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After Brody, Lvov, and Tarnopol, Zolkiew occupied the most notable place in the Enlightenment movement in Galicia.
In contrast to Brody, Lvov, and Tarnopol, the pioneers and leaders of the movement in Zolkiew established it as an Enlightened city, a standing which arose from the influence of Joseph Pearl, and the school which was established in Lvov, from which a cadre of Enlightened emerged under the influence of the teachers Benjamin Zvi Natkisz and Yitzhak Arter. The Enlightenment movement in Zolkiew was launched quietly, as if in a neglected corner, without any pretensions to wage war against its resistance on the outside.
Before the Enlightenment took hold in Zolkiew, while the aspirations of the Enlightenment grew there, a spokesman of this generation, a scion of the city and one of the first of the Enlightened ones said, ‘The alien flame that was kindled and burned by the group of those emboldened by Sabbatai Zvi and his followers, and those acolytes that came after them, has not yet been extinguished. They held onto their unfinished path, with great strength in the many cities in Galicia, such as Brody, Lemberg, Zolkiew, and led them on, ever-increasing and multiplying, and growing very, very strong.’
Baruch Zvi Naya was among those who first ‘raised a candle in Israel, a Candle of Wisdom, a Candle of Succor' in Zolkiew.’
Baruch Zvi Naya, the son-in-law of the father of the scribe Shimshon Bloch, was a teacher at the public school in Zolkiew before the network of schools in Galicia were shut down in 1806. He arrived in Zolkiew in 1795, and became friends with the printer Gershom Latriss, the father of Dr. Meir Latriss. Naya was a Maskil, and stressed the study of the sciences and languages. He owned a library full of books in many languages. Most of the books, old and new texts, were in Hebrew. According to שי”ר (Shlomo Yehuda Rapaport, Shy”R), ‘Barush Zvi Naya was a Maskil in Hebrew books and those in other languages. A man like this was rare in those days in that land because knowledge had not yet sprouted.’ He also influenced Gershon Latriss, who according to his nephews, was a pure soul, who had begun to manifest an interest in the books of the Enlightenment. Gershon Latriss was a scholar and a Maskil. He wrote a book of explanation about the Selichot prayers, which he published in his own printing shop in 5577 (1817). He also wrote the book, ‘Pshar Davar,’ which was an explanation of the questions posed by the Rab”A. He was one of the leaders of the community and was the head of that body for thirty years. Latriss developed contacts with the authorities in Zolkiew and Lvov, and an Austrian General studied Jewish philosophy with him.
He also studied with the comrades of Naya, Uri Zvi Rubinstein, Shaul Meyerhoffer and his wife, the daughter of Yaakov Balaban, the owner of a printing business, an eminent merchant in Lvov, and later the Bet-Din Senior of Jaworow. The daughter of Balaban was a clever woman, fluent in several languages. She understood the new spirit of the period and the need for a change in Jewish education and demonstrated this perspective in the education of Meir Latriss. She taught him the fundamentals of German and French, and encouraged him to stress his secular studies.
Her sister Mrs. Relah, a clever young woman joined this group.
Under the influence of this group, the members reached out to young people who were yearning to read secular books. This was in contrast to those in Zolkiew who were forced to read secular books in secret, outside of their homes. Once, in the winter, Latriss went out to the hills near the city, covered in snow, and even though he froze and caught a cold, he held onto, and continued to read a book he had borrowed for a number of days. The book was ‘Über die Burgliche Ferbesserung der Juden,’ by Dahm, which was loaned to him by Bitterlich, an army officer in Zolkiew.
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A young man who was fourteen years old, and whose parents were among the Enlightened in Brody, moved to Zolkiew in 1798. This young man eventually married a woman from Zolkiew, Sarah, the daughter of Shmeryl Haberman, a wealthy man, who promised the groom that he would keep him, his wife, and family at his table.
This young man was Nachman Menachem Krochmal[1], a scion of Brody, who moved from his birthplace to Zolkiew, and lived there for 37 years, without anyone aware of the fact that he was from the camp of the conceptual fundamentals of the Galician Enlightenment, and the builder of the new Jewish Historosophy.
He had been influenced by the concepts of the Haskalah while still in his hometown where he studied with Dov-Ber Ginzburg, who also boarded Menachem Mendl Lapin and Yehuda Leib Ben-Ze'ev in his home.
Krochmal received a letter of recommendation from Ginzburg written to the Head of the Enlightenment movement in Zolkiew, Baruch Zvi Naya, the father of Meir Latriss, who they met when he came to Zolkiew for the Sukkot Holiday to visit his family and son-in-law. Krochmal was described as, ‘a beloved young man, soft and weak, fragile, and with no strength; may the wisdom in his heart bring grace to his lips, and the light of his soul appear in the apple of his eye.’
Thanks to Naya, Rn”K received a fundamental grounding in Haskalah in Zolkiew. Naya had placed his large library at Rn”K's disposal, and one can assume that is how he learned French, Latin, Arabic and Syriac. He read and learned about the secular history of the Jews, almost without rest, and also studied the science books from that beautiful library. Because of his curiosity and interest in history, he read many newspapers, and learned about global issues.
The Rn”K dedicated himself solely to the study and deep reading in Jewish philosophy and religion during the years 1799-1809. He was especially interested in the history of civilization and that of the Jewish people. His father-in-law did not take kindly to his son-in-law's involvement with secular books. Nevertheless, Rn”K carried on with his work, because it was not possible to argue that he was not faithful to the traditional religious way of life. He came to the Bet HaMedrash three times a day. He would kiss the Mezuzah upon entering. He studied the Gemara with the young men in the Bet HaMedrash, where he explained, expanded on, and directed further study. There were times when he went for lone walks, or among a small group of young people from the city, in the fields near the city. This activity seemed strange in the eyes of the Zolkiew Jews, and slightly suspect.
As a result of the amount of spiritual effort he pursued, Rn”K became ill in the summer of 1808 and traveled to Lvov for a cure.
While in Lvov, the Rn”K connected with the Maskilim there: Sh”R, Yaakov Bodek, Shimshon Bloch, and Yitzhak Arter. He made a strong impression on those around him, with his appearance and the things he had to say. The Shy”R was impressed with him, with his ‘spirit, understanding and knowledge to the point that I became a different person. In this manner, he knew how to substantially inspire his passion into the hearts of his listeners in all manner of science and language.’ Rn”K was seen as a well-rounded man who would be an appropriate choice to teach and light new paths for the perplexed generation, and he created his own following. The Rn”K left Lvov, but he did not recover his full health. From that time on, he was weak and sickly for the rest of his life.
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The doctors forbade Rn”K to continue pursuing his spiritual work because of its physical burden, but despite this, he continued his calling upon his return to Zolkiew. He devoted himself to historical research which demanded less exertion than the study of philosophy.
His home in Zolkiew was open for all students, from near and far, to study the Enlightenment. He gathered a cadre of young people around him and served as their teacher, imitating the example of the Greek philosophers in the conversations in his home, or walks in the fields, while discussing philosophy, exceptional German literature, French and Hebrew, in ‘The Guide to the Perplexed’ of Ibn Ezra. It was in this way that he created a Bet HaMedrash.
He did not limit participation to students from Zolkiew, to accompany him on his walks and listen to his teaching. He included the youth from outside locations as well. In general, his students were Shy”R, Shimshon Bloch, Zvi Bodek, Yaakov Shmuel Byk, Avraham Goldberg from Rawa (who influenced him to publish the ‘Routes of Ancients in the Northern Countries’), Sholom Cohen, Apfel from Zolkiew, Zvi Harsh, Menachem Mendl Finlisz (ש”לש) David Lukatzer, Hillel Lechner, Meir Latriss, and Rib”L who spent some time in Zolkiew. The Shy”R wrote, ‘I shall recall precious times, precious enough to travel from one place to another for a day or two, or a week, or he would come to me, and we went to converse in the fields. How sweet these walks were more than all the pleasures of the world. My ears never tired from hearing the wisdom and contents of his words.’ The Shy”R (Shlomo Yehuda Rapaport) traveled at least once a month for thirty years, from Lvov to Zolkiew, to converse with Rn”K on matters of science. There were also times when the Rn”K traveled to Shy”R in Lvov, in order to discuss some research issues.
Even Shimshon Bloch recalls that such walks were ‘the first and best days of all the years of his life.’ Latriss also did not forget those days in which ‘we walked like one body, happy and of a good heart, until evening to converse in the fields, and the parcels of land in the city of my birth or on the high mountains.’
The young people of Zolkiew, thirsty for the Enlightenment, used to come to his home to hear him speak about language, literature, textual explanations, the early histories of Israel and its origins, and studies of nature and mathematics.
They came in secret, fearing they would leave a bad impression on the fanatically religious in Zolkiew. One of his students, David Lukachor, related that he was afraid to come to Rn”K openly in the daytime, concerned that in the day, he might be ‘deterred and have to argue with the so-called sanctified fanatics who might say that he is a brother to a sinner and destroyer, and encourager of atheism, so he was forced to sneak at the day's end, the middle of the night, or in the morning before the sun would shine.’
And in 1816, during the time of incitement against the Maskilim in Lvov, there was a change in the relations by the fanatics in Zolkiew towards the Rn”K.
In many cases, the fanatics were cruel toward the Maskilim during those years. The Maskilim were often denied the opportunity to earn a living, providing service and their labor, for example. This was designed to force them to stop reading and studying external literature and spreading Enlightenment ideas among the youth. Shlomo Yehuda Rapaport, the Shy”R, was the director of accounting for meat and candle taxes in Brody.
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The Rabbis of Lvov, R' Yaakov Orenstein, and Mordechai Orenstein were reported to have made a statement about Rapaport, ‘I do not hate the sin or misdeed of the Shy”R but I will not make it possible for him to make a living.’
This incident prompted the wealthy Maskilim in Brody, led by Nirenstein and Kalir, to propose higher taxes, and because of this, the collection process was transferred to them, and they left Shy”R in his position.
The fanatics in Zolkiew sharply attacked the Rn'K in their struggle with him and his ideas. The conservative element perceived the agitation among the youth and their attraction to the Enlightenment. But because Rn”K was the son-in-law of a wealthy man, and also observed the mitzvot, it was not easy for them to attack him in the open. When it became known that he visited the Karaites and corresponded with them, he was accused of supporting them.
There was a small community of Karaites in the vicinity of Zolkiew in the village of Czostków. Rn”K grew close to their Sage, David. David wrote letters of praise to the Shy”R, to which the Rn”K responded with similar praise, and called him ‘a son of the World to Come.’
Through deception, the Hasidim from Lvov intercepted a letter of this sort from the Karaite Sage, and they sent copies of it to a number of communities in Galicia and Poland. They emphasized the Rn”K ‘made an agreement with the Karaites, who were scattered among a number of cities of Galicia.’ The Hasidim expected that this would soil the image of Rn”K in the eyes of the faithful of that generation, as someone who betrays the God of Israel, by joining with the Karaites.
Understandably, these accusations made by Hasidim raised a storm, and caused the Rn”K great sorrow. On 13 Tammuz 5576 (1816), he wrote a letter of defense to his Leader, Ze'ev Dov Schiff.
Ze'ev Dov Schiff (1761-1842) was a person with many interests. He was born in Zamosc and was the grandson of the Kabbalist R' Joel Heilperin, known by the name R' Joel Baal-Shem (author of the book ‘Mif'alot Elo-him,’ published in Zolkiew 5484, 1784). Schiff primarily focused on the Talmud and astronomical engineering, and used ideas from these in his own book ‘Minkhat Zikaron’ which is a commentary on the Talmudic tractate, Eruvin, published years after his death.
After many wanderings, he settled in Vienna for a number of years where he was a proofreader for the well-known printing house of Anton Schmidt. He moved to Cracow from Vienna, and served as the director of accounting in the bank of Rabbi Dov Ber Meiseles and Hurwicz. He corresponded with the Maggid of Brody, R' Shlomo Kluger. Although he was a very observant man, this did not dissuade him from corresponding with Rn”K. They exchanged letters about matters of philosophy and general science.
