[Pages 119-120]

II

Personalities, Portraits,
and the Way of Life

 

Shimon Kanc

Translated by Miriam Leberstein

 

The Jews of Tarnogrod led quiet, modest lives. They had no opportunity to funnel their energy into large industrial enterprises, or expansive businesses and so were untouched by the cold calculation and brutality that such enterprises entailed.

They worked at all sorts of trades that served the needs of the Jews in town and the Christians in town and in the villages. They were the tailors and blacksmiths, cobblers and masons, bakers and glaziers, porters and wagon drivers. The shopkeepers worked as hard as the tradesmen. All of them were filled with respect and love for religious scholars, spiritual people, rabbis and yeshiva students, the tales told by the magid [itinerant preacher], and the speeches of the Zionists, who brought them the religious learning of past generations as well as visions of a new life. Tarnogrod Jews have maintained this love for people of this kind to the present day, and have eternalized them in this memorial book

[Pages 121-126]

We do not claim to be writing the history of the Tarnogrod rabbinate, since the information which has reached us about the rabbinate in our city in general and about each rabbi in particular is meager. It is only because of our desire to immortalize the memory of the community and its martyrs in a book that we began to investigate and research the history of the rabbinate in the Tarnogrod community. And so we have acquired, in part through our own efforts and in part through those of the town's residents, the material for an introduction, which is presented in the present section. To be sure, we have not been able to acknowledge all the rabbis who sat upon the rabbinical throne in Tarnogrod in former days; and likewise we have not been able to get exact information and precise dates for all the rabbis. But every detail has something of interest to those who left the city and those who research its history.

The first rabbi in Tarnogrod about whom we could find information in books was the Gaon Rabbi Chaim-Elazar Wachs, of blessed memory. He became famous, however, mainly as the Rabbi of Kalisz. Here is what his grandson writes about him:

My grandfather the Gaon Rabbi Chaim Elazar Wachs of blessed memory was born in the year 5582 [1822] in the city of Tarnogrod. His father was the Gaon Rabbi Avraham Yehuda Leibush and his mother the saintly Chaya Tova of blessed memory. We know very little about his childhood and his youth before he became well known in the Jewish world as one of his generation's great halakhic experts and a spiritual giant whose influence is engraved deeply in every area of Jewish life in his own time and for generations after, and this is not at all surprising, for he was humble and modest without equal. For this reason we do not know much about his origins. From a few slips of the pen, however, we learn that he was of a good and distinguished family. He wrote in one of his responsa (in the possession of his pupil, the head of the rabbinical court in the city of Pietrokov, the Gaon Yakov Aryeh Glazer [may the Lord avenge him!]) – I quote from memory – “And I, a descendent of the Bach”. [Bach: The name given to Joel Sirkes (16^th – 17^th centuries), from the initials of the name of his major work, Bayit Chadash]. From this we may conclude that he was counted among the descendents of the Bach, of blessed memory; indeed as a child I heard all sorts of versions of his genealogy, such as that he was descended from Rashi and Rabbi Yohanan the cobbler, and that his lineage reached as far back as King David, but I was never interested in investigating the sources mentioned, and I mention these reports merely by way of conjecture. However there is no doubt that his family was numbered among the distinguished families of Israel, and who in this matter can we rely on more than our master, the holy Gaon, the author of “Chidushei HaRim” (“Original interpretations of the Rim”) [Rim: Yitzchak Meir Rotenberg-Alter, 19th century rabbi. known as the Rim from the initials of “Rabbi Yitzchak Meir”], of blessed memory, who says in one of his writings (“He who illuminates the eyes of the exile”, p. 58, section 16), “And he was related ...” (I have quoted from this work below).

He mentions his father, the Gaon, many times in his books. In the preface to his great book, “Nefesh Haya” (“A Living Soul”), he brings interpretations in his name (in the study section “Rabutsa”). This is what he says: “I had it in mind to organize these interpretations from the writings of my father and teacher, the Gaon, of blessed memory, and to attach them to this treatise of mine, but many burdens prevented me, and I intend now to mention one thing in his name. It has remained in my memory from having heard it from his sainted lips when I studied before him while still a little child”. He also mentions his grandfather (in “Nefesh Haya”): “I well remember the objection which my grandfather had, the astute Gaon, my master Bezalel (may his memory be a blessing) which I saw in a manuscript where he pointed out a difficulty with a saying in the Talmud.” But neither his father nor his grandfather served in the rabbinate for reward, whether because they were wealthy or for other reasons.

As we have said, we know very little about his childhood, and the little we do know must be extracted from the opinions and a few lines in the preface to his magnum opus, and also here and there from his responsa in which he lets such phrases slip as “the difficult questions I asked in my childhood” or “how I debated with the Geonim”. (In the response to Baumgeld, in the matter of the perjured witnesses, he reveals that even in his early years he corresponded with the “Chidushei HaRim”, of blessed memory, and debated with him.) From everything mentioned above we may deduce that even in his earliest years he was well known as learned and sharp of mind, that is, “young yet clever”.

In the preface to his book he writes about his life story in a style both joyous and heart-rending, and his words are so fittingly written, with so much feeling and warmth, that we here quote them at length:

