;.cTranslation from Amdur, mi pueblo natale; which pages?
;.l1,6,60,66,1,0,10,75,192,2,15,20,25,127,10,0,
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SELECTED TRANSLATION 
FROM AMDUR, MI PUEBLO NATALE  (AMDUR, MY NATIVE VILLAGE)

Published in Buenos Aires, 1973
Introduction in Spanish; text in Hebrew.  (parts in Yiddish?).

Copy held at the Library of Yad v' Shem, Jerusalem

This translation by R. David Herzberg, Jerusalem



.p
REMARKS ABOUT SELECTED TRANSLATION FROM AMDUR, MI PUEBLO NATALE

Amdur, mi Pueblo Natale  is a 'Rememberance Book' about the Jewishshetl (village) of Amdur.
The village of Amdur was in the region of the city of Grodno
Prior to the War, it was part of Poland.

The town of Amdur is featured in Chaim Grade's novel, The Yeshiva.
It is also mentioned in the Encyclopeida Judaicia.
In about 1800 it was the meeting-place of the 'Council of FourLands', the Jewish self-governing body.  I think I recall readingthat there were various businesses there, and there there waslogging nearby.

Perhaps the best-known rabbi from the village of Amdur was RabbiHayim Heikel of Amdur (18th century).  He is the author of thekabbalistic (mystical) book Chaim v'Hesed (Life and Grace). Martin Buber mentions him in his book Hassidic Masters, and RabbiZalman Schacter translated a short selection from his writings inFragments for a Future Scroll.

The book Amdur, mi Pueblo Natale (Amdur, the town of my birth) wasproduced in 1973 in Buenes Aires by Jews who used to live in thevillage of Amdur.

The introduction is in Spanish, the text is in Hebrew.

I am grateful to R. David Herzberg of Jerusalem for translationthis selection from the Hebrew text.


                                           Stephen Benjamin Amdur
                                           Kibbutz Haon
                                           June 24, 1993
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(translation from the Hebrew of Amdur, mi Pueblo Natale)


THE RABBIS OF [ THE VILLAGE OF ] AMDUR 

This is a list of the Rabbis of Amdur:  It is indeed anillustrious family of great Sages and Torah Scholars:

 1)  Rav Dovid Zak
 2)  Rav Shmuel, Rav [Rabbi] of the Galil 
 3)  Rav Tuvia Yafe
 4)  Rav Moshe Horowitz
 5)  Rav Yisrael Issur                                              6)  Rav Yaacov         ben [son of] Rav Shimon
 7)  Rav Moshe          ben          Rav Bezalel
 8)  Rav Yisachar Be'er ben          Rav Lipman
 9)  Rav Moshe Yehoshua ben          Rav Shimon
10)  Rav Avraham Ezra   haCohen
11)  Rav Baruch         ben          Zion Mishekovsky
12)  Rav Reuven         Cohen Tzedek
13)  Rav Yisrael Levenderstein

-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Sage Rav Dovid Zak:

	The son on the Rav, the Sage Reb Yirael Zak, the head of theRabbinical Court of Law in Zaulodoni and Birgle, who was the sonof Rav Shalom Zak, who was the son of the Tzadik [righteousperson] and Holy (kadosh) Reb Yisroel of Riezhynoi (one of themartyrs who gave up his life by sanctifying the name of G-d duringthe famous blood libel of 1659), who was known by the name of theholy ones of Ruzhynoi, whose descendents received the name of Zakwhich is an acronym for Zera Kodesh [holy seed].

	From his mother's side, Rav Dovid was a grandson to the Sage[gaon] Rav Yosef Yoshi, the head of the Rabbinical Court in Minskwho traces his family lineage to the Maharal of Prague.

	Rav Dovid served as the Chief Rabbi of Amdur from the year1710--1730 approximately.  There is no documented evidence if hewas the first  official Rabbi in the town of Amdur or if therewere others who preceeded him in this position that are not knownto use by name.  The archives of the previous generation list RavDovid as the first Rabbi of Amdur.

	The author of the book Da'as Kedoshim (Knowlege of the Holy)says that Rabbi Reb Dovid signed for the first time the enactmentof the Meeting of Amdur on the 6th of Shevat 1720 by the name`Dovid the little one, the son of my teacher and father my masterthe Rav and Sage Rav Yisroel of Amdur.  The signature fromRuzhynoi is not found in the records of copies of the countrywhich are in our hands.  It seems, as was the lot of otherenactments, that this too was lost.
                          
	Another source listed by the author of Da'as Kedoshim is hisapproval of the book Vezos HaTorah (`And this is the Torah') inthe year 1714.  This is the earliest date that mentions his name,but a book with this title is not to be found anywhere.  It ispossible that somewhere there was a mistake in the name of thebook.  A source that is quite reliable claims that he signed hisname as the head of the Rabbincal Court of Amdur and thesurrounding villages*.  

	The town of Amdur merited a reknown and honorable status inthe world of Torah and wore the crown of Torah proudly.  Under theauspicies of the Rabbis of Amdur, reknown Torah scholars from allover flocked to this town to draw from the deep wellsprings ofTorah and to dwell there in holiness.

