassidic community named Kehillah Sefardit, with its own synagogue, Mishnayot society, Women's association and Machzikei HaDat society. Educational institutions in Mishkoltz: a Jewish elementary school, 3 yeshivot and 3 boys' schools, attended by young boys from the entire Borsod county" (Kehillot Hungaria, p. 228). This pinkas indicates that the independent K'hal Sefard community was officially founded after Elul 1877, and its regulations were composed in 1879.
The establishment of separate communities in Hungary and Transylvania began after the famous Congress of 1868-1869, when a national representative organization uniting all the Jewish communities was established at the behest of the government, with the purpose of representing the interests of Hungarian Jewry before the authorities. This body, named National Jewish Bureau, was governed from the outset by the Neologs, and the Orthodox therefore seceded from the founding Congress, and after lobbying by the authorities, were allowed to establish their own independent organization, the Central Bureau of the Autonomous Orthodox Jewish Communities. Thus, in 1870-1872, independent Orthodox communities ("K'hal Yere'im") were founded in many Hungarian and Transylvanian cities, and operated beside the Neolog "Congress" communities. Apart from these, a third faction of communities emerged, who refused to belong to either of the two organizations and interacted with the authorities independently. These communities were called "status quo".
In several places, two Orthodox communities were established – an Ashkenazi community, alongside a Chassidic "Sefard" community. Since one could not receive government license to establish two Orthodox communities in the same city, an original solution was reputedly devised. In various cities in Hungary (Temeshvar and elsewhere), there were old Sephardic communities established by Spanish exiles, who emigrated to Hungary during the Ottoman rule. When an Orthodox or Chassidic group wished to establish an independent community, they called themselves K'hal Sefard, the rabbi was titled Chacham, and they thereby received a government license as Sephardic Jews. Such communities were established during the 1870s in Mishkoltz, Klausenburg, and other cities.
The first rabbi of the "Sefard" community in Mishkoltz was Rabbi Witriol. His first name is not recorded in historical documents, and only in one source was he documented as "R. Moshe Witriol" (A. Fuchs, Yeshivot Hungaria BiGedulatan UveChurbanan, II, p. 127). In this pinkas, however, he signed his name "Chaim Witriol" (see picture 71b).
In 1885, R. Yosef Shlomo Reinitz was appointed rabbi of the "Sefard" community in Mishkoltz, and he held this position until his passing in 1925 (see: Shmuel BeRama, Jerusalem 1985, pp. 294-295). The synagogue of K'hal Sefard was located on Kölcsey Street (Kedoshei Mishkoltz VehaSevivah, p. 13). In 1926, R. Chaim Mordechai Yaakov Gottlieb, author of Yagel Yaakov, was appointed rabbi of the community (the foreword to the new edition of Yagel Yaakov, Brooklyn 2014, contains some information about the history of K'hal Sefard in Mishkoltz).
[18] leaves (including approx. 22 written pages). 41 cm. Fair-good condition. Many stains. Dampstains. Marginal wear and tears, not affecting text. Final leaf blank and pasted to the preceding leaf. New leather binding.
Jewish Communities – Pinkasim and Documents
Jewish Communities – Pinkasim and Documents