THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
Alt-Ofen
the
new
institution
won
its
way, and when
in
due
nccomniodiitions Ixrume too sniiill. Emperor Joseph II. pres«'iilc(l the eomnuinily with the adjoinI)ouhtles.s the hnalty and piety of the inj; house. tirst teaeliers eontrilmted a great deal to the increased esteem whieli the iiistiliition enjoyed; its fame e.xtended tlirouirh the length and breadth of the hind. One of its first teachers was called to the public school of the Brody coLumunily.and the first preacher of the I'est eoinniunity. Joseph liach. was a tia<her liiri'. From ITSI-DO.lhe conununity was without a rabbi. Nathan GUusbur^rer die<l in IT^il. an<l althouirh the prefect urged it repeatedly, the comnuinity could arWolf I5osrive at no airreemeiit as to a succes.sor. kovitz, a wealthy man. well versed in Jewish litemture and a member of the community, had a hiirh o])inioii of his own Illness for the post, but his own family wdrUed anainst him. Som<' (Jalician linen-dealers directed the attention of llieir Alt Ofen friends to Jloses Mlinz. born in I'ndnlia. an<l livinu' as a jirivate citizen in Brody ((ialicia). Moses An inquiry of Kzikicl Landau, the Mlinz, chief rabbi of Pra.L'ue. elicited an answer which not only strenirthcned the Kabbi. recommendation, but styled Miinz "a miracle of our times"; ac<-ordin>rly in ITiMI, Moses Mnnz, then forty years old. becami- chief nibbi of Alt-Ofen, which post he held until his death in ls;51. The choice of the con^'reiralion wasa must fortunate one; Miinz's learninjr carried the reiiutatioii of the eonjrregation far beyond the eonlines of llunirary. Xumerousreli.s;ious questions were subnntted to him by confrregations in all jiarts of the monarchy. In 171)9 a niunber of rcmarkal)le regulations were enacted by the Covuicil and bet din of Alt Ofen, which were no doubt dictated by the circumstances of the times. These regulations afford an insight into the social and religious life of those days. The following prohibition Issur) was proclainii'<l in all .synagogues: "It is forbidden to give or receive presents: (rO to or from newly electcil olticers of Inner Life the congregation and hebrah; ('») upon of the a wedding engagement; (r) before or Commu- after a wedding; ('/) U])on a bar-nuznity. wall (a boy's religious majority), or upon receipt of the degree of 'lialx'r' [ralibi]; (r) upon taking up [associate] or morenu residence in a new dwelling." The following were also forbidden: the extravagant "third" Sabbathmeal before and after a wedding (of which usually almost the whole comnuuiity took |iart ); the banquet aflera bride t<iok her ritiial bath, and dancing by the young people on that night; the e.vtnivagant wedding-dinners, iu which uninvited guests |iarticipateil; and finally the procession by the newly married pair a custom imported by fiuabian Jews free ]iassage for which had to be ]nirchascd with money. The reason for these prohibitions was the tendency toward display whi<h led many to the verge of linan,Nl:uiy refused to accept office in the con<ial ruin. gregation, or to perform certain religious fum-tions, because of the very consideral)le monetary outlays attendant thereon, outlays which had been allowed to grow into a species of almost religious duty. Possibly also the continuous influx of newcomers, wh'. were for the most part poor, had some influence in bringing about this curious legislation. Parallel with these regulations of the community riui many of humane and patriotic nature, dating from the tirst half of the nineteenth century. "Whenever the country at large was iu dire need, the community rose to the occasion. In the national trotdiles of 1800 they took tip a collection among their members, heading it with a conmiuual contribution of
time
its
(
'
—
'
—
400
florins (8200); in in those
(§1,312.50)
—
Public Spirit.
472 1810 they gave 2,625 florins days a considerable sum to-
—
ward the foundation of the National .Museum; which evidence of generosity induced the Palatine Archduke Joseph to send a very cordial lett<'r of
thanks
to the community. In 1830 they gave 15(1 florins (§75) to the vicar Alt-Ofen von Pec.sy. toward the building of the Metropolitan Church at (iron. In 1831, Rabbi Moses Miinz died, after a short illness, and Ixfcire the clo.se of the year of mourning large maintrigviing for the vacant post began. jority of the congri'gation elected IIirs( h Heller,
A
called " Harif "(sjigacious or quick witted).
who had
been formerly nibbi in Bonyhad, and just before his call to Alt Ofen had accepted a like position in
Ungvar. Heller declined at flrst, because, a<cording to the testimony of a friend, he knew nothing of the outer wiirld, and had been overwhclmeil with threatening letters from a vigorous reform Jiarty which exisK'd in the .Vlt-Ofen congregation. In addition, the Ungvar congregation declined to re-
him from his engagement with them luitil he had served them long enough to defray the exjiense they had been put to. (inly when the Alt-Ofen lease
congregation
jiaiii 2.500 florins in compcnsjilion to that of I'ngvar. and Heller had been convinced that by far lln' larger majority of the members were enthusiastically iu his favor, would he enter upon the position in Alt-Ofen (.V])ril, 18;W), where he, however, died, six months lat<T, on October 27th. After Heller's tleath the rabbinate remained vacant for twenty-seven years; all religious matters were. during that period, attended to by the dayyanim, among whom, as among their predecessors, there were many who enjoyed a wide re|iutation for .Jewish scholarship; for instance, Klhanan Dayyan. P. L,
Freudinger, Jacob Neusehlossof Wetsch.
M,
I.
II.
Oes-
Oesterreicher, his son Jewrish and successor, and liis son again, P. L. Scholar- Oesterreicher, who died in IHilit. There were nmnerous scholars among the lay ship. members of the comnuuiity. who maintained their own schools, some of which attracted many Talmud students. Prominent among these scholars were L. L. Lowenthal, L. II. Schlesinger, and M. L. Boscovitz. There were other scholars, as F, Goldberger, I. Totis. and J. Heuss, who had synagogues in their own homes, in which stipendiary Talmud scholars studied, and for their maintenance rich legacies were provided. Closely following the death of Heller, several causes contril)Ute(l to the ileeadence of the .Jewish community at Alt-Ofen. Pest came rajiidly into prominence, and since the feudal system of " protective agreements" fell into disuse, the wealthy merchants and residents of .lt-Ofen moved to Pest, leaving the poorer and straitened contingent behind terreicher,
I.
manage communal affairs. As a result, some 33,000 florins (.Sl()..-)(l(l) iif the legacy-funds were applied to current communal e|)enses, thereby endangering the maintenance of many testamentary obligations. Another disintegrating influence was exercised by the growth of the many private synagogues, splitting up the community into many small congregations, and leading in 1H,")1 to a bitter struggle between them and the oflicial congregation, which continued till 1889, when the last of these small synagogues was definitivc'ly closed up. The jiolitical aflfairs of the country contributed much in Its those days to the decline of the community. patriotic stand in the fight for freedom in 1848 brought it almost to the verge of financial ruin. It donated of its own accord a large portion of the to
