;.cCut from amp 22044 5/26/96 7:27
;.l1,6,60,66,1,0,10,75,192,4,15,20,25,127,10,0,
;.l2,15,75,192,2,20,25,127,15,0,
;.l3,20,75,192,2,25,127,20,0,
.h2, =amp22029  -- AMDUR MI PUEBLO NATALE, pp220-244 TR =CB
l2
CB = Translator, Mrs. Ze'ev Berg (Chava Berg), POB 1785,Tiberias.
Tel: 972-6-725-229; 792-415 (Art Gallery)  

CHAPTER:  GREAT RABBIS OF GRODO.  pp220-244
CHAPTER STARTS TOP p220, ends bottom p244.
pp220-232 translated to date 19 May 96
NOTES FILED OFF TO END OF DOCUMENT:              
============================================================
{start ms. p2, on text p220}

GREAT RABBIS OF GRODNO*  [Asterisk text, indicating footnote}

--------------
l1
Footnote:  Not Translated.  Please translate.

Mir nemen auikh ariyn ain YeDIDYaH Afron zikronot-boch zien arbet"Grodner groise rabinim"  weil, rashit ain di eir vas gradnegewen, MChMoT gaegmer ShKNeHShAFt (21 wiarst) , eng farbondn mitAmdur, V-HShGIt, wiln mir di arbet git arisShlisn fun MChBRsEZVUN. ]

--------------------------

From a Jewish point of view it is almost impossible to write abouta town {ShtAtwith a large Jewish population and not to give properspace to the RAbbis who played a big role in Jewish life of thosetimes.  In the Old Home-Country {Yid: Alter hiym} , where the "Rabinimtum" [Rabbinute] was an institution;  where the rabbiswere the opinion-makers {Yid: deh-zagers} of the community {Yid: kahilah} -- there the religious leaders {Yid: firers; {sa220n1} 
l1
put their stamp on all Jewish institutions, on all Jewish :CheVRUt  
l2
{Glossary:  CheVRUT . Anglicized plural, hevras. Loosely,clubs. {sa220n2} 
l1

and brotherhoods {Yid: BKLL}  and in general on {Yid: auf demgantzen} Jewish life.  It is a gross mistake {Yid: tEUT} to denythe great [Yid: ainterventz, intervention?], influence  of theRabbis in the collective {Yid: kalektivin}  life of East EuropoeanJewery and to to take them for loafers {Yid BtLNIM  }. 
l2
[CHECK THE PERIOD DICTIONARY FOR THIS TERM  -- possibly aMarxist notion of 'social parasite'? ] 
l1

If not for the bright {Yid: LiKtIQE} figure of 
R' DOV-BERISh MIYZLISh, 
R' YiTzChAQ-ALChaNaN, 
R' ALYaHU-CHIYM MIYZL [R' Eliyahu-Chaim Meisel ]  
R' CHIYM-EOZR GRADZYENsQY {R' Chaim-Ezer Gradzyenski}
DR. RUBINSTIYN [Dr. Rubenstein], 
R' NaFTaLI TzVI YeHUDaH BARLIN, 
R' CHIYM sALAVVIYtShIQ [R' Chaim Solavetchik ]  
R' ALIQUM {Eliyakum}   
l2
[but note the apparent Arabic: Aleikum ]  
l1

and many others -- the communities {Yid: Kahilot} of Warsaw,Kovne,[Kovno]  Lodz,{YID: LADZS}  Vilna {YID: VVILNE} , Volozhin,{Yid: VVALAZShIN} Brisk, Grodno {Yid: GRADNE} and other big Jewishcities {Yid: Shtet} would not have reached their splendour {Yid:glantz} , which lasted until the last World War, in which wereruined {Yid: CheRUv GEVVARN } thousands and  {end text p220 afterfootnote}

================================================================
.p
{start text  p221}

thousands of Jewish communes {Yid: QIBUTzIM} and with them sixmillion of our brothers and sisters, may  their blood be avenged{Yid: gat zal gemen NQMH far ziyer blut} 

	The great rabbis of those times used to take part in allmovements [Yid: bevvegugen}  which were related {Yid: ShIYKUt} tothe life of {end ms. p1} {start ms. p2} 

the communities, and in the initiatives of communual {Yid:kalektiven} character was felt the rabbincial authority {Yid:AUItARItEt, oisorises} .  It was rare for a movement to succeed ifthe great religious leaders had not given their approprobation {Yid: HasKaMaH} .  Initiatvies of religious, social, economic,educational, philanthropic character were put into reality onlyafter being sanctioned by the GeDOLI-HaDOR [Great ones of thegeneration, leading Torah authorities of the generation] .
l3
Glossary:  GeDOLI-HaDOR [Great ones of the generation,leading Torah authorities of the generation] .
l1

  Without it they wewre doomed to failure.  {Yid: won nisht,ziegen zie gewon FARMShFt tzum durkfel.}     The history ofRussian and Polish Jewry in their various epochs is full ofexamples which affirm that, and it would take up much space tocite them.  
	But it is worth while {Yid: KDAI} to show several exampleswhich are authoratative for all times.

	During the time {Yid: zeit} of Nikolai the First (1825-1855),when the Russian government undertook to "educate" {Yid: "BILDeN"}Jews, 
l2
[N.B.:  The cadence of this phrase is noticeably parallel tothe blessing said for Hanuka and for Purim:  "In the days[yomim] of _____, when the evil ______ rose up against" [Pur:them, Ch: YOUR people Israel]
l1

with the intention not to teach them but only to [convert them] --bring them to ShMD [?shame?] [TR: ie, to convert them 
l3
-- or merely to assimilate them? -- but perhaps theRussians of that time saw assimilation as entailingconversion ] 
l1

