Title

Description

A list of 10 students of one of the teachers of the Talmud Torah. The students are listed by the names of their parents or grandparents. [In Eastern Europe, a Talmud Torah denoted a traditional Jewish elementary school. It differed from the privately-funded kheyder in that it consisted of several grades, was financed by the community, and usually served the children of the poor.] [Image 1]

A listing of the 17 statutes of the society, including the following: the teachers are obligated to accompany their students on a weekly basis to be tested by whomever the treasurer requests; and any member of the society who acquires a new garment must donate 5% of its cost to the society. [Images 5 – 11]

The signatures of the members of the society appear, including that of Rabbi David the son of Rabbi Mordekhai [probably referring to the Hasidic Rebbe, Rabbi David Twersky of Tolne, 1808-1882]. [Images 3- 25]

Entries recording the acceptance of new members into the society are recorded between 1837 and 1896. The conditions of acceptance into the society vary, including the following: the donation of a half a measure of alcohol to the society; the donation of three rubles towards the tuition of a student; and a father who could not afford tuition had to agree to travel to nearby towns for important matters or to fulfill any missives placed on him by the treasures of the society. [Images 26-75,80- 85,92-94,102-103,106-108]

Additional statutes concerning various activities of the society which were instituted on 25 Tishrei, 5671 (October 20, 1870) were recorded. [Images 76-77]

In 1895, Klonimus-Kalman, son of Ḥayim-Mosheh, donated 18 rubles in the memory of his two sons who were murdered by a non-Jew. These 18 rubles were used to purchase garments for more than 16 students of the Talmud Torah, and the students blessed Reb Kalman and his remaining children that they should never know of any more pain. (The copyist notes that the murder, which took place at the train station in the nearby town of Kryzhopil, where the father of those murdered owned a large store, was reported extensively in the local newspapers. It was known as the Five-Kopek Murder.) [Image 78]

An individual donated 36 rubles to the Talmud Torah in memory of his daughter who had apostatized to Christianity and had been buried in the non-Jewish cemetery. Since she had been interred in the non-Jewish cemetery, he paid four non-Jews 200 rubles to remove her body from that cemetery in the middle of the night and rebury her in the Jewish cemetery. The 36 rubles was used to clothe approximately 36 students of the Talmud Torah. (The transcriber notes that upon his inquiry as to the reason for the entry being marked through with a line, he was told that some 20 years after the entry was written members of the society thought that it was not proper to have an apostate mentioned in their ledger. Additionally, the members of the society feared lest the incident become known to the authorities and the members of the society might suffer. The transcriber also marked through this incident, apparently to indicate its appearance in the original pinkas. The incident took place in the nearby village of Kharpachka.) [Image 78. See also the copyist’s note on Image 113. A poem regarding the incident appears on image 115.]

An appeal to the members of the society requesting its members to donate funds to purchase cutlery and dishes to be rented out as a source of income for the Talmud Torah. [Images 88-89]

An entry detailing the hunger and plague of 1892-1894 when more than 60 Jews, including children, perished in Ladizhin. [Image 90]

An entry dated 1831 regarding the ownership of the society’s Torah scroll. [Image 95]

The results of the elections for officers of the society. [Images 98 – 101]

Various incidents regarding members being censured for speaking against the officers of the society. [Images 104 -105]

A letter from Avraham Scharfshteyn (see below) to Baron David Günzburg regarding the transcriptions of the pinkasim of Uman, Bershad, and Sobelevka. [Image 111]

The transcriber provides a brief physical description of the pinkas. [Image 119].

A product of a cooperative agreement between the Russian National Library and Touro University’s Project Zikaron in 2019. 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

1831-1896

Language(s)

Hebrew

Geographic Places

• Ladyzhyn (Ladyzhin, Ladizhin), Ukraine (read online)