For this reason, the Rn”K found it appropriate to write to Schiff specifically about the themes covered in his visits with the Sage of the Karaites. In a letter written by Rn”K to Schiff, he said: ‘I have a compulsion because I was bothered by the confusion, and my innards suggested to me that I should raise my eyes to you, so you may shield me in the shadow of your affection from the heat of the jealousy that I have been assaulted with by certain Hasidim in the Holy Congregation of Lvov. Yours was the only name that I saw correctly and qualified to pour out my conversation onto the bosom of your affection, and to present before you my present rebuttal.’
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Further on, Rn”K stated that the Karaite, David, whom he knew for some time, had sent him a special ‘emissary’ during the past winter, regarding the issue of ‘the needs of our congregation here.’ He also received a letter from him, and responded that he had received several letters from him, to which he did not reply.
He did not recall all of the content of the letters. All that he remembered was that among the complaints of the Hasidim, added to the end of the letter to the Karaite Sage, was a number of words of praise in verse form: ‘And I said that his name was David and he is a Maskil in all his ways and like an uncle and all that they object to is the way they interpreted ‘a son of the world to come,’ and that he worked in Torah and fulfilled them through mitzvot as his forbears did which he carries in hand, and for this on the morrow day, he will receive his reward along with all the others who fear God.’
If Schiff and his coterie would say that he was mistaken, he was prepared to tell the truth.
There is no indication of a transgression in the dialogue with the Karaites. After all, Maimonides, the most outstanding of the Gaonim, as well as many other Gaonim, permitted debate with the Karaites. Are they not of the seed of our patriarchs, students of Moses and the prophets? They saw an obligation to undertake a debate with the Karaites in order to open a path for them to repent.
At the end of his letter, Rn”K attacked the Hasidim, who he called self-aggrandizing. ‘Their supply of strong drinks are mind-addling, and stifle their senses and dim their common sense. There is no excuse in the world for what they do.’
According to Rn”K, this Hasidic coterie had not increased since the time of the initiation of his activities. This was certainly true among the elite, especially in the backwoods of the Ukranian deserts and the villages on the Hungarian border. And all of these were new groups, recently founded, who fled from nearby communities. ‘It is only in a variety of areas, and with the help of certain Rabbis, that they were able to become established in some communities, where they began to harass, and, God protect us, from the ones who fled and then returned as pursuers.’
The Rn”K wrote: ‘it is not known to me that a person who despises all differences of opinion and sickened this way, managed to regain strength and emerge triumphant.’
This letter inspired a positive echo in Zolkiew and made an impression on the young people, who continued to come to him to learn the lore from him.
However, the accusations and deceptive distortions of the Hasidim affected his health. And this was the reason, according to his son, the doctor, Joseph Krochmal, ‘that his father turned his attention from then on to the task of contradicting and nullifying the program of the hate and jealousy of his enemies.’
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He was also affected by family troubles. His son-in-law died in 1816, and then his mekhutan, upon whom he depended, died in 1822. The failing economic circumstances of his father compelled him to look after his earnings, and to accept the burden of leadership for the businesses of his son-in-law and mekhutan.
After the bankruptcy of the ruling family in Zolkiew in May, 1824, the nobleman, Radziwill, transferred the oversight of the province to the attention of the national office, in which he managed the industry in the village of Mukurtyn.
This oversight regarding the management of properties was enabled on June 5, 1824 by the national office in Lvov, and was in effect from July 1, 1824 to July 31, 1827. During this time, the Rn”K managed the collection of liquor taxes from both Christian and Jewish liquor producers in Zolkiew.
At the time of the incineration of 12 measures of grain, taxes were raised by 1 Florin 37 Kreuzer. For every hundred lugim[2] of whiskey burnt in Zolkiew or in the cities and towns adjacent to it, the taxes for Jews who were engaged in this profession were 19 Crowns, and from Christians, 45 Kreuzer. It is understood that because of the severity of punishment, it was forbidden to change the price. Laws regarding the punishment for tax evaders were implemented for this reason. As it happens, the Rn”K was a partner with his son-in-law going back to 1811.
Beginning in 1821, the Rn”K was the head of the community. While in this role he was involved in helping to free young Jewish people from military service, including Avraham Goldberg from Rawa, and Shimshon Bloch. Rn”K was regarded well by the government, and he was able to look after the interests of his community and exert his efforts for the good of the Jews before the government. He sometimes wrote letters of request on behalf of individuals in his community to government authorities. He wrote these letters in German, because according to Latriss, ‘this made an impression on the officers of the city and the country.’
As some people in Zolkiew received newspapers, the Rn”K would occasionally drop into the Bet HaMedrash, ‘to listen to news about the Napoleonic wars.’ Related to this with regard to his teachings, he added his thoughts ‘on other issues such as Haskalah and knowledge, thereby slowly, but surely sowing a seed of light, truth and redemption on the substance of the hearts of those who listened to him, regarding those things that he had the power to ripen in the near future.’
He was always ready to help his people. In a letter written in the beginning of the month of Elul 5596 (1836), he reached out to the ShD”L for his assistance, in an attempt to assist a relative who intended to leave for Italy. He wrote, ‘The man who stands before Your Honor, his brother was bequeathed an inheritance in Italy from his father who lived there and died in Prato (Tuscany Italy). Since the deceased was related to me by blood, I could not turn a blind eye and not help his son who sent me the letter in hand. I request Your Honor, the acceptance of an individual from a distant land. May it be with your help and your generous spirit and good advice, how he could reach the province that he seeks to enter.’
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In addition, the Rn”K wrote about his book. It was his intention to send ‘2-3 handwritten pages, if I can find a way to copy the contents in the local language you use.’
In his reply (pp 67-69) the ShaD”L wrote that ‘he was enchanted and his soul expired to see the work of his fingers that go out to the members of his community for the benefit and redemption of all people in our midst.’
As the head of the community, the Rn”K tried to introduce changes into the lives of his community members, especially with regard to issues of education and study.
It was specifically in Zolkiew that the incitement of the fanatics first began against the Maskilim, whose number continued to grow under the influence of the Rn”K, and there were incidents of physical conflict as well. As Latriss elaborated in his memoirs, ‘In those days, every day I sat and studied both Talmud and Poskim by myself, without a teacher, in the Bet HaMedrash. My friends would hear my voice, and from time-to-time come to study the Torah with me. In those days, our Bet HaMedrash was not only a gathering place for Torah studies, as other knowledge began to secretly come and stealthily enter, as if in a stealth war operation in God's House, to seek shelter in its shadow from the ire of the pursuers and warriors, and this sorrow.’
Traditional Jewish texts were studied in the Bet-HaMedrash, including the ‘Mikraot Gedolim,’ ‘The Guide to the Perplexed,’ the book of ‘Essentials,’ ‘The book of battles,’ and the written explanations of Ibn-Ezra on the Torah. New Hebrew books with new ideas were scattered and hidden among the traditional books, such as ‘Sefer HaBrit,’ and Weisel's ‘Gan HaNaool.’
R' Moshe Mordechai, the Gabbai of this Bet HaMedrash, was a man of temerity and the head of the spreaders of wisdom in our city. He was in charge of provisioning the poor, and he oversaw that the methods of learning in the Bet HaMedrash were appropriate. ‘He sat in his seat of judgment, in great anger, and from his seat, he oversaw both day and night, all those who came through its portals, to know of all their comings and goings, and what was the root cause of the thinking in their hearts. He saw and knew where we encountered stumbling blocks because in addition to studying the Talmud, the explanation of secular knowledge was the goal of our desires.’
‘On one day, we were silently discussing a difficult passage in a complex book that was opened in front of us, and he stood behind us to ambush us, to spy on us, and to cry out bitterly and loudly to be heard in the ears of all the people present, to say here have arisen empty and superficial people, who, with speed, have strayed from the straight path and polluted God's Sanctuary by reading books alien to us and our fathers, having nothing to do with the Laws of God, and our Torah. And the entire people were angered, in whose midst such a desecration took place. They wanted to stone us with stones. In a great tumult, very large crowds assembled together and became one body in the city. All of the markets and streets would become empty of people and would overwhelm us with their talk, and spread venom about us in the Bet HaMedrash. And it was the wish of our souls to turn away from God, because in books of an Apostate God (treyf, possul), the entire day was given over to articulating the disgrace of His Honor without help.’
A mob of the incited people fell upon the boys, seeking to ‘ tear off their private parts, and the like.’
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The Rn”K came in, escorted by his retinue, and gave a talk to the people, in which he denounced the shame of the dispute and proposed a compromise, that from this time forward, they would only read from the Talmud in the Bet HaMedrash, and only ‘occasionally, those invited will also look into the book of the Tanakh, and of the Ancient Scholars.’
But what he had to say was not heard because of the noise and voices that shouted, ‘leave here quickly. Who made you a harbinger of peace, and an officer of the law over us.’ The proposal was not accepted, quite the opposite. The city officials were compelled to send in troops to disperse the crowd.
However, the Rn”K did not relent in his war against fanatics and Hasidim.
During these years, Hasidism spread in the vicinity of Zolkiew, and increased its strength, by providing inside information to the authorities through Chaim Harbst of Mosty. From 1822 on, there was a Hasid, Yaakov Greens from Tomaszow, who wandered through the Zolkiew province and gathered a cadre of Hasidim about him. He collected money in the charity boxes of R'Meir Baal HaNess, from which he took a ‘korovka’ for himself from each contribution, and he incited his Hasidim to leave the synagogue and to pray in their own special minyan. By illegal means, his son married the daughter of David Lieberman.
The youth tending towards Haskalah saw the Rn”K as a protector. For this reason, the young people who were harassed by the Hasidim in their cities, and whose books on the Haskalah were periodically burned by the Hasidim, turned to him.
They created a threat in the city of Most, which is near Zolkiew, aimed against the students of Avraham Goldberg. They excommunicated those found to have read the books of the Haskalah, and demanded to have these books burned. Avraham Goldberg wrote to the Rn”K, who was dismayed by this occurrence. ‘Fear of them has fallen upon you and they have taxed your heart up to the point that you responded by giving them some of your good and harmless books to be burned.’
The Rn”K observed that the behavior of his students had changed. Because of the softness of his heart, which was not like him, he made it easier for the fanatics to harass the young Maskilim. Contrary to his usual behavior, he had a young twenty-year-old man, ‘harass and not to be one who is harassed by one of the wild troublemakers in the village of Most, in which we were repulsed by him regarding the admission of these youths among the pillars of our Bet HaMedrash.’ It is not right that because the Hasidim are extensive in number, and they have a strong hand in ruling the people. ‘By my life’ wrote the Rn”K, ‘we do not have this situation here because their identities are not known in the cities of Ashkenaz, Italy and other lands, east and west. God will guard those members of our group, for here in our country, their hand has not been strengthened against me in the cities such as Lesser Most', and Lubicz. They increased their following and cultivated roots among people living in the villages at the indulgence of Hungary. In the inner reaches of the elite of Wallachia, and the expanse of Ukraine, all of these are new groups only recently established, having fled or been expelled from nearby countries. This has not happened in venerable congregations, famous for their Torah study, knowledge, wisdom, and creating their minyan in places such as Cracow, Lvov, Lublin, Brody, Tarnopol, Vilna, Brisk, and the like. They have not raised their standard in those places because their meager goals cause them to sit silently like mute dogs unable to bark.’
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‘They settled those Maskilim of a straight heart, in our place. Although they were few in number, they were poor, were of low standing in the community and were looked upon like lowly insects. They did not think it was worth arousing conflict for the spread of their ideas regarding their heartfelt faith, and God forbid, to enforce this with sticks and ropes, etc. But this spoke to those remnants of embers smoking from the fires of fanaticism and conflict. They were told that with a strong force and the assistance of someone looking out for the pursued, we have the means at hand to bring them no good, not knowing darkness, and could not obtain forgiveness.’ From this letter we learned about the opposition of the Rn”K to the Hasidim, among whom were violent fanatics, aroused and given to carry out their vicious intent while they ‘raise and praise their doings.’ They wandered about from city to city in order to settle there. ‘Why should they not benefit from the money in their treasuries, and fill their sacks with the money of those who will be forced to flatter, to women, minors, and the people of the villages.’
