This vivid description of Jewish life in Poland in the 17th century is the final chapter of a book called Yeven Metzula (The Pit of Corruption) written by Rabbi Nathan Nata Hannover and published in Venice in 1653. The bulk of the volume is an account of the Ukrainian uprising against Poland under the Cossack leader Bogdan Chmielnicki in 1648 and of the mass slaughter of Jews perpetrated by the Ukrainians in the course of their struggle.

Rabbi Hannover was a Cabalist, not a historian, yet the simplicity of his exposition, which often appears to border on naiveté, proves more effective than a scholarly historical work. His perception and sensitivity triumphed where mechanically objective observation falls short. His simple declarative sentences, couched in the style of his day, reveal such a penetrating understanding that in them we can still recognize the Poles, Ukrainians, and Jews of today. Graetz and Dubnow valued Rabbi Hannover’s book highly as a historical source book, while the Jewish masses in Eastern Europe made it recommended reading during the mourning period preceding the fast day of the ninth of Ab.

The Chmielnicki pogroms shook the Jewish people to its very foundation; and from the mood of despair that followed upon them, the Messianic Sabbatai Zevi movement derived much of its strength. Many Jews must have felt indeed that the world—their world—was coming to an end. Probably such a feeling induced Rabbi Hannover to add this chapter to lis book, so that future generations might know low the Jews of Poland had lived.

The picture emerging from this chapter has the charm of a folk tale. The minute details of Jewish life, surrounded as it was by a vast feudal sea of primitive peasantry and arrogant nobility, lend verisimilitude to it. We obtain the image of a highly complicated civilization carried on by a tightly knit group in the midst of a cultural void. There was the extreme, exaggerated dedication to learning, the mutual responsibility, and then there was that furious determination to live—all for the sake of some sacred, mysterious end, no doubt.

The world of Polish Jewry, which appeared on the point of obliteration in 1648, succeeded in recuperating from the Chmielnicki uprising, and survived for almost three centuries more. The chapter below has more than a historical interest today, for in addition to erecting a memorial to a community and a way of life now permanently destroyed, it still involves us directly. In the author’s description of the aid extended by Jewish communities to the DP’s of 1650, we recognize the Jewish solidarity of today. Nor is the hunger for learning in the yeshivot of 17th-century Poland substantially different from the thirst contemporary Jews feel for university education. Unwittingly, perhaps, Rabbi Nathan Nata Hannover described a historical pattern of respect for learning that we continue weaving in the present.

The translation is by myself.—Shlomo Katz.

_____________

It is said in Tractate Aboth: “Simon the Just was one of the last survivors of the Great Assembly. He used to say: Upon three things is the world based: upon the Torah, upon divine service, and upon the practice of charity. Rabban Simeon, the son of Gamaliel, said: By three things is the world preserved: by truth, by judgment, and by peace.” All these six pillars upon which the world is based were in existence in the Kingdom of Poland.

The pillar of the Torah: Matters that are widely known need not be proved, for throughout the dispersions of Israel there was never so much learning as in the Kingdom of Poland. There each and every community maintained yeshivot, and they lavished great compensation on the master of each yeshiva that he might maintain his yeshiva without worry and that the Torah might be his trade. And the master of the yeshiva would not leave his house the entire year except to go to the house of prayer or the house of study, and he was engaged day and night in the study of the Torah. Furthermore each community maintained young men and provided them with a weekly allotment of money that they might study with the master of the yeshiva, and for each young man they also maintained at least two boys who should study under his supervision so that he should orally explain the Gemara, Rashi, and Tosafot [the Talmud and its exegeses and commentaries] which he had learned, and thus they should become adept at argumentation.

The boys were provided with food from community funds or public kitchens. A community of fifty households maintained not less than thirty young men and boys, and one young man and his two pupils would be in the same household, and the young man at least sat at table as one of the sons. And although the young man had an allotment from the community, his host provided him with food and drink as he needed. Some of the more generous householders also permitted the boys to eat at their tables, thus providing food and drink to three persons the entire year.

