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The period before 1848 was marked for Galician Jews by harsh struggles between the orthodox Hassidim and the Maskilim (the intellectuals of the Jewish enlightenment movement).

Stryj was not in the center of this struggle. The Haskalah spread here late and slowly and Stryj did not produce any renowned intellectuals like those of Brody, Lvov, Tarnopol, Tyśmienica and Bolechów.

The important merchants were not eager to establish the Haskalah movement in town and did not establish schools and other institutions to promote it.

Stryj was absent during these cultural wars that were prominent in the above communities. The status of the orthodox was strong to prevent the spread of the Haskalah.

The Hassidic movement spread during the 1820's when Tzvi Hirsh Eichenstein was the rabbi of Żydaczów. The rabbi was investigated numerous times by the district high official Musbacher and was even jailed once.

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The authorities were investigating the Hassidic movement, but on March 31^st, 1827 the district high official Hibbel wrote in his report that there were no Hassidim in the entire district. With the famous and influential rabbi of Żydaczów this report is hard to believe. It is interesting to learn about the conclusions Hibbel came to: The Hassidim were Talmudic Jews but not as strict as others especially for the poor if the restrictions were going to impact their livelihood. He thought that the name Hassidim meant that their desire was to help the poor and the wretched. However, in regards to Christianity, the Hassidim were the same as the rest of the Talmudic Jews. In his opinion, it was not true that the Hassidim called to act against the government. On the contrary, because their religion was more “ceremonial” they were less dangerous than the Talmudic Jews. It was true in his opinion that if the number of Hassidim would increase, there could be damages to the government due to the fact that they were not so strict about meat and candles and the taxes from those may decrease.

Obviously, these opinions did not reflect the reality of the day as we know that in those years, the Hassidic movement started to flourish in Stryj.

During this period, the chief rabbi of Stryj and the district was rabbi Asher Enzil Cuzmer. He was a distinct student of rabbi Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller. While still studying under rabbi Heller, rabbi Cuzmer proof–read the works of his mentor and teacher Avnei Milluim (“Filling Stones”). Following his death, rabbi Cuzmer edited the hand written notes of his teacher and mentor and published the second part of the work in Żółkiew in 1826. He supported the opinions of his teacher, who preferred the simple and basic instruction opposing the argumentation of the Polish rabbis. This approach was based on the Sephardic teachings as reported by rabbi Zvi Hirsch Hayot (rabbi of Żółkiew) to the renowned historian Dr. M. Yost.^[59] He did not allow the Hassidic influence in his community.

Enzil Cuzmer was a son of a wealthy family and the son–in–law of rabbi Joseph Asher of Przemyśl. Rabbi Mordecai Ziskind Landa was the head of the rabbinic court during his tenure.

Cuzmer was a renowned merchant who continued in his business even after becoming a chief rabbi of Stryj.

The law prohibited excommunication. However, based on the authorities' requirements, the rabbis were committed to excommunicate in the area of meat and candles taxation in cases of criminal activity, embezzlement or non–payments. Committees of all the district rabbis were assembled to discuss these cases. Between 1810 and 1830, six such committees were assembled. In the presence of the authorities, the rabbis would declare the excommunication of the sinners. In addition, the local rabbis declared excommunications which were posted in each synagogue.^[60]

In the 1830 convention the following rabbis participated: Yaakov Lorberbaum, rabbi Orenstein from Lvov, rabbi Zvi Hirsch Hayot of Żółkiew, rabbi Enzil Cuzmer of Stryj, and rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Eichenstein of Żydaczów. The Stryj district office conducted investigations against him in 1817 in connection with “collection money for Jerusalem”, and once he was arrested for holding a minyan without permission. As a district rabbi, he was obligated to fulfill all authorities' requirements.

During his tenure, he was forced in 1840 to cancel the excommunication that was imposed without permission by rabbi Mendel Hurwitz of Bolechów^[60a] on the lessees of meat and candles taxes demanding to reduce the tax amount. He was expelled from Bolechów to his birth place of Stryj^[61] after being stripped of his rabbinical position.

The head of the district Igor Golochowski gave his permission to collect money for Eretz Israel (that was conducted by the Kolel in Jerusalem emissary rabbi Israel Abramowicz) on the condition that it will be all collected by an authorized person in each district. Rabbi Cuzmer was selected to be the supervisor in the Stryj district.^[61a]

Rabbi Shmuel Deutch of Sambor made some significant proposals to improve the social situation of Galician Jews. His proposals to the authorities included: cancellation of the traditional Jewish clothing, reforms in the communities, suppression of the Hassidic movement which was preventing the spread of the enlightenment, and engaging the Jewish population in agriculture. Rabbi Cuzmer was not interested in any of these recommendations.

Rabbi Cuzmer was not a supporter of the intellectuals. On the contrary, he ensured that they would not have any key positions in the community.

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In spite of his opposition to the enlightenment, he understood that all the Jews have to hold a unified front towards the authorities. In the 1840's, when the Jews felt that the Habsburgs were planning liberal changes, influenced by the intellectuals they started lobbying the authorities to cancel the special Jewish taxes.

In 1847 the Lvov kehila who was already headed by intellectuals took the initiative to organize a convention of all the large Jewish communities, Stryj among them. It was decided to petition the authorities outlining the dismal Jewish situation. As it was prohibited to submit a joint petition of all the communities, it was decided that each community would submit their own petition.

The petitions to Vienna were sent as follows:

Lvov	August 22nd, 1847
Brody	September 19th, 1847
Stanisławów, Sambor and Stryj	September 25th, 1847

The Stryj petition was signed by rabbi Cuzmer and detailed the heavy burden of the taxes. In Stryj, where 650 Jewish families lived, 400 of them were in such poverty that they did not know how they would make a living and feed their families the next day. In spite of this great poverty only 92 families were exempt from taxes and 156 received a discount. The poor families were obligated to pay 10,000 florins to the tax lessee who was not deterred by their situation, and in cases of non–payment would even confiscate their clothing or bed linens. The meat tax caused rising prices, and so only the rich could afford meat. This situation weakened the population as they were unable to buy the food to sustain them. 300,000 Galician Jews suffered various forms of prejudice, thus in addition to the heavy burden of taxes, there were various laws to make their lives difficult and impede their livelihood. In addition, the tax burden was heavier on the Jews than on the Christians as the Jews were the majority in the cities.