”...my saintly mother thought so well of me as to devote me to Torah and the commandments, and while I was still in the womb all the desires of her heart were to bring forth a son for Torah, for she had had a brother, my uncle the Gaon and master Chaim Elazar (his memory for a blessing), after whom I am named, who died young, being only 18 years old. He was very learned in Torah; he knew the “Hoshen HaMishpat” from cover to cover and by heart, and he could speak fluently about many a Talmudic tractate, as though they were engraved upon his lips, and he was a friend of my master the saintly Gaon, master in Israel, my master Chaim (of sainted memory) of Sants, brother of my father-in-law the Gaon (of blessed memory). When my mother conceived, my uncle, her brother, came to her in a vision, and she knew that he was dead, and she asked him to tell her the difference between this world and the world to come. He answered that in this world every one is personally free but there one is like a slave under the hand of his master. When she woke she told these things to my father the Gaon (of blessed memory) and he told her that these things were true, and from that day on she was faithful in her desire to give birth to a son dedicated to the Torah. Afterwards, when she had given birth to me and I was about a year old, a holy man of God, the holy Gaon and head of the rabbinic court of Zaklikłw (may the Lord provide a good foundation for it) passed through the city and she carried me in her arms to him so that he might bless me. He spoke of great things for me and said that this boy was ready for greatness, and so all the other Jews in the city of Tarnogod (may Lord provide a good foundation for it) came to know this. Even if the words of the holy man had not been fulfilled in me, not even to a small extent, for everything is foreseen by the Holy Spirit, and despite having wasted my days with the free will granted to us, nevertheless it is not a small matter that the Lord granted me favor to minister among his people Jacob, Israel his inheritance, in holy congregations where the great seats of judgment are in the land. From that day on she placed all the desires of her heart only upon me. When I was about three or four I fell very ill, so ill that the doctors gave up all hope. My mother cried bitterly and prayed to the Lord, and she said, “What I ask I ask as a mother, that all ill decreed for the child be upon me. As a child can do nothing without his mother, so I ask to take on half of his illness.” And so it was. I began little by little to get better and she became very ill, so that the doctors gave up hope of finding a cure, but to her too help was sent from the Holy One to raise her up and restore her to life.

After this, when I was eighteen or nineteen, she sought to get me appointed to the rabbinate of the congregation of Tarnogrod (may Lord provide a good foundation for it), which is considered to be among the great towns. There were always great rabbis there, such as the authors of “Tavnit ot Yosef”, “Noam megadim”, “Yam haTalmud”, for whose “Meforshei hayam” they made ”a crown of gold for its border” [Exodus 37:12, describing the table in the ancient tabernacle], as well as other Geonim, rabbis, and great people who did not leave writings. I was then but a tender youth, not knowing how to act, or how to lead the rabbinate as it is now led, or how one deals with the personalities of various men , and she fought my battle with a certain man who caused her such distress that she became ill, and she told me that the rabbi who wrote “Tsion lenefesh haya” (author of “Noda bihuda”, the Gaon Ezekiel Landau, of blessed memory, rabbi of Prague) made a memorial for the soul of his grandmother who raised him ...”

I will quote from this letter, which is in fact of a detailed nature, and therefore its evaluation is very objective, especially since the letter was drafted by the leader of the generation of Russian-Polish Jewry, the Gaon author of “Chidushei HaRim”, sent to his brother's son-in-law Yudel Kaminer (of blessed memory), concerning a marital match. Here is an excerpt:

With God's help, the eve of Sabbath “Vayiqra” 5618

“...; I have investigated the above mentioned rabbi (who is called “Nefesh Haya”); he now studies day and night with great diligence, and if he is not so much esteemed by our followers because he does not go to Kotsk, nevertheless I know him and he is dear to me, and he is a Torah scholar and greatly esteemed for his expertise. There are not many like him, and he is a leader and from a prominent family....”

By the way, the following story shows the esteem in which the Gaon “HaRim” held the Nefesh Haya: They say that the Gaon told his wife of his desire to make a match between his grandson Rabbi Shloymele Alter and the daughter of a Torah scholar. The rebbetzin [wife of rabbi] asked him who, in his opinion, was worthy to be called a Torah scholar. The Gaon answered, the Rabbi of Kalisz, Rabbi Lipman of Radomsk, (son-in-law of the “Tiferet Shlomo”), and Rabbi Noah Shahor from Biała (son-in-law of my Master Rabbi Avraham Mordechai, of blessed memory, from Góra Kalwaria).

While still very young he married Blima daughter of the Gaon Rabbi Moyshele Halberstam of blessed memory, rabbi of Zborów and elder brother of Chaim, the Gaon of Sanz. It was Chaim who investigated the young Gaon for his brother's daughter and was the “expert” concerning him; consequently it was natural that when the rabbinical office became vacant in Tarnogrod, the city of his birth, in the year 5600 [1840], the Gaon of Sanz would recommend rewarding the young Gaon with this high office.

Many were the stories which were spread among the Jews of Poland about his greatness as a Torah scholar and his generosity in matters between people. We shall limit ourselves to trying to select and bring to the fore the most characteristic of these stories. As is well known, the Nefesh Haya was a very rich man in his youth. In addition to the large dowry which he received from his father-in-law he inherited from his father a rural property in the vicinity of Tarnogrod called Kfar Hammer, with a paper mill attached to it. In his rabbinic office in the course of twenty-two years in his birth city of Tarnogrod not only did he give up his remuneration as rabbi of the city, but he also maintained its great yeshiva from his own private funds, where hundreds of youths studied, a large number of whom served afterwards as well known rabbis, and only after he had lost his fortune and become impoverished, when in Kalisz, did he ask to receive his salary. But even then he set aside most of his income for the needs of the community and especially for his great yeshiva. He protected it as the apple of his eye. The fact that a large number of his students went with him from Tarnogrod on the border of Galicia to Kalisz on the German border serves to show how much he was beloved by his students. He who has ever been privileged to speak with one of his students knows how much affection and admiration they felt for their great rabbi. It is difficult to describe the joy which overwhelmed them when speaking with one of the descendants of their rabbi, and this is not surprising since he truly went out of his way to help them. Not only was he concerned to fulfill their needs while they were within the walls of the yeshiva, but even after they left him he was like a concerned father to them. If a student reached the age for marrying, the rabbi was concerned about making a suitable match for him, and after that a rabbinical position or other appropriate livelihood. If a student became ill the rabbi did not move from his sick bed but supported him and encouraged him. If a youth was having difficulty with his studies the rabbi came to his help until he was doing better. Even school children could say that when the rabbi tested them he never struck fear into them or failed them but, on the contrary, encouraged them with his charming smile.

