THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
October 17, 1975 37
Moses Shulvas' Ktav-Published Volume Discusses History of Jewry in Poland
By ALLEN A. WARSEN
Numerous volumes have
been written on the history
of the Jew of Poland. Out-
standing are the works of
the historians Simon Dub-
now, Myer Samuel Balaban
and Ignac Shiper (all three
died in the Holocaust). The
latter is also known for his
researches on the Jewish
theater since ancient times.
This impressive library
has been enriched by a new
volume authored by Moses
A. Shulvas and entitled
"Jewish Culture in Eastern
Europe" (Ktav Publishing
House, 1975).
Shulvas, like other histo-
ans, maintains that the
iiistorical process of Jewish
migration to Poland from
Western Europe began in
the 12th Century caused pri-
marily by the first Crusade
(1096) which brought about
wide and total devastation
of entire Jewish communi-
ties.
The continuous influx of
Jews to Poland, the
growth of Jewish settle-
ments, and the economic
prosperity of the Jewish
people also resulted in the
growth of anti-Semitism.
In forefront, as always,
were the burgesses and the
Catholic clergy.
Anti-Semitism, however,
had minimal effect on the
growth of Jewish cultural
institutions. Still, Jewish
learning did not keep pace
with Jewish well-being. As
a result, rabbis had to be
imported from other lands.
To attract them, they were
promised that they would
be exempt from paying
taxes.
Though rabbis were im-
ported from abroad, it is
known that some scholars
did reside in Poland in the
14th Century. One scholar
Yomtov Lippmann Muehl-
hausen even authored the
famous "Sefer Hanitzahon"
("The Book of Victory"), a
guide for disputations with
Christians. Another
scholar, Moses the Exile,
composed the kabalistic
book "Shoshan Sodoth"
("The Mystic Rose").
An event of major import-
ance in the history of the
Polish Jews, according to
the author, took place in the
16th Century. The "Vaad
Arba Aratzoth," the Council
of Four Provinces was then
formed which served as the
parliament of Polish Jewry
almost to the end of the 18th
Century. Its chief duty was
Recall History of Good 01' Pripichok
By DAVID SCHWARTZ
asleep in church. It was
warm in church and added
Recently, in quoting the to the warmth of religion, it
old Yiddish poem about the quickly sent him to slum-
rebbe teaching the little berland.
We think we are unique
children around the pripi-
chok, we remarked that we today in being concerned
were fond of the word about the heating problem.
"pripichok," but we never In the past it ;as more of a
problem, but they dealt
knew exactly what it was.
Our readers were more with it in simpler ways.
informed. The Detroit Jew- Samuel Gompers, the labor
ish News, said "pripichok is leader, once told how a Jew-
a word stemming from the ish workingman friend of
Russian that has been em- his, a Mr. Unger, dealt with
bodied in the Yiddish lan- one phase of it. It cost
guage. It stems from the money to buy an overcoat to
Russian `petchka,' meaning keep warm, so Mr. Unger in-
stead took four drinks of
stove and is a prefix."
Mrs. Rebecca Minicker of whiskey every day. He fig-
Chicago supplied additional ured out he needed an over-
information. The pripichok coat only during several
serves not only to warm the months of the year and tak-
children taking their He- ing three or four drinks a
brew lessons. "It has an day during the three
upper layer, which was months would cost less than
used for sleeping. It was a an overcoat and keep him
choice place to sleep in the just as warm.
The early New England-
cold winter night. Children
would take turns sleeping ers facing the heating
problem in their houses
there."
(Copyright 1975, JTA, Inc.)
The Jewish home in
"the old country" was not
as supplied with heating
and other facilities as we
have today. There is the
story of the Yiddish
mother who says to her
child: "Schlaf gicher. Man
darf dem kishen (Sleep
faster, we need the pil-
low)."
I can remember when vis-
itors came to our home they
would make a bed out of
chairs.
Nowadays, there are
more beds and pillows. Nel-
son Rockefeller sleeps on a
bed costing $35,000, accord-
ing to a story in the newspa-
pers. The bed was designed
by the artist, Max Ernst.
If we had a $35,000 bed it
would be bad. We would
probably sleep all the time.
Who would want to get up
and stand or even sit in a
chair if he could sleep in a
$35,000 bed? We would in-
vite all of our friends to join
us in bed.
Rockefeller wants to be
President! Abraham Lin-
coln didn't sleep in a
$35,000 bed. He slept in
something like a pripi-
chok.
Stonewall Jackson, the
Confederate military
leader, had a habit of falling
developed the practice of
bundling. After all, every
person is a miniature
stove. By getting close to
one another we can warm
each other without coal or
Arab oil.
Bundling was popular
among young New England
lovers and provided not only
warmth but a pleasure
which gasoline does not
give.
We confess of all the var-
ious plans for meeting the
fuel heating situation, we
like the pripichok best. As
said, pripichok is derived
from the Russian "petchka,"
which sounds very much
like another good old Yid-
dish word we like —
"putschke" — which means
to babble, to talk idly, as we
have tried to do in this
column.
Yes, as the poet long ago
said—or maybe might have
said,
It's nice when you are
tired and weary
To lay clown on your pripi-
► •Itok
.Ind know you won't hare
to arise
1 wit
next
morning
at eight o'clock.