He especially went after the Rebbe R' Zvi Hirsch of Ziditshov[3] and made a mockery of him and his behavior.
‘He presides over his congregation, which waits for his reactions, trembling like wispy clouds in the sky, capturing his prayers, and several groups bent over together giving excess praise to him and to He who sits in heaven. The words are still on his lips, and in comes a municipal policeman with his club in his hand. The Rebbe is frightened and he turns white. The policeman waves his hand, and the Rebbe gets up from his chair and goes after him in a state of major fright. After the policeman abused and shamed him, he also added the threat to expel them from the city. And these worlds were not shaken and he did not forget the events and the behavior of the world.’
And even if the Rn”K had no inclination to argue, he asked ‘to take revenge upon them if the news is correct that these ‘hypocrites’ have threatened him with excommunication and embargo, and demanded that he turn over many of his books to be burned.’ And especially from ‘the head teacher of this village, to descend upon him with the axes of his controlling faith in such a manner that you will be left with no alternative but to give me your signature and the force of permission, and with it, a general letter that designates the specific time and location. I will take responsibility for this matter because he will be tortured and punished in accordance with the transgressions he induced.’ He advised me to obtain the affection of the Rabbi of his community of Terezin, a Gaon and an unblemished Tzaddik, ‘and seek guidance from him to direct you in the search for wisdom as seen by him.’
Despite the fact that the Rn”K had a pliable and forgiving personality, he carried out a sharp and vigorous war against the Hasidim and fanatics. He saw that the wide gap between the old ways and the new had broken up the lives of the people, and he searched for a new way to secure the survival of the Jews and Judaism.
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For this reason, he educated his students in his spirit, encouraged the young people to reveal their skills, and make their work visible. He even supported them with money. He wanted to print the pamphlet ‘HaMazkir’ by RyB”L, who was a temporary guest in Zolkiew. He and the Shy”R participated in part of the printed products of ‘Divrei שי”ר’ the first book of Latriss (1822).
His students and supporters, among them Menachem Mendl Lafin and Shy”R, pressed him to publicize his words himself. However he thought it was too early to do so.
The Rn”K did not have the opportunity to prepare his thoughts and write while he was in Zolkiew. According to his book, A Teacher to the Perplexed of His Time, his ideas and historiosophic writings, already revealed in conversations with his students in Zolkiew, were not issued in print until after he left Zolkiew, moved to Brody, and from there to his home in Tarnopol.
The Rn”K remained at the head of his congregation until 5589 (1829). He maneuvered to have Rabbi Zvi Hirsh accepted as the rabbi in Zolkiew after him. It was recognized that Rabbi Zvi Hirsch fit the needs of the community. Hisselection occurred on the eve of Rosh Khodesh Adar II 5589 (1829).
The Rn”K had a negative attitude toward the rabbis. With regard to the rabbis of his generation, he saw ‘shepherds of the flock responsible for the destruction of the customs.’ According to him, ‘the hands of the Rabbis were in this work of destruction of tradition and custom until they touched on the substance of the Torah and thought to lighten them.’ This was the reason he wanted to place R' Zvi Khayot on the Rabbinical Seat in Zolkiew. He knew him and his family in Brody, was aware that they were masters of the Enlightenment, and that Rabbi Khayot was a man with an unblemished record.
They maintained a close relationship through Brody, the city where they were both born. In addition, their inclinations and hopes were aligned as to how to integrate the old with and the new. And so, from the day of the arrival of Rabbi Khayot in Zolkiew, both of them were like ‘affectionate brothers, and pleasant. Each and every night, they would sit and talk about issues of wisdom, and exchange ideas between them.’
Together with Rabbi Khayot and the father of Latriss, R' Gershon Latriss, the Rn”K studied two tractates of the Talmud.
In 1826 his wife died. He was left with his youngest son who was ten years old.
Despite his troubles, in these years he began writing the book ‘The Hybrid Gates of Faith’ before he left Zolkiew in 1836. The frontispiece for this book was printed anonymously in 1833.
The Rn”K's economic circumstances deteriorated and he grew poorer. In addition to this, he was disappointed in the community work done under him. There was dissension in the community regarding his work, and conflict and strife among various groups. These circumstances brought him to the conclusion that there was nothing left for him to accomplish in Zolkiew. He returned to his birthplace, to Brody, in 1836.
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Thanks to the Rn”K, the Enlightenment movement prospered in Zolkiew, reaching a high spiritual level. A coterie of his students guarded the observance of his teachings after his departure.
Among a group of his students and adherents with whom he stood in faithful unison, were Shaul Meyerhoffer, his wife Sarah, and her sister, Rachel'eh (Rosa), all of whom were interested in the Enlightenment. They knew the Enlightenment lore and were masters of secular studies. Rosa (1803-1857) was a friend of the daughter of Konigudna, who afterwards married the wholesaler, Halperson, in Odessa, and lived with her sister for a number of years. Because of her mastery of Haskalah and her lofty cultural position, she was nicknamed ‘Madame Stael of Galicia’. She exerted powerful influence on the Rn”K and the Shy”R. After Meyerhoffer moved to Romania, the Rn”K corresponded with his wife and her sister for many years.
Shimshon Bloch (1784-1854) should also be counted among the Maskilim in Zolkiew. He came from an Enlightened family in Galicia and was born in Kulikovo. He had a special manner about him. This author would wander about the cities of the country with ‘his book, cane and overcoat, looking for signers of his book.’ R' Shimshon, ‘considers the students of the wise men to be like cattle, and they consider R' Shimshon as a wise man, and a miracle of a creature.’ Bloch was faithful to the concepts of the Haskalah and would not be tricked into compromising his stance.
While in the home of his father, R' Yitzhak, a very observant man, a scholar, and well versed in secular knowledge, Shimshon Bloch befriended R' Israel from Zamosc (the author of Netzakh Israel) and with the family of the Shy”R, received the traditional education of the times. Under the influence of his uncle, the teacher Baruch Nye, his father's brother-in-law, his father permitted Shimshon to learn Tanakh, and the Rabbi of Lvov, R' Zvi Rosaniss, introduced him to the study of German. Nye taught him Tanakh, German, and secular subjects.
Bloch met the Rn”K in the home of Nye. From that time on, for the next three years, Bloch was a faithful and ardent student. He saw the Rn”K as, ‘a guardian of the Torah, an observer of faith, and having a precious spirit.’
In 1804, Bloch married the daughter of Zamosc philanthropists. His brother Shlomo Ze'ev, a master of Haskalah, and fluent in the studies of nature, lived in Zamosc.
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The Rn”K published his first work, ‘Iggeret HaRashb”a[4]’ against philosophy, in the addendum ‘Iggeret HaHitnatzlut’ dealing with Bedersi inner knowledge[5] in which he addressed philosophy, in Lvov, in 1808, to provide a cover for secular knowledge and the Haskalah.
After the death of Yehuda Leib, Ben-Ze'ev was invited to come to Vienna in 1813 at the recommendation of R' Wolf Ben R' Schiff, and serve as a proofreader and advisor at the printing house of Anton Schmidt. He published ancient books, and translated ‘Vindiciae Judeorum’ by Menashe Ben Israel, into Hebrew, following the translation rules of Dr. Marcus Hertz. This Hebrew translation by Dr. Marcus Hertz was called ‘The Salvation of Israel.’ It contained a summary biography of Franco Mandes (Vienna 1813) and an introduction written by Bloch, in which he discussed the ‘History of Education and the Enlightenment by Jews, and the need for acquiring knowledge about secular subjects.’
At the urging of his father, who feared surrender in Vienna, Ben-Ze'ev returned to Kulikovo in 1814. Following the advice of both the Rn”K and Shy”R, Ben-Ze'ev devoted himself to writing popular books. He was influenced by the book by Shy”R, ‘The Preparation of the City of Paris and the Island of Elba,’ published in Lvov in 5574 (1817). Ben-Ze'ev wrote his central book ‘The Threshold of the World’ Part I, Asia (published in Zolkiew in 1822), and Part II ‘Africa’ (Zolkiew, 1827). These were the first general geography books published in Hebrew. They were written in a simple, pleasant style.
He dedicated the first part to the Rn”K who had helped him to pay for printing expenses. He wrote praises to the Maskilim of Brody in the foreword, which angered Joseph Perl and the Maskilim of Tarnopol.
He dedicated the second part of his book to Shy”R. Ben-Ze'ev was never able to finish the third part, ‘The Gold in the Synagogue.’ This part, about Europe, was published in Lvov in 1855 after his death, by the brother of the a”vh, Naphtali Hertz Schur. The book included words, poems, many examples of translated original parables, letters he wrote to the Shy”R, Joseph Perl, Zvi Hirsch Khayot (known by the Hebrew acronym מהר”צ Mahara”Tz), and Israel Bodek, and an essay ‘The Expelled Israelites’ (about the invaders).
He translated the research of L. Zuntz, ‘The Lineage of Rashi’ into Hebrew, and provided corrections and commentary of his own.
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According to Latriss, Ben-Ze'ev started writing a book about the origins of the Kabbalah, called ‘The Fanaticism of the Lord of Hosts’, but out of fear of the Haredim, he did not want to finish it. Following the advice of his friends, it was not published. However, in his pamphlet, ‘Dishonor,’ he attacked the Shd”L, who spoke out against Maimonides.
He spent the last of his years in Kulikovo, a bitter and lonely man. He traveled each week from Kulokovo to Zolkiew, to visit Rabbi Khayot, who, at the request of Bloch, assumed responsibility for the guardianship of his only son, aged nine.
A day before he died (October 7, 1845) he was still carrying on a dialogue with Rabbi Khayot about matters of science and knowledge.
Meir Latriss (1800-1871) was an entirely different persona among the Zolkiew Maskilim. He was among the first of the Maskilim in Galicia who acquired the kind of general knowledge encouraged by the Haskalah movement, not by being an autodidact, but in a systematic way by attending school and the university.
His father, R' Gershon, was a master of Haskalah, but it is inappropriate to see him as a ‘Maskil,’ in the sense of the Enlightenment movement. He did not permit his son to read Haskalah books in foreign languages, and denied him access to ‘all books of knowledge and exposition, out of his wish to raise his son solely in the ways of the Talmud, the Poskim and to be one who shows the way in Israel.’ It is therefore no surprise that he burned the book of Dahm and the book ‘Nathan the Wise,’ by Lessing, which he found in his son's possession.
He received a traditional education in his father's home. He learned Tanakh in Heder, the Talmud and Poskim directly from his father and then in the Bet HaMedrash, where his teacher was the sharp-minded R' Akiva Dayan, the only teacher of the only son of Rabbi Ze'ev Orenstein, R' Mordechai. When R' Akiva Dayan fell ill with encroaching insanity, he had been studying in the Yeshiva of R' Joseph Juzpa Stern. He later died in the mental hospital of the Order of the Peers, in Lvov.
By this time, the 11-year-old Latriss read and reviewed Haskalah books secretly, and because of this, the redemption would come, according to Mendelssohn.
The country ordered that all Jewish children who were not students in a general public school, were required to learn all of the subjects taught in public schools by teachers with a diploma. And so, Latriss studied with the teacher Ganzhausen, ‘who had a school in our city, and who had previously lived in Berlin and was a visitor to Mendelssohn's home, where he acquired knowledge of German and useful ideas, and with the passage of time, Latin as well, and the issues that would be taught currently in a gymnasium.’
Ganzhausen was authorized to give his students a graduation diploma, and the clearance to study in the university.
The very observant in the city became angry with Latriss' father who had permitted his son to learn secular subjects. However, R' Gershon defended himself by saying ‘it is the King's order which cannot be challenged.’
He first met the Rn”K in 1811, who instructed him in Hebrew Literature. During his illness, the Rn”K read to Latriss from the books of Levius, Virgil, and La Fontaine.
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Latriss was aided in secular studies by the military physician, Herman, and the senior officer, Bitterlich. The wife of the printer, Meyerhoffer, and her sister, taught him French and read selected French poetry to him.
