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With trepidation and respect, I approach the documentation of memories from my earliest childhood in our city of Zolkiew (Zolkova) and to write the impressions from my childhood of what I saw with my eyes, and what I heard with my ears from the mouths of the elders of the city and its environs, from Sages, Maskilim, and People of Action. And within me there trembles a witness, vibrating with sacred hesitation as I ask myself, where are your sons, Zolkova? Where are the wise men of the Kloyz and the Bet HaMedrash, the fathers and sons, the old and the young, the Maskilim and the intelligentsia of a heartfelt Judaism, all these, in this significant city?

About fifty years ago, Shlomo Buber described the chronology of the sages of Zolkova in his book ‘Kirya Nisgava^[1].’ Who would have thought that after fifty years this precious community would be destroyed, and there would remain no trace in writing except for this book. And now, to the scions of this city, the smoking embers saved from the fire, who live in Zion, when they approached the preparation of a Yizkor Book for their city, the book ‘Kirya Nisgava’ serves as a foundation. And among those working on the publication of such a book, there is also a branch from the family of the author of ‘Kirya Nisgava.’

Zolkiew was one of those renowned cities in Galicia from which great men of science and great men of Torah came. at the beginning of the 20^th century. It was led by Rabbis with international reputations, and therefore it was a great honor for anyone granted the privilege of occupying the rabbinical seat in this important city.

After the Rebbe, Yitzhak Shimshon Hurwitz Maiseles, the Chief Rabbi of Zolkiew, died on the second day of Hanukkah in 1879, his place was taken by Rabbi Wolestein. When the latter was gone, the rabbinical seat stood vacant. The different factions of the Hasidim and Mitnagdim, the Maskilim and the Zionists, were unable to come to a general agreement on a rabbinical candidate who would be suitable for all outlooks and beliefs.

At the same time, Rabbi R' Avraham Shmuel Lamm, the author of ‘Eyshel Avraham,’ (Innovations on the Torah, in five volumes) served as the Bet-Din Senior in the city. The name of the book is based on the acronym of his name, Eshel. He was a wondrous scholar, an intense student of Torah learning. He gave very strict directions to his students, he was averse to greed, and he behaved in a manner without putting on airs. He studied and prayed at the old Bet HaMedrash, and frequently during the middle of the week, he said the Shacharit prayers in the Belz Kloyz.

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Rabbi Lamm was approached to make a religious ruling over a dispute among the Gabbaim and one of the worshipers in this Kloyz. The worshiper involved in this incident owned a home which shared a border with the yard of the Kloyz. The members of the Kloyz committee owned shares of the house of the Kloyz, and they wanted to enlarge the yard, which would then extend into the area that belonged to the worshiper. Rabbi A. Sh. Lamm, who was stranded occasionally by the opinion of the Parnassim of the Kloyz, and despite the fact that in this case there was a demand for a religious court pitting one person against the congregation, did not want to overrule the position of the individual. He therefore ruled in favor of the worshiper.

When Rabbi A. Sh. Lamm (nicknamed ‘Der Poylisher Rov’) died, Avraham Shapiro eulogized him in the big synagogue. Shapiro likened him to the Patriarch Abraham, and recited the words of the legend about him (Baba Batra 92, A. ‘On the same day that our Patriarch Abraham died, leaving this world, all the Great Ones of the world of nations stood in a line and said woe unto the world for it has lost its leader, and woe to the ship that has lost its captain. We have lost the captain of the Halakhah, Rabbi A. Sh. Lamm the brilliant lawgiver and great Torah scholar, and so now, who will lead us?’

In 1904-1905 all the sects came to a general agreement regarding two candidates to serve as the Chief Rabbi of their congregation. They were Rabbi Pinchas Rimmelt, the Rabbi of Kirov, and Rabbi Eliezer Moshel, the Rabbi of Gologora. Both served in this capacity in small towns, where there were few Jews, and no Torah scholars.

Rabbi P. Rimmelt, the son of the Gaon R' Elimelech Shimon, ‘The Tzaddik of Kirov’ author of ‘Duda'im,’ on the Song of Songs, was a great and bright scholar and lawgiver. Since he was nominated to be a provincial rabbi, and because he had to take examinations to receive a diploma equivalent to a country-level high school, Rabbi Rimmelt took this examination. He was a good-looking man who dressed with taste, and made a nice impression when he arrived. He gave his sons and daughters a traditional Torah education, as was appropriate for a Rabbi like him, and he allowed them to also study secular studies and European knowledge and culture. His daughters dressed in fashion keeping with the spirit of the times. His home expressed honor, and aristocratic taste. As you can understand, the Hasidim of Belz did not take this bowl of porridge from Kirov to their bosom, but despite this, did not give a definitive ‘no.’

His competitor, R' Eliezer Moshel, had similar virtues and characteristics. He was a leading Torah scholar, fluent in the Shas and Poskim, author of ‘Responsa of the Mishna of Eliezer Tanina,’ and God-fearing and fluent in the secular Haskalah. R' Shlomo Buber described him as an authority of his time, and whose words and descriptions weighed heavily in favor of him. The community of Zolkiew was led by Torah Sages, such as Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Khayot, Rabbi Sh. M. Hurwitz-Maiseles, Rabbi Wolestein and others, for generations, and they therefore demanded that a candidate for Chief Rabbi of their distinguished community should be a Rabbi famed as a Gaon in the world.

The struggle over the selection proceeded in full force. The candidate Rabbis came to deliver their sermons, and to show their capabilities in sharp thinking and fluency in the Shas and Poskim. The community had divided opinions about the Rabbis. The Mitnagdim and Maskilim who worshiped in the old Bet HaMedrash were on the side of Rabbi Moshel from Gologora. Opposed to them were the worshipers at the Great Synagogue and the Kloyz cohorts, who were on the side of Rabbi Rimmelt of Kirov. At this time a message came from Belz to the Hasidim of the Kloyz, that they were to support Rabbi Moshel. According to the first ballot, the victory of Rabbi Moshel was practically certain, despite the fact that Yoss'leh Hochner the Head Gabbai of the Belz Kloyz was on the side of Rabbi Rimmelt.

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The Rabbis came for an additional time to speak on the Sabbath before the elections. While passing through the streets on their way to the synagogue, the people of the city came out to see those who were destined to be the Chief Rabbi in their city.

Rabbi Rimmelt was a tall man with a radiant appearance. He dressed well and in good taste and wore a substantial hat on his head. His face was adorned by a beautiful beard. He made a pleasant impression while walking with an erect posture. Opposed to him, despite being a Torah Great, and as full of ideas as a pomegranate with seeds, Rabbi Moshel was missing the external attributes of his opponent.

Among those watching were curious women, including the wives of the Parnassim of the committee of the community who worshiped in the Belz Kloyz: Feiga, wife of Avraham Zimmerman, the wife of Yehuda Hirsch Griedinger, and also Malka'leh the wife of Wolf Axelrod. All three were pleased with the Rabbi from Kirov. They intended to influence their husbands to select the Rabbi from Kirov, no matter what. The three Parnassim were in a quandary. Woe unto them for those who created them, and woe unto them for their feelings. Shall they reject the voice of Belz and enter into a quarrel with their wives? The women stood by their opinions and were unwilling to compromise, and one should know that the women were not only housekeepers, also but played a significant part in the management of their husband's businesses where their opinions occasionally prevailed.

The congregation of the synagogue, ‘Yad Kharutzim,’ was primarily composed of tailors. Rabbi Pinchas Rimmelt, who was there before the elections, on the Sabbath before Shavuot, said, ‘it is written in the Megillah of Ruth^[2] that Boaz said to the reapers: ‘God is with you, if you elect me as your Rabbi’!’

When election day arrived, the Hasidim were certain in their mission that they would voice their preference for Rabbi Moshel. It was first thought that his candidacy was certain of victory. But there was a surprise when they reviewed the count of the ballots. Most of the votes were for Rabbi Pinchas Rimmelt from Kirov. He was selected to become the Chief Rabbi of the city and province of Zolkiew, even by a majority of the ballots from the Parnassim of the Belz Kloyz.

The Belz Hasidim were confused, and their anger against the Parnassim had no bounds. In a letter of thanks he sent to his supporters afterwards, Rabbi A. Moshel expressed his sorrow that he was not chosen to sit on the Rabbinical Seat of ‘Kirya Nisgava’ because a ‘sword had fallen on his neck.’ The wits of Zolkiew said: ‘Because of righteous women, the people of the city were saved^[3].’

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Following this, Y. H. Greidinger became disabled in a matter of days. Avraham Zimmerman suffered a stroke in one leg, and Malkeh'leh Axelrod became a widow. The Belz Hasidim reasoned that these individuals were punished because they rejected the word of their Rebbe and his emissaries.

When Rabbi Rimmelt arrived to occupy the Rabbinical Chair in the city he was received with much pomp and respect. He received a beautiful accommodation in the house of Ze'ev Axelrod in the center of the city, and that is where he also set up his Bet-Din. Around him sat the Dayanim: Rabbi A. A. Lamm as the Bet-Din Senior, Rabbi Shimshon (Kluger) the Dayan, and the Rabbi Avraham, a Teacher of Righteousness^[4]. In due course, the people of Zolkiew became satisfied enough to recognize their Chief Rabbi as their spiritual leader.

Rabbi Rimmelt recognized the soul of his community, and he understood how to formulate his words in good taste and sensibility. Scholars and Maskilim were among those who came to his house, and also the Belz Kloyz youth came to hear Torah from his mouth. Almost all of the residents of the city valued their Rabbi and admired him. In all, however, the attitude of the Belz Hasidim remained cold towards him.

At the time the AdMo”R, our teacher, and Rabbi R' Aharon came to visit him from Belz on the Sabbath of Parshat Toldot^[5] in 5692 (1932). Rabbi Rimmelt invited him to Kiddush at his house which was on the street of the tailors. Escorted by a host of Hasidim, the AdMo”R went to pay a visit to the Rabbi of the city. The Rabbi went out on the veranda on his house on the second floor to provide an early blessing on the AdMo”R as he arrived. Rabbi Rimmelt immediately came downstairs into the hallway of the house, towards the AdMo”R who was entering, and greeted him with the blessing ‘Shabbat Shalom’ yet again. But the AdMo”R apologized saying that he could not go up the stairs (as it happens, they were in disrepair) and he said to Rabbi Rimmelt: ‘Please see in my coming to be in the shadow of your walls as if I had actually made Kiddush in your house on your table.’

It was Rabbi Rimmelt's custom to give a sermon in the Great Synagogue on ‘Shabbat HaGadol’ and on ‘Shabbat Shuva’ on issues of the day^[6]. Towards evening and on Sabbath of his sermons, he would send ‘Mar'eh Mekomot’ to all the Bet-Hamedrash locations, and also to the Belz Kloyz, so that the people learning were able to examine the sources of his sermon.