In secular matters too he was accomplished: he knew several foreign languages and was resourceful and a man of vision. What I heard from my friend Chaim Miller of Haifa is worth noting: Reb Chaim, who was a native of Tarngorod, heard from his father, who knew the Nefesh Haya well, that after the great fire (which is mentioned in his book), when the Nefesh Haya was still young but his intelligence and sharp-wittedness were well known, and even the government was charmed by his appearance, which fully did him honor, a chief minister came and the Nefesh Haya stood before him and with moving words asked for his help in rebuilding the “little sanctuary” which is the synagogue. The minister was so impressed with his words and his personality that he did his utmost to get the top government officials to set aside the town's open land as a gift for the town's young rabbi, to do with as he wished. The Nefesh Haya demonstrated his ability in the field of commerce here too. On this open space, the “rynek” [marketplace] he constructed rows of houses for dwellings and shops, selling them at a great profit to the townspeople. With the money he made he erected a magnificent synagogue which was the pride of Tarnogrod up to the time of Holocaust. Chaim Miller told me, having heard it from his father, that when the synagogue was being built the Nefesh Haya helped the builders and with his own hands he passed them bricks and other building materials. This was his way from that time forward and he continued to do every good deed with his own hands and his own body.

[Pages 127-129]

My father, Rabbi Gaon Mordechai Tsvi Teicher (of blessed memory) was the rabbi of Zamech and later rabbi in Tarnogrod. He was the son of the great Gaon Rabbi Aryeh–Leyb (of blessed memory), the former rabbi of Tarnogrod. My father was the son–in–law of the Gaon Rabbi Asher Zalka, head of the rabbinic court of the congregation of Grodzisk.

Rabbi Mordechai Tsvi and his family. It was said about him that wherever you find greatness in Torah you also find greatness in wisdom and in virtues

As a young man he also had printed the books which he composed from the collected manuscripts of his grandfathers: “Haelef Lekha Shlomo”, “Imre Maharan”, “Pne Yitshak”, along with his own addendum, “Hagahot Mordekhai”. Before the outbreak of the World War my father had already prepared the type molds for printing the fourth book, “Imre Man”, but the great calamity came and interrupted the publishing of this book.

Aside from his being a great Torah scholar he also distinguished himself with noble virtues. He was a great anonymous philanthropist, and regularly welcomed the poor as guests in his home. He also publically taught the Torah. Evenings in the bes medresh he used to teach youths and elderly a Talmud or Mishna lesson and he used to sit by himself studying late into the night.

When I was a child he used to send me as well as the other children on errands, bringing money and food to the needy who, unknown to anyone in the town, had nothing for the Sabbath. He ordered us to say, “Father has sent you this to fulfill his obligation^[1].”

It is impossible to describe all the fine and great qualities which characterized my father. Let me be permitted, however, to record here what I heard in Israel from Mrs. Kruk, daughter of Yona Ber the teacher (of blessed memory). She lives in Israel now, in Ramathaim. She told me that as a youth, when he was still studying in heder with her father, her father died, leaving a widow and small children who could have died of hunger. My father, just 12 years old, took over the class and for a time taught the smaller children. Their parents continued to pay the tuition, giving it to the widow and her children. This lasted a long time and left a deep impression on the orphans.

In Tarnogrod earning a living was difficult; my father was far from being one of the wealthy. Yet he exerted great effort to get his oldest daughter Beyltshe a great scholar as a husband^[2], Yitskhokl Rayz, a former student of the Chofetz–Chaim and himself very devout and philanthropic. He had room and board^[3] in our house up to the outbreak of the Second World War. My father gave him everything he needed to continue his studies.

He and his daughter Rivkele were killed by the German murderers. The Germans also killed his oldest son Joseph–Menashe, his wife Rokhltshe, and two children, Yitskhokl and Osher Zalkele. Surviving were his widow, the Rebbitzin Estherl, and two sons, Eliezer and Aaron, and the younger daughter Golda, and a grandson, Moshe–Naftali Rayz. They all live in Israel.

These were the only survivors from the great Teicher family, rabbis of Tarnogrod, who had numbered about a hundred souls. These, the survivors of the great lineage, preserve the memory, the sacred faith, and the striving for noble deeds. With hearts full of honor we hammer out our sparks in the flame of our great father and great grandfathers.

Eliezer Teicher (Leyzer the Rabbi's son)

Footnotes

1. Presumably, the obligation of every Jew to give charity. Return
2. Literally, “as his son–in–law”. Return
3. It was the custom to provide room and board for one's daughter and son–in–law if the son–in–law was a scholar needing to continue his studies. Return

[Pages 130-132]

The Tarnogrod rabbi, Aryeh-Leyb Teicher (of blessed memory), was descended from generations of rabbis. He had a stately appearance, with a full face and a handsome grayish rather short beard. He dressed in a beautiful silk long fur-lined coat with a wide silk belt.

Every day, precisely at nine in the morning, he entered the bes medresh with his large talis and tefillin sack under his arm. He looked around with great satisfaction and saw how the youths were sitting bent over their Talmud books studying out loud. He went slowly to his special seat at the eastern wall, near the sacred ark. He sat down, opened a book, and looked into it, waiting for the minyan to begin praying.

When the praying had finished he stayed around in the bes medresh until twelve o'clock. The town wasn't lacking in things to do, but there were dayonim [A rabbinical judge or assistant to a rabbi] to decide questions of Jewish law; these were his son Moyshele, Shiele, and also Sander the teacher. As local rabbi he also had to take care of many town matters. In addition he taught a Talmud lesson every day at four o'clock, for students who came to his house.

Before Passover the rabbi's activity was quite intense. He had to make sure that the wells were not unkosher for Passover and the bakery ovens used for baking matzo were properly prepared. He also had to see to it that everyone should come in time to sell their hamets [Leavened bread and anything containing leavening, forbidden on the Passover. The rabbi sells such to Gentiles so it does not remain in the possession of Jews during Passover]; the baking of shmira-matsos [Matsot specially watched so as not to come into contact with anything leavened.] was also his concern.

In those days the rabbi was seen every day walking about with his two shamosim [Assistants to the rabbi, often called “sextons” in English.]: Nahum and Moshe. The rabbi, carrying his silver-handled stick, walked between them through the town, issuing orders which everyone endeavored most respectfully to carry out.

