RE: [Cz-L] Czernowitz Jewish diversity

Iosif...

Just great, thank you so much for this most interesting travel log from the middle of the 19th century. As a quid pro quo for your efforts and as a counterpart to your posting, I've released an excerpt from "Joseph Rohrer's Letters from Bukovina", published in the year 1804 (!!!) at:

http://hauster.blogspot.nl/2012/12/joseph-rohrers-letters-from-bukovina.html

Joseph Rohrer (1769-1828) was a Austrian top official, who was appointed as Police Commissioner in Lemberg in the year 1800. From his letter dated 23rd November 1802 - and from his viewpoint - we learn, that

- the Jews have monopolized Bukovinian transport and hospitality operations,
- the Hotel Adler was owned by a Jewish widow at that time,
- trade and transport, being in the hands of "such a [Jewish] nation", were compromised,
- Bukovina had a favorable location towards Prussia, Russia, Turkey and Hungary,
- but the Christian population in Galicia and Bukovina was nevertheless poor,
- 175 Jewish families resided in Bukovina in 1786, "thanks" to the military government,
- 649 Jewish families = 3,286 people resided there in 1802, due to the civil government,
- Jews were "every so often" brave farmers in the Sereth - Suczawa area,
- Jews acted as agricultural sub-tenants, but nor main-tenants,
- Jews have monopolized the rural general store trade,

and - according to Joseph Rohrer's fear - they were about to become as wealthy as the Jews from Vienna!

A nice travel through time (210 years ago today), isn't it? Warmest wishes for now and, BTW, the DVD's will be forwarded by the end of this week.

Edgar Hauster
Lent - The Netherlands

----------------------------------------
> Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:56:06 -0500
> Subject: [Cz-L] Czernowitz Jewish diversity
> From: iosif.vaisman_at_gmail.com
> To: Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu
>
> On September 28, 1839 a mission of inquiry to the Jews from the Church
> of Scotland arrived to Czernowitz. The ultimate goal of the mission
> was, of course, to share certain very important truths with the Jews,
> but on the way the missionaries recorded their observations and a
> couple of years later published a very interesting travelogue. Here is
> their snapshot of the Jewish life in Czernowitz 170 years ago:
>
> =========
> Czernowitz is a pleasant town, with streets wide, well aired, and
> clean. The houses are generally two or three stories high, and there
> are barracks and other public buildings. Most of the names over the
> shops were Polish. The market-place is a wide square, having one side
> lined with stalls or movable shops, like sentry-boxes; and, in the
> middle, a large cross, with a statue of the Virgin sitting at the foot
> of it, holding in her arms the dead body of the Saviour, her head
> adorned with twelve stars, and two angels at her side. A broad street
> leads from the market-place, down a steep descent, from the top of
> which is seen the river Pruth winding through the plain below, with a
> village on the opposite side of the bank, called Satagora, in which
> many Jews reside. In this street again there is a figure of the
> Saviour on the Cross, and the Virgin standing beneath it, with a sword
> piercing her heart, in reference to Luke ii. 35. The situation of the
> town is fine and salubrious, on the top of a considerable elevation,
> looking down on the neighbouring river, and surrounded with fertile
> plains on all sides.
>
> There are 3000 Jews here, with eight synagogues, only three of which
> are large. These three we visited, being all under the roof of one
> large edifice. The congregation were engaged in worship when we
> entered, but “seemed to have little feeling of devotion, for a group
> soon gathered round each of us at different parts of the synagogue. On
> saying to those around us, “We have been at Jerusalem,” they were
> immediately interested, and asked, “Are the Jews there like the Jews
> here?” We said, “They were, but all could speak Hebrew. “
>
> They said, “None here can speak Hebrew except the rabbi.” “Do you
> expect ever to return to your own land”?” “We hope for that every
> day.” We said, “We Christians are looking for the second coming of the
> Messiah every day.” They replied, “What Messiah? Is it Messiah
> Ben-Joseph? This led us to tell of the only Saviour, “who is exalted
> to give repentance unto Israel, and remission of sins.” We told them
> how Christians in our land loved the Jews. Their reply was, “Here they
> do not love the Jews.” This took place in the largest synagogue. In
> the other two, which belonged to the Chasidim, the worshippers were
> much more intent upon their prayers, and more loud and vehement in
> their cries. When we were leaving, one of them came after us to ask,
> “How much of the temple-wall at Jerusalem was still standing, how high
> and how broad it was?” The same Jew asked, if we had seen Hebron, and
> if the cave of Machpelah was known?
>
> The Jews here are very ignorant. Their young people are not taught to
> understand the Hebrew, but only to read it; though many send their
> children to the public academies where Latin and German are taught.
> Some have given up their belief in the Talmud; and many are so
> careless that they come to the synagogue only on the Day of Atonement.
> The Jew who acted as our guide through the town (for we purposely
> employed a Jew on all such occasions), said, that he believed the Old
> Testament Scriptures, but did not believe in a Messiah at all. The
> truth is, that many of them are so entirely ignorant of Scripture,
> that they fancy the doctrine of a Messiah to be one of the traditions
> of their rabbis, and not a promise of Moses and the prophets. The
> sight of Israel in this region cannot fail to sadden the heart of
> those that love them. “Behold, they say. Our bones are dried, our hope
> is lost.”
> =========
>
> The last paragraph can be reprinted with only minor changes on the
> op-ed pages of virtually any today's Jewish newspaper. Czernowitz, as
> usually, was well ahead of the curve.
>
> Scan of the pages:
> http://oldczernowitz.blogspot.com/2012/12/czernowitz-jews-1839.html
>
>
> Iosif
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Received on 2012-12-12 07:53:24