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Rabbi Rimmelt prayed in the Great Synagogue during the summer and in the Old Bet-HaMedrash in the winter. He prayed at the Belz Kloyz only once during the year, which was on the night of ‘Shemini Atzeret’. There he was honored with the recital of the first verse of the Hakafot^[7], and also with leading the first Hakafah.

During the reign of the Emperor Franz Joseph I it was customary to celebrate the Emperor's birthday each year, on August 18, in the Great Synagogue. This was hosted and led by their Rabbi. Senior Representatives of the government came to the celebration of the day, especially the Jews, dressed in formal wear, frocks and Napoleon hats with scepters at the sides of their trousers. The Hazzan chanted ‘He Who Gives Salvation to Kings,’ and also a ‘Mi SheBerach’ to the Emperor of the land and the city. Rabbi Rimmelt gave a sermon regarding issues of the day in classical German. At that time the Jews en masse were proud, knowing that their Rabbi was able to stand before Representatives and rulers and even give a sermon in their language, and by doing this, he elevated the position of Israel in their eyes.

Rabbi Rimmelt persuaded his nephew, David'l Rimmelt, the wealthiest of the rich, to build a new brick factory in accordance with modern technology, in a suburb of the city. This factory brought a great deal of revenue into the city.

As to the fanatics who would distance the youth of their Kloyz, and who by their reckoning were going out to a bad culture, he said: ‘don't shut the door and window together in their face! Leave the window open, so they can come back by way of the window.’ This was how Rabbi Rimmelt understood how to draw in the youth who longed for, and wanted to breathe a little of the outside air, in the city where the noble spirit of the Gaon R' Zvi Hirsch Khayot hovered, and that of R' Nachman Krochmal and their students.

Rabbi Pinchas Rimmelt died on 13 Tammuz 5694 (June 26, 1934).^[8]

In the Hasidic world, the Belz Hasidism and their renown AdMo”Rs are recalled with trepidation and fear of their presence. This branch of Hasidism stamped its seal on its leadership and all aspects of the lives of ordinary people: the realists and the spiritual types, religious or secular, affecting also the way they dressed, how they conducted themselves in a group and especially with regard to the education of their sons.

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When you entered the ‘Bekker-Gasse’^[9] in our city, the building that stood out was the tall, wide and exquisitely built Belz Kloyz. From early morning until late in the night, the sound of Torah and prayer did not cease in this holy place. Hasidim and activists, outstanding wise scholars who were wonderful God-fearing people with sharp minds, and of noble spirit and refined soul, all had one shared endeavor, which was the learning of Torah, day and night. They studied Gemara and Tosafot, Yoreh Deyah, Orakh Chaim, Khoshen Mishpat, books by Hasidim books about tradition, and most important of all, the inculcation of Torah and Hasidim for the masses^[10].

Another aspect of Hasidism in Belz involved the strict oversight of the external dress of the membership for most of the youths studying at the Kloyz, and even children. This is an appropriate place to recollect the strict prohibition of not cutting sidelocks or to trim one's beard, even a little bit. The general dress was a long, black ‘kapote^[11]’ woven from cotton with no suspicion of containing shaatnez, boots and the hem of trousers inserted in them, or half-shoes, with black or white stockings, and a black silk hat. On Saturdays, a silk ‘kapote’ and a shtrymel^[12] (having thirteen tiers) was required of every married man. Ordinary dress was strictly forbidden.

In the folio of rules of the Kloyz, there is a special page dealing with the issue of dress:

1. No one may lead services in front of the Ark dressed in ‘pantaloons’ (read as: modern dress).
2. No one may approach the Ark to lead services on the Sabbath and Festivals unless he is dressed in silk clothing.
3. The leader of services during the regular days of the week, is responsible to wear a ‘Spodek^[13]’ on his head for the Mincha-Maariv services.

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young men for whom the reason for sartorial rules and all manner of other restrictions was alien to their spirit. However, they did not have the facility at hand to change the rules to which they were bound, set by the leaders who led ‘from above’ from Belz. Every deviation from the Belz line was thought to be breaking through a fence and its place was outside the walls of the Kloyz. The youths of the Kloyz said they would take revenge, at least on this peculiar dress item, called ‘Spodek,’ and they made it disappear by unknown means. Where it had vanished to, and every horror of this sort for this item purchased anew, was also made to disappear. When they saw that an invisible hand was involved in this, the spiriting away of Spodeks, the custom was canceled.

I will describe one incident, out of many hundreds, illustrating the extent to which this limitation in dress persisted. Zaydeh was studying in the Kloyz with Ander, one of the blessed boys, a grandson of R' Eliezer Lukczer, a known scholar and the prominent Hasid of the ADMo”Rs of Rozhin-Czortkow. This man, Zaydeh, became engaged to a girl from Lvov. When he said he would visit her, he was compelled to take a loan by a friend who had already left Zolkiew, in modern clothes no less, that should fit in better in a city like Lvov. He first undressed and then put on the borrowed clothing, made his trip and all went without an incident. He watched ‘with seven eyes’ to make sure he was not encountered while wearing the clothing of a ‘Deutsch.’ When he returned from his visit, he took off the modern clothing and came to the Kloyz in his usual clothing, but he forgot to take off the stiff, ironed collar. He sat down in his usual place to study among other young people. Judlah the Scribe entered and stuck out a hand to greet and bless him. But Judlah's eye darkened. Zaydeh had the nerve to come to the Kloyz in an ironed collar! In a second Judlah grabbed Zaydeh by the white collar and shouted out loud: ‘Get out of here, a wicked man like you, who pieces fence boundaries, imparts the many with Haskalah, and restrains our salvation God Forbid, Go!’

Many incidents of this kind took place, which distanced the youth, or they left the benches of the Kloyz because of the constraints placed on how they dressed.

Among the personalities who stood out in the Kloyz was R' Zelig Lieberman, an individual who could be found even amongst the Hasidim, able to stand at the head of a group. He was a great man who spoke with respect, and when he conveyed what was on his mind, and with the power of his knowledge, he was blessed with Torah and greatness all in one place. His house was open to anyone in need, and for all good deeds. There were many who admired him, even outside the Kloyz, and his strong positions about issues among the populace were compelling.

R' David Moshe Berger, who was nicknamed ‘Tzaddik'l’, was a fervent Hasid and a man of high learning. He spent most of the year working close to the ADMo”R in Belz, and was named as one of the known ‘sitters’ there. His wife was a Woman of Valor, who baked rolls and all sorts of other baked goods to finance their house. ‘Tzaddik'l’ put a small closet beside the entrance door in which he placed a bottle of whiskey and some of the rolls that his wife had baked, especially good as a form of ‘Yahrzeit’ Observance. During the day, the youths studying in the Kloyz took these things, and from this, he earned money for his household. This David Moshe, a God-fearing and wise man, monitored the young men ‘with seven eyes’ to make sure their behavior complied with the customs of Belz. Quietly and in a low voice, he spoke to the heart of the youth for goodness, until it was impossible not to pay attention to his criticism, and almost all of them cherished him. Because he would travel to Belz for several months of the year, Hona^[15], a young man of the Kloyz and son of the ‘Moostar Melamed ’ brought rolls and whiskey to the Kloyz every morning and evening and sold them in place of those sold by the Tzaddik'l, and gave the earnings to his wife. This did not please the general populace.

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Hanoch, the son of Zelig Lieberman, was a fervent Hasid, one of the pillars in the Kloyz, and dedicated to the Belz way with his entire soul and strength. He was the lion of the group. As he received a monthly stipend from his parents' factory and therefore did not have to worry about income, he dedicated all of his senses and powers, time and energy, to the matters of the membership. He dedicated most of his time to Torah study in the city. He brought in teachers, and looked out for their ability to earn a living and find residences. He even attempted to bring in the men of the Kloyz into all community issues and political life, especially for matters that related to education. He worked with exceptional fervor so as not to stray from the Belz line. He organized a group of young men and bachelors to travel to their Rebbe at least twice a year. For those who could not afford the costs of train tickets for this trip, especially before the High Holy Days, he personally led them on foot, to Belz. Those who walked were provisioned with some food, white shirts, and the dress of the Sabbath and Festivals, and went on their way. They went through Turynka, Most'-Wielki, Kristianopol, and other places and reached their destination after several days. In Belz, the ‘sitters’ were already worried about the membership at-large.

Those who came to the Rebbe especially made an effort to get a ‘Shalom’ from him, to hear his oral recitation of Torah, to stand during the serving at the ‘Tisch,^[16]’ to grab some ‘shirayim^[17],’and reap the benefit of being God-fearing. And the crux of all this was to hear the prayers of the ADMo”R and to learn new tunes by the famous composers of music scores among the Hasidim of Belz. The Hasidim used to say a melody is more beautiful than learning, and undoubtedly more beautiful than prayer, because the melody warms the heart and elevates the soul. The spark of holiness that the Belz people found in a melody was like a raised flag, to the point that it would influence the sinner to recant and do good. It goes without saying that it elevated the faithful Hasid to the correct level.

The spiritual position of the men of the Kloyz, was felt even outside its walls, to the point that it reached the clergy in almost all of the synagogues in the city, and even outside of them. This spirituality was felt among leaders of services for the High Holy Days, Torah readers, those who performed circumcisions, those who slaughtered animals for food, those who delivered oral lessons, and those who studied the parsha of the week, in all houses of worship and worship quorums, each to its own form. Even a large segment from Lvov was in need of Wise Men from Zolkiew.

R' Yaakov Grill (the brother of Dr. B. Grill), R' Mendl Buber and R' Moshe Kolber were among the renowned Maggidim in Lvov. Benjamin Weidhorn was the Torah reader in the Great Synagogue of the city for his entire life. Even though he lived outside of the city in the village of Sakbrazhlea, he came every Sabbath to read the parsha of the week.^[18] Yaakov Shapiro, the Shokhet and meat inspector, was the one who blew the shofar^[19], and the one who led the Musaf^[20] service on the High Holy Days. Yoss'l'eh Hochner came after him, then Yekhezkiel'eh Katz, and in the final years before the Holocaust, Shaul Berger.

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There was a boundless commitment to do a mitzvah. I remember that a son was born to Yudl Altman in the village of Mokrotyn, and the ritual circumcision was held at the appointed time in ‘Yeshivat Shira’. In his capacity of Mohel, Sholom Lieberman was honored with this mitzvah, and as understood, without monetary compensation. He could not travel to a village on Friday because of the ‘Sholom Zokhor^[21]’ that was on this eve of Sabbath for his brother-in-law, and so he decided as the Master of the Circumcision to send a gentile scout, on the Sabbath, at dawn, to show them the way. And the Mohel, accompanied by my father, went in the cold of the month of Shevat to the circumcision, in order to fulfill the mitzvah.