The Stryj petition emphasized the difficult situation the Jews were in because of the heavy taxes and the limitations and therefore they had to find various methods and tricks to survive and feed their families – most of them lived in conditions of poverty and starvation that were hard to imagine.

In December 1847, the summary of the petitions was brought before the emperor with the conclusion that Galician Jews were demanding the cancellation of the candles tax following the same cancellation in Bohemia.^[62]

The response to the petitions came after the constitution was published on April 25^th, 1848. It stated that these matters were forwarded to the parliament for further decision.

In Stanisławów Abraham Halpern was elected as a representative to the first Austrian parliament. He was the son–in–law of rabbi Enzil Cuzmer (the husband of the rabbi's daughter Nechama). Stryj elected the land owner count Alexander Dzidoszicki.

In spite of the changes brought after 1848, most of the Jews of Stryj remained observant and did not aspire for changes and reforms in the kehila that was governed by the orthodox.

The community did not participate in the political actions that were carried out by the communities of Lvov and Brody during these years to improve the political and social standing of the Jews. The Lvov community tried to repeal the limitations on ownership that were imposed on October 2^nd 1853 reversing the allowances given to them in 1848. Another law from 1803 that was cancelled in 1848 and reversed in 1853 was to not allow Jews to employ Christian domestic and apprentice help. The Brody, Lvov, Stanisławów and Przemyśl communities made unsuccessful efforts to repeal the reversal, but the Stryj community did not participate in these efforts. On July 19^th, 1852, thirty nine domestic workers were arrested because they did not leave their employment in Jewish homes.^[63]

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In 1860, a new law passed allowing Jews to buy real estate – land, homes and estates. However in the years 1862 – 1866 only five applications from Stryj were approved: Yeshayahu Meir Herman^[64], Berish Koppler^[65] (both wardens of synagogues), L. Halpern^[66] (merchant of liquors and grain), S. Garlenter^[67] (merchant of fruits) and Shenberg.^[68]

A large fire in the army warehouses broke in 1856 and there was a looming danger of the city's destruction. The quick actions by the commander who rushed troops to the area saved the city.

Rabbi Enzil Cuzmer passed away on the 21^st of Nisan (April 5^th) 1858 and a search for an heir caused much worries and struggles in the community.

The intellectuals whose influence strengthened saw an opportunity for change and modernization in the community, to which rabbi Cuzmer strongly opposed. Their goal was to bring order to the neglected community and organize an efficient administration.

The intellectuals circle was quite strong in those days and among them were some leaders of the community: Menachem Mendel Friedlander, Dov Joel Friedlander, Nathan Samueli, and the physician Dr. Hirsch Herman who was very popular among the Jewish population. The intellectuals had a majority in the community council and they wanted a rabbi academically educated in spite of the orthodox' objections. However, no such candidate was found and therefore they settled on the son–in–law of rabbi Cuzmer – rabbi Eliyahu Meir Ben Yaakov HaCohen Rosenblum.^[69]

Rabbi Rosenblum was born in 1797 and was a distinguished student of his father–in–law. Immediately after rabbi's Cuzmer passing, the orthodox demanded his appointment, a struggle that lasted for a year and a half. He was the rabbi of Stryj for nineteen years until his death on the 28^th of Nisan (April 11^th) 1877. Rabbi Rosenblum was a dedicated to Torah study and charity, distanced himself from any struggles with the orthodox and was highly regarded and respected by members of the community because of his practice of tolerance.

In the 1860s, the Jews of Stryj progressed economically, culturally and educationally. Charitable and educational institutions were established and the existing institutions were improved and extended. The educated Jewish population cooperated with the Lvov intellectuals' circle who established the Jewish political organization “Shomer Israel” (the keeper of Israel). This organization leaned towards the centralistic ideology that did not support the Polish autonomy aspirations.

The young Stryj born Hebrew author Neta Samueli wrote a strong essay objecting the Polish tactics that called for a coup and promised freedom for the Jews. “On the one hand they promise freedom and on the other the Galician Sejm objected Jewish emancipation”, he wrote.^[70]

A political awakening followed the new Austrian constitution laws of 1860 – 1861. National councils (Landtage) were established in some countries and in Galicia a Sejm was established. The Poles claimed that the Jews did not have active or passive voting rights. After much lobbying by Jewish representatives, the central government in Vienna issued a ruling on March 1^st, 1861 stating clearly that all citizens including the Jews would have full and equal civil rights.

The Galician Sejm assembled in 1861 with 141 delegates four of them Jewish: Dr. Liva Shimon Samelson from Kraków, Mark Dobbs from Lvov, Meir Kalir from Brody and Eliezer Dobbs from Kołomyja, who was succeeded after his passing by Dr. Maximilian Landsberger.

When the first Sejm convened, the Jewish delegates submitted a bill supported by the Polish delegates Ziamalkowski and count Igor Golochowski – to give Jews full and equal rights. However, based on the recommendations of the chief Ruthenian delegate, the priest Gushalwitz, the bill was passed to the administrative committee and never came up for discussion.

The Jewish question came up in the Sejm discussions during the years 1862 – 1866 in conjunction with the cities' regulations. There were no limitations based on any religious or ethnic orientations and the Jews were recognized as equal. This bill was strongly opposed in the Sejm by

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the Poles who wanted to impose various limitation and restrictions on the Jews.

The Jews protested against these restrictions and organized political actions. All the communities submitted protests against the restrictions, specifically those stating that mayors could be only Christians and council members had to speak Polish.^[71] The Stryj protest was submitted in January 1866.

Following long discussions in the Sejm on September 30^th and October 8^th, 1868^[72] the approved cities' regulations bill had no restrictions whatsoever on the Jews. In addition, the Sejm decided to petition the central government to remove all Jewish restrictions.

Based on the cities' regulations the Stryj council was comprised of 36 members: 11 Catholics (Poles), 6 Greek–Catholics (Ruthenians), 3 Evangelic and other religions and 16 Jews.

