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A. The old shul

The main part of the old shul which we remember from childhood was originally built in stone, and was erected in the year 5354 (1594), according to what is stated on the former iron gate. (Details of this, as well as information on hardships that had to be overcome in order to build the synagogue and on what used to be there before it was erected are given in the historical section of this book.) Later, additional rooms were built to the north and west of the main section, which in their times housed the local yeshiva, and had a passageway to women's section, consultation rooms and the Tailors' Minyan. The date that these additions were made is not known. It is also not clear in which period the small house was built in the yard to the left of the gate. It had two prayer rooms, one downstairs where any time of the day minyanim could worship in the Nusach Sephard Eastern-European tradition, and the second room upstairs for quieter minyanim that worshipped in Ashkenazic tradition. The services in the shul itself were always in Ashkenazic tradition. The first gabbai in the second half of the 19^th century was Reb Chaim Icchak Blumenfeld, a respected and educated Jew who did not allow those who said Kaddish to say Veyatzmakh Purkanei^[1]. Reb Chaim Icchak was a practical Jew – his son studied law (and became a competent specialist in the civil law). His daughter's son was Dr. Ludwig Grossfeld, a lawyer who became a deputy of Dr. Liebermann of the leadership of PPSD [Polska Partia Socjal-Demokratyczna – Polish Social-Democratic Party – ed.] and after the Second War a minister in the Polish government.

We remember the “plusz”^[2] in the rear western part of the shul hall where there were no benches along tables. In times of need one could participate in the services, mostly by standing. Sessions of one of the two rabbinical courts of the community took place here during the Polish period, prior to the partition.

From the paved yard that descended towards the building from the side of Jewish Street behind the shul, one would go down a few stairs and enter a small room. There was a sink there, and in our times some people still remembered the “kuna”^[3] where once (probably not during Austrian period) Jews who brought disgrace to the community were put to shame. They would be tied to the pole at the neck and the legs. (Reb Samuel Knoller remembers the “kuna”.) From this it follows that the floor level of the shul's hall was lower than the street behind the building. There were always some scholars in the congregation, even if they did not study at the shul. As such we remember Reb Icchak Teomim, his brother Moshe and the man with great knowledge of the Torah, Jehoshua Mieses.

During the year Rabbi Gedalia Schmelkes worshipped in a private minyan at his home, but during holidays he worshipped in the shul. Here he would deliver the two customary sermons a year^[4], as well as others on various occasions such state or royal anniversaries, the Kaiser's birthday etc, and sometimes also on Jewish events. On the eve of Rosh Chodesh Nisan they used to recite Slicha (penitential prayer) in the memory of Moshe Szmuckler^[a], may G-d avenge his blood, who was burnt in Przemysl in Sanctification of the Divine Name in the year 5390 [1630]. (The author of the Slicha

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was Reb Shabtai Hasofer (the Scribe) of Przemysl^[b]. It was also recited in the two Beis Midrashes (study halls). At the end of the 19^th and beginning of the 20^th century the shul was governed by a member of the Gans family who worshipped primarily in the shul with their sons-in-law on condition they were not Hassidim. Participation of simple folks was noticeable in the shul. They also participated in the battle of Cantor Strucki; at the time of “cantors war” and were ready to donate money for his benefit. The fact that two powerful propinatorim^[c], (Chaim Wolf and Kalman Freudenheim) worshipped in the shul possibly influenced the final position of the community council in the “cantors war”. The former was a head of the community council for several years. Regarding the second it is said that he used to throw large sums of money into the community when the collection plates were put out at Mincha on the eve of Yom Kippur.