Moshe Kubler studied the Pentateuch with Rashi, ‘Eyn Yaakov’ and the Summary Shulkhan Arukh in the Rashi shtibl. After the First World War, Moshe Kubler moved to live in Lvov. His place in the Rashi shtibl was taken by his brother-in-law R' Leibusz Cieszanower. After the death of the aforementioned, his son-in-law R' Moshe Ba”Bad took his place. In the ‘Turynker Shulikhl’ the spiritual leader was Mikhl Shu”v^[22], who taught the worshipers and preached about issues of the day. Abba'leh the son of Yeshayahu Redler the furrier was the Torah reader for the shtibl congregation and others of the young men from the kloyz went to various prayer quorums, to serve as the readers of the Torah on Sabbaths and the High Holy Days. R' Asher Rubin, Wise Man of the Hasidic Greats, a self-effacing and honest man, was summoned to the city of Kishinev (Western Galicia) to take the seat of ADMo”R and he became endeared there to the Hasidim in short order. When he was gone, in no time at all, they made his son, the genius Henokh take his place. He was still young, but formidable in Torah and God-fearing. The oldest son of R' Asher, R' Yitzkhak'l, was the Rabbi in Sosnowiec. And his third son, Chaim Eli, a genius famous for the sharpness of his mind, was taken in as the Rabbi of Trostkovice^[23], and was privileged to achieve recognition from its congregation. When R' Asher died, the ADMo”R of Belz, R' Issachar Dov eulogized him and said ‘Asher is the most blessed of my sons’ as it is written, as if to say, it is from the sons of Asher that we see and know, ‘Who and what R' Asher was.’

The family of the teaching Director, R' Zalman Nachman Lurberbaum, whose pedigree went back to the Gaon R' Yaakov of Lissy, occupied an honored place in the Kloyz. R' Zalman died on Rosh Khodesh MarHeshvan 5692 (1932), leaving behind his book, ‘Daat Umezima’, on four chapters of the Shulkhan Arukh, and excerpts of the Shas. His son, R' Avraham'eleh who sat on the Directing Seat after his death, published the book. Avraham'eleh Lurberbaum served as a Dayan, was in harmony with his environment and educated many students.

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Dan Vlad, born in 1648, was a precious pearl in the ranks of the Lurberbaum family. He was known as a Wise Man, and an outstanding sage. He was literally a Talmudic encyclopedia, fluent in the early and late Poskim. When his son-in-law did not succeed in leather goods he was called upon to be the Headmaster of the Lvov yeshiva. After this, he served as a Headmaster of the yeshiva ‘Keter Torah’ founded by the ADMo”R of Radomsk, in Bandin.

R' Zalman's son-in-law, R' Leibusz Cziechanower, a Gaon, had a sharp mind, and was diligent in his studies. He sat in his overflowing position in his corner in the Belz Kloyz, from sunrise to a late hour of the night, not stopping for anything. Others turned to R' Leibusz to explain every difficult matter or difficult passage, whether in Gemara or Poskim. He was fluent in both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Shas. He explained and replied quietly, a little at a time, until the person asking the question understood the reply. In his old age, he was nominated to be the Bet-Din Senior in the Bet-Din of R' Pinchas Rimmelt.

R' Leibusz Cziechanower was a quiet man. He was unemployed all of his life. His wife, Esther Chaya ran a saloon. She sat by the counter with a large barrel of whiskey and a barrel of sour pickles, from morning until evening. She poured glass after glass, especially to farmers and the city workers. She sustained her husband, the Wise Man, and for his sake she was able to arrange for genius-caliber sons-in-law for her daughters. The family appropriately became a pedigreed family. The first was Moshe Kubler whose memoirs are above, a silken young man an Enlightened person, and could orate in a genial elevated manner. The second, son-in-law was Moshe Ba”BaD from the city of Varenzh, a small town near Belz. And it was actually the youngest man, a sharp minded, sensitive and well provisioned person, who added yet another jewel to this family of scholars. People even whispered about him that he was fluent in Tanakh and he was also inspired by research books. Tanakh was not studied in the Kloyz except in the hour when it was neither day nor night. He was in harmony with his surroundings, and very quickly became one of the speakers in the Kloyz.

There was an incident involving two of the young men in the Kloyz who founded a bank for farmers. They fell victim to error in the issues surrounding interest. A complaint was brought before the courts, and a law committee of the country was involved. The matter was serious, and it was only through the ‘protection’ of the ‘high windows’ in Vienna would it be possible to save them. At the same time, it was recalled that the representative, Dr. Steinhouse, in the parliament, was elected as a result of the vote of the Hasidim of Belz, and Zolkiew. Immediately, the ADMo”R R' Issachar Dov of Belz designated Moshe Ba”Bad as an emissary, and he traveled to Vienna and met with Dr. Steinhouse. The matter was settled simply and completely. With his sharp mind and quick grasp of issues, Moshe Ba”Bad, worked to quell the disputes between the Kloyz and the Zionist Bloc.

It was known that the Belz followers opposed every group and all political issues. The Hasidim tended towards supporting the government, following the dictum: ‘be one to pray for the peace of the kingdom.’ Scrutiny of the observance of that orientation are found in the facts of the elections of 1908. The candidate of the Zionist bloc was Dr Bloch, and Dr. Stazhinsky was the candidate supported by the government. The Hasidim gave their votes to Dr. Stazhinsky. The same thing happened in the election of 1912. In the elections to parliament, the representative of Mizrahi, Dr. Shmuel Rapaport, opposed the assimilationist Steinhouse, and votes of the Hasidim were cast for the assimilationist, Dr. Steinhouse, who won the seat in parliament. Also, in the elections for the community, the Hasidim preferred the assimilationist Ignacy Cuker, the owner of the single drugstore in the city and he was selected to be the head of the community. Above the entrance to his house hung a sign which proclaimed:

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N. Maimon, from the familiar Maimon family, served as secretary of the community. After him came Mottl Brudinger, who had previously lived in the village of Glinski, and moved to live in Zolkiew in order to succeed in a business venture and where he founded a bank in partnership with Herschel Acker. He was also selected to be Head of the community despite the fact that there were many intelligent and understanding people like him, but he was preferred over a Zionist or a just plain Maskil. When Mottl Brudinger died, they elected Berisz Schlusser, a businessman, and a leader of a bank, an Enlightened person, who provided a secular education to his daughters and his son. He knew the soul of his community, and he made an effort to be neutral, and because of this, he succeeded in quelling suspicions of all those circulating about him. It was during his term of office, that the First World War broke out, and there were no community elections until the end of the war, which led to the dissolution of the Hapsburg kingdom in the year 1918. The Ukrainian Republic, in which Zolkiew was then located, came into being in the center of Galician territory, which promised autonomy and full equal rights to Jews. A lawyer, Dr. Koral in the Zolkiew province was nominated as the ruler of the province. Since he had many friends and admirers among the Jews of the city, he was advised to choose the independent council (nacionalenrat) composed of twelve men.

Nathan Apfel was head of the council and an ardent Zionist, from the venerable people of Dr. Karol, who had become the head of the speakers. He began by organizing elections for all of the districts and smoothing out the lumps and bumps in the city. The memos of the period indicate there was a connection between the Kloyz, whose head spokesman was Moshe BaBa'D, and Nathan Apfel, who led the negotiations and transportation. For the first time in the history of political life in the community, the people of the Kloyz reached an agreement with the Zionists, thanks to the clear-headed thinking of Moshe BaBa'D and his sense of moderation. According to the agreement, the following Zionists were chosen: A. Shmuel Zimeles, Chairman, Nachman Apfelschmidt, Vice Chairman, Nathan Apfel and Pokerd; from the Kloyz: Moshe BaBa'D, Avraham Buber Eli Hochner, and Hirsch Acker; from the merchants of the Old Great Synagogue: Shmuel Zuvl, Sender Lifschitz, Meir Wolf Zashel, and Shia Motya Fleischer. Among them were the workers: Mane'leh Kaufer, Yitzhak Moshe Khary, and Joseph Tauba. After several months, Hirsch Acker died, and his place was taken by Mane'leh Kaufer. In the meantime a dispute broke out within the Zionist faction, and this led to the removal of B. Apfelschnidt and Hirsch Fokard. Deputies took their places.

The agreement of that time bore fruit and remained in place even after the elections for the Polish Sejm and for the Municipal Council.

This picture would remain flawed if I did not recall a few of the young members of the Kloyz with whom I had many long years of study. One outstanding student was Elimelech Mendl Melamed. The son was like his father; his being was full of Shas and Poskim. He was a Talmudic lexicon to the young students, because in addition to teaching these young people a daily lesson, he helped many young people who encountered difficulties with their studies. He was gifted with a quick grasp and an ability to explain clearly.

Hirsch, the son of Laba Lichter, had an exceptional memory. He knew the names of the authors of all the thousands of books on the shelves of the Kloyz and remembered their contents by heart.

The benches of the Kloyz even attracted young people from the houses of parents who did not worship there, and they were educated between its walls. There was Netan'eleh Roysh, son of the wagon driver Meir Berisz, who became a Sage and a Hasid, thus a respectable personality. Another was Chaim, son of Isaac the shoemaker, his mother a widow, and despite supporting herself in a meager fashion, sent her son Chaim to learn with Avraham'eleh the teacher of righteousness. After that, he moved over to the Kloyz. Moshe the Musician (he was called this because his father was a professional violinist), was one of the outstanding acolytes. There were many more who invested a great deal of effort in their studies in the Kloyz, and were educated in its path.

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It is worth noting that many of those educated in the Kloyz impressed many on the Jewish street. Those young men, who filled their insides with Shas and Poskim also secretly studied secular subjects, or they left the Kloyz and began to openly study intermediate level and academic Haskalah with the same dedication as in the Bet HaMedrash. There were many skills that were neglected which fell into disuse because nobody touched them, and it was only the burden of living that awakened them. When the time of the ‘kest^[24]’ for the newly married young men was over, and their wives and children went hungry for bread, they began to think about what to make of their lives. There were those who tried their luck at commerce in all sorts of fields. Some of them succeeded, others lived lives of deprivation. When all of this support came to an end, they began to think that it might be worthwhile to learn a productive trade. To occupy a Rabbinical Chair or to serve as a Dayan even in a small town was a distant dream. And we can now remember one, who even while he was still in Heder, formed a small lantern from tree wood, or built a Sukkah which was a marvelous structure, with his own hands, and as a result, he demonstrated a skill for carpentry. He tried it and they saw what a miracle it was! This same silken young man succeeded in his work and became a skilled carpenter. This was Shmuel Shlitin, a Jew who was a Hasid, was greatly God-fearing, and lived in the village of Turynka. He did not begin his work until he immersed himself in the river, and even on winter days, when the river was frozen, he split the ice, went into the water, came out, dressed himself and sat down to study a page of the Gemara. Afterward, with intention, he ritually washed his hands and ate a slice of Shacharit [bread], recited the blessing after finishing a meal, and began his work. On the eve of the Sabbath or Festival Holidays he would stop work at twelve o'clock, noon.