 -- as it proved later on -- it started to found special schoolsfor Jews in every city {Yid: ShtEt} where they constituted greatmasses.  For that {Yid: dazikn} purpose the Minister of Educationof that time, UVAROV, appointed Dr. MENACHEM MENDEL LIELIENtAL[Lilienthal]  as "QAZIANI RABINER" [Kaziani Rabbi] ] of the City{Yid: ShtAt}
l2
{N.B.:  I'm not clear on the distinction, if any,  betweenShtAt [with an aleph] and ShtEt [with an ayin .  Is theformer a city, and the latter, a town?  Or are these merelyvariant spellings (although Efron uses both, and he does seema meticulous stylist. ) CHECK THE PERIOD DICTIONARY ON THIS. 
l1

of Odessa [Yid:  ADEs} and Defender and Propagandist 
{end ms. p2}
-----------------------------------------------------------------
{start ms. p3}

of the educational system for Jews in Russia.  In this period werefounded the Rabbinical academies {Yid: Rabiner-Shulen} of Vilnaand ZShItMIR, which , [in] truth {Yid AMet, emes}, produced manylearned Jews, but regretably {Yid:  tzum baduiern} , also many,very many, assimilationists and apostates  {Yid MShUMDIM}
{end text p221}
================================================================
{start text p222}

UVAROV understood that in order to reach his goal it wasabsolutely {Yid: NIYtIQ} necessasy to get the approbation {Yid:HasKaMaH } of the Rabbinical authories so that {Yid: KDI , kadai}Jewish parents {Yid: ElteRN, lit. parents;  but possibly with animplication of elders?} would send {Yid: ShIQN} their children tothe "ShQALEs" [shkoles, schools] and for this purpose he toiled toensnare [Yid: angeshtrengt ariygtzushlepen  -- I think the Yiddishis ironically mock-heroic:  eg "mightily endeavoured to shlepalong"] {Yid: ain netz}   R' YiSRAeL sALANtER 
l2
[R. Israel Salanter:  Founder of the Musar Movement. ]
l1
demanding {Yid faderndik} of him to take over the leadership ofthe Vilna Rabbi-Seminary {Yid: Rabiner-sEMINAR} .  The greatJewish spiritual leader {Yid: yidisher geistiker Minhig} ofLithuanian Jewry of that time, who was considered the greatestJewish ethical {Yid: moraliser} personality, felt with his refined[elevated] Jewish sense {Yid:  eideln yidishn ChUSh }  that theintention {Yid: KUVNaH} of the enemy of the Jews, {Yid: TzURHIHUDIM}  Nikolai, was not to educate {Yid: bilden} Jews, butrather only to make them deny their faith; {Yid: nar oistzshmednzie, only to cut them off}   and therefore he refused {Yid:apgezagt} categorically to authorize  with his word  {Yid: mitsein wort} that Jews should of their free will send {Yid:freiwilik shikn}  their children to the so-called educationalinstitutions.  And even less he intended to be the leader of thatRabiner-Shul.  And {Yid: MURA} out of fear of reprisals byNikolai's government he left {Yid:  farlazn}  Russia. {end ms. p3}
-----------------------------------------------------------------
{start ms. p4, }

The evil decress {Yid: GeZIRaH} of the Cantonists {Yid:QANtANIsteN [kantonisten] -- 
l3
{Glosary: Cantonists {Yid: QANtANIsteN [kantonisten] --Jewish conscripts.  Cf. previous chapter pp192-195. Apparently the term 'cantonist' derives from thequarters, (canton, in the French term) in whichconscripts were housed. [I had in previous notes failedto realize that the term 'cantonist' was used by theauthor. ]
l1
 
an especially cruel {Yid: gruizamer} chapter in the history ofRussian Jewry of those times --  
l2
[The reference would be to the enactment of a policy, underCzar Nikolaus I, of making Jewish youth between the age of12-18 liable for 25 years' conscription into the Czarist army-- in effect, enslavement for their useful life, anddeprivation of opportunity for a normal family life, if any.] The policy apparently continued into if not through thetime of Czar Nikolaus II. Cf. Amdur mi Pueblo Natale,  pp192-195 -sa 
l1
proved the farsightedness of that great Jew, R' Israel Salanter.{sa222n1}

As said, the Russian government appointed the Dr. Lilienthal toput into realizization their initiative "to teach Jews otherwisdoms except for Torah". {Yid:  ChoKMOt ChuTz ToRaH 
l2
-- the phrase here has, I think, a dismissively ironic ring;in the conceptual system of kabbala, Chochma is the highestform of wisdom; and by that defintion unitary}  
l1

   In the great Jewish town {ShtAt} [of] Minsk his work was"crowned" {  Yid: ain zich arbet "gekroint" gevvarn} with thegreatest failure {Yid: MiFLaH}; he was pelted {Yid: man hat aimfarvarfn mit steiner} with stones among cries of "zogt nie znoigm,shkoli nie zsheloiem"  [apparently colloquial Yiddish, for theauthor then translates it into literary Yiddish:] `we  don't wantto know anything, we don't ask for any schools.' 
l2
[N.B.:  This is another example of the author's fine ear,clear memory, and earthy sense of the "comedie humaine":  TheYiddish phrase he quotes, with its defiantly antiintellecutal Russia-fied slang, has a  fine ring. ] 
l1

	Dr. Lilienthal understood that he must find a great Jewishauthority for his  plan, and ran away from Minsk ?barely alive? atnight.{Yid:  az fun Minsk  antlafn kuim mitn leben nakt -- 
l2
so I think, 'he barely escaped from Minsk with his life, atnight'  -- that is, there is no implication that  he wasseriously injured; only that he was at risk -- but that isjust my guess. -sa} 
l1

   He treaveled to VOLOSHIN {Yid: WALAZShIN} , where he found thenthe great genius {Yid: Gaon?} and Rosh Yeshiva,  {end text p222,before the last word}
================================================================
{start text p223}

R' AITzELE [Itzele]    
who was the son of R' CHAIM
l2
[That is:  R' ITZELEH of VOLOSHIN , son of R' CHAIM]
l1
the founder of the Yeshiva of Volozhin.  R' Aitzele was thegreatest religious Jewish authority of that time, recognized evenin higher government spheres, because of his great influence onRussian Jewry as well as his knowlege of the Russian language andworldly knowlege.  He was also not opposed to Jews learning otherknowlege. {Yid: wissenschaft -- TR sciences and arts} .

