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IN-DEPTH FEATURES
Part II
In the first part of this article, Mrs. Samsonowitz told
us about her visit to Bratislava (Pressburg). After that she
visited Vienna. She is discussing the Rossau Fridhof
(cemetery) on Seegasse (Sea Road), Vienna's oldest Jewish
cemetery, going back to 1540.
The Precursor of the New Square Carp
Near the stairs leading to the Senior Citizen Home is a
strange-looking monument with a fish on top (at first look,
it appears as a dragon, but it is a fish with the tail
upwards). There are a few legends about this grave, but one
popular one sounds like the reports of the "talking carp" in
New Square last year.
A Jew one day went fishing in the Danube (which runs through
Vienna) and caught a big fish. He happily brought the
unexpected meal to his wife. When she was about to cut off
the fish's head, it suddenly jumped up, declaimed Shema
Yisroel, and died. They went to their rav to ask his
advice about what to do, and were advised to bury the fish.
The fish monument was presumably placed over the fish's grave
to commemorate the burial place of a Jewish gilgul who
had expiated his sins by returning in the body of a fish.
Vienna's Central Jewish Cemetery
Next we went to the Vienna cemetery on Hollandstrasse. In
contrast to most cities which have cemeteries scattered about
the periphery, most of Austria's cemeteries are located
together in one section which is many kilometers long. There
are two main Jewish cemeteries among the many non-Jewish
ones.
In one section is buried the Kapishnitzer Rebbe and the
Czortkover Rov, HaRav Yisroel Friedman zt"l. The
latter was a famous rebbe in pre-World War II Europe who had
one of the largest Chassidic communities and who was one of
the main forces in the newly-formed Agudath Israel.
In the newer section lie HaRav Yosef Engel, the esteemed rov
of Cracow, and the Boyaner Rebbe, HaRav Menachem Nochum of
Czernowitz, son of HaRav Yitzchok of Boyan.
Traveling past the non-Jewish cemeteries, we noticed that
many of the names of the deceased in the non-Jewish
cemeteries sounded just like typically Jewish names -- Bauer,
Goldblum, Pollack, etc. Then again, some of these people may
really have been Jewish, since Vienna was one of the most
assimilated Jewish communities in Europe.
Eisenstadt's Jewish History
It was a January afternoon when we headed for Eisenstadt. The
cold weather turned freezing, and snow began to fall.
Eisenstadt, which literally means "the city of iron," is
called in rabbinic literature "ir habarzel" or
"Asch" (an acronym of Eisen Stadt). The most famous
son associated with this town was HaRav Meir of Eisenstadt,
called Maharam Asch for short, who became rov in 1717
(5477).
Jews settled here in the 1300s (around 5100) and lived here
constantly, despite occasional short expulsions. In 1626
(5386) Eisenstadt and six surrounding towns (including
Mattersdorf) came under the beneficial protection of the
Hungarian Esterhazy aristocratic family, and these
communities became famous as vibrant Jewish towns popularly
called the "Seven Kehillos." The Jewish community in
Eisenstadt in particular was autonomous from other
kehillos, a situation which lasted right up to
1938.
Maharam Asch
The town was destroyed during a revolt in 1707, but was
restored with the help of Rav Wertheimer, who brought the
distinguished Maharam Asch to serve as its rov from 1717
until his death in 1744. The Jewish community reached the
pinnacle of its fame during this time, due to the famous
yeshiva which Maharam Asch led which attracted students from
near and far. During this time, Eisenstadt was often called,
"Little Jerusalem."
Maharam Asch first served in Shidlowitz, Poland, Worms,
Germany, and Prossnitz, Moravia before coming to Eisenstadt.
He raised in his home an orphaned pupil called Yonoson
Eibeschitz. He authored the classic Ponim Meiros
Responsa, Kosnos Or on Chumash and Megillos,
and Or Hagonuz on Kesuvos.
Another famous son of Eisenstadt was Rav Akiva Eiger, the rov
of Posen, who was born in this town but was raised by his
uncle elsewhere.
Recent Eisenstadt History
Eisenstadt was affected by the modernizing forces in nearby
Vienna and Hungary. By 1851 (5611), it took as rov of its
community HaRav Ezriel Hildesheimer, who was erudite in Torah
and also conversant with secular learning. He established a
yeshiva with secular studies in Eisenstadt which attracted
students from as far away as Holland and Denmark. He left
Eisenstadt in 1869 to found his Rabbinical Seminary in
Berlin.
When Jews were permitted freedom of movement in 1848, many
moved out of the provincial town for the metropolis of
Vienna. By World War II, the Eisenstadt community had only
450 members. The entire Jewish community was expelled from
the city and many died in the Holocaust. Only individuals
returned after the war and today, there are no Jews left in
Eisenstadt.
What remains in Eisenstadt from the illustrious Jewish
community is the beis midrash which Rav Wertheimer
built (located on Wertheimergasse) which has become the
Austrian Jewish Museum, and also the Jewish cemetery, which
contains graves going back to the 18th century, including the
grave of Maharam Asch.