A second young man was ordained by the Rabbi and Gaon R' Yitzhak Shmelkes, the Rabbi of Lvov, to be able to give religious instruction, and is recollected because he was a talented artist as well. He would draw in the Kloyz, providing much gratification to those around him. On the Yahrzeit anniversary of the ADMo”R of Belz זצ”ל, and he drew a picture in honor of that Yahrzeit. All the adherents to the Belz system of belief, wondered at his skill. He decided he would get into the work of making signs, and actually succeeded at this craft.

The third one began to study the work of a furrier. As he succeeded, he taught these skills to his sons, who, as it happens, were intelligent, and had a sense for business. They expanded their workplace until they reached the level of being great exporters in this branch of work.

The fourth learned the trade of brush making. Using his intelligence, he was able to master this work. He expanded his business and employed several tens of workers. He became a major supplier to the military and non-manufacturing merchants of a smaller size.

And there were plenty like them. With all that, they did not stop learning. One might continue with ‘Daf Yomi,’ some with a chapter of the Mishna or Eyn Yaakov, but their greatest concern was to educate their sons in Torah. Everyone emphasized the observance of the spiritual elements of his family: ethics, religion, learning, and Hasidism.

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I remember that there were two young men from the Kloyz, very similar, who fell in the First World War. One of them was Hirsch Leib Ettinger. He had a sharp mind, a great genius, and he was the brother of Chaim Buber. The latter studied with Isaac M. Scuv, and afterwards with Elimelech Mendl Melamed's. He was diligent in his studies, had a quick grasp of things, and a wondrous memory and all of his personal presentations were delivered with nobility and pleasantness. He had friends among the academic youth, and studied secular literature.

It happens that the Ziditshov Kloyz went through a special transformation in our time. Up to the year 5633 (1873) the Hasidim of Ziditshov worshiped in the Kloyz. After the passing of the Holy Rabbi R' Yitzhak Isaac of Ziditshov on 9 Sivan 5633, his Hasidim from Zolkiew began to travel to Komarna. After about thirty years, when this Bet HaMedrash was burned down, they erected an attractive, new Bet HaMedrash in 5664 (1904).

During the thirty years from (1873) to 5664 (1904), the Hasidim became accustomed to travel to Komarna. Only Benjamin Tzibulnik was the sole Hasid who remained faithful to the religious leadership in Komarna, and traveled there annually. Many of the older generation passed on, and the youth that replaced them decided to call the new Bet-HaMedrash ‘Bet Medrash Komarna.’

The Rebbe in Komarna, the Holy Rabbi R' Yaakov Moshe, ordered that the name not be changed, and to call the new Bet-HaMedrash, ‘Kloyz Ziditshov’ – and that is what they did. Until the Holocaust and the extermination of the community of Zolkiew, the Bet-HaMedrash of the Komarna Hasidim was called ‘Kloyz Ziditshov.’

The lofty Hasidism of the Holy Tzaddik Rabbi Zvi of Ziditshov found our city to be a fortress. In the year 5664 the Hasidim of Ziditshov even built a new Kloyz. It was a very elaborate building, accomplished through the efforts of the head Gabbaim, Hirsch Acker and Meir Berger. Hirsch Acker was a Maskil and an aristocratic Hasid, the owner of a bank and many businesses. All of his actions were performed with nobility. Baruch Stein, Aharon Dagan, (who led the Musaf Service on the High Holy Days), Avraham Stern and others, oversaw the construction of the building with him. They were God fearing Jews and men who carried out good deeds.

From time-to-time, a precious treasure was ‘hurled’ into the Kloyz. This was the son-in-law of Yaakov Patrontacz, R' Avraham'tzi Eikhl, a wondrous sage fluent and sharp. A man of strong skills, he was a Maskil with a precious soul. He was very knowledgeable in mathematics and astronomy, even though he did not learn them in school. Among the worshipers in the Kloyz was an honest and ardent Hasid, Yoss'leh Charn'eh's (Deutcher), a great idler who prayed ardently, and was constantly studying. He had no idea about the issues of negotiation or the burden of making a living. His wife, son, and daughters, all helped to support the house. It is told that on one occasion, as was the custom of Hasidim, they celebrated the Bet HaShoeva^[25]

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holiday. They drank and they danced, and raised their souls, especially Nissan Stein and Yoss'leh who danced with great ardor. In the middle of a dance, Yoss'leh secretly whispered to Nissan: ‘come let us run to the mikva, in music and song, we will immerse ourselves and not move until our righteous Messiah comes.’ This was how complete his faith was.

A respected young husband, Avraham Nathan Patrontac, stood out from among other worshipers at the Kloyz. He brought a Torah scroll into the Kloyz, written by his father, Yaakov Patrontacz. His father owned most of the fields in the village of Smarakov. He brought his brother-in-law, Mordechai Hochberg, his son-in-law Moshe'leh Witlon and Avraham'tzi Eikhl, both of whom were Torah sages, to manage his business affairs. The latter left the village after the First World War to live in his house in the city. His wife, Tzivia (daughter of Avraham Shapiro) wove her name in golden letters on the cover of the scroll. Through this she earned a great privilege. This was the only scroll that was saved during the days of the Holocaust by the Holy Joseph Lautrefacht-Melman and brought to The Land by his son Michael Melman.

R' Shammai Rapaport also stood out from among the worshippers at the Kloyz. He came to our city from the nearby city of Mosty' Wielka, where he was one of the important people in the city. He lived nearby, and visited the home of the Rabbi Gaon of the same city.

R' Shammai Rapaport lived in our city on Glinski Street. He married one of the daughters of the Feier family, one of the oldest families in the city. He was among the regular worshipers in the Kloyz, and even in his old age, despite the great distance, he would stress his legs on Sabbaths and Festival Holidays to come and pray amongst the Hasidim of Ziditshov, a place where the worshipers valued him and admired him. His great pride was the donation of a Torah scroll that he presented with great pomp and magnificence. He wrote part of the scroll himself after he had mastered the penmanship of a Scribe. He was in harmony with his environment in our city, and helped the needy with a generous hand. Everybody treasured him as a man with a delicate soul and a pleasant demeanor.

The ‘Élite’ of the Hasidim in the city worshiped and studied in the Ziditshov Kloyz. They also distinguished themselves in a special way, spurning the formal Hasidic dress and following the dress dictated by their own Hasidism. There was a young man in the Belz Kloyz whom they harassed and expelled because of his tendencies toward the Haskalah or because he chose to wear the forbidden collar and tie of the modernists, so this person left and went over to the Ziditshov Kloyz. Here he was accepted courteously, but not only that, they drew him close in a special way to learn and pray with them. I also left the Belz Kloyz for the Ziditshov Kloyz. I was expelled from the Belz Kloyz because I tried to establish the Histadrut of ‘Mizrahi’ in the city, and I was supported by a number of friends to get a taste of the secular Haskalah.

Close to the time of the Holocaust, R' Moshe BaBa'D prayed in the Ziditshov Kloyz. In the evenings he studied the Mishna with those with whom prayed, and he gave a sermon on the issues of the day before them on Sabbaths and Festival Holidays.

Opposite the Belz Kloyz on Baker's Street, was the prayer house called the Lubiler Kloyz. This Kloyz was held in the house of Avigdor Fogel. Many of the comrades on that street worshiped in that Kloyz, along with Avigdor Fogel and his sons, Joseph Zibert, and Ozer Bodeyk. Ozer was known as the inspector. He was tall and patriarchal in appearance, with a long white beard that went down to the edges of his hands. Ozer Boydek was the head Gabbai, and even though he was not in the city on weekdays because of his work in the forests, he prayed at the ‘Kloyz'l’ on Sabbaths and Festivals. He was called ‘the Master of Exaggeration’ because of the exaggerated stories that he often related, with the certainty that they really happened.

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My grandfather had a special water decanter for Passover made from a notable crystal brand. Many people from the city came to see it and observe its elegance. On one occasion the decanter broke. My grandfather was able to sell the shards of glass for good money that he used to buy a large forest with trees that bore fruit.

I remember that snow fell for several consecutives days one winter. We traveled in a winter wagon to a baby's circumcision at the home of Leibusz Sapushiner. The snow reached higher than the lamp of the synagogue. As we passed in front of the synagogue, I took out a tobacco box from which I would sniff, and lo, the tobacco spilled onto the snow. I passed by the front of the synagogue in May of that same year, and I suddenly sneezed! I was reminded of the ride in the snow during winter at that same spot, and the tobacco that had spilled there.

When I was the baby of the house, boys were being seized, actually kidnapped, to serve in the army. One day, I looked out the window, and saw the kidnappers coming, so I went to hide in my grandfather's cart. The kidnappers searched all the corners and cracks and did not find me. To my bad luck, one end of my ‘tzitzit^[26]’ garment remained outside. The kidnappers spotted this and pulled and pulled until they got me out, and they took me to do military service.

The Kloyz'l of HaLebakrim is located between the house of Moshe Maness on one side and the arcades on the other side, on the way that opens up on the side of the Rynek. The prayer house hummed with worshipers from the early hours of the morning. The group here consisted of merchants, store keepers from the nearby arcades, plain watchmen, the ADMo”R from the Rynek marketplace, craftsmen, wagon drivers, porters, etc.

They came to pray: one to say ‘Kedusha^[27]’ another to recite ‘Barchu.^[28]’ Others came to warm up beside the lit oven, and Mina-Biya to recite a chapter of Psalms. Some came to have a look at a page of Gemara, a chapter of Mishna, or ‘Ayn Yaakov.’ The Gabbaim were R' Pinchas Schwartz, a scholar and Maskil, and, Shmuel Zuvl and Moshe Zuvl. R' Pinchas. Every evening, R' Pinchas Schwartz gave a Talmud lesson, and afterwards in Mishna. Many came to gain warmth from the Ark of the Torah and prayer.

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The Rebbe of Zolkiew

As previously stated, Zolkiew was one of the fortresses of the Belz Hasidism, but there were also Hasidim from Ziditshov, Magierow, and Potelycz. The ADMo”Rim of Magierow and Potelycz came once a year to visit the Hasidim. Many women were present among those offering praise and allegiance to him, which gave rise to his nickname, the Rabbi for Women. Rebbe R' Avraham Rabinowitz settled in our city in 5666 (1906). He was the son-in-law of the ADMo”R of Minberia, R' Naphtali Rokeach, and the son of the ADMo”R of Belz, R' Yehoshua Rokeach.