In nine cities the Jews were the majority in the town councils and only in Stryj they had a relative majority.

The achievement of full and equal rights, the Jews saw the “light of freedom”. However, as pointed by the Stryj Jewish intellectual Moshe David Balabban, these changes created much worries among the ultra–orthodox as no one could get married until completion of military service.^[73]

The young Stryj author Samueli^[74] reported about an interesting case. In 1866, a court house Christian clerk, Adam Miller, told rabbi Josef Zvi Garlanter that he wanted to convert to Judaism. Out of concern, the community refused his request. After the new constitution in 1868, Miller expressed his desire again to rabbi Rosenblum, and again he was refused. Following this refusal, Miller approached the community leaders Berish Koppler and Josef Garlanter. They referred him to the circumciser Moshe Zecharyahu Schiff who agreed. Together with Neta Samueli they traveled outside of town and warned Miller again, but he did not change his mind. After the circumcision, Miller's name became Abraham Ger–Tzedek (righteous convert to Judaism). This case made a strong impression in Stryj and in the entire Galicia.

In the community, the influence of the intellectuals and the academically educated kept growing.

Among the early enlightened intellectuals in Stryj was Yehosua Levenzohn. He was in contact on a regular basis with the renowned intellectual from Stanislawow Yechiel Meller^[75] regarding public matters (by letters).

In one of the letters to Meller (December 16^th, 1846)^[76] he stated his opinion against the Chasidic dominance in the Jewish education. Although Levenzohn was observant, he understood the dismal cultural situation of Galician Jews. The older generation favored the Chasidim who objected any progress and change, whereas the younger generation was distancing itself from the Jewish values.

Among the Stryj intellectuals who participated in “Kochavei Isaac” (stars of Isaac) was David Moshe Balaban (1841 – 1895) who was born in Lvov. In his youth he was the student of rabbi Josef Shaul Nathanson, but later joined the enlightenment circles.

In 1867 – 1868 he published his first poems in “Kochavei Isaac” (volume 34 p. 33, volume 35 p. 89 – 90). Later he published German poems translations in David Gordon's “Hamagid” (The messenger), Fine's “HaCarmel” (The Carmel) and in Moshe Shulboim's “HaEt” (The time). After his marriage he settled in Stryj, was popular and cooperated with the authorities.

The enlightened poet Moshe Hirsch Enser lived in Stryj for a few years. He was born in Lvov in 1804. He had broad education and knew Greek, German and French. Starting in 1845 he published poems in “Kochavei Isaac”.^[77] He was well educated in the Torah and in 1854 published a Hebrew grammar book. He was in close contact with Shir (Solomon Judah Löb Rapoport), S. Bloch, and Dr. Arter. In addition to the printed material, there were other manuscripts left by him: “Igrot El Asaf (Letters to Asaf – about the Hebrew language), “HaNoten Zmirot” (The giver of hymns – about the cantillation), interpretations for “Sefer HaNefesh” (Book of the soul) by Shem–Tov ben Joseph ibn Falaquera (1224 – 1290) and a collection of poems “Zera Kodesh” (Seed of holiness). He passed away in Lvov in 1871.

Mordechai Druker was born in Stryj in 1854 and was the nephew of Enser, educated and influenced by him greatly, leaning towards the enlightenment. He was a significant scholar of the Torah and an excellent reader of scriptures. He started his literary career as a writer for the publication “Ivri Anochi” (I am a Hebrew) in Brody. He dedicated himself to the study and research of the Hebrew grammar. He published a book “Safa Lane'emanim” (Language for the Faithful) and later a publication on the Hebrew verbs.

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He later published “Techelet Mordechai”, a commentary on the Pentateuch (Lvov 1894); “Tovim Meorot” (The Good Luminaries), sanctification for the sun and moon (first edition Lvov 1897, second edition Lvov 1928); “Ateret Mordechai” (The crown of Mordechai), a commentary on Midrash Rabba using the approach of Hebrew linguistics; “Divrei Hachamim Ve'Hidoteyhem” (The words and riddles of the sages) on the Torah portions.

Druker was an orthodox Jew and he served as “Magid meisharim” in town from 1891.

Other intellectuals in town during this period were Menachem Mendel Friedlander (died 1875), Dan Cohen who translated Lessing's “Freigeist” (Free thinker) (Drohobycz 1886), Haim Mendrochowicz, D. Apfelgreen and Leo Druker.

In the 1860's a new and promising literary came into the limelight in Galicia. Nathan Neta Samueli was born February 28^th, 1846 to a renowned family in Stryj. He was educated and familiar with the old Hebrew literature as well as the enlightenment literature. In 1864 – 1865 he published his first stories in the periodical “Ivri Anochi” (I am Hebrew) in Brody – “Seven Saturdays” and “Language of the Faithful” as well as poems in the “HaShahar” (The dawn) and “Kochavei Isaac”. In 1868 he published the Neo–Hebrew poetry book“Kenaf Renanim” (The wing of chanting) which was received enthusiastically by the readers. Even Peretz Smolenskin saw in his poems the birth of a new star.

Samueli wrote in Hebrew and German, publishing highly acclaimed poems and short stories^[77a] depicting the Jewish life in Galicia. His stories were poetic, although showed also satirical and humoristic elements. His first stories in German were published in the weekly “Lemberger Yiddishe Presse”, which he published together with the renowned poet Dr. Mauritz Rappaport.

He introduced to the German reading Jew a new world full of depression and sadness, but also a world full of happiness and rejoicing, a world full of spiritual adventures. In his stories, Samueli described the various Jewish movements – the Chasidim, the intellectuals and enlightened and those who strived to advance with the new European wave – but not in the style of the intellectuals of the early nineteenth century. His characters such as rabbi Haim Resenband, his granddaughter Esther, and Dr. Gustav Ahrenbart – all from small and obscure villages in Galicia – all their ambition was to help people come out of the mental and spiritual depression, to free them from their superstitions and the rabbis, to help them obtain culture and education all that without assimilation.