And there was scarcely a house in all the Kingdom of Poland where they did not engage in the study of the Torah: either the head of the household was a scholar, or his son, or his son-in-law, or a young man eating at the table, and at times all of these were in the same house. Thus they realized the three things which Rava listed in the Tractate Shabbat, Chapter I: “Rava said he who loves scholars will have scholarly sons; he who honors scholars will have scholarly sons-in-law; he who fears scholars will be himself a scholar.” Thus it came about that there were many learned men in each community and if there was a community of fifty householders it contained twenty scholars who were called morenu [our master] or haver [friend]. [These were honorary titles accorded by the rabbi to scholarly members of his congregation. Communal regulations defined the conditions to be met in order to obtain such titles.] The master of the yeshiva was over all these and the scholars were obedient toward him and went to hear his discourses at the yeshiva.

_____________

And this was the order of study in the Kingdom of Poland: the term of study was that time during which the young men and the boys had to study with the master of the yeshiva. In the summer it extended from the first day of the month of Iyar till the fifteenth day of the month of Ab; in the winter from the first of the month of Heshvan till the fifteenth day of Shevat. After the fifteenth of Shevat or the fifteenth of Ab the young men and the boys were free to study wherever they chose. From the first day of Iyar till the feast of Pentecost, and in the winter from the first day of Heshvan till Hanukah, all the students at the yeshiva studied Gemara, Rashi, and Tosafot with great diligence. Each day they studied a halachah—a page of Gemara with its commentaries was called a halachah.

All the scholars and young men of the community and anyone with a penchant for learning would go to the yeshiva. The master of the yeshiva alone would be seated in a chair and all the others stood about him. They would dispute with each other in matters of Law before the master of the yeshiva arrived, and when he came each would ask him that which he had found difficult in the Law and he would answer their questions. Then they were all silent and the master of the yeshiva discoursed about his new interpretations of the Law, and after he had stated his innovations the master of the yeshiva would state a contradiction, i.e., he would cite from the Gemara or Rashi or Tosafot things that are contradictory, he would question abbreviations and provide answers which might also be contradictory; thus he would find answers until the Law emerged clearly.

In the summer they would not leave the yeshiva earlier than noon. From the feast of Pentecost till the New Year, and from Hanukah till Passover, the master of the yeshiva would not engage in so many disputatious subjects, but taught the scholars Arba’ah Turim [a collection of laws compiled by Rabbi Jacob ben Rabbi Asher]; the young men he taught Rav Alfas [the compilation of laws by Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi] and other works. In any case they also studied Gemara, Rashi, and Tosafot till the first day of Ab or the fifteenth day of Shevat. From then on until Passover or the New Year they studied solely compilations of Law and other works.

Some weeks before the fifteenth day of Ab or the fifteenth day of Shevat the master of the yeshiva would honor each one of his students by allowing him to conduct the discourses in the yeshiva in his stead; both scholars and young men were thus honored. They would hold forth and the master of the yeshiva disputed with them so that they should sharpen their wits.

Thus they studied the same tractate throughout the Kingdom of Poland in sequence through the six orders [of the Mishna]. And each master of a yeshiva had one attendant who went daily to all the schools to look after the boys, both rich and poor, that they should study; and he would warn them every day in the week that they should study and not roam the streets. On Thursdays all the boys had to go in a group to the director in charge of the Talmud Torahs who questioned them on what they had learned during the week, and he who knew nothing of what he had studied or made one error was flogged by the attendant at the order of the director and was otherwise chastised before the other boys so that he should remember and study more diligently the following week. Likewise on the eve of Sabbath all the boys went in a group to the master of the yeshiva, who questioned them on what they had learned during the week. In this manner there was a great fear upon the boys and they studied with diligence.

Also during the three days before Pentecost and during Hanukah the young men and the boys reviewed what they had studied during the term, and the heads of the community gave them allotted gifts of money. Such was the custom till the fifteenth day of Ab or the fifteenth day of Shevat. After that the master of the yeshiva, together with all his pupils, young men and boys, traveled to the fair.