The rabbi's sermon on Shabos godol [The Sabbath preceding Passover] was really something to be experienced. The rabbi also delivered the blessing of Tsar Nikolai on his birthday, when representatives of the police and the authorities came to the bes medresh.

The rabbi's wisdom was exceptional. Everyone listened intently to him, and in every dispute the parties relied on his decision.

In addition to taking care of keeping kosher for Passover and all year long, the rabbi also had to make sure that the eruv [A cord around the town which designates the town as officially indoors, and so objects may be carried here on the Sabbath; without the eruv objects cannot be carried outdoors on the Sabbath.] around the town was in order, so that on the Sabbath Jews could carry their talis for praying and women could bring home the cholent [A stew prepared on Friday and just kept warm, not cooked, on Saturday, since cooking is prohibited on the Sabbath.] from the baker. It once happened that the eruv was torn in two and a dark cloud descended over the town. The men could not leave the town carrying their talis and hunger threatened, since without the eruv the cholent had to remain at the baker's until the stars came out. The rabbi then allowed employing little children, who are still free from sin.

In those days the congregation gave the Tarnogrod rabbi no problems. They walked in the way of God, kept the Torah; parents sent their sons to cheder and their daughters to Chaim the teacher, who taught them to write using books of sample letters, so that later on they could write letters to their relatives in America. Chaim also taught them enough Russian to write an address.

I remember the circumcision celebrations, which took place in the synagogue, after prayers. As prayers ended the women arrived dressed in black silk dresses, leading the new mother with the baby. They stopped at the entrance to the synagogue, waiting until the husband took the child from his wife. Then they remained in the corner of the synagogue until the circumcision was over and refreshments were served. All that time they stood with downcast eyes and only caught glimpses of the youths swaying piously in prayer. Later, quietly, with fearful step, they left the synagogue.

Every celebration in Tarnogrod was everyone's celebration; the rabbi participated in it as if it were his own, like a shepherd looking over his sheep.

In addition to the sermons which he delivered on holidays, in private conversations the rabbi taught the townspeople to love truth and justice, to hate falsehood and injustice, because the latter is like one building on sand or trying to glue with spittle. He used to say: “You may think that you are losing money from truth and earning from falsehood, but only in truth is real security, and when the time comes to transmit my heritage to you, I will bequeath to you my honesty, which has been implanted in me through the Torah. There is no greater aristocracy than honesty.”

And at times of boundless grief for the Jewish destruction and devastation, take your place, son of man, surviving Tarnogrod Jew, on the bridge of generations, and shed a tear, a hot burning tear, for the shepherd of the Jewish congregation in Tarnogrod, a tear of love, a tear of deep faith, that –

HIS MERIT MAY PROTECT US.

Sholem Schwartz, grandson of Chanele, the Rabbi's daughter

[Pages 133-134]

In my teenage years I became friends with one of the Rabbi's great grandsons, whose name was Shlomke, and I was one of those who had entry to the Rabbi's house. In the front room, in the corner between the walls facing north and west, stood a cupboard with glass doors and sides. Among the items on the shelves several tubes made of white bone made an impression on me. When screwed together they became a pipe of a meter in length.

All year long the pieces of the pipe stayed untouched in the cupboard. But when the eve of Hoshanah-Rabbah [the seventh day of Sukkot] came the elderly rabbi would approach the cabinet and take out all the parts and attach them to each other, each one in its proper place, until the pipe was complete and shining in its beauty. Then he would fill it with tobacco and light it.

That night many people were seated in the adjacent bet hamidrash [house of study] praying the Hoshanah Rabbah evening tikun prayers. Some were nodding off between prayers. Then the elderly rabbi appeared and went round the benches on which the worshippers were sleeping, touching each one's shoulder with his pipe. They immediately woke up and saw that the rabbi was collecting donations for the needy. No one withheld his contribution. This was the rabbi's custom from year to year, thus fulfilling two commandments at the same time: to wake Jews to prayer and to engage in charity.

Let us mention that in the second room, in the rabbi's living quarters, was an extensive religious library. Here he received all who came to him with all sorts of questions. Here too he diligently studied the rabbinic writings all his days. Since the walls had not been painted for a long time, his daughter Chanale asked his permission to paint the room with beautiful colors. After many entreaties the elderly rabbi agreed, but only on condition that the black square on one of the walls be left to commemorate the destruction of the temple.

The rabbi was very careful not to give out his tallit and kitel [long white linen robe, worn by rabbis and other prayer leaders on important occasions] to be laundered. When he was asked the reason, he answered, “My tallit and kitel have absorbed many tears, and you wish to destroy them with water.”

His paths are pleasant paths; [quotation from the book of Proverbs] his life's burden was to dig the deep well of Torah, so that many waters would emerge from it. The Torah is compared to fire, and this fire extinguishes other fires and as there is fire on top of fire, so too is there light on top of light. A touch of gracefulness extended across his countenance.

All this nobility can be understood as well as coming from the suffering of generations which he had absorbed, a suffering forged in fire of a Judaism founded in its own blood and satiating all the fields of the world.

Yosef-Moshe Teicher Grandson of the old rabbi and son of Rabbi Tzvi

The Rabbi died two years before the Holocaust, at the age of more than eighty.

May his memory be blessed.

[Pages 135-140]

Meir Ringer

Hasidism in our town was a popular movement. Almost every Jew in the town had great faith in the power of the tzadikim [Hasidic rabbis], and when the Hasidic rabbis visited our town the people brought to them notes on which they set forth their desires and needs and asked their advice about matters of business and also about medicines and treatments for various illnesses.

But, despite the fact that they saw the rabbis as miracle workers, listened with astonishment and wonder to their teaching and to their fervent praying, not everyone thought of himself as belonging to the Hasidic movement. Though not everyone was a person of intellect, yet Hasidism took over the religious community in Tarnogrod, absorbing within it love of God and of one's fellow man.

Among them were kabbalists [students of the Kabbalah or Jewish mystical tradition] who studied and meditated day and night in both the hidden and revealed Torah. Several of them used to get up at midnight for the prayer of lamentation for the exile of the Divine Presence and for the destruction of the Temple.