The Rebbe in our city was, רא”ש, Avraham Shmuel Rabinowitz, whose family tree reached back to the author of the ‘Tanya’ and to the lineage of Kurtz, Opatow and Berdichev. He was a wondrous, wise scholar and a man of deep thought. He submerged himself deeply in the Talmud each day, through both its length and breadth. His sermons were a cascade of jewels and precious stones that arose from the depths of his knowledge. He projected a majestic face of nobility. He was trained from birth in a special way to do good, both in his speech and comportment with people, and did so with understanding, knowledge and gentleness. In all, he had a powerful influence on his Hasidim. The Rebbe was provided with a residence in a spacious house, large enough to also contain a chapel for prayer. And as he sang pleasant songs, many people who lived in Lvov, from all corners of the city and the nearby suburbs, came to hear his prayers and sweet melodies. So strong was the pull of his personal charisma, his Torah, his wisdom, and his wonderful attributes, that Balebatim and Mitnagdim, who in their enitre lives had never set foot over the threshold of the home of an ADMo”R, were among those who came to his house and were transformed into faithful Hasidim. People came from all different sectors – Maskilim, merchants and Hasidim as one, in the presence of the Rebbe. Among them were Shmuel Yitzhak Bandel, Moshe Patrontacz, Zalman Britvitch, Shmuel Leib Shlitin, Moshe'l Lichter and, tens and hundreds of other like them, who came to sit in the shade of his walls, and consult with him about the education of their sons, and matters of marriages and commerce. As a result, they also cocked an ear and listened to matters of faith and tradition. The young men and newly married men of the Belz Hasidim who studied in the Kloyz, also attended the Rebbe's Tisch to hear him expound on Torah. As he was a leader of services, with his heavenly grace, his Bet HaMedrash was filled from end-to-end, and on the High Holy Days, many came from the villages, to take pleasure in his praying.

Yaakov Berger was one of his regular worshipers. When Yaakov sent his son, Maness, to study at the new gymnasium of the monarchy, where studies took place on Sabbaths and Festival Holidays, this matter reached the Rebbe's ears. He immediately called his Hasid, Yaakov, and influenced him to remove his son from the gymnasium. This incident gave him wings among the city folk, and especially made an impression on the Belz Hasidim, and they began to value him and hold him in great esteem. The work of the Rebbe elicited followers for him among the intelligentsia, the assimilationists and Zionists who came in contact with him, and almost all of them held him in high regard. The merchants preferred to go to the Rebbe in connection with the bargaining amongst them instead of appearing before a religious court or courts of law. The Rebbe always found the right line of compromise to satisfy all parties, by applying his abundant common sense and understanding, shaped by a blend between Torah and courtesy.

One time, the ADMo”R of Belz, R' Issachar Dov, came to Zolkiew from Belz. Hasidim by the thousands came to visit their distinguished and renowned Rabbi, who, during that visit, spent two weeks there. Before he left the city, R' Issachar Dov arranged a notable visit to the Rabbi of Zolkiew at his house. Hundreds of Hasidim escorted the ADMo”R through the streets for this visit to the Rabbi and his Rebbetzin, a daughter of his uncle. This was an outstanding event. The populace saw this spectacle as an indication that it was their responsibility to honor and treasure the Rebbe in their own city. Among those participating in this escort were many important balebatim and some of the Parnassim of the city. The Belz ADMo”R hinted, right on the spot, that the time had arrived for the Rebbe of Zolkiew to participate in the court of the Leader of the City.

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Rabbi Pinchas Rimmelt and the Dayanim were not of the same opinion, and did not agree with this inference. Accordingly, R' Rabbi Rimmelt reacted negatively to this idea, and used all of the power in his ability to wield influence. He called for a protest assembly in the Great Synagogue. As it was, the Rebbe Rabinowitz did not want a conflict with Rabbi Rimmelt and the agenda was closed. The Belz Hasidim from all quarters grew more furious with Rabbi Rimmelt from that time on. There was an important principle among the Hasidim, that every word uttered from their Rebbe's mouth was holy, and it was forbidden to contradict what the Rebbe said. For no apparent reason, the Hasidim did not care much for Rabbi Rimmelt, and they began to distance themselves from him in all matters of faith and arguments emerging from bargaining, and they went to the Rebbe רא”ש Rabinowitz.

Even before the Russians entered the city at the outbreak of the First World War, Rabbi Rimmelt successfully traveled to Vienna. Despite the fact that Austrian troops returned to the city in 1915, Rabbi Rimmelt stayed in the foreign location. The head of the community at that time, Shimon Schlusser, demanded that he return, arguing that the Rabbi left his city without a spiritual leader. When he received no response, the head of the community turned to the Rebbe רא”ש Rabinowitz to assume the position of Bet-Din Senior in the community, together with the Righteous Teacher R' Avraham'eleh Lurberbaum. But Rabinowitz refused, and his reasons were as follows: Perhaps this is not the will of Rabbi Rimmelt, and he does not harbor the thought, God forbid to violate the dictum not to cross another's boundary even with the absence of Rabbi Rimmelt. After the war, Rabbi Rimmelt returned to his congregation, and the relationship between him and the Rebbe improved, and they even became friends. On one occasion before Passover, the two of them went out together to collect Maot Khittin^[29]. R' Rabinowitz himself was the first to make a donation. This surprised Rabbi Rimmelt and he asked: ‘Since when is the Rabbi among the first of the donors?’ Rabbi Rabinowitz answered to him: I sign my name as Rebbe with a ‘Yud’ at the end, and as a Jew like all other Jews, I am happy to participate together with all of the balebatim in this mitzvah and whoever does not have the dignity to do so, does not sign like me.'

This was the way the Rebbe supported his issues with his Hasidim, students, and his friends that he knew.

The Rebbe, R' Avraham Shmuel Rabinowitz, was born in the city of Kontovzoba, Russia. His brother R' Yankl'eh Rabinowitz was the first ADMo”R of Tel-Aviv. His second brother, R' Aharon Rabinowitz, the husband of the daughter Sarah, is a Rabbi in a Tel-Aviv congregation. His brother R' Nahum Rabinowitz, took a position in Haifa.

Close to the time that the community of Zolkiew was wiped out by the Nazis in 1943, agents of the Gestapo found the Rabbi and members of his household in a bunker. They took them out and led them to be killed at the cemetery. The gravedigger at the time was Yossl'i Hochner. The Rebbe asked for a prayer shawl from him, in which he wrapped himself and placed himself in front of the Nazi murderers, so that they would shoot him first, saying, ‘maybe a miracle will happen, and which of us will remain alive – let the young ones remain.’

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He promised Yossl'i Hochner that Yossl'i would remain alive, and asked him to notify Sarah'tzi, his daughter, who lived in the Land of Israel, of his tragic death. He performed his last blessing, and Yossl'i remained alive and fulfilled his behest.

As previously mentioned, the Belz Hasidism were deeply involved in Hasidic life, in general, and with regard to the education of their sons in particular. Accordingly a young boy stayed with them from his earliest youth under the oversight and influence of a Belz education only. When a boy reached three years of age, his father brought him to the ADMo”R, where he learned the ways of Hasidism, and to hear what the ADMo”R had to say on specifically designated days, in which the curls on his head were cut off, leaving the sidelocks. At the same time, the boy was brought to an elementary school teacher, David Katzliss, to the fourth Heder on the fourth floor in the home of Yankl Kodukh. The Melamed sat at a table adjacent to a low and narrow window. He opened the prayer book, and with a paternal look, drilled the boy in the alphabet. The boy's father distributed whiskey and rolls, and all drank a ‘l'Chaim,’ expressing the hope that the boy will learn much Torah, be God-fearing and a substantial Hasid. From this time on, the youngster was brought to the Heder every day until he was able to read a chapter by himself.

When a boy reached the age of five, he was brought into an open and wide Heder, containing four rooms, belonging to Joseph Elazar Schur, and was turned over to his son, Zaydeh. Zaydeh, was the head of several Rishei-Dukhna (Belfers^[30]) who taught Torah to infants. It was here that the young boy began to learn the Pentateuch. The children of the Hasidim learned together with the rest of the children of the city. The rooms were clean and spacious. The windows of their classroom looked over the ancient municipal garden, Wala Krolwaskia, and the tables were arranged along the walls in the form of a square, open on one side. The teacher stood in the middle of the room, and speaking in Yiddish, drilled the students on the meaning of the words in the Pentateuch. He explained the text to the students until they grasped the Parsha of the week. It was customary for the Belfers to come to homes of the parents of their students on the sixth day, the eve of the Holy Sabbath, to polish the shoes of the members of the household, and to take the children to the synagogue for the prayer to usher in the Sabbath. Occasionally, the Belfer would help out with the food service in honor of the Sabbath, such as the crushing the Khazeret^[31].

R' Joseph Luzer Schur was a handsome man. His white beard went down to his middle, he had a belly, and had the added nickname, ‘The Doctor’ or ‘Professor’, as he excelled in medicine, and the like. A child who fell asleep in class was called out immediately to see Joseph Luzer. Luzer assessed the degree of the child's temperature without a thermometer and established a diagnosis: ‘the child has caught a cold, and should not get out of bed for a few days.’ He also prescribed healing food for the patient. In time the delicate boy was ‘partly’ cured, or less, such that he was excused from going to the Heder. R' Joseph Luzer also knew how to quell The Evil Eye. For example, a handkerchief of the patient was brought to him, and he recited Torah sentences in a whisper with the handkerchief in his hand, until he elicited a yawn from the patient. The handkerchief was then placed on the head of the patient and the cure was close to coming to pass.

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When a young boy reached the age of six, he went to a Gemara Melamed. In this case, the Melamed was Gad'l Kreuz and Gershon was his assistant. The two of them, the father and son, were both God-fearing and knowledgeable. They spoke quietly and genially delivered their lessons as they explained the Mishna, ‘Two are Holding onto a Prayer Shawl’, and slowly they began to teach a page of the Gemara. Every Sabbath Gad'l brought his students to be tested before the student's father or his guardian. His wife, Reizl'eh, a Woman of Valor, received the children from the nearby villages for meals and lodging, in one room, half of which was for study, and half for the children of the home. R' Gad'l had another room in the yard that was dedicated only to study, where the village children would sleep.

There were other Melamdim like them such as R' Akiva Kreuz, R' Shmuel Yatnik, and his son, who assisted his parents with the ‘Talmud Torah.’ The higher-up Melamdim who taught Gemara and Tosafot were Gedalia Stein and Berisz Katczkeh. The Melamdim, Chaim Klupka and Sholom Shtreller, who was known by the nickname ‘Master Melamed’ taught Gemara and Poskim. From here, as the boys got closer to their Bar-Mitzvah, were transferred to Mendel-Melamed (Titlkuptzer), a wondrous sage, unemployed and very modest, who explained and expounded on the text. They also learned ‘Yoreh Deyah Part A’ with him. The portion of the week together with Rashi commentary was studied only on Thursday nights, while Prophets and Holy Writings were not studied at all. The boy was responsible to review the portion of the week by himself on the evening before the Sabbath, twice in Hebrew and once in the Aramaic translation by Onkelos^[32]. The expert teacher was Chaim Fitch, known as a teacher of the Tanakh along with the ‘HaBayur’ commentaries.