Samueli's aspirations at the time of his writings were actually in contrast to those he described in his stories. He opposed Chassidism which he saw as a force trying to distance the people from the European culture. However, he managed to describe a colorful picture of the Chasidim so they seemed to be life–like characters. In 48 stories, with a psychological backdrop, he described his contemporaries, characters from all walks of life of Jewish Galicia. These served as a source to understand the traditional Galician life. His German books “Shylock und Nathan” and “Kulturbilder” were received very favorably and were described as the most authentic depiction of Jewish life in Galicia. The anthology of his Hebrew stories that were published in three volumes “From Life” (Warsaw 1891) and two volumes “Faces” (Warsaw 1897 – 1898) were an important contribution to understanding the Jewish life in Galicia.

Samueli was one of the admirers of Peretz Smolenskin and was sharply criticized about it by Yehoshua Heshel Schorr, the owner of “HeHalutz”.

In 1882 Samueli published in Sacher–Masoch's Austrian monthly “Auf der Höhe” an assay praising the stories of Smolenskin. Yehoshua Heshel Schorr, who was Smolenskin's adversary, published an article in Brody's “HaIvri”, mocking him (Smolenskin).^[78] Samueli played an active role in the public life in Stryj and represented his town in the “Day of the communities” in July 1878 in Lvov. Later, he settled in Lvov and lived there until the start of World War I when he escaped to Vienna as a refugee. He later moved to Baden where he passed away on March 26^th, 1921.

These intellectuals established a club called …. where they gathered to read papers and books and listen to lectures. This club influenced greatly the community life. The fast economic growth in 1860 – 1870 was a major

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factor in stabilizing the Jewish population. The town and the surrounding areas saw the establishment of factories for metal works, lumber saw–mills, plaster manufacturing, water–mills, alcohol distilleries, soap manufacturing, starch and matches. Much of these industries were Jewish–owned. The economic activity increased even more after the railroad line was opened in 1886.

The improved economic conditions contributed greatly to the increase in charitable activities headed mainly by the leaders Mordechai Markusohn, Moshe Lifszitz, Lippa Halpern, and Yeshayahu Meir Herman.^[79] A Jewish hospital was established which was maintained by donations and also by an allocation from the community. Due to Stryj's location, the commerce with Hungary expended mainly in cattle, agricultural products and lumber.

Politically the influence of Jews grew in public life, mainly in the city council.

The first direct elections for the Austrian parliament were held in 1873. The Poles in the Galician Sejm did not consider the Jewish interests and no (Jewish) representatives were elected for the years 1870 – 1873. In Lvov, the organization “Shomer Israel” (the keeper of Israel) came–up with their own independent list of Jewish candidates. A Jewish elections committee was established on May 28^th, 1873 with representatives of the communities headed by Dr. Juliusz Kaliszer as the chair–person and Dr. Emil Byk as secretary. The leadership of the Stryj community supported the “Shomer Israel” political aspirations.^[80]

In November 1873 elections were held for both the Austrian parliament and the Galician Sejm. The Jewish candidate Dr. Philip Fruchtmann ran against the Polish candidate Dr. Zygmont Zatwarnicki, won (296 to 199 votes)^[81] and was elected to the Sejm, representing Stryj until 1909 – for thirty six consecutive years.

Elections for the town council were held in April 1874. Dr. Fructmann won 31 to 2^[82] and was elected mayor and served also in this position for a few years. In the Vienna parliament, Stryj was represented by Christian delegates. In 1890, after the death of the Stryj delegate Otto Hoyzer, Dr. Fruchtmann was offered the position, but he refused.

Dr. Fruchtmann joined “Shomer Israel” because of its ideology and slogans of Polish assimilation. He saw himself as a Pole of the Jewish religion and was not supportive of the Jewish national aspirations. His home and his children's education were Polish. In the Galician Sejm, he cared more for the Polish interests than the Jewish ones.

As a mayor he worked hard to improve and develop the town. The kehila was at the time headed by the enlightened intellectuals and they desired reforms based on those stated by the “Shomer Israel” in Lvov which brought about many changes in the political life of Galician Jews. Mainly they demanded that the communities become more modern and adjust to the new era. Based on the organization's initiative, the authorities demanded reorganization based on uniform regulations for all the communities. “Shomer Israel” made efforts to stabilize and unify all the communities based on regulations approved by the authorities and all communities were required to participate in a conference on June 18^th – 20^th in Lvov.

The Stryj community was represented by the author Neta Nathan Samueli who participated in the discussions and was instrumental in coming–up with a set of uniform regulations.

As a result of this conference, the orthodox struggled to object any changes in the communities as proposed by “Shomer Israel” and came up with their own organization “Mahzikei HaDat” (Keepers of the religion) led by Shimon Schrieber from Krakow and the Belz rabbi.

These differences in opinions caused many conflicts in Stryj between “Shomer Israel” and their supporters and the orthodox. The district official who supported the orthodox, refused to approve the regulations reasoning that the clause dealing with appointing rabbis stated that the candidate must have general (secular) education and fluency in the state languages.

The district official disbanded the existing kehila committee and appointed a temporary committee comprised of the orthodox. The committee appealed to the authorities, the regulations were approved and elections for the kehila committee were scheduled to be held on October 29th, 1880. The district official tried to postpone the elections

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but the authorities objected any delays. The elections took place and the “Shomer Israel” candidates won by a large margin.

One of the reasons for the conflicts between “Shomer Israel” and the orthodox was the issue of electing a new rabbi after the passing of rabbi Eliyahu Meir Rosenblum in 1877. “Shomer Israel” wanted to appoint his son that was orthodox, but also had secular education and was fluent in German. The orthodox objected mainly because he conducted his sermons in German.^[83]

After long negotiations, all agreed to appoint rabbi Aryeh Leibush (1848 – 1909). He was the son of rabbi Isaac the son of rabbi Meshulam Yissachar Horowitz of Stanisławów. He was the rabbi of Zilozitz (Założce) between 1871 and 1874 and then the rabbi of Seret (in Bukovina) between 1874 and 1878. He served as the rabbi of Stryj until 1906 when he moved to Stanisławów to take his father's position.