_____________

In the summer they traveled to the fairs in Zaslav and Jerislav; in the winter to the fairs in Lvov and Lublin. There the young men and boys were free to study in any yeshiva they chose. And at each fair there were some hundreds of masters of yeshivot, some thousands of young men, tens of thousands of boys and Jewish merchants, and Gentiles like the sands on the shore of the sea, for people would come to the fair from one end of the world to the other. And whoever had a son or a daughter to marry off went to the fair and there chose a match, for there everyone found his like and his mate. And there would be hundreds of matches made at each fair, and sometimes thousands. Jews, men as well as women, went about the fair dressed in royal garments, for they were held in esteem by the rulers and by the Gentiles, and the children of Israel were numerous as the sands of the sea, but now, because of our sins, they have become few, may the Lord have mercy upon them.

And great honor was accorded to the master of the yeshiva in each community, and his words were heard by rich and poor alike, none gainsaid him, without him no man raised his hand or foot, and as he commanded thus it came to be. In his hand he carried a stick and lash to flog and to punish and to chastise transgressors; it was his to formulate regulations, establish safeguards and declare the forbidden. Nevertheless the master of the yeshiva was loved and one who had a good portion such as fatted fowl or good fish would honor the master of the yeshiva with half or all of these, and with other gifts of money or silver and gold without measure. In the synagogue, too, most of those who bought honors shared them with the master of the yeshiva, who was called up at least third to the reading of the Torah on Sabbaths and the first day of the holidays. And if the master of the yeshiva was a Kohan or a Levite, the honors that belong to these were accorded to him, despite the fact that there may have been many other Kohanim or Levites in the congregation. And no man walked out of the synagogue on Sabbaths or holidays until the master of the yeshiva went out first and his pupils after him, then the whole congregation accompanied him to his home. On holidays the entire congregation went to his home to greet him. For this reason all scholars were envious and studied diligently that they, too, might reach this state and become masters of yeshivot in some community, and through study for extraneous motives they came to study the Torah for its own sake, and the land was filled with knowledge.

The pillar of Service: At this time prayer took the place of service, as it is written “so will we render the calves of our lips.” Prayer was founded on bases of gold and at the head was the society of those who rise before dawn, “They that watch for the morning,” to pray and to mourn over the destruction of the Temple. With dawn would arise the members of the Psalms Society who recited Psalms for about an hour before prayers, and each week they would recite the entire Book of Psalms. And God forbid that any man should oversleep the time of prayer except under great compulsion. And when a man went to the synagogue he would not depart thence to his business until he had heard some learned words from a scholar, or a passage from the commentaries of Rashi on the Torah, the Prophets, the Scriptures, the Mishna, or some laws, whatever his heart desired to study; for in all synagogues there were groups of scholars who taught others in the synagogue immediately after morning and evening prayers in order to observe: “They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.”

The pillar of Charity: There was no measure to the benevolence in the Kingdom of Poland, especially in hospitality. If a scholar or preacher came to visit a community, even if it was one where visitors were given slips entitling them to be the guests of a householder, he did not have to humiliate himself to obtain a slip, but went to some leader in the community and stayed wherever he chose. The beadle then came and took his permit to collect money and showed it to the head of the synagogue or the leader of the community for the month [leaders of the community served in turn for three months or for one month] and they gave him a fitting gift and respectfully sent him with the beadle. He was then the guest of one of the householders for as many days as he chose. Similarly with other strangers who received slips. He would be given a slip and be the guest of the householder whose turn it was for as long as he wanted.

At the very least a slip was good for three days, and the guest was provided with food and drink, morning, noon, and night. And when they wanted to go on their way they were given provisions for the way and were sent by horse and carriage from one community to another. If young men or boys, men or unmarried girls came from afar, they would forthwith be provided with clothes and he who wanted to work at a trade would be apprenticed to a tradesman, and he who wanted to be a servant would be given into a house to serve, and for him who wanted to study a teacher would be hired, and afterward, when he became an important young man, a rich man would take him into his home and marry his daughter to him, and give him several thousand gulden for a dowry and dress him in royal garments—for who is royalty? Scholars. After the wedding he would be sent away from home to study in the great yeshivot. And when he returned home after two or three years his father-in-law would maintain a yeshiva for him in his home and spend much money among householders who were great scholars that they should go to his yeshiva for some years until the son-in-law, too, became the master of a yeshiva in some community.