There is a separate chapter in this book about the architecture of the shul, written by Prof. Dr. Schneid who dealt with repairs of the inner hall prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. It mentions the colored wall paintings that were made in 1840 in a disparaging manner. The windows were also very simple. Wooden tablets with engraved prayers hung on the walls. Also the outside look was not particularly nice, especially on the eastern side (Jagiellonska Street), apparently due to ban by the Catholic Church on decorating synagogues. Changes in this direction took place in 1911 when government restorers from Lvov decided not only to protect the valuable building itself but also to ensure that the beauty of the inside will show on the outside. Through their efforts, an attic in the Polish Renaissance style was built on the eastern side (Jagiellonska) where the roofline was not perfect, and the old gate on the western side was removed.

The facade of the old synagogue on Jagiellonska Street before 1912

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destroyed the shul. Only three burnt walls remained (see picture in this book). After the fall of the Nazis, these ruins were torn down with bulldozers by a Przemysl bureaucrat's private decision. (Also see photos of the shul in its glory.)

A cantor called Strucki led services at the shul for quite a long time, until the 1890s. The people liked his prayers and were very attached to him. After his death at the beginning of the 1890s his son served as a cantor in a Hungarian town. A cantor from Russia, called Schechter, a man with a musical talent and very strong and beautiful voice took the place of the elder Strucki. The people who liked the elder Strucki pressed the community council to fire Schechter and to take the young Strucki instead. When the community refused, a fierce struggle began between the simple folk and Schechter's people (Schechterists). With their own money Strucki's supporters brought the young Strucki from Hungary to Przemysl and hired him as a cantor in a synagogue in Zasanie that was erected at the time. He led services there for several months. Meanwhile the fierce struggle went on until the community council finally agreed to fire Schechter and to take Strucki the son as a cantor of the shul. Then Cantor Schechter's supporters left the shul and established a synagogue at the house of Mrs. [Scheindel, Charlotta - ed.] Lipper the daughter of [Mojzesz - ed.] Schiffer. (Later this house became known as House of Mieses.) After the Nazis left Przemysl, the Jews again started to worship at this house (see the photo). Mojzesz Scheinbach, Berisch Kerner, Leizor Grossman and others were some of the prominent Schechterists. For a while there was no cantor in this synagogue. Finally they hired a cantor called Frachtenberg who also came from Russia and had musical education. Later, before the First World War, some of the people who worshipped at this synagogue established new and beautiful synagogue on Slowackiego Street.

In the small Beis Midrash

We do not know even in approximation of the year it was built, but we do know the years the large synagogue – 5354 (1594) – and the large Beis Midrash – 5460 (1700) – were built.

According to a tradition from

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the Holocaust survivor Dr. Sohn who now lives in Przemysl, the faithful guardian of the graves of the city who stems from the Todt family whose members were gabbaim of the small Beis Midrash for generations, – this house of worship was almost as old as the large synagogue. Nevertheless, we do not think this tradition is valid, since at the time the large synagogue was built the number of Jews in Przemysl and few neighboring villages was very sparse at that time – too small to fill the big hall of the synagogue even on the High Holy Days and even if all men were to worship only at that place. A Beis Midrash as the word suggests, is also used to study the Torah, but surely there was a major yeshiva in Przemysl at least since the middle on the 16^th century, so the full time students had a place to study Torah. Also one should not forget that, with time, there also were some study rooms were added to the main hall of the synagogue, and there were also rooms for a yeshiva.

For generations, the small synagogue was used as an inn for Jews coming to town from afar with carts loaded with goods for sale and for those who came here to purchase goods and take them afar. Usually they entered the town at sunrise or even earlier, especially in winter, and needed a warm inn. This function became particularly important after 1916 when the synagogue was lit throughout the night and open for such wayfarers. The wayfarers would receive for free a glass of hot tea with sugar, though the latter was given sparingly. Another community service, this time for the town residents was given by the “Lina” [Hebrew: lodging, accommodation, overnight stay] society that provided the town's sick with free lodging by members of the society or their delegates. The management was apparently located primarily in the small synagogue Beis Midrash. Here the society had the privilege that one Sabbath a year, the charitable pledges made by those given an aliya [Torah honor] would be designated first and foremost for the benefit of the society.