How great was the sense of community that pervaded the Hasidim. They addressed each other in familiar, informal terms. It was considered natural and ordinary to help a Hasid on his way down and lacking a livelihood with various means. They celebrated each other's private joyous occasions. They also knew who was in need of help and who was in a position to offer help.

The shtibl [literally “little house” or “little room” which served as a house of prayer] served as the best recreation center for both young and old. Here youths sat and learned Talmud with its captivating chant, and here were brought all the questions and requests pertaining to life of the community and town. For everyone, song and melody were tried and tested means of bringing the heart close to the service of the Creator, for not by afflictions and sadness does one reach his state of holiness, but by worshipping the Lord out of joy and by cleaving to Him from inspiration.

Hasidism was always a matter of song and dance.

The Hasidic rabbis did not make their home in our city. The Hasidim of Tarnogrod used to travel to their rabbis on special occasions and on the High Holy Days and were united with their rabbis through prayer, tish [literally “table”, a gathering of Hasidim around their rabbi, perceived as a moment of great holiness], and gifts to the rabbi. The sign of adherence to the Hasidic movement was praying in the shtibl in a group, according to the accepted usage in the house of prayer of each “rebbe”. The shtibl was like a world to itself, a kind of extended family. All who belonged to this family remained connected to their rabbi, the tzadik; his image always hovered before their eyes. At his holy word they came in and went out, acting in the power of that longing for the rabbi and his tish, for his teaching and his illuminating words. They were not pacified until he traveled to be with them, so that they might find shelter with him, look at him, gaze upon the brightness of his face, hear his interpretations of the sublime secrets of the Torah and learn from his deeds and his character.

The material conditions in Tarnogrod did not permit a separate “shtibl” for every group, and so the Hasidim of Belz, Trisk [Turiysk], and Kuzmir [Kazimierz Dolny] were concentrated in one kloyz [a small synagogue], which was called the “Belzer shtibl ”. In the “Sieniawa shtibl” the Hasidim of Sanz [Nowy Sącz] and Gorlice also prayed. The Hasidim of Rozvedov [Rozwadów] prayed together with those of Rudnik and Cieszanów, etc.

The shtibl gave the Hasid confidence that he was not alone in the world. He was assured support in time of need. The Hasidic shtibl became both a religious and communal institution. It was sanctified for prayer and for the study of Torah. In the shtibl the Hasidic atmosphere of Tarnogrod was created.

After a hard day's work the Jew went to shtibl and there put away his cares, forgot the burdens of the day and absorbed the joy of a page of Talmud and some small talk. Each one studied at his own level and everyone achieved satisfaction, not merely satisfaction of the soul, but also enjoyment in the literal sense of the word. Jews renew and refresh themselves in these hours, they restore their souls, as the Hasidim say: “M'hot zikh mekhaye geven” [“We got great enjoyment”].

From time to time the Hasidic rabbis came to visit their followers in our town, and people flocked to them from nearby communities to drink in their words with great thirst and to seek advice from them on family matters. The rabbis' tish was set with pride on Shabbos in the great study house. The rabbi distributed shirayim [remainders of the rabbi's meal, eagerly eaten by his followers] and joyfully greeted the Guest with the Radiant Face. The Hasidim sang melodies full of longing and devotion.

There were many pearls among these melodies. The sounds were filled with splendor and innocence and dramatic-mysterious tension, and they had the power of softening men's hearts and awakening a man's conscience.

During the rabbi's stay in the city people drew closer together, and not just the Jews of the town, but also of nearby towns. Even though the rabbi did not have the power to join them all together as one, since they were jealous admirers each one of his own rabbi, for only through him was it possible to reach complete wholeness, and they traveled great distances to reach him, and they related to a second rabbi with a negligent attitude, not believing in his power, nevertheless he influences a great part of those who are indifferent to come together under one banner, that of Hasidism.

There were not a few among the Hasidim who were warmly compassionate Jews, full of pain and love for Jews, and who emphasized simple and perfect faith. Is not love one of the foundations of Hasidism? They turn in love to all men and receive them with open arms; therefore they look favorably upon the great congregation that gathers around every rebbe who comes to the town.

Thus the essential nature and character of Hasidism as a whole come to it from the existence of the rebbe rather than from its doctrines, streams, and ways. This is the greatness of Hasidism: in him is the secret and explanation of its strength; he is the center of its being. For a man who has a rebbe the whole human template is different from one who does not have a rebbe in his world. In the image of the rebbe, Hasidism expresses one of its essential foundations. The faith of the rebbe in the Hasidic world is such that even for those who have turned away from religion the authority of the rebbe has not faded for them.

In those days the movement was strong in the city. Every evening people gathered in the home of the Hasid with whom the rebbe was staying; they stood crowded together and his admirers told “holy stories”. In that hour both young and old forgot the world and its sorrowful existence, and were transported to the spiritual world, to the most fantastic stories in the world, and to every word and sign coming out of mouth of the rebbe.

The day the rebbe left the city everyone recalled the saying of Rashi: “When a righteous man leaves the city his glory also leaves, his splendor leaves, his majesty leaves”. Hundreds accompanied him and did not leave him until they received a parting blessing from him.

Rabbi Arie Leib Teicher, grandson of the rabbi and tzadik of Kreshiv [Krzeszów] and a descendant of Yom Tov Lipmann Heller, was a great and sharp-witted scholar, learned in Talmud and commentaries, head of the rabbinate for 72 years, at first for a time in the new city of Zamość, similarly in the community of Czchów near Lublin, but most of the years he officiated in our congregation.

In his capacity as mara deasra [local rabbi] and zealot for the religion and sanctifier of the people, he fought strongly against all freethinking. With the awakening of political life in our town he beseeched us to free ourselves from the 49 gates of impurity (may the Merciful One protect us), citing the Biblical verse: “None who go to her come back” (Prov. 2:19). In the study of the Modern Hebrew language he saw only a striving to learn a modern language, and therefore preached that it was better for us to learn Greek. In his naivety he saw Greek science as ruling the modern world.