	It would take up too much room to describe what discussionswent on between Dr. Lilientahl and the Lithuanian Ga'on 
l2
{Glossary:  Gaon.  Lit:  Genius.  Honorific term accorded thepre-eminent rationalist [as distinct from hassidic; so,loosely and pejoratively, 'mitnagid'] Lithuanian Rabbis. }
l1
{end ms. p4}
-----------------------------------------------------------
{start ms. p5, on text p223}

in connection his [ie, Dr. Lilienthal's self-regarded] "holy"mission {YID Misie} .  The result was that soon after the sermon{Yid: DRaShaH;  lit: explication of Biblical text}  before KolNidre, which R' Aitzele  gave in the synagogue in Dr. Lilienthal'spresence {Yid: kegnevvert} , the latter got up from his seat,{Yid: hat zich der letzter aufgehoivn fun zein platz} 
l2
{ I wonder if Dr. Lilienthal was a portly man -- the Yiddishseems  to carry that hint, and of a man with an inflatedsense of his own worth accepting honors -- "the latter hauledhimself out of his seat"  -sa}
l1

went up {Yid: aroif } to the Aharon Kodesh [Torah Ark) andexclaimed  {Yid: ausgerfuft} :  "{Yid: AIkh shwer fun namen funGAt} I swear by the [etc.]  
l2
[I don't know if here the author used a circumlocution forthe term the speaker used for Deity; in contemporaryorthodoxy one feel a certain inclination to do so, as I have.But if the author did not do so, it might seem that theauthor had used the most secular of the various terms that Iwould guess were available for use in the orthodox custom ofthat time. -sa] 
l1

and the Torah that my intention {Yid: kavanah}  is an honest {Yid:erleke, honorable}  one and I think that also the government meansonly for the good of the Jews; but I swear that in case I find outthat I erred {teut gehat} I will retract {Yid: tzuriktzien} frommy mission."

	The end {Yid: Der sof} was that Dr. Lilienthal ran away {Yid:antlefn} from Peter[s]burg to America.  
l2
[That suggests that, having decided not to continue in thatposition, he feared reprisals from the Russian authorities,not Jewish community. ]
l1

He realized that R' Aitzele Walazshiner [Volozhiner]   and otherRabbis were right in their suspicions {Yid: ChShD] .  The greatrabbinical authorities vanquished {Yid: BaZIGt} the great and{Yid: shtarken} mighty Nikolai.  Jews did not send their childrento the "shkoles" [schools] because they did not get {hat gefelt}the Rabbinical approvement {Yid: HasKaMah} for it, the agreement{Yid: Tzushtimung} of the Spiritual Leaders.  (See "ReSHUMUt" First volume, 43, 148,  and {Yid abbrev. AD''t} "ZiKRONOt VShmUEOt" [ u'shiv'ot"]  by A.Y.  PaPIRiNA,  and the historicalwork of Shaul Ginzburg, Third Part) {This reference is given as aparenthesis is in the text} 

	It is also worth {Yid: KDAI} to note the tragic and shameful{Yid: ShENDLEKE} epoch of the Cantonists and "PRIMANIQEs" at thetime of the aforementioned Nikolai the First.  Little childrenwoudl be cruelly {end ms. p5} {start ms. p6,} torn {Yid: groizem}
{end text p223}
=================================================================
{start text p224}

from the Jewish homes and sent away {Yid: plugn awekgeshikt} tothe Provinces {Yid: gubernies [also translates as 'district', asin Grodno Gubernia} deep in Russia 
l2
[An obvious point, but one I'd not noticed  -- that theJewish conscripts would, at least often, have been sent farfrom Jewish communities; presumably outside the Pale.  Thatmay have been an intentional aspect of the policy of Pobodesnotov, the reactionary-Slavophile "advisor" behindCzar Alexander III (reigned 1881-1894) that one-third of theJews convert. ]

l1

and "ablastn" [left, abandoned]  in order to turn them away {Yid:afgeshmert} from their faith there in the hands of the Russian"Educators" {Yid: dertziers ain "MChNKIM"} .  In Jewish literatureof the previous century [ie, the 19th century] very much waswritten about this terrible time for Russian Jewry -- in Russian,Hebrew and Yiddish.  The  writer YEHUDA SHTAYNBERG [Steinberg]threw much light on this atrocious time in his work B-YoMIM HaHeM["In those days" --  this phrase is also from the blessing said onPurim and and Chanukah, celebrating redemption from enemies whotried to destroy the Jewish people ].  

  Also about [that] wrote Shaul Ginzbrug and others.

	Now it is not a secret to anybody {Yid: Es oin oitzt farkigem kein sod nisht } that in the so-called Russi-fication ofEducation period of Russian Jerwy, at the time of the reign ofNikolai the First, many Jews were helping with it and the greatestkidnappers {Yid: KhaPERs [Kaf-dagesh ]} of the poor little Jewishchildren were "Achaynu b'nei Yisrole", "our brothers , sons ofIsrael" 
l2
{I am not clear why the TR has put this in quotes.  Maybe itis a commonly-quoted phrase.  It is, of course, used herewith bitter irony; but that force is intensified by the shockof not finding it in quotes; one must then do a double-take,and so be unable to avoid confronting the contrast betweenideal and reality. -sa}
l1

strengthened {Yid: geshtitzt} by community {Yid: kahalshe}ringleaders {Yid: redlfirers} and influential people {Yid: TQIFIM}of the time.  

	But the great Rabbis of the time strongly protested againstthe acts of violence of the "QHLShE QLIAMQEs"   [kahalishekliamkes, TR " community doornobs" [or better: door-knockers? -- Isuppose because they would knock loudly on the door when the cameto seize someone -sa] who were collaborating with {Yid:mitgehalpn} the Czarist goverment in the "Rekrutshine"[recruiting] and "PAYMANIQEs"  - Re-education {TR: (?)), i spiteof this often endangering he lives of the Rabbis at the hands ofof Nikolai's servants {YId: Mishrotim, police?} 
l2
[That is:  The Rabbis, at risk of their own lives, denouncedthe Jews who collaborated with the Czarist policy of forciblyconscripting Jewish boys into the Czar's army. ]
l1
   
	Famous is the protest of R' TEVVELE MINSQER [R' TeveleMinsker ]   against the Jewish child-kidnappers {Yid: kinderkhapers} , 
l2
{That phrase, kinder-khapers, has an almost nursury rhyme, asif it were something said to small children, in a way thatthey would remember it, to keep them on their guard -- ormaybe, since those who were sought were at least 12 yearsold, so that the little children would serve as an earlywarning system. -- sa}
l1

exclaiming in the synagogue {Yid: oisshriyendik ain shul}  theVerse {Yid: Pasuk}:
{end ms. p6}  {start ms. p7} 