Rabbi Horowitz was a great Talmudic scholar. He published his book of Q&A's “Harei Besamim”, in two volumes (First volume was published in Lvov in 1882, and the second volume in 1897). He was a very good lecturer and orator and was fluent in German. He was well regarded and liked by his community and was tactful and well–mannered.

He was supported by the orthodox because of his leanings towards Hassidism and he occasionally visited rabbi David Moshe of Czortków. He tried unsuccessfully to build a bridge between the various factions of the community.

He assisted in the founding the “General Cheder” to the dismay of the orthodox who harassed him until he left town in 1906 to become the rabbi of Stanisławów.

After the orthodox gained control of the kehila, the committee chair stopped paying the rabbi's salary for a few months, but was overruled by the community who supported the rabbi and disliked the orthodox tactics.

A fire erupted in town on April 17^th, 1886. Because of the high winds, the flames soon engulfed the entire town. Shops, churches, the old synagogue (circa 1677), houses of study burned to the ground. 970 homes burned at an estimated value of 2.4 million florins and the estimated value of merchandise lost was 2.6 million florins. Many people lost their lives and in the rabbi's house, a fifty thousand florins orphans' fund was lost. More than seven thousand people became homeless.^[84]

However, the authorities and the public stepped–in and the town was rebuilt quickly. The Jewish population was assisted greatly by donations from baron Maurice von Hirsch.

An author from town documented Stryj as a “town not big and not small”^[85] where many opposites exist – some characteristics were of a big town and some of small, such in clothing, transportation, medicine, wealth, etc.

He also described how the Chasidic interfered with anything and everything objecting the proper management of the community life, but slowly the enlightened gained more support and influence and were able to break the walls of ignorance and did greatly for the advancement of their people.

Influenced by the enlightened, a more modern kehila was established after the orthodox lost the elections. In addition to establishing welfare and charity institutions, they also rebuilt the club that burnt and other cultural establishments. The purpose was to advance the science, Torah and general knowledge and also to raise the Jewish social life and distance the population from the superstitions and ignorance that were very prevalent.

On March 12^th, 1887 a “Beit Mikra” was opened. Its function was public readings and lectures. Students under the guidance of Shmuel Weizman got lectures assignments calling for “knowledge, understanding, unity, strengthening of the national spirit, improving the communities,

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because these were the reasons for Israel's redemption”.^[86]

They established a Jewish hospital, women's help societies, charity lodging, and charity tea–house.^*

The orthodox, who noticed the national leanings of the more enlightened and educated, pressured the district official to appoint a temporary community committee comprised of their people, but were not successful.

Shortly after the 1886 fire, the town developed quickly, the economy improved and the number of Jews grew.

Census numbers:   1880 1890 1900 1910 Number of Christians in the district 67,623 78,398 96,194   Number of Jews in the district 10,382 12,774 15,859   Number of Christians in cities and townships 7,525 (11.1%) 10,429 (13.3%) 15,239 (15.8%)   Number of Jews in cities and townships 6,583 (63.4%) 8,241 (64.5%) 10,742 (67.7%)   Number of Jews in villages 2,537 (24.4%) in 101 villages 3,224 (25.3%) in 100 villages 4,295 (27%) in 99 villages   Number of inhabitants in Stryj 12,625 16,515 23,205 30,942 Number of Jews in Stryj 5,245 (41.5%) 6,572 (39.8%) 8,647 (37.2%) 10,718 (34%)

In 1910 out of 1192 students there were 447 Jewish students^[88] in the two high schools in town. There were 10 Jewish high school teachers. Due to the large number of students from out of town, and those without means, a committee led by Dr. Fruchtmann was established to build a hostel (Bursa zydowska). Donations were collected between the years 1908 and 1910. The nice building housed up to 30 students between 1910 and the start of the first world war.

In the late 1880's the spread of Anti–Semitism, the events in Russia, the awakening of the minorities in the Austrian empire and the unfavorable response of certain Poles and Germans to the Jewish assimilation, showed some of the enlightened that the right way was to return to Jewish nationalism. In 1884 – 1885, the high school Jewish youth established Zionist activities to learn about Jewish history, Hebrew, and discussion circles on Zionist–national subjects. The organizer was Gershon Zipper^[89] who came to Stryj in 1883 from his town of Tarnopol after failing school there. He communicated with Zionist circles in Lvov and corresponded with Mordecai Ehrenpreis, Dr. Itzhak Feld the author of the Zionist anthem “Dort wo die Zeder” and Abraham Korkis and saw himself as their emissary in Stryj. In the Stryj high school, Jewish religious studies were not taught. The community leaders

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were completely indifferent to this, although it was actually against the law. Zipper organized a protest of the Jewish students who appeared before the leadership forcing them to appeal to the national education council to appoint a teacher for Jewish religious studies. Due to this action that was also supported by a petition signed by the parents, the council appointed the Hebrew author Yitzhak Aharon Bernfeld (1854 – 1930) (he was the brother of the renowned author and scholar Dr. Shimon Bernfeld) to teach Jewish religious studies in the Stryj schools.

Zipper continued his activities also among those who were not high school students until he left in June of 1890 to study law at the University of Lvov.

The Zionist activities of the youth encouraged the enlightened and the educated to turn to the national revival movement.

In 1887 a group of maskilim, headed by Dan Hacohen and Meir Abraham Stern, established the“Shoharei Tushia” society for the purpose of spreading the national ideal, supporting the new settlements in Eretz Israel and fostering the Hebrew language and literature.

This society, which was joined by 100 members, was headed by the intellectual Moshe Stern, who was a community activist and a member of the town council, who worked tirelessly for the Jewish population, David Goldberg and Patrach. Three years later all activities were suspended, and in 1891 a number of young men who were not satisfied with the leadership of the“Shoharei Tushia” founded another group called“Hayahadut”, for the purpose of promoting the study of Hebrew literature.^[90] Because of this split, the general meeting of“Shoharei Tushia” which was held on November 28th, 1890, resolved to change its name to“Haleumi”. In its rules and regulations it stated that “its chief purpose was to strengthen and disseminate the Jewish national consciousness among the Jews”.