In the founding of the library and of the first Hebrew school in the town he saw the root of all evil and so he proclaimed, with all the means in his power, that we had an obligation to a holy war against them, even to the point of his pronouncing a ban on them. He did the same with regard to all Zionist activity carried out on behalf of the branch of the Zionist Histadrut [Federation of Laborers in the Land of Israel] here.

He had four sons, all of whom became rabbis or religious teachers in Israel, and two daughters. He remained the rabbi of the congregation until his death at the age of 95. He passed away two years before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Rabbi Moshele Teicher, son of Rabbi Arie Leib, was the congregation rabbi until the Holocaust. He supported matters of interest to the town with knowledge and intelligence.

His form and appearance spoke of honor to both Jews and non-Jews alike. He was easily approachable, and he knew how to talk to everyone, according to that person's education and class. With his sharp intellect he was very knowledgeable in all branches of commerce; people came to seek his advice. His wife, the Rebbetzin [wife of a rabbi] Malkale, bore him 12 sons and daughters, because of which supporting his household was as difficult for him as splitting the Red Sea.

During the Holocaust his whole family, already numbering several dozen, found a hiding place in a bunker. This became known to a Christian in the city, who informed on them. They were all brutally murdered; not one of his descendents survived.

Yehoshule, the third son of the old rabbi, swam in the sea of Talmud and Poskim [Rabbinical scholars who settle matters of Jewish law and ritual]. He was a kind of tsena demale sifra [Talmudic expression defined in Jastrow's dictionary as “a basket full of books”, a man full of learning, but without method].

As a young man he was isolated in his thoughts; he neglected himself and everyone close to him. He withdrew from the life of this world. He imposed fasts and afflictions upon himself and he constantly walked about the streets, until one day he caught cold, took to his bed and departed this life while still young, to the sorrow of his family and the townspeople.

Yakov, or Yekil Mantel, the leader of the congregation throughout his life, was the Shtadlan [official representative of the Jewish community to the government. Such people were generally chosen because of their knowledge of the official language of the country in addition to their own Yiddish] with the Russian authorities and high officialdom. Knowledge of the Russian language was also the source of his livelihood as a scribe, skilled in worldly affairs and in Russian law. He was dedicated to the needs of the community. At one time I had the privilege of working with him in the children's open-plan kitchen, and I saw his great dedication to the congregation in his community.

In his twilight years he lived in poverty because he was not on good terms with the Polish administration and they put someone else in his place, depriving him of his livelihood.

The old rabbi, Arie Leib, with his sons and a grandson

Rabbi Moshe Naphtali Teicher at the time of his stay at the bathhouse in Szczawnica

Such was Rabbi Moshe-Naftali Teicher, wonderful in that he was not eager for wonders, so as not to excite the people in an unlawful manner. Reb Moshe took great pains not to abandon the protection of humility, for humility is the source of all virtues.

[Pages 141-146]

The youth of Tarnogrod was divided into three classes: manual workers, merchants, and those who were dedicated to the study hall. Those in the study hall would sit there, day and night, laboring to learn a page of Talmud and its commentators. They were always enclosed in the four cubits of Jewish law and all changes in the life of the outside world were foreign to their spirit. They were considered in town to be the elite among the young men, and every Jew wanted to obtain on behalf of his daughter, when it came time for her to marry, one of these elite young men mentioned above. Mostly, the rich were able to achieve this for their daughters.

In that period, it was accepted among the Jews that any book without religious content was impure, and a book in Hebrew or Yiddish which contained criticism of accepted ideas or the way of life of those times was seen as heresy and apostasy and was forbidden to read.

Until the First World War, life flowed quietly. Old as well as young knew that heaven was God's heaven, and the world was given to humans as a sort of hallway in which to earn the world-to-come. They likewise knew that one does not inquire about what is above. And then came the events of the war, which also influenced accepted ideas. And just as the order of the world below changed because of the war, so too changed these concepts above.

We were at that time several young men of the study hall who began to leave the traditional four cubits of Jewish law and to become interested also in what was happening in the wide world. We also began to read books in Hebrew–and in Yiddish, that were of the class of heretical books. We did this all in complete secrecy. We read them in the attic, in the bathroom, or in some other hiding place, until one day when this secret came to light. Suddenly the matter of our reading these books became known. And it also became known that from time to time we were visiting Moshe Lemmer who was called Moishe Yantshes, who was known as a heretic, because of the books that were found by him and because of his views, which were judged to be heretical.

This news also reached the ears of the elderly rabbi, Rabbi Leibele Teicher, and he warned us about the danger awaiting us in reading these books and in particular Hebrew books, which contained the root of heresy. And to prevent any problems from recurring, he particularly forbade us to be found within four cubits of Moishe Yantshes the heretic.

This warning reached us too late, after we had already peeked and been injured, because in the meantime we had already read the book “Ahavat Zion” (by Mapu), the book “On Beliefs and Opinions” by Dr. S. Bronfeld, and a reference book with all its parts, “Each Generation and Its Seekers” by Dr. A.H. Weiss. These books exerted an enormous pull on all the young men of the yeshiva. Because of this, we received the warning of the rabbi, to prevent any problems from recurring, but we continued reading the books. We also found it necessary because of this, whether voluntarily or not, to approach Moishe Yantshes to exchange books.

When the elderly rabbi learned that all his warnings did not work, and that there was no way to fix us, he then approached us, in person and in his honor, when we were learning in the study hall among the other young men. He announced to us that from that day forward, we no longer had the right to sit in the study hall, on the grounds that he wanted to save the other young men who had not already been exposed to heresy like we had been. All our arguments did not prevail, and we were forced to stop attending the study hall.

This expulsion caused the youth in all its circles to organize to establish a library and reading room in town. But this matter was not at all easy to accomplish, because of the opposition of the pious zealots, at the head of whom stood the town's rabbi on one side, and Tobele Herbstman, who was the driving force of the opposition, on the other side.