"And he who steals a man and sells him and it shall be found onhis hand shall certainly die. [ie, be executed]  ' {Reference isin the Chumash. }
And it was told as a legend was told} that immediately after thisoutcry {Yid: oisgeshrei} two kidnappers fell dead in synagogueyard. {sa224n1}
l1
 
	It also happened that a certian Lithuanian Gaon of that sadtime , it seems that R' Eliyahu LIDER, one time opposed {Yid:kegngeshtelt} a certain influential person {Yid: TiQIF , tikif} ,who ordered {Yid: geheisn, called upon?} the Shamash to takeanother out {Yid: oroisfirn} of the shul, whose {end text p224}

================================================================

{start text p225}                 

only son {Yid: Ben-YeChID } had been taken away from her , becauseof her protest against the cruel injustice .  This Rav exclaimed{Yid: oisgeshrien, cried out}:  "Murderer!  {Yid: ShelaCh TSheLaCH AT Ha-AM VAT HaChNIM TQCH LeKHa You were fulfilling theverse, send away the mother {Yid: MAME} and the children take foryourself ..." 
l2
{Reference:  Chumash:  the context is capturing birds.  TheRav has given it here an ironic application.} 
l1
And right after that he grabbed an ax {Yid: HAQ} and ran to thehouse {YID: HUIZ} where were kept locked up the innocent chldren,broke the door and let out the locked-up ones.  
l2
[N.B.:  I wonder if that occurred on a Shabbat or on a YomTov.  Would there otherwise have been a woman in thesynagogue?  And would the kidnapper have locked the childrenin a house (? HUIS, some other building, not a dwelling --maybe a shed; presumably with no windows, otherwise even 12year-olds could break out) if it were not Shabbat (or aholiday)? .  {sa224n2}
l1

This strength of authority had those Rabbis because behind themstood the entire people {Yid: falq, folk}. . {sa224n3}
 They went all out {Yiddish} with MesIRat-NeFeSH  [self-sacrifice]
l2
{Glossary:  Mesirus Nefesh.  Self sacrifice. 
l1

for  the good of the poor masses {YId sic: areme masn} and wereSanctifying [ '' ] {Yid: habn M-QaDeSh-HaSheM }  when it came tosaving Jewish souls [Jews] 
l2
{If I have guessed correctly that the Rabbi broke down thedoor on a Shabbat or Yomtov (when such work is forbidden,except in a case of saving a life -- pekude nefesh -- )  thenthis may be a deliberately play on the Hebrew 'nefesh', whichcan mean both life and (in contemporary usage) soul [adistinction not made in primitive times]. }
l1

from Jewish and non-Jewish {Yid. sic, nit-yidishe} robbers andthieves {Yid: gazlinim}.
l2
[N.B.:  That does imply that some of the child-snatchers werenon-Jewish.] 
l1

And non-Jewish robbers and thieves rarely would they [text sic,but:  fail to support?]  support the strong and the bureaucracy {end ms. p7}
------------------------------------------------------------------
{start ms. p8, p225}

when it came to the interests of the poor and oppressed.  
{Yid:  Zeltn wen felegn zie ointerstitzn di shtarke aingbirakrtie, wen es hat zikh gehandlt wegn di ointeresn fun diareme ain gedrikte. } 

l2
[It's important to clarify this passage; much hangs on it: did the Jewish establishment side with the Czar against thepoor of the community [and does that suggest that it was onlythe poor who were conscripted?  ]
l3
[Roiskes & Roiskes suggest both were the case: ] 

l1
And such great spiritual leadrs also were in the town {Yid: Shtat}of Grodne [Grodno] , or HORADNA [Horodno]  as it was calledamongst Jews. 
L2
[Variant names are:  Grodno, Grodne, Horodno; LIthuanian:Gardinas.  Roiskes & Roiskes "Shetl Finder" gives Grodne asYiddish, and Grodno as "Polish or alternate spelling."
Variants of Amdur are:  Indura, Hamdura.  
I'm not clear which are the Yiddish, Polish, Russian, andLithuanian variants. 
Yad v'Shem Valley of the Destroyed Communtieis has:  Indura.  I do not yet know the Yiddish spelling of Indura.   It may bewith an Ayin, and so dervied from the biblical town,  Ein Dor.]
l1                                       

	SOME GREAT GRODNO RABBIS IN DIFFERENT TIMES

It would be my wish to give a detailed, full descrption of allRabbis which Grodno was blessed with since Jews settled there. Regretfuly I do not have all the nececesary material for saidpurpose {Yid: zweq} .  In particular I lack the Responae {Yid:Shalot--V-Tshuvot, lit: questions-and-answers} for certain Rabbisand POSKIM
l2
{Glossary:  Poskim:  Deciding authorities. [Need more of anexplication that this.  }
l1
of the 16th century  {sa225n1}

l1
which would have thrown light on this era.  I am using mainly mymemory and incomplete encyclopedical data.        ]
l2
[N.B.:  That seems to imply that the author did not have allvolumes of the Jewish Enclyclopedias extant at the time. ]
l1

	I will only attempt to give an overlook about the greatest{Yid: gar groise} rabbis who occupied the rabbinical seat {Yid:KasA-HaRaBiNUt} mamy years 
{end text p225}
============================================================ ===
{start text p226}

in Grodno.

And it should be emphasized at this occasion that it happenedquite often in the old country {Yid: alter heim} that a town oflesser stature would have Rabbis of higher stature in Torah andwisdom than a much bigger city.  It was almost a rule the Rabbiswould make the town great through their Torah and not the town theRabbis.  The Warsaw Rabbis were, for example, not {end ms. p8} 
----------------------------------------------------------------
{start ms. p9}

as important as the Vilna Rabbis or the QAVVNER [Kavner, Kovno]Rabbinute; and Bialystok rang more with its name as a place ofTorah more than the Jewish population ?wise? great {Yid:Bafelkerte - Translation?} Odessa {Yid: ADEs} 
l2
[So: Odessa is, in Yiddish, Ades.  Cognate to Addis Ababa?]
l1

because the respected great Rabbis, like  
R' ChIYM-EOZR GRADZIENsQY,   [R' Chaim-Ezer Gradzinkski ], 
R' YiTzChaQ-ALChaNaN  [R' Yitzhak-Elkanan 
and R' ShMUAL MAHILEVVER, of blessed memory [Yid: Z''L],
l2
{N.B.: I have put each name on a seperate line; the text iscontinuous, so the abbreviation presumbly is predicated ofall the Rebbes, not of only the last-mentioned. }
l1