During this period he was already writing poetry and he translated an essay by David Freidlander into Hebrew. He traveled to Brody in 1819, where he met and became friends with Artur, Ryb”L and Neta Hurwitz. Hetranslated ‘Kol Mevaser’ into Hebrew, and helped to found a Jewish school in Brody. His father sent him to Vienna in 1820 in connection with the issue of the permit for the printing house. He stayed in Vienna for about two years and studied at the ‘Real Academia.’ Latriss met Sholom HaKohen, who published his translation of the letters of Schiller, a work which made an impression on Hebrew readers, called ‘The First of Times.’ When Latriss returned to Zolkiew, with the financial help of Rn”K, Shy”R and Joseph Perl, and the Maskilim of Lvov, Odessa and Brody, a he published a collection of his poems, called ‘Words of Poetry’ in 1823. His poetry book, ‘HaTzfira,’ was published in 1824, and included the works of David Friedlander, Rn”K, Sholom Cohen, Yaakov Shmuel Bik, Avraham Goldberg, and Yehuda Leib Miezes. Latriss personally publicized his internationally well-known poem ‘The Dove of Heartache,’ that became transformed into a song of the people.
In 1826 he left Zolkiew for Lvov, and studied at the university where he studied oriental and and modern languages. He began to write poems and essays in the German language, which were released in the literary writings of the time, of Lvov's ‘Manimusina.’
In 1830, Latriss' father lost his money and possessions, and was compelled to accept a teacher-trainee, Mrs. Halperson from Odessa. She had come for a medical cure in Lvov and afterwards traveled to Vienna for further medical treatment. Latriss escorted her and her son to Vienna, where she died. Her son returned to Odessa. Latriss remained in Vienna and continued his studies at the university. He was engaged in the world of literature and became acquainted with the great literary figures. He studied the science of Vienna's Dr. Frankel, Compert, Grilperzer, and Hammar-Forgestahl. He found employment by newspapers and other literary outlets with the help of his teachers.
Latriss worked as a proofreader in the printing house of Anton Schmidt, in Vienna, from 1835-1839, and for a short time in the printing house of Pressburg. He was an editor and proofreader in Prague during the years 1840-1848. He completed his studies in Prague, and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He was involved in the publication of ancient books; he wrote poems and published translations that made powerful impressions on readers of Hebrew.
He lived in Vienna during 1848-1871, and for one year, he served as the librarian in the Royal Library. From 1849-1861 Latriss supported himself through his own literary works, published in German: his work, ‘Tales From the East,’ ‘Sagen Aus Dem Orient,’ (Vienna 1847), and his published articles about current news in the ‘Wiener Bletter’ and ‘Wiener Mitteilungen fur Wissenschaft.’
His difficult circumstances deteriorated to the point that he had to ask for support from the Vienna community.
He published a Hebrew translation of Faust's Goethe, called ‘Ben Abuya’ in 1865. This translation ignited discussions for and against Hebrew literature.
In his last years, his health deteriorated, and he suffered economically as well.
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Dr. Latriss, the poet and master of rhyme of the Galician Enlightenment, died in Vienna on 28 Iyyar 5631, May 19, 1871.
There were no Maskilim in Zolkiew, the scholars and people of the book, as was the case in Brody and Lvov. There were no enlightened teachers dedicated to the systems of the Haskalah, as was the case in Tarnopol. There weren't any people who could be compared to individuals in Brody, such as Alexander Ziskind Kalir, Brucziner, Trachtenberg, Inlander, Mordechai Auspitz, Sholom Krochmal, Hornstein or Nirenstein, who Bloch had trained in the Haskalah school in Zolkiew, and was known as ‘the precious ones of the Brody Haskalah.’
As for the cohort of the Maskilim in Zolkiew, those who absorbed the teachings of the Rn”K and saw themselves as his students, they were consigned to being thought of as a shriveled piece of dried fruit to the people of Zolkiew. As an atheist in theory and practice, a Maskil did not have the eagerness to be a traditional scholar, but rather, was fluent in the knowledge of Hebrew and secular subjects. The son of his brother, Shmuel Avraham (Avli) Apple (1831-1892), was educated in his house, and later became a renowned Hebrew scholar.
Avraham Goldberg was an extremist fighter for the ideals of the Haskalah. He lived in Rawa, but was educated in the Haskalah of Zolkiew. He was a student and an admirer of his teacher, the Rn”K. He lived in Zolkiew in his youth, where he became friends with Meir Latriss. Goldberg learned and read clandestinely at home, or in the hills nearby.
Latriss related that, ‘except for those who hated us, and who lay in ambush, this one, A. Goldberg was always my friend; an old father but full of strength at heart, a firm soul, an undisciplined man, and a firebrand to engage in disputes with his neighbors all day. He took a firm hand to his son in fierce anger, not to follow those youths who were lovers of salvation and who studied only the Talmud and Poskim, day and night.’
During the time the Rn”K was the head of the community, he helped to get his students excused from the obligation of military service. With his advice, Hillel Lechner wrote the second part of Sholom Cohen's (1772-1845) book, ‘The Orchards of Old Times on the Land of the North’ (Zolkiew, 1818) and added to it, a few of the more beautiful poems of Sholom Cohen.
A. Goldberg was an enlightened publisher and one of the participants in the works, ‘Fruits of the Time’, ‘The Vineyard of Affection’, and ‘The Stars of Yitzhak.’ He projected his love and longing for nature in his poems in the spirit of Rousseau. He symbolized the concepts of the Haskalah, which ‘elevated his soul to adopt a simple life, and caused him to abandon sales, and the accumulation of money.’
In 1848, he published a satirical poem, ‘The Tale of the North with the Activity of a Rokeach,’ regarding the prohibition of Jewish dress in Russia, and he was published in the addendum ‘A Pamphlet Regarding the Activity of a Rokeach’ against the ADMo”R of Belz, R' Shalom Rokeach.
Goldberg, a rich merchant, supported those Maskilim of his time who were in need of assistance, and he sponsored literary publications. Goldberg died in Rawa in 1850. The headstone resting on his place of burial was designed by Dr. Avraham Natkisz, one of the leaders of the Maskilim of Lvov.
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One of the last of the Maskilim was Meir Yehuda Maimon known by the acronym, רי”. Maimon was born in Zolkiew on November 15, 1832, and he was well known in Zolkiew as a genius. He was a student of the Rn”K, a friend of Rabbi R' Zvi Hirsch Khayot, and he became famous outside of Zolkiew for the thoroughness of his knowledge and scholarship. He published essays in his name, and the name of Bodi ‘Fountains of Water’ and corresponded with Yekhiel Mikhl קש”לז. regarding the ‘Wisdom of Jewish scholars in the West.’ He became close to Dr. Zechariah Frankel and Dr. Zvi Graetz who ‘respected him for the sizable extent of his knowledge and for his acts of charity.’ From there, he returned to Galicia, donned the attire worn by Jews in Poland, and lived according to the traditions of a simple Jew.
He published translations from the poetry of Schiller in, ‘The Stars of Yitzhak’, and excerpts, directions, interpretations and essays in ‘Megged Yerakhim,’ ‘The Treasury of the Eagle's Wisdom.’ He wrote a book relating to issues of, and the feelings and workings of the soul.
His son, David, was also one of the knowledgeable Maskilim.
Translator's footnotes
Among its prominent leadership, one finds:
The Grand Rabbi Baal Shem Tov (the BESHT) - founder of Hasidism
Grand Rebbe Dov Ber of Mezritch - The Maggid (Preacher) of Mezritch
Grand Rabbi Zvi Hirsch of Ziditshov - Author of Ateres Zvi and a disciple of the Khozeh (Seer) of Lublin. Return
The Rashba was born in Barcelona, Crown of Aragon, in 1235. He became a successful banker and leader of Spanish Jewry of his time. As a rabbinical authority his fame was such that he was designated as El Rab d'España (The Rabbi of Spain). He served as rabbi of the Main Synagogue of Barcelona for 50 years. He died in 1310. Return
A.
Thanks to the Rn”K, Zolkiew was one of the centers of the Galician Enlightenment in the years before 1848. Meir Latriss, a scion of the city, wrote a description about Zolkiew in 1828, as follows:
‘This city of The Valley was a fortress from the outside and yet one could see breaks in its fortresses and the walls that surrounded it, opposite the auditorium and the gates of the city. There were one-thousand-eight-hundred residents, and more than four- hundred Jewish homes. There were houses of worship for all beliefs, with beautiful buildings and tall and handsome towers at the top. Most of these buildings were built in the reign of King Sobieski. The synagogue too, was built proudly and with beauty, obvious to any eye, near the northern side of the city gate. And this great King and his royal wife were each a pillar of support we could well rely upon, as a result of their understanding, because they were just and generous royalty to the Children of Israel.’
‘When a tall wall was built that leaned into the courtyard of the synagogue, the heads and leaders of the community were assembled and informed, to ‘sweeten’ the joint secret regarding issues and needs of the city residents, and the giving of charity and all its sections. Not far from the synagogue where the old and venerable Bet HaMedrash sat, without any decoration and no grace, which leaned as if falling, as a result of its old age. Despite this, the elite of the city came to pray here, instead of the synagogue, where only the poor and a host of anonymous people came to pour out what they had to say before the Lord. The Bet HaMedrash is full both day and night with Torah students, especially on winter days. Many will come to obtain the essence of God's Torah and from the many admired books that have been there for countless generations, and all the years of the world. And those not familiar with a book, the poor, those who were financially ruined who cannot do any sort of work out of lethargy or for lack of knowledge or understanding, they will come into the shadows of the walls of this house to take some shelter from the cold and ice, and from a nuisance leak, on a dull and overcast day. Those who take comfort under the stove
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and recite Tehillim, and read the Zohar without understanding the interpretation of the words, believe totally, that everyone who reads something of this nature, even if his heart is distant from the content, will say that this was the condition of my birthplace forty years ago.’
At this time the Maskilim of Brody, Tarnopol, Lvov, and for a short time afterwards, their comrades in Tyshmenitz and Bolekhiv, injected the ideals of the Haskalah and its expectations into their communities. This was not done by the students of Rn”K and Latriss after they left the city, and so it is no surprise that the Jews of the city were not enamored with the structure of the Haskalah.
In the period before 1848, there weren't any recognizable changes in the city. As was the case in the other towns of Galicia, life proceeded on its usual path.
After Rabbi Yitzhak Shimshon Hurwitz-Meiseles left the rabbinical seat in 1828, the community of Zolkiew was privileged to have R' Zvi Hirsch Khayot appointed as the Rabbi due to the efforts of Nachman Krochmal, who was the head of the community. Rabbi Khayot was a lofty personality who tried to impress new concepts upon the town in keeping with the times, but he was also steeped in tradition. He descended from a pedigreed family who were adherents of the Haskalah in Brody. He was educated in the traditional way, but also absorbed a great deal of secular knowledge.
His family, which had lived in Poland since the 17th century and settled in Brody in the first half of the 18th century, were among the most prominent families of stature in the life of the community.
R' Zvi Hirsch Khayot's father, R' Meir, was a wholesale merchant who had broad horizons and interest in the European Haskalah, and for many years he served as a member of the Brody council. His grandfather's grandfather, R' Meir was an active member of Va'ad Arba Aratzot, and his descendants followed in his path. They extracted learning from the work and life of the community and intermarried among well-known rabbinical families. Menachem Maness, the grandson of R' Meir, was involved in commerce and was one of the first coral merchants in Poland, and later in Galicia. In partnership with his brothers, several of whom took up residence in Italy, he erected a large merchandise house in Florence and Livorno. He was the son-in-law of R' Wolf, the son of the first Country Rabbi in Galicia, R' Aryeh Leib Bernstein, the son of R' Meir, who was also a coral merchant and a well-known Maskil. He married Esther, a granddaughter of R' Zvi Hirsch, brother to the Rabbi of the Country Aryeh Leib Bernstein, and the parents of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch, who was selected to be the Bet-Din Senior of the holy congregation of Zolkiew. He was born on November 20, 1805, Rosh Chodesh Heshvan, 5566.
