University Library Johann Christian Senckenberg Frankfurt, Digital Judaica Collection, Compact Memory, online available under: http://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/cm/periodical/titleinfo/7411685 The original copies are held by the Library Germania Judaica in Cologne and were provided by the Silesian Museum in Görlitz.
The Synagogues of (cont.)
A few weeks ago on
had been recorded on tape in the residence of
and he is eager to record the customs
and
in the diaspora, especially of
those who have been
victims of destruction, in a special archive.
had to
defend the section of
today is
of
the old
who always played a leading role in the
the
incidentally is entirely identical with that
of
size and flourishing of this
is forever a thing of the past. When he
listed the names of its
achievements on
behalf of the Jews and the non-Jewish
population, there suddenly was a
pause.
The speaker who moderated the broadcast
with some explanatory words
apologized to his
listeners, saying that due to noticeable inner
agitation
the
continue his speech .
. . The “
for centuries in the
ended the ceremony. The history of the
“
is
indeed one of the most interesting chapters
of Jewish exile.
After the expulsion of the Jews from Spainnumerous
families settled in the
as is well known, and from there a
significant
part in turn moved on to
and
of the Jews,
welcomed the immigration
of the Portuguese Jews and at times even
promoted
it. The first Portuguese
Jews are mentioned in the
Ashkenazi Jews are first
documented in the late
The reason
for this certainly was that
among Sephardic Jews there were a
large number of wholesale merchants who
through
their connections made a significant contribution
to overseas trade
in
too, was frequently chosen by Portuguese Jews, and
the
names of Portuguese Jews are always prominent
as
gratitude for their admission into the
kingdom
at
the Dutch royal court that was not
commemorated in prayer services. The prayer
for
the homeland that was said on the Shabbat regularly
included, until the final days
of the
existence, a prayer for the welfare of the
Dutch
royal family. . . To us a visit to the
synagogue
like a trip to an exotic place.
The customs, the clothing, the order
during
prayer services – all of this was fundamentally different
from
everything we were used to from the so-called Ashkenazi
or German prayer services. The
seats
of those praying were arranged in a circle, –
not that they were
facing East,
but worshippers were seated around the
always facing the prayer leader standing in
the
center of the temple. There was only one
bench set up at the entrance
where worshippers directed
their gaze at the Holy Ark. When we entered
shyly
and modestly wanted to sit
down on this last bench, we
were chased away by
the
since this
bench was reserved for the bereaved
only, who said the kaddish prayer from there.
The
ebony with its gold
ornamentation always stood
uncovered, i. e. without the usual outer
curtain.
Instead the
it was only now that the Torah scrolls
became visible. The Torah scrolls stood in artfully
carved, silver
and wooden casings, and
the back of the scrolls was covered in
precious
sateen. The
both always wore tricorn hats instead of a beret,
and
also a tailcoat, breeches and white stockings,
while they wore low black
shoes on their
feet. All this gave the whole thing a
truly medieval
appearance that was often
reminiscent of
Simchat Torah
holiday it was a
“question of honor” for the Ashkenazi
youth to visit the “Portuguese” at
least for half an hour and
nobody balked at the forty-five minute walk
from
the
to
have “taken part.” The
Torah
hats on this day, and also
the
silk shawl that was customary on festive
occasions in
customary for the German Jews. Here it was
only worn by the bridegroom
under the
by the voluntary
“
who helped in
the
society).
During the
at the
the
as spiritual counsel to the German-speaking Jews.
Many a time a Dutch
“
guest sermon – until the end
of the
the
independence and separation from the so-
called “high German
speaking Jews” – so-called because
during the first hundred to hundred and fifty
years
the official language of the Portuguese was the
“low German” customary
in
Ashkenazi
and Sephardic Jews
were
almost impossible until this time. This only
changed at the beginning of
until
that time this was called “conceited”
by the “German Jews”. . . At any rate it
was
a fact that a complete social and religious
separation exited between
these communities.
On the
separate area in
which is closed off by a fence and at the entrance to
which
the name “Portuguese cemetery” is emblazoned. The tomb
stones there
are arranged lying flat and
on each of them a skull with two crossbones
is
engraved, which strongly resembles
the symbol for poison used in pharmacies.
I
have thus far been unable to get an explanation
from anyone for this
strange custom, which
I have not found anywhere else in the world, by the
way,
including in other Sephardic cemeteries. – At
the turn of the century a change for the
better
occurred in the relationship between Portuguese
and Ashkenazi Jews in
More and more
of the mutual barriers fell
and marriages between members of the
too, a
of the
cemetery of the
landmark to this day (which
was respected even by
the Nationalists).
Outside of Hamburg people often were surprised to hear that the
official names of these congregations were
“German-Israelite
CongregationGerman-
Israelite Synagogue Association
– or
in High
German Israelite
Congregation
patriotism, rather it was meant to emphasize
their
distinction from the Portuguese congregations,
who had long been in
existence by the time the
German congregations were founded.
The vernacular of the Portuguese in
while the German Jews communicated in “High
German,” which
was reflected in their
gation's
The first official chief rabbi of the
“ triple
used the name “
explanation
for which was that he was also
acknowledged as rabbinical authority by
the
Portuguese, who add the title “
to the
congregations
today).
was the father of
“
name
accusations against
in
the amulet dispute during the time of
Zwi
Yes, it was a wonderful community this
Its
members, if they did not perish during the years
of terror, are dispersed in all
parts of the
world, and it is pleasing to note
that wherever several members
of the
former
the world they make an attempt to continue the
great traditions of this
time-honored
Despite all these attempts it will
naturally never be
possible to restore its old
glory. But
“What has been will not return,Yet if it glowed while
disappearing -its afterglow will be long-lived. . .”
Concluding remark:
These remarks were an attempt to portray from my own memory
Jewish life in and around its synagogues in
the last
decade before its destruction.
Of course these pages make no claim
of
completeness. In the context of
a history of
cemeteries, a portrait of the various Jewish
schools in
associations, and the description of Jewish life
in
significantly. The author reserves the
right to also wrest those areas
from oblivion and
he is grateful for information from individuals and
ideas
from the circle of our readership.
This paper, two parts of which have already been published,
was written 20 years ago. Today
some of the persons mentioned are no
longer
with us. . .