 gave sparkle {Yid: glantz} to the above-mentioned city.  Ithappened  often {Yid: az man hat fargeliygt -- not. trans. --?although this is forgotten?} that the throne of the Rabbinate{Yid: KasA-HaRaBINUt} of a big city was offered to Rabbis of amuch smaller town, 
l2
{N.B.:  In both cases, ShtEt , with an ayin; so I suppose theuse of aleph is either a spelling variant or a grammaticalvariant; not a distinction between city and town.  Yet Harduftranslates city as ShtAt (aleph), n. [lashon NeQKhaH ] ShtEt(ayin);  town as shetl, village as dorf .  So in thisterminology, Amdur would be a town, and the outlying peasantcommunities where occasional "yishuvnikim"  established atavern, would be called villages. }
l1

but those refused  to leave, abandon their town in spite of thebig Kehillos
l2
{Glossary:  Kehillos; kehillots -- Communities; in the senseof a community of Jewish co-religionists. }
l1
being able and willing to pay much higher and substantial {Yid:Badiytdikere  -- probably a distinctive term, (possibly indicatingfringe benefits, eg house etc.?)} salaries than those smaller thanthem.  


R' ALIaHU-ChIYM MIYZL fun LADZSh [ ELIAYHU-CHAIM MEISEL OFLODZSH],
R' CHAIM SOLOVEITCHIK OF BRISK,
R' SHMUEL MaHILEVVER [Mohilever]  OF BIALYSTOK,
R' CHIYM-EOZR [Chaim-Ozer]  GRODZIENSKY OF VILNA
and others remained in the places {Yid: ERtER} and their honor{Yid/Heb: KoVOD} made a name for the town [YId: ShtEt] of whichthey were rabbi.
l2
[TR notes:  How true to this very day, towards the end of the20th century (5/96).  In Torah circles these names are stilla household word, as well as those of toehr hamletes inPoland, Galicia and Russia.  Who has not heard of a MIRERYeshiva, the GERER , BELZER , LUBAVITCHER, or SLONIT?ERChassidim, of MINSK, SLUTSK or SANZ!  ] 
{end ms. p9 2 words prior} , 
-----------------------------------------------------------
{start ms. p10}
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	We find many big cities and espcially in former Lithuania whodi not have "official {Yid: AFITzIELE} rabbis."  The relgiousRepresentative or spritual leaders {Yid: giystike minhigim} wouldcarry the title:  AV BEIS DIN {Abbreviated: Aleph--Beit--''-Dalet}
l2
{Glossary: AV BEIS DIN {Abbreviated: Aleph--Beit--''--Dalet}
Heb. term taken from Talmudic times; lit: Father [ie, Head]of the [Rabbinic] [High] Court}
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MOReH-HORAH [Teacher of Leanring -- TR], RASh-HaDIYaNIM [Rosh HaDayanim, head of the [halachic] judges -TR ] GaDOL [Great One --TR], or [Abbreviation  M''Tz Mem--''Tzadeh (MOReH-TZeDEQ [MorehTzedek]   [Righteous Teacher -- TR]. 
l2
[N.B.  The JE article on Grodno seems to take "Moreh Tzedek"as synonymous with "Dayan"; viz: "Daniel b. Jacob, who was adayan or "moreh zedek" for 40 years, and died in 1807;"] 

l2
[That is, if I follow the syntax:  The M''Tz (Moreh-Tzedek)was an alternate term for the 'Gadol' --sa ] {sa226n1}
l1

but not 'Rav'.  
l2
{That is, I would guess.   The title of 'Rav' was apparentlyonly conferred, not simply on anyone with Rabbinic smicha [asI think the term is used today] , but only on someoneformally  appointed as official Rabbi of a particularcommunity.  
	But then I am not clear of the significance, nor correctreading, of the abbreviation R' , which the author usesfrequently.  Is it to be read 'Reb', as the TR usually does,but understood as Rabbi, in the sense of 'one who hassmicha', but not read nor understood as 'Rav', which carriesthe sense of an officially appoint 'Rav ha Makom', officialcommunity Rabbi. But  is not 'Reb' also used as a generalhonorific, like "Mister"?  Or is this an intentionalcomplimentary imprecision:  that is, honoring someone withthe title of rabbi although he was not certified  as such. --
	I've noted that, if I'm correct,  the author does notoften use the term Rav, and when he does, it is  sometimes inaddition to the abbreviation R' . 
sa}
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Such {Yid: AzelKes} happened in Minsk.  There the highestreligious representative carried the name "Gadol".  The awe{Yid/Heb: YiRAt-HaKavOD, lit: awe of the honor} in which were heldthe deceased rabbis was so great {Yid: aiz gewen aozi, ?had becomesuch?} that the candidates used to fear [Yid: flegt MOiRA, hadMoireh habn] to take over their place, becuase {Yid: tAMER}perhaps they might have to change a TaQaNaH [Rabbinic by-law,decreee for a speical place or circumstance -- TR]
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{GL: TAKANAH [Rabbinic by-law, decreee for a speical place orcircumstance -- TR]}
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of the previous Rav,  or to take on a  {end text p226}
================================================================ 
{start text p227}

new one which is not in agreement {Yid: nisht BeHesKaM} with thetrain of thought of the predecessor. {sa227n1}
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The reason for the reluctance or refusal of new Rabbis to takeover the position {Yid: Shteles} of departed Gadolim would be asthe Talmudic rule teaches, "No Rabbinicial court {Heb. Bet-Din}can nullify the decisions of another one unless it is greater andwisdom and number."  (MeGILaH B'')
l2 
{Megillah: 10th Tractate in the 2nd Order, Mo'ed, of theTalmud.} {sa227n2}

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{Yiddish TR of the Aramaic follows:  In my TR:}
That means, no Jewish authority can nullify {Yid: Tzunisht machen}the  HaChaLtuT, [hachalsut] of a second [ie, of another Jewishauthority] unless it ?considers itself? {Yid: filt zich} higherand wiser aon ain tzal.  