His father, R' Meir, was a wholesale merchant who had broad horizons and interest in European Haskalah. He served as a member of the Brody council for many years.
While still a child, Khayot exhibited outstanding intelligence, particularly skilled with a good memory and a rapid grasp of what he learned. He had already mastered the Tanakh at five years of age. His Talmud teachers were the Headmaster of the Brody Yeshiva, Rabbi R' Zvi Hirsch Heller and Rabbi R' Ze'ev Wolf, the Bet-Din Senior of Przeworsk. Even R' Ephraim Zalman Margaliot had a high opinion of him in the manner in which he handled many ideas. His father, R' Yaakov'keh Landau, was the son of the Gaon ‘Noda B'Yehuda.’ They also made an effort to imbue him with the secular aspects of the Haskalah. He studied external wisdom, and the German, Italian and French languages. He was a member of the Maskilim group, and drew close to the Shy”R, who at that time held an office in Brody, and to Yaakov Shmuel Byk, and Zvi Bodek. He was especially friendly with the Shy”R, who had a marked influence on him, and awakened [Page 115]
him to approach the research of Jewish sources about the development methods of systematic science. This facilitated his absorption in the Torah, and his obligation to deliver unfettered criticism without damaging tradition.
The Rn”K proposed the nomination of Rabbi Khayot in Zolkiew, because he wanted to name someone not only in command of profound ideas in Judaism but also rooted in the European Haskalah. In the commentary of the members of that generation ‘The Jews in Zolkiew were joyous, in receiving the true Gaon and the pride of the Maskilim, Zvi Hirsch Khayot נ”י, as a teacher and the Bet-Din Senior of their community.’
When Khayot came to Zolkiew, all the Parnassim of the community led by the Rn”K as the head of the holy congregation, went to receive him. In his first sermon, Khayot captured the hearts of the congregation, especially among those who studied Torah. They ‘were smitten by the depth of his penetration, his casuistry and acuteness, because there were aligned and in order with ideas constructed by the rules of Hekesh[1], and his feeling was miraculous’. From the outset of his tenure, he brought a breath of life into the congregation, and his direction was different from that of other rabbis of his generation and of the previous one.
Khayot formed a close relationship with the Rn”K from the day of his arrival in Zolkiew. He saw the Rn”K as his teacher and someone with whom he could engage in dialogue about ideas. Traces of these ideas can be found in the book by Avraham Krochmal, the son of Rn”K, called ‘The Basis of Permission,’ which was written in the style of philosophical dialogue. The speakers were seated while discussing the tractate of Spinoza. In this conversation, the daughter of the Rn”K both absorbed and contributed her own voice, as one who sparks discussion and yet controls the speakers so they do not wander off to side issues.
The Rn”K admired Rabbi Khayot, and saw him as both a comrade and friend. He accorded him respect, and appreciated ‘The beauty of his Torah.’
Rabbi Khayot corresponded with the rabbis of his generation and also with Maskilim and learnèd Jews in Italy and Germany. He provided guidance to the Jewish historian Y. M. Jast, also assisting him with historical data and information about Hasidism and the internal state of affairs of Judaism in Galicia.
Immediately, upon Khayot's appointment, the government demanded to know about the following items.
A new group of bureaucratic staff in Vienna, working on Jewish relations within Galicia, sought to improve the condition of the Jews. These bureaucrats assumed that the Jews would accommodate themselves to the general population and become a positive part of the work of the kingdom. An example for this involved the Jews in Bohemia and other monarchical lands. In this endeavor, the government was helped by Jews who were Maskilim, and in Galicia, especially by Joseph Perl of Tarnopol, who presented a number of proposals to reform the circumstances of the Jews, especially in education and the establishment of a Rabbinical Seminary. We were disappointed not to be able to find the responses of Rabbi Khayot in the Viennese archives. It is reasonable to assume that they were provided in the spirit of Jewish tradition.
It is known that regarding the issue of the Hasidim, that at the beginning Khayot's work in the rabbinate, he manifested the perspective of a Mitnaged, but he did not perceive them as a separate caste. It appears from other testimony, that his reply to the question of the prospects of founding a Bet HaMedrash for Rabbis, was definitely positive. As to the issue of the sins and transgressions of the Christians that were collected, as it were, in the book ‘Choshen Mishpat,[2]’ The Rabbi clarified that these were intended for pagans and not Christians.
The ruling authorities repeatedly pressured the Rabbis regarding the request to collect taxes on meat and candles beginning at the end of the 18th century, and required them to announce an embargo on the members of the community who did not pay. In protest against the tax collectors, Jews did not eat meat, even on the Sabbath or Festival Days. In the difficult instances of criminal transgressions, and as the movement of opposition to the authorities spread throughout many sectors, the government reacted by calling gatherings of the Valley Rabbis, which included nineteen Rabbis, and ten respected Rabbis from small communities.
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Six gatherings of Rabbis occurred after 1810. The last one took place at the end of October 1830, during which an embargo was announced on all those causing damage to the government treasury by avoiding the payment of the taxes on meat and candles. These meetings were especially intended to address the Hasidim who prohibited the consumption of meat and non-payment to those who collected the meat tax.
Rabbi Khayot participated in this Zolkiew Province assembly of rabbis In 1830, whose mission it was to announce an embargo on all those who failed to pay the meat and candle tax. Nineteen members of the province and ten respected rabbis from small congregations were invited to this meeting.
In his first years as the Rabbi in Zolkiew, during the period of time when the Rn”K was the head of the community, nothing occurred to affect the reciprocal relationships between him and his community. The Hasidim did not have the temerity to come out against him because of his friendship with the Rn”K and his visits to Rn”K's home. There, at Rn”k's home, he mingled with Maskilim, many of whom were called apostates.
But the situation changed with the departure of the Rn”K from Zolkiew. Also, the economic situation of Rabbi Khayot's father in Brody, who stood by his side, deteriorated. The income Khayot received in Zolkiew did not completely support his household.
When the rabbinical seat in Prague was vacated after the death of R' Shmuel Koydrasz, the Shy”R, who was the Rabbi of Tarnopol, and suffered harassment from fanatics and Hasidim, managed to get Rabbi Khayot appointed in Prague. Rabbi Khayot also attempted to be named as the Bet-Din Senior in Prague, with the help of his adherents.
Moshe Landau (grandson of HaNoda b'Yahadut), who was one of the heads of the Prague community, advocated for the nomination of Khayot for this position, based on the content of ‘The Seers’. At the beginning of Heshvan 5599, Yaakov Bodek wrote to Moshe Landau as a representative of writers of ‘The Seers’ that, ‘Rabbi Khayot depends on you and trusts you, because you will be a help to him and a shield and protect him against all who oppose him, and you will add to him, many loyal and trusted friends, who will speak well of you, and will seek his proximity and will support him to get the Rabbinical crown upon his head.’ But all of these efforts did not succeed and the Shy”R was selected instead.
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| Zolkiew: A General View of the Rynek with the ‘Arcades’ |
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Rabbi Orenstein of Lvov and the Maggid Shlomo Kluger of Brody opposed R'Tzvi Hirsch Khayot. They did not agree with his ideas, which in their eyes, seemed too liberal. Despite the fact that Rabbi Khayot strictly adhered to tradition, he opposed all of the amendments that went against the reforms of Avraham Geiger and Holdheim, and for this reason he was attacked by Y. H. Scher. During this period, Khayot also made strong efforts to compromise, even with the Hasidim. Because of this, a dispute arose between him and the Maskilim in Zolkiew, who attacked him in the ‘Algemeine Zeitung dem Judentums’ and accused him of ‘supporting an embarrassing position against Hasidism.’
Because of his efforts, Khayot was invited to Zolkiew in March 1845, by the ADMo”R of Belz and Jews from around the city, even though Zolkiew itself, was not leaning toward this sect. In a letter from Zolkiew, it was stated that, ‘they streamed to the city to obtain his blessing.’ The provincial Rabbi personally, and with all his dignity, approached Khayot, and flattered him about being in the of the aura of his sanctity, and convinced him that the circumstances required that they pray in the synagogue in accordance with Sephardic style, despite the vigorous opposition by the defiant Gabbai Mikhl Goldberg (brother of Sh. L. Goldberg, author of ‘Keren Khemed’). The Rebbe himself recognized that it made better sense to avoid a dispute that could lead to injury. This connection of the Rabbi of the Valley, who had been appointed in his time with Maskilim, and was selected as a Rabbi thanks to the efforts of the Rn”K, aroused such bitterness, that young Maskilim from Lvov could not keep from expressing their feelings. This was the outcome of trying to promote popularity through flattery.
This matter led to a dispute between the Rabbi and the Maskilim of the city, especially when it was found out that Rabbi Khayot attempted to push out Goldberg, the head of community, whom he did not want in that role.
In the meantime, R' Khayot became immersed in the government directive issued in 1836, which required all Rabbis of the Valley to sit for university examinations by 1846.
In accordance with this directive, Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Khayot was the first and only Rabbi who took the examinations in 1846 at the university of Lvov. As a result, he received the title of Magister of Philosophy. When the Galician officer, the ruler Agnor Golkhowsi arrived to straighten out the issue of Rabbis, their ordination and the responsibilities of the communities to them in the trail of many complaints by Jewish congregations and communities, he first turned to Rabbi Khayot to whom he posed the question: who is qualified to be a Rabbi? In an encompassing memorandum, Rabbi Khayot indicated that he strongly disapproved of the appointment of Rabbis to positions when the appointments were dependent upon ‘The Aristocracy of Money.’ He suggested appointing a Consistory of Rabbis who would designate a Rabbi, taking into account the consent of Talmudic scholars and representatives of the various sectors of the intelligentsia. This consistory would also deal with the matter of a Rabbi's salary, establish a Rabbinical Seminary, and appoint Rabbis without receiving financial compensation from the taxes of the community. It was clear that the time was not yet ripe to implement an agenda from this point of view.
In that same year, Meir Kalir, the Head of the Office of Commerce and Manufacturing in Brody, proposed to establish a ‘Settlement Group’, whose focus was on obtaining land and settling Jews on the land. His proposal was well-received by the Austrian government which promised to help him. Even Golkhowsi, the head Officer of Galicia, affirmed this proposal, and acted as a spokesman on its behalf before the government in Vienna. The recording secretary was Secretary Ministorion, and the officer for internal matters was Karl Wohlfhart. He asked to be advised as to the degree to which Haredim agreed with this agenda, and for this reason, he sent a letter on March 8, 1851 to the Rabbi, R' Zvi Hirsch Khayot who continued to exchange correspondence with him on Jewish issues.
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In this letter of March 8, 1851, Meir Kalir focused on the subject of his proposal, which was to set up special agricultural settlements for Jews, in which they would be promised unlimited freedom with regard to religious practice, setting up a synagogue, schools, and councils of their own. In his opinion, he believed that not only the ranks of the Maskilim would be supportive, but the Haredim would also support this agenda. For this reason, Kalir turned to the Rabbi who was both learned and well-known and respected by the Haredim, and asked him to advise his position on this proposal.
Rabbi R' Zvi Khayot replied that he agreed with Meir Kalir and his position.
We learn from the letter dated April 25, which R' Zvi Khayot wrote to Dr. Meir Latriss, that in his opinion, the young people were very much at odds with Hasidism. It seemed to him that one cure for this was to encourage and catalyze their attention towards agricultural work.
‘Even I conveyed my own thoughts that went back to the Galician Rabbinate, that in other countries of the monarchy, the first steps are being taken to the Enlightenment of the Jews by the founding of a school, and after all, working the land in Galicia was the one thing demanded for the sustenance of the citizenry.’
Rabbi Khayot wrote further, ‘As to the ADMo”Rim, they are becoming ignorant, and end up believing outmoded things. It is necessary to find a fundamental cure for this in terms of tangible initiatives. In a number of essays I faithfully described what I see as the high and low points of Hasidism. No other person has described these pitfalls in a way that I have come to recognize in these people. They are not only deficient in secular subjects. They are also deficient in Tanakh, Rambam, and Alfasi. Other books dealing with science are forbidden to them. Even the young among them who are planning to be Rabbeim have no conception on the true outlook of the Rabbinate. They study ‘Orakh Chaim’, most of the volumes of ‘The Traditions of Passover’ but not all of it because they know the protocols of the holiday and the customs of the Seder Night, as a result of their customs and what they are taught. They learn ‘Yoreh Deyah,’ which discusses the Halakhah of ritual slaughter, unclean foods, etc. A person might know these subjects, but not know that King David succeeded King Saul. The ADMo”Rs will nevertheless pronounce a student to be a prepared Rabbi for one of the important congregations.’
