[Hartmannswiller Pinkas].
פנקס הארטמאנסווילער

Format:

• Book
• Manuscript

Contributor:

• Moldovan, Joseph, donor.
• Moldovan, Susan, donor.
• Moldovan Family Judaica Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

• French
• German
• Hebrew
• Yiddish

Subjects (All):

• Jews.
• Pinkasim.
• France.
• Pinkasim--19th century.
• Jews--France--Hartmannswiller--19th century.
• Soultz-Haut-Rhin (France : Canton)--History--Sources.
• Manuscripts, Yiddish--France--Hartmanswiller--19th century--Specimens.

Genre:

• codices (bound manuscripts)
• bylaws (administrative records)
• financial records

Penn Provenance:

• GIFT FROM THE MOLDOVAN FAMILY COLLECTION By Joseph T. Moldovan C'76 and Susan A. Moldovan C'76. Donated in Honor and Memory of Jean and Dr. Alfred Moldovan.

Physical Description:

40 leaves : paper ; 210 x 165 (195 x 150) mm bound to 210 x 170 mm

Production:

• [Hartmannswiller, France], [1837-1850].
• [הארטמאנסווילער], [1837-1850].

Other Title:

• manuscript title : Pinḳas ha-ḳahal shel Harṭmansṿiler / naʻaśah bi-shenat 598
• פנקס הקהל של האַרטמאַננסוויללער / נעשה בשנת תקצ"ח

Place of Publication:

1837-1850.

Language Note:

In Yiddish with Hebrew title, and a few words in French and German.

Summary:

This manuscript is a pinḳas, or community record, for the community of Hartmannsweiler (today Hartmannswiller, a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace on the upper portion of the Rhine in northeastern France); the scribe identifies himself as Refaʼel Wormser of the rabbinate of Sulz (today Soultz-Haut-Rhin, a canton directly north of Hartmannswiller, and a more established and historical Jewish settlement); the Hartmannswiller community appointed him to serve them as well due to the absence of a rabbinate there (likely because of its tiny size; "ʻal yede ha-moreh ḥ.m. (ḥaser mi-meḳomam) asher anshe ha-ḳahal ha-zeh ʻomdim be-gevul rabanutan ha-ḳ. Refaʼel Ṿaormsʻer," f. 1r). The manuscript serves as an account of synagogue life in rural 19th-century Alsace. It begins with a census of the town notables in 1837: Yona Bacharach, the official synagogue president (אויפביכטס קאממיסאֶהר דער זינאגעגע), Avraham Elias, Isak and Avraham Grumbach, Monnl Weill, Yehi'el Dreifus, Me'ir Hecker, Isak-Löb Netter, Elia Bichard (ביקארד), and "the woman" (והאשה) Treitl Wormser, Isak Bichard's widow; following is a description of sums and donations for the community synagogue building. Following is a constitution for the new synagogue building, including seat placements (with names and seats delineated; surprisingly, Treitl Wormser appears to have been given a seat in the men's section, f. 2v, last line of article 2), design, the women's section, the synagogue fee for upkeep, the synagogue watchman, the creation of a mikvah (ritual bath), and the creation of a fund for the purchase of holy items (such as books, Torahs, and ritual items); these have numbered indents with "Arṭiḳʻal" (ארטיקעל) heading each entry, and a running combination of square and cursive Yiddish; it is signed at the end by all of the aformentioned community notables and signed on Sunday, 17 Tevet 598 (14 January 1838, f. 3v). Additional articles (including the induction of a new member to the committee, Mendele Kohn of Steinbrunn-le-Haut, France) were introduced on Sunday, 15 Elul 599 (25 August 1839, f. 4r); also signed at the bottom by names mentioned in the articles. Records of alms and loans to needy recipients from a community fund, with witness signatures, follow (f. 6v-7v).The record also includes a list of ordinances, and also fines (ḳenasot) for various infractions, all measured in centimes and francs (f. 16r-16v). For example, missing the penitential prayers on the eve of Rosh Ḥodesh, or not learning in the synagogue on the afternoon of the Sabbath; for ordinances, the establishment of study groups and a burial society (Ḥevra ḳadisha) and the community's mandatory donations, written in a minuscule Yiddish cursive over distinct ruling; this portion is signed by Ya'akov Ullman, the cantor and schoolteacher in Hartmannswiller, on Sunday, 7 Iyyar 5606 (10 May 1846), and signed below by many more members of the committee (including only those not mentioned previously): Yaʹakov Tsevi Grumbach, David Bichard, Feyes and Me'ir Bacharach, and Avraham b. Yitshak-Aryeh (f.16v). Following is another constitution ratified on 4 November 1848, and a wider Yiddish cursive is used over distinct ruling with the German "Artikel" numbering each entry (f. 17v-18r). There are two sections of blank folios (f. 8r-15v, 18v-40v). Modern foliation written in pencil on upper left recto. Likely original binding, leather spine over marbled boards, with remnants of a leather tie on the middle of the fore edge of the boards.

Notes:

Ms. codex.

Cited as:

UPenn CAJS Rar Ms 485.

OCLC:

1091194757