Those rabbis, who would fear {flegt mora} this dictum {Yid:reglament} , would rather not take on the Rabbinate's position,{Yid: RaBINaT-ShtELE},  Yet  there were {Yid: s'ZIYNEN ABER}Rabbis with great {end ms. p10}
----------------------------------------------------------------
{start ms. p11}

authority who would say:  We feel we are {Yid: Mir FILN ZIKh} stronger than the previous one [deparated one:  awekgegangene} andwe {Yid: mir} will take his place {Yid: pletzer, places} .  Thishappened in my birth-town {Yid: geboirn-stat} Amdur, after thedeath of the great Rav R' AIsR [Isser]  , when my Great-greatGrandfather {Yid: groiser elter-fater} , R' AVRaHaM-EZRA  said:"Itake upon myself the position because I feel I have the strengthto continue the Rabinate of my great predecessor."  {Yid: " Aoichnem moikh mir dem amet [emet, emes] , wiel aikh fil zikh B-KOaCHMMShIKh tzu zien di rabanut fun groisn fargiyer":
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[This would seem, as appropirate to the situation, to havesomething of the character of a formal declaration; hence theHebrew Biblical/Siddur words Emet (truth) and Koach(strength) would seem to be key.  -sa}
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	For the greatest part, though, in such cases big towns wouldremain without an official Rabbi and all big and importantreligious questions { Yid: ShaLOt} and problems would be be rerouted {YId: geliyzt wern DOReKh} to the MOiReH-HORAOt,  [TR:Teacher of Teachings], DIYaNIM [Rabbinical Judges], or otherTalmudic authorities.  It is clear, that the so-called MaMaLAIMaQOM [Memalei-makom], the Rabbinical substitute {Yid:Shtelfartreters} , would always {Yid/Heb: TaMID, lit. eternally}be great Gaonim, and their deep understandng in the sea of theTalmud {Yid/Heb: Yam-HaTalMUD  -- a traditional figure of speechfor the Talmud-as-a-body-of-teachings} would resound {Yid:klingen} and be heard {Yid: ShM'EN; the root here is Heb. Shema -
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{I gather than an apostrophe is used in Yiddish to elidean Aleph when it is followed by an Ayin. -sa}
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in all Jewish circles.         

 	The first thing that was demanded of a Rav in a big town orcommunity {Yid: Kahilah} was learnedness {Yid: LOMDUT} and genius{Yid: GAONUt ] 
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{Glossary, Gaon, Revised:  Usually translated 'genius'; 
{sa227n3}

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It wasn't important [Or: One was not interested in ] whether thecandidate was a {Yid: "YDEN"  [? YoDa'aEN -- one who knows ]}knowlegable in the language of the region {Yid: in der Landsprach}  and in fact it wasn't even considered a great advantage when aRav was fluent in the Russian {end ms. p11} {end text p227}
------------------------------------------------------------------
================================================================
{start ms. p12} {start  p228}

or Polish language. {sa228n1}
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It is commmon knowlege that neither R' Yitzak Elchanan nor R'Chaim Soloveitchik Z''L neither understood nor spoke a single wordof the {Yid: landsprach} language of the country they were livingin.  The same thing held true of Rav Shmuel Mohilever.
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{N.B.:  The distinction between R' and Rav is sic in text.}
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	In the last years of the past century a "Meeting of Rabbis"{Yid: "AsFT HaRabinim"} was called in Warsaw,  and among othervital problemes that the Russian and Polish rabbis were interestedin also surfaced {YId: aroifgeshwumen -- lit: swam to the surface[like someone whom one had rather hoped drowned] }  the question,whether to demand in the future a certain preparedness in thelangauge of the country from the rabbis this was relevant for.  Alot of young Rabbis argued that the religous influential people{Yid: farshtiyers}  should know {Yid: ain muzn kenen} the officialnational-language {Yid: landshprachn}.  Then R' Chaim Solovetchikgot up {sich aufhegheben} and said sarcastically, , "Concerningwhat a Rav should know:  he should know how to learn and what ashame if he can't ..." { YId: Male was a Rav muz ain darf kenen,HLMAI darf er kenen lernen ain er ken nisht..."  
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[A surprisingingly pungent phrase; I don't quite get thefirst clause; the second might be, "if he doesn't know how tolearn, he knows nothing"] 
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   Of ocurse the suggetion of the young rabbis feel through atthis  Rabbinical conference {Yid: Rabinim-Farzamlung} andeverything remained the same in Russian Jewry. {sa228n2}

	It is understood that there were exceptions especially in thefirst decade of the present [20th] century.  Like we find the RavRubenstein Z''L ,  who was very knoweagable in Russian, Polish,German and French, besides his great erudition {Yid: Lumdot} inTalmud and {end ms. p12} {start ms. p13} Poskim.  It is also worth {Yid: KaDAI}  mention HaRav Y.L. TzIRELZAN [Tzierlson} E"H, 
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{Glossary: Z"L , zichoron l'bracha, memory for a blessing;E"H, olav hashalom(?), dwell [rest] in peace; both areappended in a complimentary if not superstitious manner tomention of those deceased; I do not know if their is anunacknowleged distinction, as the translations would suggest,in the criteria for their respective use. }
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who was Senator in the Romanian Parliament and was quite fluent inthe Russian and Romanian language.  
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[N.B.:  Apparently the term HaRav has not particular import;it may even have a slightly ironic one; used in an excess ofpoliteness to denote someone considered a bit under par. -sa]
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	And again should be mentioned the case of HaRav Rubinstein, who put in his candidacy for [ie, applied for] the position ofRav--HaKOLeL of Vilna under the Polish reign {Yid: MaLZaKaH}.  His "superficial [worldly] wisdom" {Yid: ChoKMOT-CHITzONIOT[chochmot-chitzoniot] allowed him the posotion {YId: AMt }according to the law {Yid:  gezetzen} of PILsODsQY's Government,but his learnedness {Yid LOMDOt} 
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[ie, from context and conventions of Yiddish expression,learnedness in Torah, - TR] 
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was very weak 	{end text p228}
================================================================
{start text p229}

when compared to his great antagonist {Yid: BR-PLUGTA} , R' ChaimOzer Grodzyensky Z''L, and the Vilna Community recognized, {Yid:agerkent} only the latter, because he was the Gaon, the "Prince ofTorah."  {Yid/Heb: SaR-HaTORaH} 