The Stryj Zionists were in constant contact with the Lvov Zionists and held constructive discussions.^[90a][91]

The“Admat Israel” society, was founded in March 1891 by Avigdor Mermelstein of Przemysl, with the purpose of popularizing the idea of settlement in Eretz Israel, and collecting money to support the farmers there. Fifty persons joined and Moshe Lipschitz^[92] was elected chairperson. A year later another 150 members joined the Society. In November, 1891 the society sent its secretary, Meir Abraham Stern, to Eretz Israel in order to investigate the conditions of the Jewish settlements and“to seek a place there” for setting up a colony of Galician Jews.“Admat Israel” was the first society in Galicia to send its own representative to Eretz Israel. After a visit which lasted a year, Stern came home and gave a detailed report.

On July 24^th,1894 Stern passed away following a long illness, and“Shoharei Tushia” and“Admat Israel” societies lost one of their most active and dedicated members.

In May 1892, Dr. Nathan Birnbaum made a propaganda tour of Galician towns, in the course of which he visited Stryj on May 24^th. There he proposed that members of the“Admat Israel” society join the “Zion association” of societies in Vienna. During the meeting Moshe Lipschitz and Moshe Schoenfeld declared that the general assembly which was to be held after the return of Meir Abraham Stem from Eretz Israel would undoubtedly adopt the resolution.

The resolution was adopted and“Admat Israel”, whose original purpose was to be a Galician center of societies for settlement of Eretz Israel became a branch of “Zion” in Vienna, and continued its activities on a smaller scale.

Rabbi L. M. Landau and Adolf Stand spoke at the general meeting of the society in November 1894 and encouraged the members.

The establishment of the new Societies^[93] led the“Shoharei Tushia”, and in particular its chairman Moshe Stern, to renew and stabilize its own activities. A general meeting was held in 1892, and a new committee was elected with Abraham Goldberg as chairman, Michael Hornstein as vice chairman,

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Mattityahu Patrach – secretary, A.J. Kris – treasurer, Itzhak Reisner, and A. Scheinfeld – librarian. The society started to hold regular meetings and lectures which were addressed by speakers from Lvov, among them Dr. Gershon Zipper, who was already known to and very popular from the time that he studied in Stryj. During the general meeting of March 24^th, 1894 the following were elected: Moshe Stern as chairman, David Goldberg as vice chairman, M. Kerner as treasurer, Yaakov Ringel as librarian. The following were elected as committee members: S. Stern, L. Walker, Abraham Scheinfeld, P. Ringel, Michael Rapp, Hirsch Scheinfeld, W. Last and H. Pepperkorn. During the meeting it was decided to modify the regulations and characteristics of the society from a “general Jewish” into a national Zionist body and join the Jewish national party which already existed in Galicia and was centered in Lvov.^[94]

The socialist movement started its activities among the masses during the same period.

Polish workers had begun to organize in Galicia starting in 1870. Bolesław Limanowski and Boleslaw Czerwienski author of the labor poem “Czerwony sztandar” (the red flag), were the first organizers and preachers of the socialist movement among the Polish public. They were mostly supported by Polish political emigrants. Socialist organizations also began to appear among the Ukrainians established by the students of the Ukrainian writer and scholar A. Drahomanov. Ivan Franko and Mykhailo Pavlyk were the first pioneers.

Professionally organized Jewish workers appeared on the scene only at the beginning of the 1890's not as independent organizations, but within the framework of the Polish social democratic movement.

In 1891 Jewish workers were organized in the Polish Sila society of Lvov, but soon after independent societies of Jewish workers were established. Among them were“Yad Hazaka” in Lvov,“Brüderlichkeit” (brotherhood) in Kraków,”Freiheit” (liberty and political freedom) in Stanisławów and a society in Kołomyja.

On September 1^st, 1893, the social democratic organization in Galicia published the bi–weekly“Der Arbeiter” in Yiddish (more accurately in German with Hebrew characters) which was edited by Karl Naker. From this journal we can learn about the agitation among the workers in Stryj at the Lipschitz matches factory where the workday was 15 – 17 hours.

The first Jewish workers' society was established in Stryj in 1893 under the name“Brüderlichkeit”. Officially it was a society for the dissemination of culture (Bildungsverein).^[95] However, it had little real impact on the Jewish public and declined even more following the establishment of the “Poalei Zion” movement.

The Zionist movement gained the most supporters among both the intellectuals and the Jewish masses. Since Zionist societies were established in most towns of Galicia, the question of a common framework for them soon arose. In March 1891, during a convention of“Zion” members in Lvov, Dr. Abraham Salz of Tarnow proposed to unite all the local societies in one organization for the entire Galicia to ensure uniformity. He suggested a convention to be held by the end of 1891 with the participation of all the local societies. To prepare for the convention a special committee was appointed, consisting of representatives of Lvov, Drobobycz and with Gershon Zipper from Stryj. This committee also prepared the convention which, in 1892 united all Zionist societies in Galicia into a single national organization. A plan was prepared and organizational and publicity methods were decided on. The first national conference was held on April 23^rd –24^th 1893 with the participation of representatives of all the societies. The second national conference was held on September 2^nd – 4th 1894 where the organizational ideas were discussed. Theses conferences were attended by M. Patrach, and by Abraham Stern who was elected to be committee president – both from Stryj.

The Zionist societies were a major contributor to raising Jewish national awareness among the younger generation, who organized in secret societies to study Hebrew and Jewish history.

High–school graduates and University students in Stryj established their own society, whose representative participated in the first students' conference held on July 25^th – 26^th 1899 in Lvov. Juliusz Wurzel was the Stryj representative.

In 1903 the academic society“Veritas” (later became“Emuna”) joined the association of academic societies that were not corporations in Austria and had major impact on the Jewish youth. In 1912 it joined the Zionist academic organization which was established earlier at a convention held in Drohobycz on September 15^th 1912.

”Bnei Zion” (sons of Zion) organization of high school student existed in Stryj from the end of the 19^th century as part of the national“Ze'irei Zion” (youth of Zion) association headed by Nathan Czaczkes (J. Kirton) and Moshe Frostig.