Since its establishment, this house of prayer followed the Ashkenazic prayer rite. Among the number of important scholars were Reb Aron Zvi Duldig who died at the beginning of the 20^th century; from the period before the Holocaust we remember Reb Ascher Meisels from Husiatyn Hassidic elders. Among the merchants that did not belong to a particular group one should mention Reb Salomon Morgenroth; among the gabbaim – Reb Uscher Todt and Reb Majer Buchholz, the former mainly participated in the affairs of the Lina society, and the latter in the nightly tea service. One should also remember the diligent and popular activist Reb Mojzesz Goldfarb, a carpenter by trade, who was the living spirit of the house of worship during the early years.

Reb Abraham Kahana wrote in his article in the “Hatzofeh leChochmat Yisrael” periodical, Budapest 5688 (1928) that in this house of worship he had found a record book of the “Mikraei Kodesh” (Biblical Scriptures) society which was kept since 5584 (1824). In his opinion it is a very interesting book not only because of content and essence, but also because of style.

The evidence that this institution was built at about 5460 (about 1700) is found in the book “Shmena Lachmo” printed in Dessau, Germany one year later. This is an important book, and contains several approbations from great rabbis of various cities, members of the Council of the Four Lands. The book was reprinted in 1897 at Deutscher printing house in Krakow. The founders of the large Beis Midrash were Reb Icchak his father, and Reb Nathan the brother of Reb Anshel Asher, author of “Shmena Lachmo”. The latter had been a rabbi in a Volhynian city of Zaslaw, and later returned to his hometown where worked as a preacher and sermonizer at the Beis Midrash that was founded by his father. The building had several floors: stores downstairs, a house of worship on the next floor, and private apartments on the top. The building stood for 206 years, until it was demolished in 5666 (1906). “It was smashed to ruins and its foundations were destroyed”, that is to say, it was completely destroyed. It was rebuilt after some four years (5670, 1910) and on the 3^rd of Kislev of that year a large crowd celebrated the laying of its cornerstone. A glass container with a document certifying this event was immured into the foundation. A Jew who returned to Przemysl after the Holocaust, when the Beis Midrash was destroyed again, found this container with its parchment amidst the ruins. He has brought the document to Israel and gave it to Abraham Kahana.

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Reb Joel Nacht enumerated the following prominent laymen of the Beis Midrash during the 1890s: in addition to his father Reb Rubin Nacht, there were also Reb Jakob Hirschfeld the preacher, Reb Mordechai Grûnstein, the Hamerschmid brothers, one of whom, Reb Israel, was in his time a partner in the “Zupnik, Knoller and Hamerschmid” printing house, and members of Sacher family.

In later times, the Mizrachi activist Dr. Samuel Hirschfeld, came from the large Beis Midrash. He was the Rabbi of Biala, who is discussed in this book. Until as late as 5695 (1935) the services were conducted in the Ashkenazic rite. After that, most of people started to switch to what is known in Eastern Europe as Nusach Sephard. With this change a group of the synagogue elders was sent to the old cemetery to “beg forgiveness” from the synagogue's founders that were buried there.

The foundation parchment of the great Beis Midrash, discovered amidst its ruins

1. Hassidim of Belz and Blazowa and Bukowsko concentrated in the large kloiz that was built in the 19^th century. At that time Hassidim of Sanz [Nowy Sacz – ed.] and Sieniawa also worshipped there.
2. Hassidim of Sieniawa left the kloiz since they did not feel comfortable under the domination of the Hassidim of Belz. They established their own “klezl” (small kloiz) in the home of Nute [Natan] Teich on Serbanska Street. Among activists of Sieniawer “klezl” were Reb Chaim Knoller, author of “Pri Chaim” (Fruit of Life), “Dvar Yom Beyomo” (Matters of each Day by its Day) and other books; Reb Eliezer Goldklang; Re Sender Itzi Horowitz and his son; Reb Wolfish Poppers; The rabbi of Zamosc; Reb Saul Perlstein, the father of the Member of Knesset Shlomo Perlstein, and also Reb Nute Teich himself.