END SUB-SECTION, MARKED BY INVERTED TRIANGE OF TRIPLE-ASTERISKS
{end text p228}
================================================================
.p
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NOTES (by sa) TO pp220-229
Introductory notes:   

NOTE 1:

	The author notes that [at least, I assume] some of themiltary kidnappers -- "choppers" -- were Jews.  That doesleaveunclear the question of how they were able to do this in a Jewishcommunity. 
	Dimont remarks:  "Civil disobedience [by Jews, toconscription of Jews] developed, giving rise to a new Russianoccupation, that of kidnaping.  These military kidnappers --of "choppers" (literally, snatchers) as they were known tothe Jews -- prowled Jewish communities, kidnapping Jewishboys to fill military quotas ... [Dimont p307]

	The progression of Czars is as follows:

So we have:  
	Czar Alexander I:  1801--1825
	Czar Nikolaus  I:  1825--1855  -- Banished Jews to the Pale;Enacted Jewish conscription; dissolved Jewish autonomy, whenceJewish self-government took the unoffical form of hevras. 
	Czar Alexander II:  1855--1881 (assassinated)
		Dimont:  "He ended the forcible conscription of Jewishjuveniles, made education available to all, and opened the doorsof Russia to the 3 million Jews living in the Pale."  "with no 25year military-service terms threatening their children, with theavenues of educaton open, hope again swept thourh the JRussianJewish communities.   Then, as if overnight, the second act ofliberalism was over.  ...The Jews were herded back into the Pale "
In short, Alexander II became a reactionary, a Slavophile         
DIMONT DOES NOT SAY EXPLICITLY THAT ALEXANDER II RE-INSTITUTED THECONSCRIPTION OF JEWS, AND THAT IT ALSO WAS IN FORCE DURING THEREIGN OF HIS SUCCESSOR, ALEXANDER III, and ALSO IN THE REIGN OFTHE FOLLOWING CZAR, NIKOLAUS II; BUT ONE WOULD ASSUME FROM THECONTEXT OF THIS BOOK THAT THAT WAS SO.

	Czar Alexander III: 1881--1894      (figurehead)
	Dominated by Pobodesnotov, head of the Holy Synod, aSlavophile.  "It was he who instistued the pograms, officiallysponsored uprisings against the Jews, as tactics to divert theRussians from their miseries.  His formula for solving the 'Jewishquestion' was:  "one third conversion, one third emigration, andone third starvation." ... Jews emigrated by the hundreds ofthousands to the United States, which still had unlimitedemigration. But the millions for whom their was no avenue ofescape lived in fear and poverty, kept alive by help that pouredin from voluntary Jewish organiztions in Europe and America."

Czar Nikolaus II:  1894-1917 [executed] . Took command of Russianarmies in WW I; Empress Alexandra left in charge of domesticaffairs, dominated by the the Evil Khylisti Monk [apparently anorgiastic heresy]                               
Roskies & Roskies, The Shetl Book (Workman's Circle /Ktav , 1975)note that in 1827 Czar Nikolaus I extended the liabilty formilitary service -- which was for 25 years -- from peasants toJews.  Jewish men age 18-25 were called up for regular militaryservice (ie, 25 years); boys age 12-18 "would be given preparatorymilitary training." [Apparently then followed by 25 years militaryservice; ie, enslavement for their useful life.]   These teen-ageJewish soldiers were known as Cantonists.  The draft quoata wentas high as 30 boys for every thousand Jews.  The peopleresponsible for filling the quoata were the members of kahal, theJewish Community council.  "  Notes that the Cantonists "eitherdied of starvation or were forced to convert to Christinaity,disapperaring from home for 25 years. ... As far ast the Czar wasconcerned, thea aimed of the Cantonist system, which applied toJews for 29 years [ Apparently that means it was repealed 29 yearsafter enactment, ie 1856 .
THAT'S AN IMPORTANT POINT; CHECK IT OUT.  IT MAY HAVE BEEN THATTHE JEWISH DRAFT LASTED DECADES LONGER.]
] and involved almost 40,000 Jewish boys, was conversion andassimilation.,  "According to the new draft law, kahal was allowedto use the draft as punishment of Jews who failed to pay theirtaxes.  Jews caught without a passport were draft ed.  Neverbefore in the history of Polish-Russian Jewry was the  splithetween rich and  poor as deep and painful as it now became.
------------------------------------------------------------------

l2
{sa220n1}with the obvious German cognate; but taking Pehwithout dagesh, possibly etymologically, elders  
l3
[as suggested by Issac E. Mozen, The Word (Aaronson, NJ1995 rpr. fr. 1989,) notes (Indo-Aryan and) IE root per,(to lead, pass over) which he associates with Heb.Ch'EBIR (Deuteronomy 18:9]
l2
; Cf. also prior, and Priory - sa} 
{sa220n2}
Dimont (p307-8) notes that these were the functionalassociations whose cojoined existence preserved Jewishautonomy in the Pale after formal self-government wasdissolved.
Dimont notes: [Under Czar Nicholas I]  "Jewish  selfgovernment was to be dissolved, and the Jews were to beplaced directly under Russian administration ... How then didthe Jews of Russia survive, without either a state of theirown [as under prior conditions of autonomy] or a host state[as in France] to protect them.  The devised a pocket-size,insant government known as hevras, or 'socities'.   The Jews broke down th e functins of government into component pastsand formed a socity for each function.  jThere were socitesfor orphans, funersls, educaiton, marriageable poormaidens...anything one could name. ... "]
l2
{sa222n1}
[N.B.:  That indicates that attempts to channel Jewish youthin secular education preceeded the conscription of Jewishyouth.   The former would then have been a liberal move, fromthe standpoint of a Russian assimilationist; and the latter adraconian move toward the same end.
	One might speculate if adamant Israel ultra-orthodoxopposition to both secular education and the draft stems fromthat historic experience; the more so as  the  Israel ultraorthodox community has essentially re-constituted itself as a continuation of the pre-Holocaust  Eastern EuropeanAshkenazi culture. ]
L2
{sa224n1}
[Maybe with a bit of assistance; 
l3
although Rabbinic tradition holds consistently thatsince the destruction of the Sanhedrin death sentencesare only carried out by Divine Decree, not by humans.  
l2
 Or maybe no such thing occurred; just homeliticembelissment.  Or maybe the homelitec embillishment wasintended as a hint. ]
{sa224n2}
	If it were a holiday, then the kidnapper was in a realsense trapped by halacha, for he would not have dared toflout religious law by traveling away with the children on aShabbat, and, as a practicing hypocrite, he would havecounted on the piety of the villagers to not break down theshed on the Shabbat -- so the Rabbi is doubly exemplary indemonstrating that true religiosity can require the breakingof halachot to save lives.