A boy getting ready to put on phylacteries learned the rituals and the ‘Pashtil’ (the Oration) from his teacher R' Mendel Melamed, early in the morning at the Kloyz, for two reasons. A) the Melamed lived in a one room house and it was not possible to awaken his family so early from their sleep, and B) to not deprive the other students of an hour of their studies. When a boy began to assume the responsibility of laying on the phylacteries, the parents traveled with the boy to the Belz ADMo”R to receive his blessing, where the boy promised to pray fervently. It was the custom in the city, that on the day the boy began to lay his phylacteries, his father distributed the Tikkun in the Kloyz. On the eve before the Bar-Mitzvah a mitzvah feast was prepared for all. On the Sabbath in the Kloyz, the Bar-Mitzvah ascended the Bima^[33] to take the Maftir^[34] aliyah. A Kiddush was prepared for after services, and the Bar-Mitzvah boy stood to give an oration about the ‘Pashtil.’ During that same year, the boy transformed into a youth, and entered the Kloyz to learn among the young men. The mature men crowded against the celebratory table, those eating ‘Kest’ and boys that were in his age group. Group upon group sat there, hunched over their open Gemara volumes, sunken deeply into study from the early hours of the morning until the late hours of the night.

The young men and older youth were obliged with the task of teaching the little ones without earning compensation. They learned with focused attention and ardor. Nobody worried about the need to make a living. They all knew that before such an undertaking, it was necessary to learn, and that their reward would come at the end. A rich man could come and select a wise youth to marry his daughter, or a young man may be fortunate and earn the seat of a Dayan or a Rabbi. Alternatively, maybe he will enter the large business of his father-in-law-to-be. There were instances when youths of the Kloyz ‘were bought’ by the rich who lived in the villages. The young men would then leave the learning table and marry the daughter in a village and live there.

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Some succeeded and settled in the village, but instead of earning a Rabbinical chair or great wealth as they had previously dreamt, they became permanent ‘sitters,’ and had to undertake hard labor in order to support a wife and children. In spite of this, the young men praised their situation and did not leave the fortress of their quarry, and did not stop learning. There were those who tried their hand at practical work and became forest merchants, or opened stores of various kinds, or learned a craft. A few lucky ones completed their secular studies and were able to enter a university to study and earn the title of ‘Doctor.’ In any case, great learnèd and famous men came out of the Bet-HaMedrash and the Kloyz.

The prayers and rituals that were primarily important on Rosh Hashanah were the blowing of the Shofar, the Hineni prayer, uNesaneh Tokef, and v'Kol Ma'aminin. The walk to Tashlikh on the First Day was a sight unto itself, a beautiful ritual. After the Mincha prayer service, the entire congregation of worshipers descended the stairs beside the Russian Church, to the edge of the Sviniya River, that flows between the Glinski and the Vinniki suburbs. The worshipers stood at the edge of the river in groups according to their Rabbis and Gabbaim. A wondrous sight opened up in the distance. Each cohort of Jews, according to their own customs, recited the ‘Mi El Kamokha’ prayer in the Tashlikh service as if the angels up above were hovering over this holy assembly.

Rabbi Shmuel Avraham Rabinowitz and his congregation arrived last. As the day was ending and beginning to grow dark, their prayers were characterized by darkness and silence. The Jews in the vicinity stood in awe of the Divine Presence and the beautiful custom of the Jews and their faith.

The military hospital was located on the second side of the river where the cavalry unit, called K. K. Uhlanen Regiment No. 4, named for the Emperor Franz Josef I, was located. The soldiers were stunned, and stood amazed at this strange scene before them. On one occasion, one of the soldiers threw a stone into the river and the water splashed the worshipers. The citizens of the Emperor and the proud Jews of Zolkiew were not prepared to overlook the nerve of this insult to their dignity on that day. The Jewish community sent a very specific memorandum regarding this incident to the officer in charge of the unit on the following day. The complaint was sent to the German doctor, Dr. Tumshk. The latter, who was sympathetic to the Jews, recognized that this episode was a gross insult to the faith of Israel and an affront to their feelings. After he looked into and researched the issue, he went to the head of the community, along with his assistant, Wilder, a Jewish man (father-in-law of Anshel Hai, the well-known Maskil), asked for his forgiveness, and promised to severely punish the transgressing soldier.

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Sukkot Without an Etrog and Simchat Torah

The year is 1915. The First World War is in full swing. The Jews of Zolkiew, who had been captured by the Russians, were getting ready to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot, but they did not have an Etrog. Greece and Italy, the sources from which these Etrogim came, were cut off from the city. An observant Jew, and especially a Belz Jew will not recite the Shacharit prayer, Hallel, and the Hoshanot without blessing the ‘Four Species.’ It was known that in the nearby city of Rawa-Ruska, the Belz Hasidim had received Etrogim. The Belz Gabbai was Michal Wander, a scion of Zolkiew. They sent a non-Jewish emissary, mounted on horseback, to Rawa Ruska to obtain an etrog from that city. The recitation of Shacharit was stopped in the Belz Kloyz, as they waited for the Etrog. The emissary arrived at 3 o'clock with the Four Species in hand. The waiting congregants sighed in relief, said the appropriate blessings, prayed with the Lulav^[36] and Etrog^[37] and fulfilled the mitzvah of ‘taking a handsome fruit of the tree’, entered the Sukkah, and felt ‘this time of our rejoicing.’

Mordechai David Zimeles, a Belz Hasid, was the supplier of etrogim in the city. He provided the Four Species to the remaining Houses of Worship and tried to select the ‘best of the best’ for the Kloyz. The Gabbaim also bought an extra etrog for the women and children. As the etrogim were expensive, they bought only a small number of them. It was the practice for the Shammes to bring the etrog home so that the women and children could make the proper blessing. The women were ushered into the room where the Shammes also had fruit and rolls, for the master of the house and paid him handsomely for his effort.

It was a special joy to build the Sukkah in the days between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. For the most part, a Sukkah was built by the members of the household in the yard of the house. A few built them on the porch of their houses. Others might have built a permanent frame for the Sukkah. The walls were decorated with drawings and art, and the roofs were called schlag, or schlam. The Sukkahs, tables and chairs inside got wet when it rained. It was possible also to have a folding roof on the Sukkah, and to open it up after the rain stopped.

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Community members received guests in their Sukkah. It could be parents of a couple soon to be married for the writing of the Tena'im^[38], or other parties that were arranged in the Sukkah. Melamdim came for a meal in the Sukkah during ‘Khol HaMoed’ with their students. And last of all, on the eve of Hoshana Rabba, the group would all get together in the Sukkah^[39] to bind the willow branches for the following day. The joy of having the Sukkah came to an end with the finishing of the meals of Hoshana Rabba. Then came the preparations for Shemini-Atzeret. In the Kloyz Belz, the ritual of Hakafot was carried out on the eve of Shemini-Atzeret. This was not done in the Great Synagogue where the Head Rabbi, R' P. Rimmelt, prayed. The Gabbaim of the Kloyz invited the Rabbi to attend, and honored him with the recitation of ‘Atah Hor'Eta^[40]’ and the First Hakafah. After this Hakafah the joy of wild dancing began. The Bima was circled in song and dance, while the men carried the Torah scrolls in their arms. They sang and danced in riotous ardor, shoulder to shoulder, while holding the Torah scrolls, until all of the worshipers participated in the singing that split the upper heavens open. The children offered support with their sweet voices as they carried flags on which lit candles were stuck, to further illuminate the festivities.

On the following day, on the eve of Simchat Torah, Hakafot were performed in all houses of worship in the city, and for a second time in the Belz Kloyz. On the Shacharit of Simchat Torah, the Hakafot were performed for a third time. One could see in this glorious scene of beauty, with all wrapped in their prayer shawls, holding the Torah scrolls in their arms, singing and dancing with commitment and ardor, that the mitzvah was very dear to them. After finishing the Hakafot, the ‘Aliyah to the Torah’ began for all men. Since everyone in the congregation was so honored, it would have amounted to twenty minyanim which could not be accommodated in the Kloyz, so groups of minyanim went out to the homes of worshipers who were nearby, with Torah scrolls, for their aliyah to the Torah, and for every person to recite the Musaf service. It was the custom for the host of the donated house to be given the aliyah of ‘ Hatan Torah’. And, singing, ‘I shall rejoice and be joyful in the happiness of Simchat Torah,’ they scattered to their respective homes, to make joy with their families, sometimes with guests, reveling in the holiday.

And this is the way it was done at that time. Those who received the honor of ‘Hatan Torah’ were invited to the Kiddush on Simchat Torah. The men who were honored with ‘Hatan Bereshit’ customarily provided a Kiddush on the Sabbath when Bereshit was read. Drinks were served to those who were being honored during the Kiddush on Simchat Torah, as if they were royalty. Sandwiches filled with meat were also served.

Groups upon groups of Hasidim gathered after the noon hour, and after enjoying a second repast, they burst into vigorous song and dance. They headed to the Great Synagogue, into which all the celebrants entered, from all corners of the city. Towards evening, they came together hand-in-hand, in a dance around the Bima and along the walls of the Synagogue. They exited the Synagogue in a giant chain, in dance and song, going through the streets that led to the Belz Kloyz, singing the song ‘And you shall be joyous during your holidays and you should be entirely happy’ and also ‘v'Tahayr Libeynu LeOvdekha b'Emes.’ When the dancing and singing ended, the group raised up R' Yair Witlin, a Hasid, who loudly announced ‘The Holy Flock!’ The children responded by bleating: meh-meh-meh! He returned seven times and the children came after him. Afterwards he shouted out loud ‘Next Year in Jerusalem’! And he repeated this seven times. Those gathered around him, sang these words after him in rhythm: ‘L'-sha-na Ha-Ba-Ah Bi-Yeru-Sha- Lye- Im!’^[41]

Craftsmen and workers occupied a place of respect in all branches of the community. They had a distinct impact upon the economic life of the town and in the ranks of education. Their sons studied in schools, in Heders, in Talmud Torah and even in the Belz Kloyz. They studied together with the children of Hasidim and Maskilim, and many of them with diligence and excellence in their knowledge of what they had learned. Many of them rose to high ranks in the national government and in the town as a Magistrate. There were those that attained academic Haskalah, and others who remained as students of the Torah and occupants of the benches of the Kloyz.

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The shoemaker, Moshe Yatzkovisky, stood out among the active participants in community life. He was elected to the professional union, צא”ח— which included Jews, Poles and Ukrainians. He participated as an overseer for workers who sat for the tests to earn the title ‘Professional Worker’ and afterwards, by taking additional tests to earn the title of ‘Professional’ (‘Meister’), and he did not permit any Jewish worker to be subverted. Yehoshua Mordechai (‘Shia Mottl’) Fleischer was similarly involved in the community. He was a vigorous tailor, who worked at every opportunity to help the public. He was elected to the committee of the community by the workers and supported the fulfillment of their demands on various issues. He sat on the Municipal Council and did not pass up any opportunity to speak on behalf of the working man, to protect their interests, and to raise their standard in general, and specifically within the ranks of the citizenry.