We needed money at that time in order to buy books and rent a room for the library and reading room. Our approach resonated with only a portion of the merchant youths, as the project needed strength and resolve, given the incitement and defamation from the side of the zealots, and most of these youths were still dependent on the goodwill of their parents. On the other hand, our approach resonated strongly with the laborer youths. Not only did they donate money with a wide hand and generous spirit, but they also volunteered to take part in everything, from organizing to the collection of the money.

Here it is appropriate to remember one curious occurrence: one day around that time I entered the study hall to pray (the prohibition that applied to us was only not to sit and study together with the other young men who were learning there) and it happened that the old rabbi saw me (as before the rift I was counted among his students and also among those who visited his house; I learned Talmud and halachic authorities together with his grandson Eliezer for several years). The rabbi asked me: “Meir'l, for what foundation are you going around collecting money? And what is the degree of your poverty that you have joined together with tailors and shoemakers?” And when I answered him that the gathering of this money is not for charity, but rather to establish a library, he said to me as follows: “Know that in the town, where I am the leader of the community, there was not and will not be a bibliotheque, and those new friends you have nowadays are a sure sign of the level to which you have already fallen, exactly as it is written: “From the high roof to the deep pit.”

We gathered a nice sum of money and bought books, but struggled with renting a room, for all the Jews in town were afraid of the threats of the zealots. Having no other choice, we agreed to the suggestion of a certain widow, to rent for good money half of her room, which we divided with a cloth curtain.

At the opening celebration, which occurred on a Friday night, we experienced several unpleasant events. In the middle of the celebration, parents of boys and girls who were celebrating with us suddenly came in, grabbed their children and took them out by force. And there were those who slapped their children's faces in everyone's presence. Understandably, this caused an awful depression to the rest of those present.

Before many days passed, the zealots reported us to the authorities, claiming that we had founded a communist organization. Immediately the police appeared and demanded a permit from us. When we did not have one, the police sealed up the bookshelf and forbade us from gathering until we produced to them a permit from the authorities.

In that predicament, we turned for help to the cultural committee of the Zionist organization in Warsaw. After a little time, Dr. Emanuel Allsonger informed us that he had designated and listed us as a chapter in the network of Hebrew culture of the Zionist Histadrut, and that in the coming days they would remove the prohibition from us. And so it was. After a week, the police removed the prohibition, and we started to organize with redoubled strength. And in the language of the zealots: “The power of impurity again became stronger than the power of holiness.”

At that point we succeeded in renting an appropriate room whose owner was considered one of the important people in town. His economic situation had become suddenly unstable, and we paid him a high rent. And we decided to establish in that place a Hebrew school also. We brought in a very successful Hebrew teacher, and we opened the school. In the beginning the school had few students, because of the prohibitions and bans which were announced evening and morning in all the synagogues against any of the parents who had the nerve to send their children there. And those who sent their children to the school experienced bad situations in which others did not want to pray together with them and chased them out with force. There were also those who did not allow these parents to be called to the Torah and the like. But this school exerted a great attraction to both children and parents.

A Polish Christian teacher, a member of the faculty of the local government school, also joined our school. This later had a good influence on the school in another way.

The religious zealots again informed on us, and the police again closed the Hebrew school pending receipt of a license that we had already applied for, which depended solely and only on the local cultural council, the majority of whose members were anti-Semites. Among the members of this council was a principal of the government school of Tarnogrod. We bribed him with a designated amount of money. He persuaded the members of the local council that (a) his school no longer has space to absorb additional students; and (b) the Hebrew school stands virtually under his supervision thanks to the fact that one of his faculty members serves there as a teacher. And this influenced most of the members of the council to grant us the license and led to the opening of the closed school.

The Hebrew School Among the students sitting from the right: M. Ringer, M. N. Mantel, M. Lemmer, the teacher Bloomstein, Chaim Rokeach, S. Adler

Then our influence increased greatly in town. Having no other choice, the religious people recognized our existence as an established fact. The school developed nicely and there was a need to expand to another room, which we rented at that time with greater ease.

We took advantage of this comfortable atmosphere to establish a Zionist organization with all its committees. Many members signed up and we left our loneliness for the king's highway, and at that time we were recognized in town as an official public body.

I would be remiss if I skipped over the following details: (a) Together with the decision to establish a Hebrew school, we chose an administration. We required that the members of the administration, from that day forward, should speak among themselves only in Hebrew to the full extent possible. Because of this, instead of calling us “heretics” or “Zionists” as they had earlier, they began to call us “shalom-niks” in town because of the greeting “shalom.” (b) After the establishment of the library, and the struggle we had with the pious zealots, we searched for ways to be accepted by the majority of the people who are called “amcha.” When we learned about the American Joint Distribution Committee's activities to nourish children, we made great efforts to convince the Joint's local administration to hand over to us the management of feeding the children of Tarnogrod. And we succeeded in convincing them that we were the most appropriate to perform this task because of our dedication. We rented a large room and opened a children's kitchen with a dining hall and there we distributed parcels of food three times a day to more than 400 children. Obviously, all this work was done on a volunteer basis, and without the expenditure of funds, and it was a large operation, which the pious ones always wanted to take away from us, albeit without success.

(c) The celebration in honor of the Balfour Declaration took place in the middle of the summer of the year 1919. Everywhere in the Jewish Zionist world, people celebrated the Balfour Declaration. By us, this occurred after the end of the struggle that we had with the zealots. Our influence on the Jewish street increased, and almost everyone made peace with us. Then we also tried our best to organize demonstrations of support for the Balfour Declaration.

On Lag Ba'Omer in the year 1920 in celebration of the Balfour Declaration In the middle of the photograph sitting from the right: Y. Wolfish, G. Kenigstein, Ch. Rokeach, M. Ringer, M. Lemmer, Ch. Grubman and P. Lipiner Among those standing: Ych. Lipiner, H. Strausser, S. Topler, M. Lustrin, Z. Lustrin, Yechezkel Sinaless, S. Lemmer, S. Richter, Ch. Lipiner

The school's children's choir sang a song in Hebrew. Afterwards speeches were heard about the value of the Balfour Declaration to the land of Israel and the people of Israel. And then a national enthusiasm rose among all the participants, reaching the heights of heaven. And in the end, everyone sang Hatikvah and this was the first time and also the only time.