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3. Of the other small kloizes, the following should be mentioned:
   
   1. Sasower [from Sasow – ed.] Klezl, with main activists: Reb Moshe Rebhun, the father of Abraham Rebhun, and the flour merchant Reb Mojzesz Klang.
   2. Boyaner [from Bojanow – ed.] Kloiz, where members of the Nussbaum and Rand families and Reb Abraham Ehrenfreund were prominent.
   3. Hushatiner [from Husiatyn – ed.] Kloizl, where Pinkas Bauer was prominent.
   4. Chortkower [from Czortkow – ed.] Kloizl, where the head of the rabbinical court of that time, Rabbi Wiederkehr and community council member Itzik Herzig worshipped after the First World War.
4. Some of the Admorim who were connected to these aforementioned houses of worship visited Przemysl from time to time. Before the First War, the Admor from Sasow and the Admor from Bukowsko visited the city at least once every two years. The former would receive Hassidim in one of the houses on the Zydowska (Jewish) Street. During the winter, during his visits to Przemysl, his Hassidim would gather at his Klezl once a week two hours before dawn. The Rebbe would recite all of the chapters of Psalms for two hours while standing and the public would follow (each verse read responsively by him and repeated by the congregation, as was traditional). When The rabbi of Bukowsko came to visit he worshipped at the large kloiz where the people from both the near and farther away regions gathered in order to participate in the Sabbath services and filled the kloiz completely. It was necessary to install special bars on the windows since there was a danger that the crowd in the kloiz would break the windowpanes.

The new synagogue, now a warehouse

Many people called it “The Scheinbach Shul”. This was not justified, since Galician Jews used to name a house of worship after the person who has built it with his own money or who was a big scholar who regularly worshipped there, taught and advised the worshippers. Scheinbach had a great influence in building

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this shul and has done a lot for it. He was the leader of the group of Schechterists that left the “old shul” after losing in the Schechter-Strucki battle of cantors. He also turned the house of worship at the Schiffer-Lipper house (later Mieses) into shul that even had a full time cantor (Frachtenberg) for a number of years (until about 1903).

The stained glasses in the new (Scheinbach) Synagogue

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on large areas of walls and ceiling. The task was given to the artist Professor Bienenstock, an artist and brother of Dr. Max Bienenstock from Tarnow who taught at a gymnasium in Przemysl. The job was done in fine fashion.

The “New Shul”, which worshipped in the Ashkenazic rite, was not destroyed during Nazis' rule, apparently because it was used as a stable for army horses. After the war it was turned into fabrics warehouse. Dr. Sohn undertook a legal action to oppose this but failed in his attempt to save “the shul”. They say that now the City Hall has a plan to use the building for educational purposes.

Cantor Rosenberg with the chorus of the temple

The “Temple” had a special place among the town's houses of worship. It's official name was: “Agudat Tfila leYisrael” (“Israelitischer Bethaus Farain”) [Hebrew name: “Israel Prayer Association”]. It was established some time around 5646-5650 (1886-1890) by a group of enlightened Jews that wanted – without any leaning to reformed religion and without any desire to harm accepted traditions – to set up a modern house of worship according to new trends represented by official synagogues in Austrian and Western European communities. It was also intended to give Jewish army officers who mostly came from the West possibility to visit a house of worship according to their style. Following these guidelines the order and the prayers (that followed Ashkenazic rite) were usual and only the external appearance of the temple was somewhat different.

The beautiful square-shaped building, covered with red bricks, with wide stairs leading to entrance door was located in the Jewish quarter not far from the large synagogue. It faced the San River.