	[Dimont notes (at least as originally enacted) that theage of liability for conscription was 12-18.  But one mightexpect that the oldest would be taken first, so that as thepolicy became established, it would be only the youngest whowere left.  And that would explain how it was that thechildren were not able to break out of the house bythemselves.  It also indicates that this kidnapping was ablatant matter; not a surreptitious snatching of a child at atime, but a levy of many in a single community. ]
l2
{sa224n3}
{The preceeding sentence is preserved by the TR as an exampleof Yiddish synatx.  But what is charming about Yiddish is notthe Germanic syntax, -- Object before subject, adverb beforeverb --  but something subtler. --sa}
l1
l2
{sa225n1}
[The author  notes below that Jews are first noted in Grodnoin the 14th century, expelled a century later, and givenpermission to settle there in 1547;  
qI have not yet read Masha Greenbaums's The Jews of Lithuania[Geffen] on this point.] 
l3
{sa226n1}
{At first glance it might seems  that these titles areonly honorifics, not indications of function, except forAv Beis Din -- though I don't know of Moreh-Moira is aparticular level of teacher.  But from remarks below,they seem to indicated high levels of halachicjurisdiction.  That said, I don't know if they then hadthe force of higher-level honorifics; or whether theyindicated specific distinctions of higher-levelfunction. -  Apparently, though, the title of Rabbi of acity carried serious implications, and was not readilyconferred, and then only upon one person; eg, the JewishEnclycopedia (Funk & Wagnals 1904, 1916, 1925) notes inits article on Grodno that "Benjamion Baaudo (Brodo) d.1818, aged 73 was teh last rabbi of Grodno, the officebeing then abolished, as was the case in Wilna, as thersult of quarrels between two factions of thecommunity." (p93 of appropriate volume.)
	I suppose the point was:  if the community can'tagree on what it wants the rabbi to decide, they'rebetter off without a rabbi, because then everyone canfollow their own rabbi.   That is, the rabbi of acommunity, as "official" rabbi , seems to have had, asin Talmudic times, the authority of a Supreme Court; thecommunity was bound by such rulings.  
l1
l2
{sa227n1}
{N.B.:  I am following several conventions here.  Where thetransliteration is apt to be obvious, I try to follow morenearly conventional transliteration than use my own system.
In general, if a Yiddish term is borrowed from German orEnglish, I do not give the original; in general I do thatonly when struck by a richness in the Hebrew or Yiddishoriginal that is watered down in Anglicized translation. }


[N.B.:  That suggests that only an official Rav could issuean halachic ruling (and was obliged to do so if the casewarranted) in contradiction with a previous ruling by theprevious Rabbi of that place.  
	That would seem to be a very precise principle of thejurisdiction of jurisprudence, necessary to preserve anorderly body of law.  Although in principle any rabbi mayexpress opinions of halacha, in practice there would beconceptual anarchy if every rabbi could do so in any place.   	That would have been especially essential in galutzthorugh shetl times, when the Jewish communities needed toremain legally self-sufficient, rather than get intoirresolveable disputes where they had to throw their membersto the mercies of the Russian etc. secular authorities. 
	Most bullies only intervene when they see a breakdown ofstructure, a point of weakness; bullies are cowards at heart;otherwise they would fight only those as strong as they,rather than only picking on those weaker.  -sa]
l3
{sa227n2}
{N.B.:  ONe sees here that, given the context ofautonomy in the Pale, study of Talmud was not merely anabstract intellectual exercise, but a vital requirementof self-government, since only Talmudic opinion wouldhave the voluntary consensus of the Jewish government asthe constitutional body of law. 
	Thus  Talmudic study, and orthodox adherence toRabbinic law, would have lost vitality in theenlightened nations of western Europe, just because itwas no longer required for practical purposes.   -sa}
{sa227n3}
but I think not quite that.  A genius, I think, is onewho can creatively form extraordinarily wide conceptualgestalts, or at least once formed one such.  So Mozart,who said he could conceive an entire symphony before hewrote it, was (but for a rather formulaic development ofhis works) a genius.  Einstein, whose theory ofrelativity supplanted the framework of classicalmechanics [and more], surely was; perhaps theparadigmatic genius.  The institution of rabbinicJudaism as an isomorphic transform of Temple Judaism;and also [although arguably far less attractively] thatof Christianity as an isomorphic transform of Judaism,were works of [presumably collective] genius. 
	A gaon, though, would be a master of the Talmud;but that might be more a matter of an extraordinarymemory and an exceptional faculty for sifting essencefrom peripheral material.  One thinks here of SidneyMorgenbesser, a Professor of analytic philosophy atColumbia University.  An extraordinary breadth ofknowlege, extraordinarily fast mind, aptitutde forquickly finding concise expression, exceptionalintellectual taste (a by-product of intellectualhonesty) in distinguishing essential material -- but notnecessarily an extraordinary depth of intuitiveperception, nor aptitude for refashioning the conceptualpresuppositions of prevalent thought.  -- StephenBenjamin Amdur [ben Isadore] , HaOn, 5/22/96.]
l2
{sa228n1}
{ I do not know if that implies that Polish was spoken bysome  Jews of Pale Russia.  The area was under Russian rule1795- 1917.  However, elsewhere in the section the authordoes direct his attention to events in that area after thetime he left and thorugh the duration of the the preHolocaust period; so he may be referring to that period.  (Ithink the region was Lithuania prior to 1795; but I'm not yetclear.  Also, that author may have had in mind the Jewishcommunties of Poland adjacent to pre-1917 Pale Russia}
l2
{sa228n2}
[That is interesting because it suggests that at the turn ofthe century religious decisions were apparently dominated,even in matters not directly related to halacha, by thedistinguished elders. -   Although, that said, one does getthe impression, from his one apparently-quoted remrak, thatR' Solevetchik had a strength of mind-and-language that theyoung rabbis could not match.  -sa ]
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