The Eisenstadt shul was one of the few throughout Europe to
remain intact during Kristallnacht. The reason for
this was that the Jews had already been deported from the
city by the time Kristallnacht occurred, and the
city's mayor was a history aficionado who wanted to maintain
Eisenstadt's historical sites.
The Austrian Jewish Museum in Eisenstadt
It was late and usually at this time of the year there are
few museum visitors, but the museum was open due to our
advance notice (and hearing that a journalist wanted to tour
around). The shul on the bottom floor has been reconstituted,
together with the ancient chandelier, the paroches,
and the yahrtzeit "badges" hanging on a curtain on
the wall. It is not a large synagogue, since during the days
it was built it rarely had to serve more than 100
worshipers.
The rest of the building features displays on Judaism that
may be interesting to non-Jews who know nothing but is of
minor interest to an observant Jew. The exhibitions feature
displays of shul accessories, Shabbos, Succos, Chanukah,
Pesach, Rosh Hashonoh, the Jewish life cycle and Jewish
education.
There is a beautiful oil painting of Rav Wertheimer hanging
in one of the rooms, with elegant clothes and a long
beard.
Although the shul was rebuilt and modernized in the
nineteenth centuries, the museum has tried to reconstruct the
original shul of the eighteenth century.
The shul passed into the hands of various Jews during the
nineteenth century, most of whom allowed the shul to be
active while the rest of the rooms in the house were rented
out to Jewish residents. In 1875 it was acquired by the
wealthy Wolf family who used it as the family estate and the
headquarters of their wine shop.
A descendant of the family travelled to Austria after World
War II to sell the family's estate and belongings. The
Burgenland State Association bought the home in 1945 and the
Austrian Jewish Museum was finally opened in 1982.
The Jewish Cemetery in Eisenstadt
A few meters from the museum is the old Jewish cemetery. The
museum curator gave me the key to open the rusty gate. The
snow was swirling and the winds were howling, so I wasn't
tempted to linger long in prayer.
The grave of the Maharam Asch is covered by a low, simple
stone, but it is marked out by stakes and a rope. I could see
leftover yahrtzeit candle containers, notes and stones
over his grave which indicated that someone had recently
visited this out-of-the-way place. The graves of the parents
and grandmother of Rav Akiva Eiger are also here.
The Judenplatz Museum in the First
District
We sped back to Vienna to visit one more place -- the
Judenplatz Museum. At the suggestion of the Simon Weisenthal
Center, archaeological digs were carried out in the ancient
Judenplatz in District One, which is today a plaza containing
stores and offices. The site of the ancient Vienna synagogue
was known, and archaeological digs revealed the ancient lower
walls, parts of the tiled floor, the original construction
and even the place where the Aron Hakodesh had once
stood.
Vienna's Medieval Jewish Community
Jewish settlement in Vienna is first recorded in 1194 (4954),
when a Jew called Shlom was appointed by Duke Leopold V to
serve as his mint master. The fledgling Jewish community in
Vienna at this time was wiped out during the Third Crusades
in 1196, only two years later. Another Jewish community was
noted at the end of the thirteenth century.
A small Jewish community developed which received protection
charters from the various rulers. (Some of the charters can
be seen in the Judenplatz Museum.) Throughout the early
centuries of its existence, Jewish settlement was tenuous,
with numerous antisemitic decrees issued and withdrawn. Often
the Jews had to procure a separate right for each additional
house to live in, and had to face decrees such as wearing a
distinguishing sign on their clothes. For many years they
could not hire non-Jewish help, and they had to leave their
homes on non- Jewish holidays.
Vienna was a leading Jewish community of German Jewry during
the 13th and 14th centuries. In the second half of the 13th
century, 1,000 Jews were living there in 70 houses.
The rabbinical literature mentions the "sages of Vienna" who
were influential throughout Europe. Among them is HaRav
Yitzchok ben Moshe, the Or Zoru'a, one of the early
poskim.
The "Wiener Gezeiroh"
Incited by their clergy, antisemitism and attacks by the
local townspeople frequently plagued the community. In 1420
(5120), a Jew called Israel was libeled that he bought the
"host" to mock it. Laws were passed to expel the Jews. The
poor were driven out of the city. Some 200 were put on boats
in the Danube without oars, where the current carried them
down the river, capsized the boats, and caused many to drown.
Only a few survived the hazardous trip to Budapest where they
were pulled out of the water and saved. The rich were kept in
jail to decide their fate. Finally, on March 12, 1421, all
were burned, aside from those who converted.
The 800-member Jewish community of Vienna came to an end in
what became known as the Wiener Gezeiroh, and the shul was
demolished, its stones taken to build the University of
Vienna. All Jewish property was seized by Albrecht V for
himself.