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The process of differentiation first began among the Zionist youth in 1908. The students who supported the “Poalei Zion” ideology began to establish their own societies within national“Herut” (freedom) organization.

In 1911 Stryj had, a“Bnei Zion” circle containing 6 “Ze'irei Zion” branches, with 80 members and 5 Hebrew study courses attended by 40 students. The“Safa Brura” Hebrew school and Club had been established in 1902.

An organization of Zionist workers and laborers called “The commercial associates club” was established in 1901 and was the foundation for the “Poalei Zion” movement in Stryj. In June 1903 it joined the national organization established by the“Ahva” (fraternity/brotherhood) society of Lvov.

Moshe Wundermann established a branch of the “Mizrahi” society following the spread of this movement in Galicia.

Following the visit of Rosa Pomeranz in 1898, a women's Zionist society was established in Stryj led by Dr. Helena Rosenman and Rachel Katz. In 1910 the chapter joined the national organization of Zionist women. The first conference was held in Lvov on February 27^th 1910 and was dedicated to the issue of preschools/kindergartens and was addressed by the Stryj representative Dr. Helena Rosenman. She was also elected to the national committee of the association.

Between 1903 and 1906 the Stryj Zionist societies were under the jurisdiction of the Lvov district. From 1902 all Zionist activities in Stryj were led by Dr. Juliusz Wurzel, a lawyer who lived in town until the outbreak of the first world war. In the 1907 Austrian parliament elections Dr. Abraham Salz of Tamow was the Zionist candidate. The 1907 elections created a wave of Jewish enthusiasm in Galicia (Stryj included). Nobody who saw it could ever forget the devotion and support which the Jewish masses displayed for the Zionist movement.

The Zionist movement at the time was led by Dr. Shlomo Goldberg, Dr. Heinrich Byk, Dr. Wolf Schmorak, and Dr. Michael Ringel.

The election activities were directed by Dr. Wurzel, who was arrested and had his home searched which was quite unusual in those days.

In the 1911 elections the Zionist candidate, Dr. Leon Reich, was among the finalists together with the P.P.S. candidate Moraczewsky in spite of the efforts of assimilationists to have him defeated in the primaries. However, Dr. Reich was not elected because the assimilationists and their orthodox followers voted for the P.P.S. candidate Moraczewsky.

In 1907 Dr. Salz received 1722 votes in Stryj, while in 1911 Dr. Reich received 1541 votes.^[96]

Significant changes took place in community life in 1896. The academic intellectual group grew, and they were holding the key positions in public life. In 1896 there were three Jewish lawyers: Dr. Altman, Dr. Fink, and Dr. Fruchtmann. In 1911 there were 16 Jewish lawyers, 2 Jewish surgeons^[97] and eight physician specialists.^[98]

After Dr. Fruchtmann completed his term as Mayor, four Christian mayors were elected in succession: Dr. Zygmont Zatwarnicki, Ludwig Gettinger, Rettinger, and Alexander Stojalowski. Then, the Jewish lawyer Dr. Juliusz Falk was elected and served a number of years.^[98a]

During that time the community was led by Lippa Halperin, David Halperin, Dr. Enzil Goldstein all of them descendants of rabbi Enzil Cuzmer, Joseph Zvi Gelernter. Dr. Wiesenberg led the community between the years 1911 and 1914. After Rabbi Hurwitz was appointed chief rabbi of Stanisławów no one was appointed to fill the position in Stryj. Following his departure rabbi Feivel Hertz of Głogów and rabbi Jolles (son of rabbi Uri of Sambor) of Mosciska were appointed members of the Beth–Din (rabbinical court). This led to many years of controversy within the community. In 1917 the step–nephew of rabbi Hurwitz, rabbi Eliezer ben Shlomo Ladier (1874–1932) from Seret (Bukovina), was appointed to be the chief rabbi in Stryj. He was a scholar who wrote many works on Talmudic subjects. However he also published poems in Hebrew and German expressing his love for Zion, for the revival of the Jewish people and for the beauty of Nature. His poems were published in various journals and were never collected during his lifetime. In 1933 after his death his son published a volume of his German poems in Vienna under the title“Gedichte”. The plans to publish his Hebrew poems never materialized.

During the years 1908 to 1914 there were many activities in the area of Hebrew education and spreading the knowledge of the Hebrew language. Dr. Max Bienenstock, Dr. Zvi Diesendruk and Jonah Gelernter organized the younger generation. They set up classes for Hebrew study and established the“Ivriya” Club. The main private Hebrew school was established by Moshe Wundermann. Active Hebrew teachers before the first world war included Hutriansky and Fuks, a refugee from Russia who was one of the first members of the Jewish self–defense during the pogroms in Homel, M. A. Tennenblatt, Kuhn, and Naphthali Siegel.

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A number of Stryj born Jews made valuable literary, cultural and scholarly contributions to the press, Jewish studies and public affairs during the second part of the 19^th century and the beginning of the 20^th century.

Ephraim Frisch, a noted Jewish author who wrote in German, was born in Stryj on March 1^st 1873 and spent his early years there. In the 1880's he moved to Brody, where he attended the German high–school and joined the Zionist student group.

In 1892 the programmatic brochure of the Zionist students was published in Lvov under the Polish title: “Jaki być powinien program młodzieży żydowskiej” (What should be the Jewish youth program) which centered the Zionist activities around work for Eretz Israel. Frisch then published an essay in Dr. Nathan Birnbaum's “Selbstemanzipation” (self emancipation) in which he attacked the“phraseology” of the brochure – which spoke so much of settlement in Eretz Israel, Zion, etc. without recognizing the prospect of redemption and settlement as the final goal cannot be achieved without making far–reaching reforms within the communities. In his opinion it was necessary to understand the fact that steps must first be taken to improve the social condition of the Jewish workers which was growing steadily in Galicia. Because of the growing influence of the orthodox and the assimilationists it was necessary to disseminate education, knowledge and culture among the masses. Despite his opposition to the very approach of the brochure he could not ignore the basic assumption of the plan that was based on scientific and moral foundations and drew the necessary conclusions from the degraded and impoverished conditions of Galicia's Jews. At the end of his essay he emphasized the brochure's positive aspects.

