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The German "title page" reads: " 1te Vorlesung: zur Abruestung contra Vogt! als Affen Abgott! Das Pester neue Freie Schoene Juedische Volks-Lied. Von der lieben Treue des Israelitischen Congressabschied. Hab Acht. Halbblinks! Moronon Verabonon! Mit den unzeitigen Austritt 10. Febr. [1]869. Marsch! Halbrechts Rabbiner ala Dalmatiner mit den uebermuethigen Fortschritt."
This yiddish handwritten satirical leaflet with a printed "title page" was probably written during the General Jewish Congress convened by the Hungarian government in 1868.
After Jews in Hungary were granted emancipation in 1867, the General Jewish Congress was called in order to define the basis for autonomous organization of the Jewish community. It was attended by 220 delegates (126 Neologists, and 94 Orthodox) from December 14, 1868 until February 23, 1869. The discussions of the congress did not bear fruit as was expected, but resulted in bitter dissensions and a split in the Hungarian Jewry. The conflict between the factions was aggravated when the majority refused to accept the demands of the Orthodox on the validity of the laws of the Shulhan Arukh in the regulations of the communities. A section of the Orthodox opposition left the Congress, which continued with its task and established regulations for the organization of the communities and Jewish education. The organizational structure was to be based on the existence of local communities, on regional unions of communities, and on a central office which was to be responsible for relations between the authorities and the communities. The Orthodox did not accept these regulations, and particularly opposed those concerning the existence of a single community in every place. They appealed to Parliament to exempt them from the authority of these regulations. Parliament consented to their demands (1870) and the Orthodox began to organize themselves within separate communities. There were also communities which did not join any side and retained their pre-Congress status (the status quo communities). The threefold split left its imprint on the internal organization and life of Hungarian Jewry until the Holocaust
The leaflet is handwritten in yiddish and seems to have been written by an Orthodox member of the congress. It is very critical about the suggested reforms in education and religious life.
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