Title

Description

The pinkas begins with a midrashic discourse concerning the eternity of the soul and its elevation through the performance of the divine commandments. It is followed by the statutes of the society. The conclusion of the discourse is missing, as are the first eight and final two statutes. [Images 1-5]

The names of members of the society, some of which were copied into this pinkas from an older pinkas. [Images 7-8]

Entries recording the acceptance of new members into the society, the earliest dating from 1839 and the final entry dating from 1871. [Images 8-23]

The results of the elections of the society are recorded beginning in 1844 and are recorded sporadically over the following 30 years. [Images 23-25]

On Hoshana Rabbah in the year 5603 (1842-43) due to the misconduct of the shamashim (junior members) of the society, the members felt the need to remove some of the shamashim and to institute new rules to ensure that the shamashim conduct themselves properly. [Image 26]

Entries recording the acceptance of children into the society as shamashim. Brief comments are written regarding some of the children. [It was a widespread custom for children to be admitted as junior members of a burial society. Their duties often included assisting or spending the night with the very sick and serving the meals at their annual banquet.] The following is a sample entry: “Monday, 15 Nissan, 5617 (April 9, 1857), the child Elye, son of Morenu (Our Teacher) Shmuel-Zanvil was admitted into the society on the day of his circumcision as a shamash until his wedding. Afterwards, he will be obligated to make a festive meal, and then he will be considered a regular member of the society.” [Images 27-29]

Entries recording the acceptance of new members into the society, including some new statutes and some occasional entries regarding the misconduct of the shamashim. The final entry is dated Tishrei 5648 (1887). [Images 30-38]

The transcriber provides a brief physical description of the pinkas, [Image 39]

A product of a cooperative agreement between the Russian National Library and Touro University’s Project Zikaron in 2019. This pinkas is part of the Günzburg Manuscript Collection at the Russian National Library in Moscow. In the 1890s, Baron David Günzburg of St. Petersburg, Russia hired Avraham Sharfshteyn to arrange for the original pinkas and others like it to be transcribed for his private library. The current location of the original pinkas is unknown, if it at all still exists. This overview was prepared by Rabbi Yitzchok Stroh of Brooklyn, New York, in 2020.

Category

Year of Publication/Creation

1839-1887

Language(s)

Hebrew

Geographic Places

• Khashchuvate (Khoshchevatoye, Khashchevato, Khashtshevate, Khashtshevote), Ukraine (read online)