And even if the young man was not yet an important student at the time but had a good heart for study and there was a possibility that he would become a scholar after he had studied, there would at times come a rich man who had a small daughter and give him food and drink and clothes and all his needs, as to his own son, and hire a teacher for him until he became a polished vessel; then he would give him his daughter; and there is no greater benevolence than this. Similarly there were very beautiful regulations for poor unmarried girls in the entire kingdom, and no poor girl reached the age of eighteen without being married, and many pious women devoted themselves to this good deed, may the Lord recompense them and have mercy on the remnant of Israel.

The pillar of the Law: This was in the Kingdom of Poland as it was in Jerusalem before the destruction of the Temple, when they set up courts in every city, and if one did not wish to be judged by the court in his city he went to the nearest court, and if he did not wish to be judged by the nearest court he went before the great court. For in every province there was a great court. Thus there was a great court for Volhynia and the Ukraine in the community of Ostra, which was the capital, and in the community of Lvov there was a great court for Russia. Thus there were many great communities, each of which had a great court for its province.

And if two chief communities had a dispute among themselves they would go before the leaders of the Four Lands, may their Rock and Redeemer preserve them. These would be in session together twice a year. One leader was chosen from each of the chief communities and to them were added six gaonim [recognized great men] from Poland, and all together were called [the Committee of] the Four Lands.

They would be in session at each fair in Lublin between Purim and Passover and at each fair in Yaroslav in the month of Ab or Elul. The leaders of the Four Lands were like the Sanhedrin in the Chamber of Hewn Stones and they had authority to judge all Israel in the Kingdom of Poland, to establish safeguards and to formulate regulations and to punish each man as they saw fit. Each difficult matter was brought before them and they judged it. And the leaders of the Four Lands chose judges from the provinces to lighten their burden and these were called Judges of the Provinces before whom all cases involving money were brought. But matters pertaining to fines, ownership, and other difficult laws were brought before the leaders of the Four Lands, may their Rock and Redeemer preserve them. Nor was a dispute inside Israel ever brought before a Gentile court or before a lord or before the king, God magnify his glory, and if a man of Israel took his case before Gentile judges he was punished with great reproach, to observe “even our enemies themselves being judges.”

The pillar of Truth: There were in every community men appointed over weights and measures and other mutual dealings to see to it that everything was conducted according to truth and justice.

The pillar of Peace: For it is said “The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.” And there was in Poland so much learning that no three people sat down to a meal but that they discussed the Torah, for everyone, all the time that they were eating, debated matters of Law and Midrashim that were not clear, in order to observe “thy law is within my heart.” And the Lord, blessed be His name, recompensed them so that even when they were in the land of their enemies He did not despise them nor did he break His covenant with them, and wherever their feet trod the ground among our brothers the House of Israel, they were treated with great charity. Above all was this the case with our brothers who were in trouble and in captivity among the Tartars, for the Tartars led them to Constantinople, a city that was a mother in Israel, and to famed Salonika and to other communities in Turkey and to Egypt and to the Berber countries and other provinces of the Jewish dispersion, where they were ransomed for much money. To this day they have not ceased ransoming the prisoners that are brought to them each day, the Lord recompense them.

And those who fled the sword of the foe, wherever their footsteps led them, to Moravia, to Austria, to Bohemia, to Germany, to Italy, were met with kindness and were given food and drink and lodging and garments and many gifts to each according to his importance, and they also did other favors to them. Especially in Germany did they do more than they could, may their justice appear before God to defend them and all Israel so that Israel may enjoy peace and rest in his dwellings, and may their merit be counted for us and our children that God should hearken to our cries and gather our dispersion from the four corners of the earth and send to us our just Messiah soon, in our day, Amen Selah!

_____________