‘From doubts expressed, if the assembly of Rabbis, for example the assembly that took place in Bohemia, can be of use here, as only two or three Rabbis would vote for the establishment of a German school, and the direction of the study of faith in an orderly fashion. One should not forget that those Rabbis who are not in charge of a community of Hasidim, are still under their influence, and accordingly would not have the nerve to support such a proposal, except if they can be encouraged to do agricultural work, to which many are attracted from the lower echelons, and Hasidism also approves of it; work to grow with good results to the ethical advancement of the Jews of Galicia.’
From this we recognize that Rabbi Khayot had not strayed from his previous outlook as the Maskilim understood in the aftermath of the incident of receiving the Rebbe of Belz. This Rebbe had come to befriend Rabbi Khayot in a manner that did not turn the Hasidim against them.
From an analytical standpoint, Rabbi R' Zvi Khayot did not leave the path laid out under the influence of his teacher the Rn”K. The important part of his lore was limited to the setting up of areas of Talmudic discipline.
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As he did not intend to incite opposition from the Haredim, Rabbi Khayot was content with his undertaking to introduce order to the immense content of the Talmud. In this endeavor, he did not stray from his averse opinion of casuistry. He set out to initiate new perspectives in the study of Talmud that were simple, clear, straightforward and understandable. This outlook provided the foundation for the direction of his teaching of Talmud.
In his research called ‘Iggeret Bikoret,’ Rabbi Khayot published a list of the chronology of translations and expositions from a critical point of view. Among his other writings that paved a new path, is his book, ‘Ateret Zvi’ (Zolkiew, 1841) which included six items of investigation. The same is true of ‘Tiferet Moshe,’ and ‘Darkhei Moshe’ which is a treatise on the Rambam and his legal approach. In this instance he went against the analysis of Samuel David Luzzatto (also known by the Hebrew acronym Shadal, שד”ל?), and Rogiv.
In his book, ‘An Introduction to the Talmud’ (Zolkiew, 1848) which is his central writing, Rabbi Khayot explained the generalities that were designated in the two branches of the Talmud, both in Halakhah and in Agadah, in the way they should be studied and expounded upon. The book also delved into Torah fundamentals that were oral in nature, and especially emendations to Agadah that served as a basis for established customs rooted to them. This book served as an introduction to his perspectives and thinking about the Talmud.
In his book ‘Darkhei HaHora'ah’ (1842) which was a continuation of his first work, ‘Torat HaNevi'im’ (Zolkiew, 1836) he designated the essentials and foundations of the Written Law and the Oral Law. He supported the Sanhedrin and its actions.
Special aspects of his thoughts about the Babylonian Talmud appeared in the publication of the Talmud of Anton Schmidt in Vienna, in 1843, and were published afterwards in the publication by the widow, and brothers Ramm, in Vilna, in 1892.
In addition to these works, R' Zvi Khayot also published ‘The Responsa of the MaHaRa”Tz[3]’, in three parts. The first part, ‘An Essay about Sacred Worship,’ contains 76 responses concerning Halakhah. The second part, ‘An Essay on Sayings of Wisdom,’ were critical analyses on the Agadot, The Jerusalem Talmud and Translations. The third part, ‘Minkhat Kanaut’, was written to oppose the decisions and thinking of Reform Rabbis at the start of 1844, in Braunschweig.
Rabbi Kyahot also published handwritten essays in both Hebrew and German. As indicated previously, Rabbi Khayot did not feel that he was well received in Zolkiew, and he decided to leave that Rabbinical seat.
Rabbi Eliyahu Rogaler, the Rabbi of Kalisz, died in 1850. He was the author of ‘Cheated Eliyahu’ and brother of the father of R' Zvi ?”ל Frumkin, who was one of the founders of Petach Tikvah. R' Zvi Hirsch Khayot tried to obtain the position of the Rabbinate in Kalisz. He had visited that city in 1848, and gave a talk there on the Sabbath in the synagogue.
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The Kalisz community invited Rabbi R' Zvi Khayot Kalisz to serve as its Rabbi in 1852. He only spent three years there, where he suffered a great deal from his relationship with the Russian rulers, and also from the Hasidim who embittered his life. He became ill from his great sorrow, and left Kalisz in 1855 on doctors' orders; they believed that the climate was injurious to his health. He returned to Galicia, but his illness became more serious. He traveled to Lvov for treatment and died after a short time there, on 1 MarHeshvan 5616 (October 13, 1855).
During his tenure in Zolkiew, R' Israel ben R' Mordechai Kahana, born in Brody in 1801, was selected to be the Rabbi Bet-Din Senior. He had previously been the Bet-Din Senior Navriya, and authored, among other works, the responsa ‘Beyt Israel’ (Zolkiew 5632). He occupied the position in Zolkiew until his death on 14 Shevat 5641 (January 14,1881). After Rabbi Khayot left, he filled the position in Zolkiew until 1857. Rabbi Shmuel Waldberg was selected to replace him.
In the period before 1848, the heads of the community were David Barasz, Meir Wachtell and Mikhl Goldberg. The influence of the Hasidim grew stronger in these years and moved toward the control of the community.
The Hasidim were pursued by the government which had received reports of violations relating to clandestine printing facilities in which books were published that were prohibited by the censors. The Galician officer, Prince Lowkowitz, issued an order to carry out a very thorough search and investigation of the printing house of Shaul Meyerhoffer in Zolkiew. As a result, 49 Hebrew books were seized. However, censors saw no reason to embargo them, except for one book, ‘The Exposition of the Ten Commandments’ which had been printed in the Latriss facility in 1800. The book was returned with the other books under investigation with the instruction that it could be used only with permission.
It appears that due to the influence of the Hasidim, the city of Zolkiew, and its leaders, did not participate in government activities. Control was already in the hands of the enlightened people in the Lvov community with regard to the issue of canceling the constraints of decrees regarding the Jews of Galicia, and the nullification of the onerous taxes that had been placed upon them. This stood in contrast with the large communities that stood to the right of the demands made by Lvov. Zolkiew was indifferent.
The officers of Zolkiew also did not participate in the assembly of community heads in 1847. This assembly decided to submit a petition to the government to describe the poor conditions and rundown nature of the Jewish community. In face of the prohibition to send a collective petition in the name of all of the communities, it was decided that each of the large communities would send its own special petition.
Following the example of Lvov, Brody, Tarnopol, Stanislaw, Sambor and Stary, the Zolkiew community did not submit such a petition. There are no explanations as to why it did not participate in this initiative.
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However, even this indifference did not entirely stop the influence of the Maskilim during the 1830s and 1840s; in fact, quite the opposite. In an attachment to the ‘Algemeine Zeitung dem Judentums,’ regarding the plight of the Jews in Galicia, it was emphasized that the Jews of Zolkiew, Tarnopol, Zluczow, Sambor, Przemysl, Lvov, Jaroslaw Tarnow, Halicz and Brody were favorably disposed to the Jewish-German Haskalah.
It appears that these hopes found no sympathy in the Christian community which abused the Jewish Maskilim, were injurious to their dignity, mocked them and caused them sorrow. They hurled insults at respected Jews whom they derided, denigrated the lower echelons and laughed at the wealthy Jews. It is understood that this sentiment was felt most acutely by the Maskilim. The more traditional Jews did not pay attention to their relationships with Christians, and considered themselves above them. And the inner life of the community continued in its usual way, without any required levies upon them.
In 1883 a fire broke out in Zolkiew that destroyed most of the Jewish homes, including the hospital that was constructed from wood.
The provincial officer, Freiherr von Haufenstahl, made a considerable effort to help the Jews. He and Rabbi Khayot started up a collection that attracted a significant amount of money to fund the construction of a new hospital. However, they did not succeed in establishing a fund for its maintenance. The hospital stood without any resources. It was not possible to house the sick in it; there were no doctors. In the fullness of time, it became a house of refuge for wanderers, people fleeing another place and criminals.
The community did not bother to correct the situation. The situation changed only due to the persistence of Freiherr von Haufenstahl, the provincial officer, who addressed the community about this. He reminded them of their traditional obligation to maintain a hospital, and demanded that they do what was needed to sustain the hospital in good working order, and to establish a fund for its support. He arranged for the management of a community collection and appointed a manager. Dr. Zeidl was taken on as a permanent physician, and a fund was established through the special payment of one-half a kreuzer from every liter of kosher meat purchased, and similarly from funds for burial and headstones. In addition, those who slaughtered the cattle were obligated to pay three Gulden every week into the fund. With the help from the ruling authorities, the city was required to budget and fund a specific sum for the Jewish hospital. The building and parcel it was on broadened.
After Dr. Zeidl died in 1847, Dr. Joseph Kacz (1802-1872) managed the hospital. As a doctor in Zolkiew for forty years, he was known to be very knowledgeable and was loved by all sectors of the population. Following him, the surgeon Alner was named to be the hospital physician. Other doctors who worked at the hospital in the middle of the 19th century, whose names are known, are Dr. David Rapaport, and the surgeon Moshe Radlmasser.
From an economic standpoint, the wholesale businesses experienced expansion in its markets for eggs, flax and grain during this time period. The fur business grew to the extent of having an export factory outside of the country. There were no remarkable changes in other branches of the economy.
Documentation of the 1848 events in the lives of the Jews of Zolkiew were presented in a very prominent way.
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In honor of the announcement of the constitution, a prayer service was organized in the Great Synagogue, at which Rabbi R' Zvi Khayot delivered a holiday sermon. The revolution of 1848, which brought internal changes to the countries in the Habsburg monarchy and nullified the rigid oversight of Metternich, aroused much hope even among the Jews, for a good future and more stability for themselves.
This was especially true regarding the cancellation of impoverishing taxes and also political and economic freedom.
It was therefore no surprise that a letter from Zolkiew was feverishly elevated regarding that which had transpired in Galicia and its cities. Contrary to what happened in Hungary, Bohemia, and even the free Republic of France, from which news would reach us about the harassment of Jews, the writer said that there was an atmosphere of unity and peace between the Christian and Jewish populations. An effort was made in Zolkiew, in those days, for Christians to try, with all their might and main, to accept the Jews as citizens of the city, and a significant number were sworn in this way. Three Jews were appointed as members of the municipal council, and they were very active in positions looking after the good of the city.
Jewish members of the municipal council participated in the newly established National Guard. About 100 Jews volunteered to join its ranks, at the head of which was a Segen, 1 Lieutenant, and 3 Corporals, elected by Christians. It is however, important to take note of the fact that there was some suspicion that stole its way into the writing, and it is difficult to say, if in fact the friendship of the Christians was genuine, or that it was just monarchical popularity. There is nothing to be found in any of the records to be used to form a judgment.
The Enlightened members formed a group to deal with cultural matters. They exchanged correspondence regarding the works of the Poles, Franczisek and Somolka. They praised Somolka for showing an interest in Jewish issues, and for his stand on their side. In a letter of reply that he sent to the Jews of Zolkiew through Rabbi Khayot, Somolka advised the Jews to enjoy their freedoms in a measured way, and not take advantage more than was necessary, in order to avoid being disappointed.
Along with other Jewish communities, the Jews of Zolkiew signed a petition to send to their Parliament. This action was organized by the teacher, Reitman, from Tarnopol. A different petition was sent by the Jews of Galicia to the Senior Parliament in Vienna, in September, 1848, in which the circumstances of the Jews were portrayed, including the constraints that were imposed upon them and the burden of the special taxes on kosher meat and candles. In the end, the Parliaments agreed to the demands of the Jews for equal rights. This petition was also sent to the Heads of the Parliaments in other districts. The farmer, Kozar Panko, was selected and did not reveal anything concerning the condition of the Jews. A petition was also sent to the Jewish Representatives of Galicia, including Rabbi Dov Ber Meizesz, the preacher Mannheimer, Avraham Halpern, and to Polish Representatives who were known to be supporters of equal rights for the Jews. It was also sent to Dr. Adolph Fiszhof and Dr. Goldmark, the Jewish Representatives who were not from Galicia.