(d) In the end, as we know, all Jews in our town, from the zealots to the laborers were very religious, and any small deviation was a deviation from the straight path of Judaism in their eyes. They saw, in the ideas of Zionism and Socialism–without understanding their substance–something that opposes Judaism. The vast majority of people could not even differentiate one from the other and they lumped them both together under the name “Ziosocialism.” What resulted from this was that the rest of the Jews were passive participants in the zealots' opposition to us. Among them were our parents and their situation was the worst, for they were in the predicament of “ice on one side, ice on the other side.” On the one hand, they too hurt from the deviation from the straight path by the children who came from their loins. On the other hand, they served as targets for the braided arrows of the zealots, for the bans and decrees that were decreed also against them because of us. (They placed a ban on my father's house and forbid anyone from entering his bakery; only after three days did the rabbi recognize his error, correct it, and nullify the ban.) Apart from this, the parents absorbed shame and embarrassment that cannot be measured. Obviously, our situation at home was extremely unpleasant, and when I recall today the great suffering that our parents underwent at that time, I feel their pain to this day.

So did there arise among us the movement of the enlightenment, and so arose the movement of Zionism and Hebrew speech.

In connection with the struggles of the religious zealots against us, I give testimony today–notwithstanding the great pain and insult that they caused us–that their motive was honest and acceptable, because they suspected every new thing and did not understand the spirit of the youth or the time.

As the years passed there arose in our town different organizations, both secular and religious. There were some in those years who were enthusiastic about looking for solutions to the questions of the diaspora and the questions of class exploitation while working towards a single solution. Who knows which way the wind blows? Out of the distress of the diaspora, constant longings, operations and activities, a strong feeling of changes and upheavals in history, contacts and interactions with the revolutionary movements in Poland, material and ideological motives–the Zionist-Socialist movement spread and became strong in our town too.

There were, however, ups and downs, achievements and failures which were all mixed together, and they made the winds stormy, activated people's thoughts, caused ferment to the forces of the young people and caused rebellion among the complacent. There were some who fought against those lacking faith from the right and left camps, and who placed dams against the malicious surges of anti-Zionism. With this they inserted themselves into the operation of the youth movement, and especially the pioneers, who were the first to make aliya to Israel.

[Pages 147-149]

R' Yakov Lemer, who was called by all, Yantshe Fakhtsher^[2] , worked hard all his life to support his family. He previously lived in the village of Plusy near Tarnogrod, in the yard of a Polish landowner as a milk tenant. Every morning he traveled to the city with the milk, and its products, to sell them. During the First World War he moved to the city of Tarnogrod.

R' Yakov was a religious Jew, always liked to prolong the prayer and the recitation of Psalms. Besides that, he used to hum all sorts of traditional melodies to himself, and when the Sabbath, or a holiday, came, there was no end to his singing. Only in one thing he was very different from all the other local Jews, he did not interfere and not disturb his sons in the course of their thoughts and their ways of life, which were also slightly different from the conventional concepts in those days.

In this sense, it is especially noteworthy to praise his wife, Sheindil, who understood the spirit of youth and time alike, and she enjoyed seeing the youth's desire for life in society and in the movement. Her house was always wide open, and was a kind of a meeting place for sages under the guidance and devotion of their eldest son, Moshe, who was a type of a distinctly Russian-Jewish scholar and was called Moshe Yantshe the heretic. For this reason, the ultra-Orthodox zealots kept away the students of the Beit Midrash from this house, those who were thirsty for some education and wanted to know what was happening outside the world of Halacha [Jewish law]. They snuck into this house secretly and in the darkness of the night, so that they would not be seen, to get a book there or to talk about various matters. Woe to the one that the eye of the zealots has found him there. As a result, a boycott and banishment was imposed on this home, and it was forbidden to a young man from Bait HaMidrash to go there.

R'Yakov Lemer and his wife Sheindil

Several years later, R' Yakov Lemer won a bigger reward. It was at the time that his son, Moshe, settled in Berlin and informed his father that he was donating all his Vilna Edition of Shas^[3] to Bait HaMidrash in the city of Tarnogrod.

In honor of this great event, R' Yakov held a great mitzvah meal at his home, and also those, who had previously been careful not to approach this house, came. And then, he got to hear, with his own ears, from the elderly rabbi, R' Leib'le Teicher, that this Shas is really the Torah of Moshe, in double meaning, of Moshe Rabbeinu and also of his son Moshe. Then, there was no limit to R' Yakov's happiness.

Thanks to their sons, who had big businesses in Berlin, R' Yakov Lemer and his wife Sheindil also immigrated there. They lived there for several years of rest and satisfaction, but not for a long time. Following the Nazi revolution in Germany they returned to their hometown in Poland together with other German Jewish refugees. When the Second World War broke out they fled to Lvov where they were victims of the extermination of all the Jews of Lvov.

May their memory be blessed.

The young women in the Zionist Movement From the right: Malka Silberzweig, Dvora Adler (USA), Ita Teicher daughter of HaRav R' Moshe'le, Chana-Mela First

A group of young people activists in the General Zionists Among them are - in the first row, from the right: Berkel Weintraub, Rivtz'a Nissenboim, Yisrael Adler, Zelda Kendel (now in Israel), Azriel Bas, Malka Kalikstein, Yosef Weiss, Chana'le Aptiker, David Groisman, Dvora Adler (America), Rivka Zukerman. They conducted a beautiful job, in which they wrote a great chapter in the history of the town, which was wiped out and disappeared.

Footnotes

1. Haskalah Movement – The Jewish Enlightenment – was an ideological and social movement that developed in Eastern Europe in the early 19th century. Return
2. Yantshe Fakhtsher – Yantshe the Tenant. Return
3. Shas – Hebrew abbreviation of SHishA Sedarim, or, the “six orders” of the Mishnah Return

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