There was an institution in the town that extended loans to working people in the city without interest being charged. These loans were guaranteed by two men of substance. An incident occurred in which a working man requested a loan of two hundred crowns (Austrian currency), with repayments to me made during the year. The loan was granted, and on the set day, only one of the guarantors appeared. Naphtali Honig came and signed, but the second guarantor did not appear, and the legitimacy of the loan was called into question. And here, found in the town office by chance, was Shia Moti Fleischer. He did not hesitate and signed as a guarantor, and the loan was extended. This is because for all of his days, Shia Moti was a helper and a supporter of workers, and craftsmen, for every need.

An old synagogue, the synagogue of Yad Kharutzim, in which working people and residents of the area prayed, stood on the Tailor's Street. As it happens, the tailor Shimshon Weingarten had a parcel of land opposite the old municipal garden. This land was dedicated to be used for a new synagogue building, with the consent of the committed working Jews, and workers such as Shia Moti Fleischer and others. With the help of émigrés in New York, they built a large synagogue on this parcel and proudly called it ‘Beyt-Knesset Yad HaKharutzim’

Every citizen in the city had some need to come to the town Magistrate. There were only two Jews who served in that body: the General Secretary, Lichter, the son of Schirtz, and the architect, Mr. Yaffa. Yaffa was happy to assist any Jew who came in contact with him. He had a warm heart and was alert to all things that affected Jews. He was proud of his family lineage that harkened back to the Gaon R' Mordechai Yaffa, the author of ‘HaLovshim’. At the height of his authority, he planned, and made architectural plans for the builders in the city and the citizenry. He designed the blueprints for the new Belz Kloyz, the construction of which he personally oversaw, at no charge. In communications issued by the town and its administration, it was assumed that announcements for the Jews, meant merchants and craftsmen, without any thought as to what the gentile population would say. One time, a bill reached Yaffa from a Jewish carpenter for his work on a fence around the Electric Station. The work was BMM”R, but the carpenter calculated using an ordinary measurement. However, according to this, the carpenter stood to lose a significant amount of money. Mr. Yaffa noticed the error made by the carpenter and he adjusted the calculation using a red pencil – so as not to cause an intervention by those who are involved in the matter, and added a significant sum in favor of the carpenter. Despite the fact he was more assimilated, he worshiped with his wife in the Great Synagogue on the High Holy Day. The Yaffa family had a beautiful daughter. The Uhlans cavalry unit was close to his home. A Polish officer from the unit, and an ancient noble Polish family, fell in love with their daughter. This was counter to the spirit of Yaffa, despite the fact that he was assimilating, and out of great anguish he fell sick and took to bed.

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For the Sake of Wise Women

The community was aware that the Talmud Torah in the city was run down. The pedagogical and spiritual levels were diminished, the curriculum foundation was unsettled, and as was the case in most ordinary Heders, sanitary conditions were very bad. There was considerable neglect. The sanitation inspectors would come each Monday and Thursday to inspect the condition of cleanliness in the school. This was not with the intent of fixing it, but here and there, they would close a Heder for a period of time and in this way caused an interruption of Torah study. It was only after efforts were made to clean up that they would open it again. In general, the government cast a stern eye on these Heders, because of the boycott of government schools by the Haredim who refused to let their sons attend.

No one even dreamed about sewers at the time. Waste water was poured out in public, in yards, and even on their houses. There was also a lack of ideal conditions in the provisioning of water. There were water carriers who brought water in wooden pails, or in wooden casks by wagon, to the homes. There were days, especially in the winter when the water carriers did not bring water at all, and one member of the household had to take a pail in hand and go to the well to bring water back for the needs of the family. By and large the wells were primitive. The people stood in a line until everyone was able to fill their pail, and when the water froze in the winter in the opening of the well, the people in the city suffered greatly.

In time, a new provincial Representative came to the district. He was a Polish nobleman with an esthetic and aristocratic demeanor. He began to plan for order in the city in general, and especially with regard to the cleanliness of the water supply. He invited a familiar engineer and built a broad pool in the center of the city (Rynek). It had four taps emanating from four spouts to which four people could make use of it at the same time to draw water without disturbing one another. The water for the pool came from the dales around the mountain of ‘HaRe'i’ near the city. The ruling office planted a pleasant garden around the pool which was visually pleasing and spectacular. He even arranged for the city streets to be cleaned twice a week and implemented other repairs to ease the lives of the citizens of the city. It felt as if the city had been expanded.

An intelligent and educated woman came forward, girded up her courage, and wrote a letter of thanks, in literate German, penned in good taste and a pleasant style, to the officer in charge. When the officer ran into Anshel Hai, the familiar Maskil living in the city, he told him about the thank you letter he had received from the woman, who signed her name as Hendl Buber. The letter made an impression on him, both because of its content and its beautiful style. Full of wonder, he asked Anshel Hai to introduce him to the woman who wrote the letter. So Anshel Hai told the officer about the pedigree of this venerable family in the city, which included scholars, advanced Enlightened people, and writers. By the way, this was not the only family in the city with scholars and Enlightened people.

Anshel Hai conveyed the invitation by the provincial officer to Hendl Buber. At the specified time, Hendl Buber came escorted by Anshel Buber to the palace of the officer. The officer thanked her, and conveyed both his appreciation and praise for the letter, which touched his heart. He asked her what she had learned and where she had learned it, and how she was educating her sons. At the end, the officer asked her in what way could he be of assistance to her in fulfilling her requests.

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This important lady waited for the auspicious time to reply. She answered the first thing first, and the last thing last: she did not study in a school at all, but studied at home in a simple way, and she acquired all of her knowledge through her own powers. With this reply, she hinted that it was not necessary to specifically learn in a government school. She then quoted several things from the Tanakh and from the folklore, and told of the studies that went on in the Heders, that those who studied there were well-educated, advanced Enlightened people, people of culture. She ended her reply with a request of the respected provincial officer, to think about the following points:

1. Not to have the sanitation inspectors of the city come to inspect the Heders. We are concerned about this among ourselves, and will continue to do so in the future, for the benefit and health of our children.
2. To arrange for a sewer in the city. Sewer has not yet been installed and there is no reason to punish the residents for pouring out their waste water in front of their houses and in their yards.
3. To assure that the sanitation workers do not clean the streets at the same hours in which the Jews go to and from the synagogue on the Sabbath.

The story of the letter and the meeting caused a sensation and great joy in the community.

Many spoke about what Hendl knew. When she resided at the home of her father-in-law, Meir Buber, and together with her husband, Joseph Zvi, they managed their hotel ‘Pud Karitun’ a letter arrived to her that was sent by a specific merchant who had lodged with them. A message on the envelope read: ‘Do not open and do not read about the prices that we spoke of for liberty from boycott.’ At first glance, Hendl grasped the meaning of the word ‘prices’ and she went over to her father-in-law Meir Buber with the letter in hand and said to him: ‘I fear, my father-in-law, that two Jews were relegated to be embargoed!’ Understanding Hebrew writing and the sharpness of the language allowed her to understand the deeper meaning for sure.

Hendl's eyes began to fail in her later years, but despite this, she continued to write letters in Hebrew and German, and even notes of request (‘kvitlach’) to ADMo”Rim. Her sons, and other members of her family supported her work. On days she received a sum of money, she immediately went to the Talmud Torah to ask the teachers to identify children who were lacking shoes or warm clothing, so that she could buy these items for the children with her money.

There were many women in our city who managed business by themselves while their husbands were engaged in Torah study. Occasionally, older children helped their mothers with the merchandise. One example was the large manufacturing business of the Lieberman family, managed by Royza, the wife of Chaim Eli, where even the name of the firm was in her name. When she died, the store was inherited by her son, Zelig. The name of the store, as indicated by its sign, was Z. L. Ben Royza.

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Hassa, the wife of Avner Wilman, managed a business that sold oils and cattle feed by herself without any involvement or help from R' Avner, or his sons. R' Avner was the last of the Sages from the Old Bet HaMedrash, a man of good deeds and philanthropic, a ‘Mitnaged’ and despite this, he was acceptable even to the Hasidim. He educated many pupils, and was a member of the community council for many years. His wife, Hassa, was related to the descendants of the author of ‘Tvuot Schur.’ Avraham Yaakov also was known for his sharp opposition to the way of Hasidism. He was an exceptional scholar, the last of the Mitnagdim in the city. Their second son, Kalman, was a Sage, Torah reader, and leader of services in the old Bet HaMedrash. Two of his grandsons reached The Land.

Up until 1910, a government sanctioned monopoly existed in the city over the distillation and sale of alcoholic beverages, called a Propination. This monopoly was run by Haredi Jews from another city. Most of the officials were drawn from city folk, Maskilim among the Hasidim: Manager, Fishl Gleich – a Maskil and a traditional observer of the faith; Pinchas Schwartz, a mathematician and expert in astronomy; Loba Lichter – a very aware person, and an exceptional intellect from the Old Bet HaMedrash; Yaakov Zinger – a Belz Hasid, and last but not least, David Maimon, a Maskil with a gift for poetry.

When Y. Kh. Brenner stopped in Zolkiew after his flight from Russia in 1908, he was told about the poet, David Maimon. So Brenner went to the place where he worked in order to meet him. Brenner found Maimon sitting beside his worktable, opposite a giant container of whiskey, with 96% written on it. Brenner asked him, among other things, what were his thoughts about the ‘rising star,’ Ch. N. Bialik. David'l pointed a finger at the ticket saying 96% as if to say, this is him!

The Propination was to be voided in 1910, because the government intended to enact a law that would forbid the sale of strong drink in glasses. It was feared that thousands of Jews would lose their way of making a living. The Zionist activist Moshe Frustig, a scion of Zolkiew and the ADMo”R of Belz, R' Issachar Dov Rokeach, was brought into the fray over this initiative. Since the political tendency in Belz was to always follow the government line, and in the elections to the Austrian parliament in 1908 Dr. Strazinsky, who was favorable to the government, was elected thanks to the votes of the Belz Hasidim, he found himself obligated to raise his concerns. The ADMo”R turned to this officer and to the officials in Lvov to try and get an allowance for the Jews to sell strong drink and to renew the Propination. The action on the part of the ADMo”R and of the activist Moshe Frustig, was crowned with success.

Most of the banks in the city were in the hands of the Jews, Shimon Schlusser, Avraham Shapiro, the Harry brothers, Lutringer, Hammerling, Acker, Brudinger, Rittel, Fox, and others. Close in time to the extermination of the Zolkiew community at the hands of the Nazis, a new bank, Lichter and Gabel had just opened.

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The Activities of Assimilationists

Most of the Jewish appointed officers in the government and the city, and also independent craftsmen who were Jewish, founded a union separate from the Jewish masses, called ‘Goldmanovka’.