The ‘Union for Advancement of the Literary-Political Status for the Sons of Israel,’ located in Stanislaw, attracted the Jewish intelligentsia. It was led by Avraham Halpern who was selected as the Representative to the Viennese Parliament. The ‘Union’ sent a brief to all of the communities, to encourage them to begin political action, as there presently was a calm atmosphere in which to obtain equal rights for the Jews.
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In the brief, the communities were told to provide data on the number of Jews, the taxes, and the economic condition of their locations. A similar petition was also sent to the Jewish Representatives in Parliament.
Among the materials that were prepared through the efforts of the Union in Stanislaw, Representative Mannheimer included his work on the issue of nullifying the special taxes on the Jews. He gave historic speeches in the Viennese parliament on September 26 and October 5 in 1848, in support of the nullification of the Jewish' taxes.
Mannheimer's speeches influenced Parliament, which voted to cancel the special tax on the Jews, on October 5, by a large majority numbering 243 - 20. This decision was implemented on November 20, 1848 by Kaiser Franz Joseph I, and was publicized as an existing law in full force.
Despite the expectations and hopes that Jews tied to the events of 1848, and the prevailing spirit of freedom, most of the Jews of Zolkiew leaned in favor of tradition. They were not interested in reforms to their way of life and the traditions of their communities in order to conform to the demands of the time and the advocates of the Enlightenment. Before the rulers began preparations to establish progressive institutions in Zolkiew, as was done in Brody, Tarnopol and Lvov, the Enlightened Ones, along with craftsmen of independent trades, succeeded in controlling and directing the issues of the community.
The Zolkiew community was not active in work at the country level, and did not join in the efforts to set a political direction as that which occurred in the community of Lvov in 1853, due to the cancellation of the law on October 2, 1853, that limited the degree of ownership by Jews, granted to them in 1848.
After taxes on the Jews were canceled, a short period of emancipation began which continued to 1851. After the patent of December 12, 1851 nullified the constitution of 1849, the question arose as to what would happen to the possessions and land parcels over which Jews took possession between 1848-1851. In the patent of October 3, 1853, all of the constraints relating to the privilege of ownership reverted to those before 1848.
After the Jews were permitted to own real estate beginning in 1860, the Jews of Zolkiew and the provinces, also submitted requests to allow them to own parcels, houses, and tracts of land.
The requests by the following Jews were granted:
Chaim Goldberg, the Parnes of the Zolkiew community, M. Bandel from Rawa, Hersh and Poyla Gabbl, Hersh Fristig from Mosty Wielka, Sh. And R. Hoffman of Rawa, Katz and Schweitzer from the city of Zolkiew, Kriss, the Parnes of the community of Blobaczow, Lederer and Flaster from Zolkiew, and Greenthal from Zolkiew.
The years following 1848 represented ‘a new period of Hasidic influence.’ There were thousands of pilgrims who came to Belz, to the Rebbe, Sholom Rokeach. The number of Hasidim in Zolkiew increased as well. They were led by R' Hirsch, who came from Narimanov. These Hasidim were nicknamed ‘Leap Hasidim.’
The minority of Maskilim were convinced that only strong words from the authorities had the power to influence and change the situation.
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The group working to cultivate settlement on the foundation of Meir Kalir, about which the Rabbi R' Zvi Hirsch Khayot lectured, did not resonate with the community. The Haredim came out against those who worked towards the cancellation of Jewish dress, and demanded the establishment of a Jewish school following the example of Lvov, Tarnopol and Brody.
Two years after the death of Rabbi R' Zvi Hirsch Khayot, the question of selecting a new Rabbi appeared on the community agenda.
In April 1857, Rabbi R' Shmuel ben Joel Waldberg (born 5 Kislev 5590 - Dec. 1, 1829; died 16 Iyyar 5666 - May 11,1906) was selected to be the new Rabbi. He was a scholar from Lvov, a Maskil who publicized the essays of the Maggid, and was the author of several books. He wrote ‘The Diadem of Roses’ (Zolkiew 5626, 186 6),in honor of the Kaiser; ‘The Direction of the Alterations on the sayings of KhaZa”L’ (Lvov 5630, 1870), which reviewed the language of the Torah, ‘The Sayings of Shmuel’ (Cracow 5649, 1889), a general research on the Shas, ‘Sayings of Knowledge’ (Cracow 5644, 1884), and ‘The Writings of Shmuel’ (Cracow 5667, 1906).
R' Shmuel occupied the Rabbinical Chair until 1867. Due to disputes with a number of the men in the congregation, he left Zolkiew and took the Rabbinical Seat in Jaroslaw where he remained until he died in 1906.
Following him, the Rabbinical Seat was occupied by Rabbi Shimshon Hurwitz Meiseles from 1867-1879. After the death of Rabbi Meiseles, several Rabbeim sought this vacant seat: the son of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Khayot, the son of the Maggid of Brody, Avraham Benjamin Kluger, a candidate put up by the Belz courtyard, and the grandson of the Rabbi of Staislawow, R' Chaim Leib Hurwitz, who lived in Cracow.
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The son of Rabbi Khayot dropped out after he realized that he did not have many followers. Kluger came to Zolkiew in March 1880, and gave a sermon in the synagogue, but he was not deemed acceptable and was forced to leave the city. His drawback was that he was supported by the Hasidim.
Hurwitz was supported by the gifted and enlightened, but under the influence of Belz, a dispute arose in the city; there were quarrels and even physical violence, especially in the short time before the selection of the Rabbi. Organized by the Gabbai of the Rebbe of Belz, The Hasidim attempted to capture the support of the congregation over three Sabbaths, using physical violence; the Hasidic women also participated in this. The gendarmerie and the army were forced to become involved in order to disperse the gatherings. Despite all of their efforts, the Hasidim did not succeed. Hurwitz was selected as Rabbi and his selection was approved by the authorities. His first act was to dismiss the three shokhatim that were responsible for stirring up the disputes and arguments in the midst of the Jewish settlement. He brought in a new shokhet[4] from the outside, despite warnings that appeared in the newspaper, ‘Makhzikey HaDass.’
Slowly but surely, tempers quieted down.
In 1866, the Rabbi was R' Avraham Shmuel ben Joseph Lamm, author of ‘Eyshel Avraham,’ and the Bet-Din Senior.
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Working together with him was the Teacher of Righteousness, R' Meshullam Zalman ben Mordechai Yehuda, son of the Gaon R' Yaakov of Lissy, and author of the book ‘Knowledge and Effort.’ After his death, his son, R' Avraham Lurberbaum was elevated as a Teacher of Righteousness, in 1898.
After the death of R' Chaim Leib Hurwitz, the Rabbinical seat was occupied by Rabbi R' Pinchas Shimon Elimelech Rimmelt who served as the Rabbi in Khyriv, and was received as the Rabbi in Zolkiew in 1905.
R' Zusha of Dubno was the Hazzan in the Great Synagogue in those years, who sang in the Cantor's choir in Dubno as a youth.
They heard ‘our precious Cantor, who gratified those who heard him, and the loftiness of his throat.’ The heads of Zolkiew invited him in 1862 as the Hazzan in the Synagogue and the Bet HaMedrash. He was also an excellent leader of prayer. Because of his difficult economic circumstances, and the refusal of the Gabbaim to give him a salary increase, he was compelled to leave Zolkiew, and accept the position of Hazzan in Berezhany. He died there during Tishri 5627 (1866), after one month.
The Hasidim made many efforts to have their candidate selected in the elections for community council in 1867. From that time on, the Hasidim were a deciding factor in the community selections and elections. The Shomer Israel group in Lvov called the Zolkiew community leader to attend a council meeting in June, 1878, and Leo Khayot was the Zolkiew representative.
The Rabbi of Cracow, R' Shimon Schreiber, and the Rabbi of Belz collaborated against having their adherents of ‘Makhazikei HaDass’ chosen for the community council. They called a meeting of Rabbis for February 14, 1882, which decided on a modification for the communities, according to which they demanded the removal of the Enlightened from the agenda. As was the case in Hungary, they thought they could provoke a split and rift among Galician Jewry. The community of Zolkiew together with the other communities in Galicia, protested against such a decision. The reform of the ‘Makhazikei HaDass’ was sidelined by the government, which opposed the splitting up of communities.
The Jewish settlement grew vigorously to the point that the Polish newspaper ‘Gazeta Naradowa’ complained that there were too many Jews in Zolkiew. And because the Jews constituted a majority of the population, the Polish character of the city was eclipsed.
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In 1877 there were 6,564 residents, among them 3,888 Jews. The matter of the growth of the Jewish settlement when compared to the rest of the population was discussed in the first chapter.
In 1874 there were 30 members of the municipal council, of whom 12 were Jews, 3 Ruthenians, and 15 Poles.
From 1890, the percentage of the Jewish population in the villages of the Zolkiew province declined. From 1880-1900 there were 73 single villages in the Zolkiew province. In 1880, they contained 1,557 Jews (19.3%), in 1890 - 1900 Jews (20.1%), and in 1900 - 2,221 (22.1%). On average, in the solitary administrative villages (Gmina Administrazina) in 1880 - 21 Jews, in 1890 – 26, and in 1900 – 31.
In 1887-1889 in the Zolkiew province, Jewish ownership of real estate was 8%; Christian ownership in 1889 was 36%; Community property in 1889 was 5%, and in 1902, 7%.
In 1889, 9% of real estate (4,353 hectares) was owned by Jews, while 79.1% was owned by Christians. The community land was 14%, and miscellaneous constituted 4.5%
In total there were 48 owners of real estate recorded in 1889, and in 1902 there were 51 recorded owners.
As to the forest lands, 79.1% were in Jewish hands in 1889, 11.6% in community hands and 3% miscellaneous.
On March 21, 1890, the Austrian parliament enacted a uniform law for all the Austrian countries, which signified the boundaries of communities and appointed the councils of community commissions. The Rabbis were charged with managing the Matrikin, the lists of births, deaths and marriages.
According to the law, the Jews in 26 villages were appended to the record office of the community of Zolkiew.
According to the new law, in 1891 the heads of the community were: Shmuel Rapaport, Moshe Greidinger, Wolf Axelrod.
In 1906 the leadership of the community was selected according to the following list: Ignacy Cuker as Chairman, H. Tzipper as his deputy, and B. Katz as treasurer, and M. Maimon as community secretary.
Community groups and their representatives were: the Hevra Kadisha – Chairman H. Tzipper, the Talmud Torah – Chairman B. Katz, the Mishna Group – Chairman H. Greidinger, the Diligence Group – Chairman L. Apfel, and Poalei Tzedek – Chairman H. Tzipper.
In 1910 a new leadership was selected with Markus Brudinger as its Chairman. The Rabbinical chair was occupied by Rabbi Pinchas Rimmelt, and after him, his son, Rabbi Zvi Rimmelt.
We recall Ignacy Cuker (1843-1918) from among the community heads of Zolkiew. He was one of the heads of the assimilated people in Zolkiew and was helped by Zolkiew Jews to flee from harassment by the Russians. Cuker, a founder of ‘Sokol,’ the secular school group, and an activist among the Poles, was born on February 22, 1845 in Zamosc. His father, Pyotr and his mother Amalia, were Polish patriots and educated him in this spirit of Polish patriotism. When the Polish rebellion broke out in 1863 he enlisted and fought under the leadership of the Ukrainian, Netza of Dovianka, and stood out in battles in Horowice, Rudka and Wlodawa. After this he worked in an international organization in Galicia, under the leadership of Dr. Psziwilowski. He fled to Zolkiew and married the daughter of the city doctor, Dr. Rapaport. His home was a center for the National Polish movement in the city. He was also active in a Jewish group and promoted Polish assimilation. He was a member of the community council, and in the years 1904-1911 he was its president. He died in Zolkiew on April 27, 1918.