The main difference between the temple and the old synagogue was the lack of traditional “almemar” (that we called “blimer”) in the temple. No curtains were installed at women's section, the chazzan (that we called “cantor”) and his choir wore black robes and velvet hats, Ashkenazic pronunciation of the service was “decorated” according to Viennese style. Everything in the temple was aimed at keeping order, quiet and external splendor.

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Only after many years when Rabbi Gedalia Schmelkes was chosen as the rabbi of the city, did the Temple members try to make it possible for him to visit their house of worship. For this they put up a bima-shaped almemar for reading the Torah by tearing down the eastern wall and building it anew farther back – the undertaking that took a great deal of effort and expenses.

The temple was managed by the board with Leon Schwartzthal as a long-time chairman and religion teacher Jakob Baumgarten as a secretary. One of the gabbaim was Henryk Blatt. Among other members one should mention are the judge Schwartz, the lawyer Dr. Schwartz, the merchant Kalman Gottlieb (father of the lawyer Dr. Gottlieb and father-in-law of the lawyer Dr. Tauber). In fact most things were decided by a “shadow chairman” Jakob Reisner who without a doubt was a main activist of the institution. He collected the necessary sums money from his partners in propinacja [business]^[d]: Kalman Freudenheim, Chaim Wolf and Saul Herzig.

The pillar of the temple was the beadle (shamash) Reb Eliyahu [Eliasz] Singer whose father-in-law Icchak Fogel served as the Torah reader and whose son was a long-time cantor. Mr. Rosenberg served as cantor between the two world wars. Pinkas Lauterbach used to serve as the prayer leader on the High Holydays (Shacharit and Neilah) and on festivals (prayer for dew and rain^[6]). His traditional form of worship attracted a large crowd of worshippers. For a long time the known teacher in the city, Awigdor Marmelstein served as the shofar blower. Songs and melodies that were characteristic for the synagogues of Western Europe as well as compositions of Zultzer, Levandowski were used in fine fashion in the temple.

The East wall of the Temple

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The Hakafot [Torah processions] on Simchat Torah stood out in the yearly cycle of events. It was organized on a grand scale, and many of the residents of the city participated.

The end of the temple was the same as that of most synagogues in the city. It was destroyed in 1939 at the start of the Second World War by the evil armies of Germany.

For hundreds of years Zasanie was a suburb of the city, so the number of its Jewish residents was relatively small. Even though the Jewish population began to rise at the end of the 19^th century it did not lead to establishment a central synagogue locally. The main difficulty was that houses were spread along roads. The two major roads, to Jaroslaw and Hungary, started out from the bridge and separated immediately without any interconnecting roads between them. The plan to build a shul for the residents of the suburb was hatched in 1894. Members of the board were Moses Warth [Wirth], Sender Sohn (father of the doctor), Michal Weiner, Jehoshua Schneider, Mosze Joel Fass, Pinkas Tenenbaum (the teller of the old bank) and Henryk Wiesel. Wiesel lived in the Rynek, that is on the other side of San, but not far from the bridge over the San.

“The Synagogue at Zasanie, now a bus garage”

Reb Mosze Joel Fass, a member of the board, led the main services. His manner of praying excited the crowd. But immediately after Yom Kippur one of the walls of the building became unstable, and it was necessary

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to rebuild that wall and to reinforce other parts of the building, which led to additional expenses and made it impossible to use the house of worship, even on a temporary basis. This also caused the board, especially the members that dealt with construction., serious concerns There were rumors that that errors were made in the plan of the building, and indeed one of the workers got killed, a tragedy that was naturally also considered to be a serious judicial crime. If found guilty several board members were liable to pay damages, if one of them were proven guilty. In this situation Mosze Joel Fass accepted the entire responsibility and was sentenced to 3 years in prison. It took a great deal of effort and difficulty to achieve his release after about one year of imprisonment. Of course, the cost of defending him was very high.