Lutheran Theologian: Jesus
Was a Victim of Anti-Semitism
NEW YORK — A Lu-
theran theologian called Je-
sus "a victim" of anti-Semi-
tism and said that the
crucifixion provides Chris-
tians with "a clue for deal-
ing with the Holocaust."
Dr. Paul J. Kirsch, chair-
man of the religious studies
department at Wagner Col-
lege, said that "since all de-
grees of anti-Semitism
played contributory roles in
the making of the Holocaust
. . . and since a certain kind
of Christianity is a primary
source of anti-Semitism,"
the Holocaust holds up a
mirror in which Christians
"have to see the awful dead-
liness of our specifically
Christian sin."
As often as Christians see
that, he told a meeting of
the national program com-
mittee of the Anti-Defama-
tion League of Bnai Brith,
they are led to repentance.
Dr. Kirsch asserted that
Christians must learn that
Jesus was "one of many
Jewish heroes" crucified
by non-Jewish oppressors
for seeking "the liberation
of their people" and that
"even the mildest forms of
anti-Semitism are poten-
tially murderous or geno-
cidal."
It follows from this, ac-
. cording to Dr. Kirsch, that
the Holocaust which reveals
"the ghastly extreme" of
anti-Jewish hatred should
conjure up in Christians
that "same repentance for
our sins" as does the crucifi-
sion.
He went on to say that
Christians should therefore
let the tragedy of the Holo-
caust "work upon" them the
way "the cross of Jesus"
does in leading them to re-
pent for "man's inhumanity
to man."
Bless us, like fathers in
ancient days, then will we
praise Thee, God, with our
whole being.
to serve as the government's
fiscal representative. How-
ever, it considered and took
effective action on all reli-
gious and communal issues.
In the 16th Century Po-
land's Jewry not only
caught up with the West,
but surpassed it in Torah
learning. Poland then be-
came the world's foremost
center of Jewish scholar-
ship.
The scholar responsible
for this rapid scholastic
growth was Rabbi Jacob
Pollack, the "Baal Hahiluk-
kim" ("The Master of Anal-
ysis"), whose yeshiva in Cra-
cow produced a generation
of scholars and rabbis who
spread Torah learning to
many communities.
Rabbi Pollack introduced
into Poland the "pilpul"
method of studying the Tal-
mud. He was the first
scholar to be appointed by a
Polish king. King Alexan-
der's decree commences:
"As the Jew Jacob Pollack is
dear to us because of his dil-
ligence and familiarity with
the Torah of Moses and her
laws, we command herewith
to appoint him and raise
him to the position of a
rabbi of the Jews."
The other scholar respon-
sible for the spread of Torah
learning was Rabbi Shalom
Shakhna, a disciple of
Rabbi Pollack. The son of
the wealthiest Polish Jew,
Yeskor, Rabbi Shakhna was
"the first native Polish-Jew-
ish scholar of high stature."
He was the first scholar to
be appointed by the govern-
ment to the position of rabbi
of Little Poland (Southern
Poland).
The yeshiva Rabbi
Shakhna founded in Lub-
lin circa 1520 produced
outstanding rabbis and
scholars. His son-in-law,
Moses Isserles, was one of
them.
Rabbi Moses Isserles
known as the Rama and the
Maharshal or Rashal (ac-
ronyms of Moreynu Horav
Shlomo Luria or Rabeynu
Shlomo Luria) were unques-
tionably the two greatest
personalities of the 15th
Century who left an indeli-
ble imprint on the succeed-
ing generations.
Rabbi Moses Isserles
(1520-1572) was rabbi of
Cracow and rosh yeshiva
for a quarter of a century.
Through him "the custom of
contributing to the poor for
matzot for Passover (mo'os
hitim-wheat money) began
to be universally practiced
and attained the status of
an important law."
Rabbi Solomon Luria
(1510-1573) probably born in
Posen, served as rabbi in
Brest Litovsk, Ostrog and in
his latter years in Lublin.
He too authored great
books. His magnum opus
"Yam Shel Shlomo" ("The
Sea of Solomon") contains
"something of the Renaiss-
ance." His other great work
"Hokhmath Shlomo" ("The
Wisdom of Solomon") is
considered to be of great ha-
lakhic importance and origi-
nality.
tamed by philanthropists.
The famous merchant-
prince, Saul Wahl, patron-
ized a "midrash." Accord-
ing to a folk legend he was
king of Poland for one
night.
This was the period Yid-
dish became the spoken lan-
guage of Polish Jewry and
the oral language of instruc-
tion. Yiddish books were
published. The best known
are "The Shmuel Buch,"
"Royzn Gorten" ("Garden of
Roses") and "Tseneh
Urenah" ("Go Forth and
Gaze").
"Jewish Culture in East-
ern Europe" provides an his-
toric perspective of the ev-
olving Polish-Jewish
community and is a stimu-
lating, instructive and well-
written book.
\ I I
\\\
.
OA A
41kr,
SAVE! " SAVE!
BUY D.IRECT
-
FROM THE
IMPORTER
It is well to remember
that the second half of the
16th Century and the first
half of the 17th Century
mark Polish Jewry's
classical period. Great
yeshivot were then
founded. Great publishing
houses came into being.
Private talmudic aca-
demies "midrashim" were
established and main-
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