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In the 20th century, ‘bikur kholim’ groups were established in Zolkiew as well as ‘Yad Kharutzim,’ the fund for ‘Gemilut Hesed,’ and ‘the Orphanage’; of the 9 existing groups, 4 were Jewish.
The Goldberg family was prominent in community life from the end of the 18th century, as well as Buber, Hurwitz, Schur and Zimiles. The first of the Maskilim came from the Goldberg family, and a number of them served as a Parnes for the community.
The Hurwitz family comes from the rabbis and Dayanim of Zolkiew. Shlomo Hurwitz was born in Zolkiew, and his parents were among the respected people. When his father went bankrupt he left his birthplace and moved to Odessa. Together, with others who had left Brody, he established a merchandising group that became renowned among the centers of commerce in Europe. He was a great Maskil and philanthropist, and maintained continuous contact with Dr. Zunz, Dr. Jast and Dr. Gabriel Riesser, Jewish scholars in Germany. Shlomo Hurwitz was a community activist in Russia, and a representative in deliberations regarding Jewish issues raised by the authorities in St. Petersburg. He also composed a memorandum that encompassed the status of the Jews in Russia.
He kept up contact with his birthplace for all of his life, and the comrade of his youth Dr. Meir Latriss. He died in Odessa in May 1857.
The Buber family descended from R' Benjamin Aharon ben R' Avraham Ashkenazi (Solnik), 1550-1619, the author of the responsa ‘The Wishes of Benjamin’ (Cracow 1623).
The family of R' Joseph Zvi Buber settled in Zolkiew at the end of the 18th century. Buber had two sons: R' Yeshayahu Avraham and R' Meir. R' Meir owned a piece of property, Volytsya, located beside Zolkiew. After he went bankrupt, he bought the only hotel in the city which stood next to the Lvov gate, and the Dominican monastery, known by the name, ‘Hotel Pad Karetan.’ The hotel existed after the 1880 transfer from the Buber family until 1939.
In 1797 when the possessions of the palace of the King Jan Sobieski were sold at an open auction, Meir Buber bought some of the items including the carriage in which the king traveled while visiting Zolkiew. Buber repaired and decorated parts of the carriage at the hotel, to restore its genuine appearance, and nicknamed it ‘Pad Karetan.’ The Polish nobility, who held the owner of the hotel in high regard, would visit and live in the hotel, an indication that it, ‘preserved the memory of the great king, and the gentry of the city, in a fundamental way.’
The second son of R' Joseph Zvi, Yeshayahu Avraham, settled in Lvov. He was the son-in-law of the printer, Rubinstein from Zolkiew, and father of the known researcher Shlomo Buber.
The Buber family stood among the respected in the city, and filled important positions in the life of the Jewish community.
The Zimiles family came from Zolkiew, but only on the side of Dvorah, the wife of R' Avraham Shmuel Zimiles, who was born in Brody, and settled in Zolkiew after he married Dvorah.
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Dvorah Zimiles (1872-1943) from the Szmelkisz family, was a great-granddaughter and granddaughter of Alexander Sender Schur (who died in Zolkiew in 5494, 1737) and R' Eliezer Rokeach, who was the Rabbi in Brody and Amsterdam.
R' Avraham Shmuel Zimiles (1869-1933) was one of the most respected leaders of the Brody community, and a leader of the Zionist movement in Zolkiew. He was the first chairman of the Zionist organization, ‘Dorshei Shalom Tzion,’ (1803) and president of the independent commission in Zolkiew during the days of the Western Ukrainian Republic.
The Zimiles family preserved many records pertaining to Jewish history in Zolkiew. One was the written scroll granted to the community by King Jan Sobieski and his sons in 1861, which permitted a synagogue to be erected. There were two other scrolls regarding the privileges of the Jews: one was by the municipal ruler, Michael Casimir Konstantin Radziwill, and the second, from the Archbishop Konstantin Lipsky from Lvov. These documents were turned over to the Jewish Museum in Lvov after the death of R' Avraham Zimiles in 1933.
Before the Zionist Histadrut that was founded by Herzl, there was a group of Maskilim in Zolkiew who supported the Zionist concept.
In 1891, Dr. Yitzhak Feld spoke to a gathering of the people in Zolkiew on behalf of the Zionist Committee in Lvov. Due to his influence, the general assembly of the charity group ‘Poalei Tzedek’ decided to join the Zionist movement, and to become an international group. From that time on, the Zionist Organization achieved a notable place in the life of the community.
Dr. Benjamin Grill (1868-1937), from Zolkiew, was prominent in the Zionist movement. He was a unique individual. He stood out in his youth for his remarkable memory and the strength of his grasp of issues, and was nicknamed ‘The Zolkiew Genius.’ He saw much poverty and suffering in his father's house. Despite impoverished circumstances, his father, a tailor, looked after the traditional education of his sons.
The remaining Maskilim in the city, R' Yehuda Meir Maimon, and Moshe Maness, imbued Grill with the spirit of the Haskalah. While in Lvov, he drew close to the cadre of young people of the ‘Zion’ – David Neimark, Mordechai Ehrenfreis, Yehoshua Tohn, and Mordechai Ze'ev Broyda, who encouraged him to pursue secular studies. He prepared for the final graduation exams, but he failed. Through the recommendation of his guardian, Szmelki da Hurwitz, he was admitted to the Rabbinical Bet HaMedrash in 1893 as a student without a diploma, indicating he passed graduation exams. But he did not remain long in these studies. His companions, Shmuel Gutman, Y. L. Landau and Yehuda Bergman wanted to prepare him for the graduation examination, but this was in vain. Disputes with the rector, Dr. Schwartz caused him to leave the Rabbinical Bet HaMedrash.
After wandering about, Benjamin Grill went to Bern, Switzerland, and studied at the university there. He was awarded the title of Doctor of Philosophy on the strength of his dissertation ‘The Lore of the Cosmos according to Maimonides and Gershuni’, which was published in Lvov in 1901. When he returned to Lvov, he was an assistant to Reuben Asher Broydes, who created the weekly papers, ‘Der Vekker’ and ‘Carmel’, in which he published lists and feuilletons. But the urge to wander did not give Grill a rest. Having promised to write an essay, he failed to do so, and at the last minute, one had to look for him in a variety of saloons. He was found in one, beside a glass of whiskey.
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Despite his abilities, Grill did not find his way. He stagnated and did not progress. He never found a steady source of income during his life, and became everyone's laughing stock. He manifested the image of a Yeshiva student; that of a permanent student, disorganized, and indolent. He tried to take advantage of his knowledge and skills; he tried to put his thoughts into writing. His currency was his wit and cynicism.
When he arrived in Vienna in 1901, Grill spent a short time in Tonhalle, where he gave speeches on the Torah chapter of the week. His presentations drew a large audience. He left Vienna in the summer of 1902 and settled in Lvov. From August 1902 he ran a Talmud session in Tonhalle, in the Jewish science class on the Tanakh and the Babylonian exile. And so he would hold forth in the Zionist group ‘Dorshei Shalom Zion,’ and speak at Zionist parties. His friends tried to get him placed as a principal in the school ‘Khinukh LaNa'ar’ or as a librarian in the community library, founded by Shlomo Buber. Szmelki Hurwitz paid him a monthly salary of 80 Gulden for a course to guide Talmud study adjacent to the community library.
His work in Lvov lasted a short time. Hurwitz stopped paying him and Grill returned to a degraded way of life. He traveled to Germany, spent some time in Munich, and from there he returned to Vienna, supporting himself from special donations until the outbreak of the First World War.
During the war, he enlisted in the Austrian army and served as a guard in a camp for prisoners in Gleichenberg. He returned to Zolkiew after the war and lived with his sister, spending his time telling stories and sharing witty talk about himself in the saloon of R' Simcha Ungar, which was in a house that was owned by the Rn”K at one time. His memory did not fade, and he continued with Torah study and was bitter with the feeling of one who ‘might have been.’ But the chain of his progress stopped, and the genius that had promised so much remained, as his biographer says, as ‘a lump of a bear’ – just ‘a marginalized star that shone in the dark.’ He shone at night and at night his heart sank from a sense of having faded. He died on November 26, 1936.
Moshe Frustig (1895-1928), born in Zolkiew, was Zionist activist there. He joined the Zionist movement while still a student at the gymnasium, and was a founder of the gymnastic youth organization, ‘Tze'irei Zion.’ He organized courses to round out the preparation of students in the history of Israel, in the Hebrew language and the history of Zionism in the land of Israel. Frustig formulated the rules of the organization for the committees of the countries that were added over the years. The organization was in existence until the outbreak of the First World War.
Moshe Frustig published essays and explanatory writings in support of international Zionism. He was the head of the ‘Tze'irei Zion’ institution from 1906-1908, during which time he broadened the scope of its activities. He traveled to all of the cities of Galicia in which there was a gymnasium, and high schools, founded secret organizations which spread Zionist philosophy among the educated youth. In 1905 he organized Zionist academic committees, and was selected to form a central committee.
In the years 1907-1909, Frustig, together with Nathan Tzitzkes, put together a monthly Zionist publication in Polish, called ‘Moriah.’ This publication included research about the basis for Zionism from an economic standpoint that resonated with the Jewish intelligentsia. These items of research were published in a separate volume, the first Zionist publication in the Polish language, called The Zionist-Jewish Economy.
With the establishment of the ‘Poalei Tzion’ movement, he joined them and wrote the first composition of ‘Poalei Tzion’ in Polish.
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After ‘Poalei Tzion’ decided to leave the domestic Zionist Histadrut, Frustig departed from this organization along with a meaningful number of academics, and people of the intelligentsia who were sympathetic to the active movement.
Continuing from 1907 he was active in the domestic Zionist Histadrut. Frustig participated in all of the domestic committees where he expounded on economic issues. He asked for dedication and attention to productive work in the Land of Israel, fought for a united Zionist Histadrut in Galicia, and opposed the formation of an independent Histadrut to lead ‘The Work of the Present,’
From 1909 to 1928, he edited the Yiddish publication of the Zionist Histadrut, ‘Tageblatt’, and after it ceased he worked on the daily newspaper, ‘Der Morgen’ in Lvov.
Frustig was an accomplished editor and publisher; his essays and compositions had an influence on the conceptual and national intent of the Zionist movement in Galicia.
During 1910-1912 Frustig dedicated his efforts to the look into matters relating to Jewish merchants. He established economic institutions and organized the national initiative against the closing of Jewish distilleries.
During the war years, Frustig tried to travel to America, but he was stopped on his way by a British ship and brought to an internment camp as an Austrian subject. After returning to Galicia in 1919 he was committed to community newspaper work. In 1922[5]-1928 he was a member of the Polish Sejm, and occupied a number of important positions in the Jewish club, as an expert in economic matters, and also participated in a number of Zionist Congresses. He was a member of the central Committee of the Zionist Histadrut in Galicia from 1910 until his death.
There were 4,000 Jews in Zolkiew in the years between 1912-1914. Marc Brudinger was the head of the community. M. Maimon was the community secretary, and L. Waltukh was the Teacher of Faith. M. Brudinger led the Hevra Kadisha, and Sh. Feder was at the helm of the ‘Poalei Tzedek’ group. M. Fakhman led ‘Yad HaKharutzim,’ Sh. Feder directed the Talmud Torah and Y. H. Greidinger was the head of ‘Hevrat Mishnayot.’
The First World War, the Russian invasion in August 1914, and the events of the war left a deep mark on the Jewish community. Most of the populace fled to the west.
The work of the community and its institutions stopped when the war began, but with the return of the Austrian army in May 1915, the life of the city resumed.
The Jewish community and its institutions resumed their activities in the usual way until November 1918. The community council was disbanded during the period of Ukrainian rule. In its place, Avraham Shmuel Zimiles headed the ‘The International Jewish Committee.’
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In June 1919 the Polish army seized the city and the renewed Polish government opened its offices there. The ‘International Jewish Community’ was disbanded, and the previous community was re-established.
Thus began the period of Polish governance in the lives of the Zolkiew community.
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