During the High Holydays of the following year (1896), the Jews of Zasanie refused to worship at any other shul except their own. Another collection was taken, and the construction was finally completed in the summer 1896. At this time the young Strucki who was brought to Przemysl by his supporters, had the opportunity to conduct services here on the High Holydays. After Shechter left the old shul because of the pressure of Strucki's supporters, the young Strucki moved from the shul in Zasanie to the old shul.

The small synagogue in Zasanie was fortunate not to have been destroyed during the time of the Nazis, and it is standing today, like the new synagogue (Scheinbach). However it no longer serves Jewish prayer needs.

Aside from the central shul, the new shul and the one in Zasanie, the Beis Midrashes, the temple, the kloiz and the klezlech that were mentioned, there were also minyanim (prayer quorums) or “shulkhlech” (small, informal synagogues). Even at the big kloiz there were minyanim in special rooms for the Hassidim of Belz, Blazowa and Bukowsko. Moses Hirt's minyan (“at the square near the gate”) was unique because the services started at sunrise and lasted until the afternoon. There were several minyanim outside the town center: at the Blech and Bernstein families on Mickiewicza Street; at Teich and Rabbi Schmelkes on Slowackiego Street; Pfeffer's minyan in Basztowa Street; Fiszel [Fischel] Nagel's minyan in Targowica; the minyan at Wygoda that first was located in the house of Abisch Dampf, and later in the cottage of Dawid Goliger; and the merchants' minyan at Shapira School. Surely there were other minyanim in the town center and in the suburbs.

The members of the kloiz would not tolerate it when their members did not behave properly and in an appropriate manner in their private life outside the kloiz. If one of them stepped out of bounds, it would arouse the ire up to the point when the leaders and the congregation would force the offender to leave the kloiz. They would even eject him in a dramatic fashion. A large group of youngsters carrying candlesticks would approach the offender and shout: “Out! Out!” (arois), and the accused Jew would have no choice but to get out and leave the kloiz for good.

The following were among the prominent members of the Kloiz:

Samson Ratz, a small-scale building contractor in the city, a Belz Hassid who used to supervise the kloiz members and aggressively enforced the punctilious observance of the commandments.

Mosze Broder, a forceful Jew who took it on himself to look after righteousness of the Jews and their leaders. He acted with a high hand that scared many people. In the end of the 19^th century he decided to make aliya to the Land of Israel, but he returned some two years later. Obviously he could not find a place for himself in the Land of Israel. He was almost a different person when he returned, all his aggressiveness was gone.

Reb Sender Itzi Horowitz from Lithuania, a pious Jew, excellent scholar. (After a while he began worshipping at Sienawer klezl).

Reb Wolfisch Poppers, the husband of the only sister of the Gans family, a pious Jew and a scholar.

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Hershele Ester Jente's, a Belz Hassid worshipped in the special Belz style and melody. He was a Hassid in the full sense of the word. He always was in a good humor, satisfied with his lot, and loved his fellowman. He used to say he was no less wealthy than Rothschild because when he opened his wallet he saw a guilder and when Rothschild opened his own wallet he also see only one guilder. But what is the difference – Rothschild knew under this one there were also other guilders, “but me, Hershele, I do not search”. He lived in Zasanie. On the Sabbath eve, he used to celebrate at home with other Hassidim, a beer mug in hand. They would drink and sing until midnight. on Saturday morning Hershele would show up at the kloiz to pray. He often served as the prayer leader, and chanted the Shacharit service with great fervor.

Reb Dawid Neumann, a quiet and righteous man used to worship in his own way pronouncing the prayers word by word, and every word was as a pearl in his mouth. He died at age 40.

Reb Schalom Blaser, a descendant of Belz Admorim. His group of Hassidim was rather small, and he lived a modest life. Many Belz Hassidim and women visited him since his was considered to be a tzaddik.

Reb Wolf Sofer, an enthusiastic, faithful Jew, a scribe, who had two important functions at the kloiz: on the High Holy Days he led the Psukei Dezimra (during the Shacharit service) and blew the shofar.