A few protected Jews were allowed to return several decades
later, and slowly the Jewish community grew over the
following two centuries. During the Chmielnitzki massacres in
Poland, many refugees fled to Vienna. Two of them became
leading rabbis in Vienna -- HaRav Yom Tov Lipman Heller, and
HaRav Shabsai Sheftel Horowitz, the son of the Shloh, who is
buried in the Seegasse cemetery.
Features in the Museum
In addition to the remnants of the original shuls, there are
audio-visual displays describing the everyday life, work and
religion of the medieval Jewish community, a reconstruction
of the ancient Vienna city and its Jewish Quarter, and a film
where one can take a virtual tour of the medieval streets of
the Jewish Quarter and the synagogue.
On the walls are several interesting quotes taken from the
seforim of Rishonim about the ancient Jewish community
in Vienna.
I was taken aback when a modern-looking tour guide called me
over and pointed out a quote from a Rishon. It related that
when a priest wanted to do business with the Jews, he had to
hide his cross inside his cloak or else the Jews would refuse
to negotiate with him. It was self-understood to him that the
Jews' unswerving beliefs would not permit them to conduct
business while staring a cross in the face.
Hearing that I lived in Israel, the lady hotly declared to me
that this kind of Jewish pride is what is so sorely missing
in Israel among its leaders and decision-makers. Instead of
standing up for Jewish rights and Jewish blood, she told me
crisply, the leaders grovel and toady to every whim from a
Palestinian or European potentate.
I was surprised to get a lecture on Jewish pride in such an
assimilated Jewish city.
Coming out of the Judenplatz Museum, I had to walk through
the plaza to reach the street. Someone pointed out to me the
relief placed over the facade of the oldest house in the
plaza, located at Judenplatz 2. The relief shows the baptism
of J, dipping in the waters of the Jordan, with a Latin
inscription saying that he has purified himself from the evil
of the Jews. This inscription, which was attached to the
house around 1500, refers to the locals' joy at liquidating
the Jewish community eighty years earlier.
The city also has a Jewish Museum at Dorotheergasse with
information about Judaism and the complex history of Jews in
Vienna. Unfortunately, it was already too late to visit the
site. It was close to 6:00 p.m., the hour when the stores
shut and Vienna's night life begins.
Yo, That Great Viennese Hospitality
This was my signal to head for my host's home, where I was
treated to superb Viennese hachnosas orchim and a
discussion about what life in Vienna is like for a chareidi
family. After a comfortable night, I awoke to take the
morning flight back to Israel.
The Austrians also possess some of the alacrity and precision
of the Germans. I had left my luggage behind in the airport,
but I could have taken it with me since Austrian Airlines had
just opened a terminal in the Stepanstrasse subway station in
town. One can check one's luggage in there, and then
leisurely take the train to the airport.
Another one of my speedy one-day tours in Europe had come to
a pleasant end, and I awaited the gleaming stone of Jerusalem
buildings to signal my return home.
Leket Yosher is a biography and collection of
minhagim and responsa of Rabbi Isserlein from Wiener
Neustadt (around 1390-1460), which were collected by his
disciple Yosef bar Moshe between 1463 and 1488. The following
two sections give a taste of what life was like for Jews in
Austria during the Middle Ages. HaRav Isserlein's better-
known work is the Terumas Hadeshen.
Leket Yosher I, 62
Once, on a Sabbath, a large army advanced on his town (Wiener
Neustadt) and almost completely burned down the suburb. Rabbi
Isserlein gave permission for all the work to be carried out
on a Sabbath that was necessary to save what could be saved
from the enemy, as the citizens and the ruler [presumably
Emperor Friedrich III -- author's note] ordered it. But he
criticized those who carried out tasks that were not
indispensable, such as repairs on their bows or their
biks (rifle). He did not want to allow money to be
brought to safety outside of the Eruv.
. . . And our teacher Rabbi Schalom decided that desecration
of the Sabbath was now allowed when non-Jews came, even for
money matters, because it was known that they would kill us
if we did not let them take the money, and therefore there
was danger to life. Likewise, if there is a fire on a Sabbath
-- even if it is in the house of a non-Jew -- a Jew is
allowed to go there and put it out. For nowadays we must make
haste to help, even if the fire breaks out at the non- Jews,
for they would, G-d forbid, kill the Jews if we did not take
part in extinguishing a fire.
And it was in this spirit that Rabbi Aaron, may the Lord
revenge his blood, spoke before the entire community and
announced that a Jew was allowed to put out a fire even on
the Sabbath . . .
Leket Yosher II, 37
And I recall when, during the Vienna Gezeiroh, may the Lord
revenge their blood, Rabbi Isserlein said that on erev
Shabbos, because of our many sins, they had tortured his
teacher, our teacher and rabbi, Rabbi Aaron, may the memory
of the martyr and righteous be blessed. When he came from the
torture, he asked several times for a drink of water, until
it was finally given to him. Immediately after drinking he
passed away, may the Lord avenge his blood.
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