This group of idealists were not assimilationist but acted out of comfort in being like their Polish neighbors. Mostly, they were from the ranks of the craftsmen, and their parents were religious Jews. During the High Holy Days, the assimilationists worshiped at the Great Synagogue. Before the First World War, when the Great Synagogue underwent renovations and upgrading, the assimilationists were the first to participate in funding the work on the building. Ignacy Fartig was an assimilationist, known especially for undertaking the artistic drawings on the walls of the synagogue, using oils, with figures drawn from the Tanakh. It was assured that the Polish eagle, white on a red background and also the historical symbol of the Polish kingdom, would be drawn on a wall of the synagogue, to honor the Polish King Jan III Sobieski who had supported the building of the synagogue in 1687, as a sign of gratitude to the Jews for their allegiance and commitment to his rule.

Ignacy Zucker, and the Judge, Fish, stood at the head of the assimilationist group. The influence of the assimilationists as a political force was recognized in the community after the Belz Hasidim supported them against the influence of the Zionists, but it was a foregone conclusion with them, not to get involved more than was necessary, with the issues of the masses. Their central objective was to create a separate sect of assimilationists composed of Poles of the Mosaic faith. The intelligentsia, as it were, belonged to this group. To their credit and legacy, those Jews who came in contact with them in their offices were helped a great deal. Every year, on the celebration of the day of Polish independence on May 3, they intermingled with those participating in the march through the streets of the city, along with the support of the Tzofim group ‘Sokol’. Czaszyk Zucker and Kuba Aufshuar, marched in step, dressed in festive clothing, and they felt great pride to be standing among the ranks of the Poles.

The wives of the members of the assimilationist group founded a Ladies' Auxiliary of Action called ‘Yoldot’. This group provided support to many pregnant and postpartum women without means. This group provided productive help for those in the community who needed these efforts. An orphanage was founded by the American Joint Committee after the First World War. For whatever reason, the management was given over to the assimilationists with Dr. Fish at its head. They bought the house of Zhimelik in the Lvov suburb and set up a lavish institution there. In order to extract financial help from the well-to-do of the city, they added Leib Reiman, Shmuel Zubl and several others drawn from the wealthy people of the city as Honorary Members in its management. From the outset, they educated the orphans according to their inclination in the Polish spirit but this matter did not come up to them, because they tripped up in the opposition of the cohort in general and the change in direction entirely.

Those Jews who resided in the villages surrounding the city were not separated from the city community. By large, they were mostly literate but learned in Torah. They exhibited exceptional wisdom and were diligent workers in their jobs. There were productive farmers among them, forest merchants, forest and flour mill owners, and appointed officers. They sent their sons and daughters to the government schools in the city, and also to the gymnasium, in order to give their children a grounding in a modern education. They tried to find prospective husbands for their daughters from the city, men who knew Torah and Haskalah, and these were ones who moved to the village after marriage.

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In general, their economic circumstances were strong. A change for the worse came after the First World War. Ukrainian rule grew stronger from day-to-day, as the anti-Semitism among farmers spread. Ukrainian organizations formed cooperative stores and pushed the Jews out of every means they had to make a living in the village. They also pestered the Jews to push them out. The Jews could not sustain themselves in the village. A severe depression came over the Jews in the villages, and many left. They sold their assets at half their value and went to live in the city. They even uprooted those who still persisted in staying. The only Jews who remained were the elderly who did not have the capacity to start up something new in the city. Seeing that they did not have prospects for the future in the village, the youth fled to the city and mixed in with the city youth in all areas.

The bishops took turns coming to Zolkiew each year. One year the Catholic Bishop came, and the next year was the Ukrainian Bishop (Russian). The Bishops always arrived on a Saturday afternoon. An honorary gate was erected to receive them beside the old garden (Wola Hetmanski). Rabbi Rimmelt stood on the right side under a canopy with a group of important people from the Jewish community. Rabbi Rimmelt carried a Torah Scroll and the head of the community carried a silver tray with bread and salt. Opposite, on the left side, priests stood with statues and crosses. The important Polish people of the area stood with them, including the elder of the group, Kloop, the Treasurer of the town. Kloop dressed in the uniform of the Polish Szlachta, which included brown boots, a ‘Sobel’ hat, and a long caftan with a red shirt.

At the appointed hour, the Bishop approached the group of Jews, with his icon in his hand, bowed to the Torah Scroll, greeted the Rabbi and his community ‘in Peace,’ and received the bread and salt from them with gratitude. After departing from the Rabbi and his group, the Bishop turned to the rest who came to welcome him.

A day did not go by without the poor and ‘flower-guests’ returning to doorways and entrances of stores. The Kreuzers and Hallers were not always to be found in the pocket for most people. It was considered forbidden to refuse alms to the poor. The Parnassim of the city worked at this and found a solution: make a donation to a pauper of one-half a Haller (a quarter of a Kreuzer). With the town's permission, they made a sign and put on it the words ‘A Penny for the Paupers of the Holy Congregation of Zolkiew’. The value of a new penny was half of a Haller (a quarter of a Kreuzer). It was up to the pauper, once he reached the community, to buy pennies. Four pennies to 1 Kreuzer, to whom he gives change of one Haller (or half of a Kreuzer) one penny. The job of printing the sign on heavy paper and also the permission to do the sale, was given to a poor divorced woman named Hinde Reizl, the daughter of the old bookbinder. The revenue earned by the woman was as follows. When the pauper finished his rounds of the city, he was permitted to return the pennies he had taken and remained in his pocket, to redeem them with Hinde Reizl at the rate of 5 instead of the 4 with which he bought the Kreuzers. The profit was one penny to the seller, and she also profited from those pennies that were not returned to her, that had been torn or lost.

Translator's footnotes

1. A Sublime City. This is the principal sub-title of this book, in Hebrew. Return
2. Only the Yiddish is translated here. Return
3. From a play on word spelling, pointed out by the author. Return
4. This is Rabbi Avraham Lurberbaum Return
5. A parsha is the Hebrew word for a portion of Torah to be read. Toldot is the parsha that was on the calendar for the week in question. All these portions are scheduled in advance at one a week, except for Holidays. Return
6. Two Sabbaths are mentioned here because they involve special prayers, one set for Passover, and another for the Saturday before Yom Kippur. Return
7. The series of circlings the inside of the synagogue, with each participant holding a Torah scroll. The plural is Hakafot, and there is a set number of times this ritual is performed in sequence. There is often singing and dancing between each Hakafah. Return
8. Author's Footnote: The Rabbinical Chair was inherited by his son, Rabbi Zvi of Kirov. Return
9. The street of the bakers. Return
10. The latter three are also volumes of the Code of Law by Maimonides. Return
11. The term used to describe the long, black outer coat favored by the religious. Return
12. A specially elaborate hat, usually bordered by beaver fur, worn mostly on special occasions. Return
13. A formal hat, usually with some fur on it, used as a headdress for formal, or serious, or religious occasions. It communicates a sense of seriousness by the wearer. Return
14. A derogatory way of referring to an overly observant Jew. Return
15. A common nickname for the Hebrew name ‘Chanoch.’ Return
16. A table in German or Yiddish, usually reserved for use in describing a Rebbe's main table for the serving of food, usually with a host of participants from near and far. Return
17. Strictly speaking it means ‘left-overs,’ however it had become used to describe all foods served at the Rebbe's Tisch, after the Rebbe had taken the first sample of the offerings. Its significance lies in the belief by the Rebbe's followers, that eating from an offering that the Rebbe himself had sampled, would enhance the probability of good luck or good fortune. Return
18. Even the son of R' Leibl'eh the Shokhet who lived in this village was a “starting” Torah reader on the High Holy Days, and came especially for that to the city. Return
19. The traditional ram's horn, used for producing musical notes. Return
20. That part of the morning service that comes after Shacharit. Return
21. Welcoming a newborn male baby which takes place on the first Friday night service after the baby is born. Return
22. A Hebrew acronym for someone who both slaughtered and inspected the animal carcass. Return
23. In Czechoslovakia, northeast of Prague Return
24. This word was used to describe the process of total support offered to a newly married couple, usually by the parents of the groom. This period ended when the groom was able to undertake formal responsibilities of caring for his family and supporting them. Return
25. When the Temple in Jerusalem stood, a unique service was performed every morning throughout the Sukkot holiday: the Nisukh HaMayim (lit. “Pouring of the water”) or Water Libation Ceremony. According to the Talmud, Sukkot is the time of year in which God judges the world for rainfall; therefore this ceremony, like the taking of the Four Species, invokes God's blessing for rain in its proper time. According to the Mishnah (Tractate Sukkot 4:9 and 4:10 [2]) the water for the libation ceremony was drawn from the Pool of Siloam Breikhat HaShiloah) in the City of David and carried up the Jerusalem pilgrim road to the Temple. The joy that accompanied this procedure was palpable. Return
26. A special, but optional garment, with the ritual Jewish fringes at its four corners, for which there is a special mitzvah to wear them. If such fringes were present on another garment being worn, then this version of the ‘tzitzit’ was not a ritual requirement, though often worn as well. Return
27. A community prayer recited upon the repeated reading of the ‘Shmoneh Esrei,’ and considered to be of relative importance relative to their other prayers. Return
28. The word at the beginning of the phrase, ‘Bless the God who is Blessed,’ at the initiation of the formal part of prayer services. Return
29. Literally ‘funds for grain,’ to designate the specific charity used to defray the cost of grain for the poor to enable them to bake Passover matzos, for example. Return
30. An aide, or functionary (from the German Bahelfer) assisting clergy and teachers both in ritual and education. Generally considered to be a lower level occupation. Return
31. A green vegetable also seen on the Passover Seder plate. Return
32. A famous convert to Judaism in Tannaic times, who created the definitive translation of the Torah into Aramaic Return
33. The central platform from which prayer services were led. Return
34. After the Torah is read, there is a specified piece from the Prophets that is also read ritually. The themes of the Torah parsha and the Maftir relate to one another. Return
35. The symbolic annual ritual of casting bread on the water as a metaphor for discarding all sins committed in the prior year. Return
36. The Hebrew name for palm fronds. Return
37. The Hebrew name for a citron, and considered the most prized of the Four Species brought together during worship on the Sukkot Holiday. Return
38. The formal ‘conditions and/or obligations’ committed to, before the marriage is to proceed. Return
39. A ritual performed only on Hoshanah Rabba, in which forgiveness is sought from the Almighty along with a ‘purgative’ hitting of the floor with the bound willow branches. Return
40. The opening words of the verse for the first Hakafah, which is usually given to the Rabbi as an honor. Return
41. ‘Next year in Jerusalem!’ Return
42. Propination is called Propinacja in Polish. Propination laws were a privilege granted to Polish szlachta that gave landowners a monopoly over profits from alcohol consumed by their peasants. Propination is an historical right to distill spirits. Return

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