A man nicknamed “the small cantor” served as a cantor at the kloiz for decades.

Reb Michle Malach was a communal kashrut inspector at the slaughterhouse. He lived on Serbanska Street. He was very modest, his eyes always turned down, never staring into person's face. He considered to be a holy person.

“The synagogue on Mnisza Street, the only synagogue still in use by the Holocaust survivors.”

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at the slaughterhouse at midnight, he found the gate locked. He rang and the housekeeper came out. He did not enter (afraid of finding himself alone with her). She closed the gate and he rang for the second time. The housekeeper appeared again, but again he did not come in, so she locked the gate again. When he rang for the third time the housekeeper went to his wife and declared: “Your husband has gone crazy”.

As far as the author of these lines remembers at his time (the beginning of the 20^th century) there were three outstanding young scholars at the kloiz: a) Jakob Bauman, a son of the small merchant Pinkas Bauman; b) Meni (Mendel) Eiles, Abraham Trau's brother-in-law; c) Chanania Lipa Meisels, Rabbi Mosze Meisels's grandson.

Reb Izrael was the son-in-law of the known building contractor Jasha [Jozef] Teich who build most of the houses in Slowackiego Street in Przemysl. Srul (Izrael) Fellig stayed at home and studied the Torah as long as his wealthy father-in-law provided for the family. When Jasha Teich came upon hard times, Srul Fellig had to search for sources of income. He started travelling from town to town as insurance agent. At that time his talent for conducting services and his beautiful lyrical voice came to the fore, so he also to appear as cantor from time to time. He did it at different places, including Scheinbach's synagogue which generally had no regular cantor at the time. The author of these lines remembers Srul Fellig's prayers at the first day of the Slichot, at four in the morning at the completely filled up kloiz. By his prayer he shook listeners to the core of their souls.

Translator's Footnotes

1. The Ashkenazic rite of worship is the general European mode, as opposed to the Sephardic rite which is Spanish, Middle Eastern and North African. Nusach Sephard (Sephardic style) is a mode of worship that blends the two, that originated in Eastern Europe with the founding of the Hassidic movement. The prayer style was based on the 'Nusach Ari' of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria of the Land of Israel, which explains how the Sephardic style entered into Ashkenazic usage. I term this style Nusach Sephard as opposed to the true Sephardic mode. Nusach Sephard has an additional four words in the Kaddish 'veyatzmach purkanei veyekareiv meshichei', which is not included in the Ashkenazic style. Obviously the Ashkenazic minyan was very particular about not mixing the two styles of worship. Back
2. Plusz, pulish or polisch is hallway, vestibule in the synagogue, in Yiddish. Back
3. Pillory in Polish; “a pole with metal hoop that is used to hold person's neck; a tool of torture”. Back
4. The two major sermons a year are delivered on Shabbat Hagadol (the Sabbath preceding Passover), and Shabbat Shuva (the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur). Back
5. A Kloiz is a small, informal, Hassidic house of worship. Back
6. The prayer for dew is recited at Musaf on the First day of Passover, and the prayer for rain is recited at Musaf on Shmini Atzeret. Back

Editor's Footnotes

1. The name Moshe Schmukler in some Polish sources is given as Mojzesz Szmukler or Moszko Szmuklerz [pron. “Moshko Shmuklezh”]; the Slicha was published by S. Lazar in Haasif yearly, vol. IV. Back
2. The name of the author - Shabatai ben Yitzchak can be guessed from the acrostic in last verses of the Slicha; however, prof. Mojzesz Schorr gives another name – Mojzesz Gramatyk, as the author. And gives the source: Kaufmanns article in Haasif yearly, vol. V. Although, it could be the same person. Back
3. Hebrew plural made from Polish “propinator” - owner of a licence to produce and sell liquor, liquor merchant. Back
4. “propinacja” – licence to produce and sell liquor” Back

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