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On the customs and related laws of the Jews of Wuerzburg by R. Nathan ha-Levi Bamberger. The title page states that in addition to the customs of Wuerzburg the book contains explanations and further related laws (hiddushei dinnim) compiled and arranged by Nathan ha-Levi Bamberger, author of Pekudot ha-Leviim on tractate Ta’anit. The verso of the title page has a dedication to R. Isaac Dov ha-Levi Bamberger, Av Bet Din and Rosh Mesivta Wuerzburg and the surrounding area in honor of the 100th Jahrzeit of his birth. There is an introduction from the author and the text, which is in a single column in square unvocalized letters. The text is accompanied by detailed glosses, which are actually longer than the text, explaining the customs and their sources. For example, when explaining weekdays when Tahanun in not said the footnote references the Shulhan Arukh and Mahzor Vitry. At the end of the book, from p. 49, are a list of mizmorim to be said after prayers on festivals, order of precedence for obligatory aliyot to the Torah, customs related to the saying of kaddish, Seder Tashlich, Kapporot, prayers to be said the first night of Sukkot upon entering the sukkah (these last three vocalized), and the laws of Erev Pesah that falls on Shabbat. On the inside of the front cover are owners’ signatures in Hebrew and a sticker informing that this copy (at one time) belonged to the Bamberger Archives in Jerusalem.
The Jewish community of Wuerzburg was founded around 1100. In 1147, at the time of the Second Crusade, the Crusaders attacked the community. In the 12th and 13th centuries Wuerzburg became an influential and important center of Jewish learning. This large community was destroyed in the Rindfleisch persecutions of 1298. The community was subsequently renewed. During the Black Death persecutions of 1349, the Jews were accused of poisoning the wells in Wuerzburg; in desperation they set fire to their own houses on April 21, 1349 and perished. By 1377 Jews were to be found once more in the city; at the beginning of the 15th century a community had been reconstituted. While a few Jews lived in the city during the following centuries, the community was not renewed until the 19th century. R. Isaac Dov (Seligman Baer) Bamberger acted as rabbi from 1839 to 1878. In 1864 he founded a teachers’ seminary from which hundreds of teachers graduated and taught in the Jewish schools of Germany. He died in 1878 and was succeeded by his son R. Nathan Bamberger. The yeshivah founded during his lifetime was also renowned. Wuerzburg became the spiritual center for the numerous village communities of Franconia. They prayed according to the minhag of Wuerzburg and addressed their halakhic questions to the rabbis there. With the rise of Nazism many Jews emigrated from Wuerzburg. On Nov. 9–10, 1938 (Kristallnacht), the synagogue was destroyed. From 1941 to 1945 the 1,500 remaining Jews were deported to concentration camps. In 1967 there were 150 Jews living in Wuerzburg. |