From Brody Frisch moved to Vienna and shortly afterwards to Berlin. He achieved a reputation as a writer and literary critic. In spite of being active as a German writer he always regarded himself as a Jewish nationalist and supported the Zionist movement. In 1902 he published his novel“Das Verlöbnis“ (the engagement) about Jewish life in Galicia. In 1905 he worked for Max Reinhardt as a dramaturge. In 1910, he published“Von der Kunst des Theaters” (From the art of theater). In his 1914 story“Die Kantine” (the canteen) he again described the Jews of Galicia. From 1911 until 1925 he published a political–literary monthly“Der Neue Merkur” (the new mercury) in Munich.

In 1921 he published an article titled“Jüdische Aufzeichnungen” (Jewish records). In 1927 he published the novel“Zenobi” depicting Austrian life in the days before the World War one. His wife, Feiga Frisch (1878–?), who was born in Russia, was also a renowned writer. She translated many works from Russian into German of such authors as Goncharov, Turgenev, Saltykov–Shchedrin, Chekhov, Alexander Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy and others.

The well–known Hebrew writer and educator Eliezer Meir Lipschitz was also a native of Stryj. He was born on November 5^th 1879, the son of Yom Tov Lipschitz, one of the first “Lovers of Zion” (Hovevei Zion) in Galicia and the owner of a match factory in Skole. He was educated in both traditional Jewish studies as well as general secular studies. When his parents moved to Lvov he studied under rabbis Isaac Schmelkes and Shlomo Buber. In Lvov he joined the maskilim and Zionist youth circles under the leadership of Mordecai Ehrenpreis, Joshua Tahun, Mordechai Braude and Shlomo Schiller. He was one of the first Hebrew speakers and formed a circle of youth who spoke the language in the Sephardic diction.

After his marriage to Dina Reitzes, who was also fluent in Hebrew he became a merchant. Only Hebrew was spoken in their home and it became one of the centers of the Hebrew movement in Galicia.

With Zvi Karl he established a Hebrew teachers' seminary in Lvov and thanks to his initiative“Ivriya” clubs were established in Lvov and the surrounding towns. He had a major impact in introducing Hebrew as a spoken language, disseminating Hebrew literature and improving its style. In 1904 he published his research on Yaakov Shmuel Buch in the literary calendar“Hermon” which appeared in Lvov and was edited by Gershom Bader. He later published studies on the history of Hebrew culture and literature in the Hebrew monthly“Ha'Shiloah”. His true passion, however, was for pedagogical and literary work. He therefore accepted in 1910 the proposal of the“Ezra” society in Berlin to become a teacher in their Hebrew teachers' seminary in Jerusalem.

In Jerusalem he was active in public life and scientific research, publishing essays in“Hatekufa” and in other journals which appeared in Eretz Israel. He called for the establishment of Hebrew educational institutions based on the traditional “Heder”, centering on Torah learning with secular studies as well.

During World War one he was arrested by the Turks and exiled to Damascus, but was released as an Austrian subject and forced to leave the country for Berlin. There he published his work“Vom Lebendigen Hebräisch” (From the Living Hebrew) in 1923.

In 1919 he returned to Eretz Israel, and was appointed the head

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of the teachers' seminary of the Mizrahi educational network. The institution expanded under his leadership. He established a model elementary school for training the students and graduates of the seminary. Later he also established a high–school.

For a few years he acted as an inspector/supervisor of the orthodox educational system. He was active in developing the educational side of the orthodox system. The essays he published in the press were noteworthy for their sleek style. His better–known works include: A monograph on Rashi (Warsaw 1912); The Mishna (Jaffa 1922), which also appeared in German in Berlin (1919); a study of the “Heder” (“Hatekufa” – Vol. 7);“Conversations” on religious issues under the pseudonym Azariah Ibn Bezalel; essays on educational questions (Ha'Shiloah 22, 37); and on Agnon (Ha'Shiloah, Vol. 22), which was published in 1920 in Berlin as a separate book.

All his life he worked towards unifying the general education based on the Torah. He passed away in Jerusalem on the 24^th of Tammuz 5706 (July 23^rd, 1946).

Dr. Abraham Jacob Braver, the noted historian and geographer, was born in Stryj on the 4^th of Nissan 5644 (march 30^th 1884), and completed his high–school education in town. He received a Ph.D. from the Vienna University, and taught at the Tarnopol high–school in 1910–1911. He came to Eretz Israel in 1912 and became a teacher at the teachers' seminary founded by the Ezra society of Berlin (1912–1914). In the years 1914–1918 he taught in Salonika and Constantinople (Istanbul), and in 1920 he returned to Eretz Israel again to teach at the teachers' seminary.

His first research work was on Fergen, the first Polish commissioner of Galicia and was published in the quarterly“Kwartalnik Historyczny” in 1907. In 1910 he published a work in Vienna on“Galizien wie es an Österreich kam” (How Galicia came to Austria) which was received enthusiastically by historical scientists in Austria. He also published a valuable Hebrew study in“Ha'Shiloah” (Vol. 23) on“The Emperor Joseph the second and the Jews of Galicia”. While in Tarnopol, he found a manuscript in the “Perl” Library by Dov Birkental of Bolechów (1723 – 1805) entitled“Divrei Bina” (words of wisdom), about Jacob Frank and the famous dispute between the Frankists and representatives of the Jewish community in Lvov in 1759. He published the manuscript in“Ha'Shiloah” under the title“A new Hebrew Source on the Frankists”.

In Eretz Israel he devoted himself to the geography of the country, and published many studies in this field. His renowned work“Haaretz” (The Land) was published in many editions. He also published a geographic atlas.

His father Michael ben Moshe Braver (1862 – 1949), who was a well–known writer on rabbinical subjects, lived in Stryj between 1882 and 1902 and took an active part in the community life. While in Stryj he contributed to“Ivri Anochi”,“Hamizpeh” and“Mahazikei Hadat”.

* The charity tea–house provided the city's poor tea, sugar and a large roll for one kruezer and large families for free. Officially this was opened for all the city's poor, but practically only Jews benefited. return

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