;.cCut from amp22044 5/26/96
;.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,
;.l4,25,75,192,2,127,25,0,
.h2, amp22932, Amdur Meine Geboirn-Shetl pp229-232 TR CB   --
STARTING FROM SUBSECTION, TOP OF p229:
================================================================
[HISTORY OF JEWISH COMMUNITY IN GRODNO; EARLY RABBIS]

I would like to give some statistic nubmers concerning the numberof the Grodno Jews during various times.  The town itself wasfounded in the 11th century, and Jews were found there already inthe 14th century; and one hundred years later there even occurredalready a Jewish expulsion  , decreeed by Alexander Yagelon,Great-Duke {Yid: groisfirsht} of Lithuania.   And a hundred yearslater, there was a restriction of Jewish rights.  In 1547 the Jewsof Grodno got permission to {end ms. p13}
-----------------------------------------------------------------
{start ms. p14}
  
have {Yid: auftzunehmen, take themselves } a Rav;  the situationof the Jews changed in Grondo with the ascent to the throne ofLithuania by this or that Grand-Duke, and according to thetemperament 
l2
[I think the word is use in the Aristotelian sense, qualityof being temperate -sa] 
l1
or craziness {Yid. MiShUGeT} of that Ruler {Yid: MaRShLIM}.  

	In the year 1560 , 60 Jewish families 
l2
[The JE (1925 ed.) notes "A complete list of the Jewishinhabitants of Grondo in 1560 is repr9duced n the abovementioned "Arkiv" (ii);  It includes the names of about sixtyJews, who lived mostly in the "Jewish street" and in the"Jewish school street"... But presumably only heads ofhouseholds were named; the JE implicitly makes thatassumption in estimating Jewish popultion than as "about 10percent of the inhabitants."
l1

found themselves in Grodno, among 543 existing houses.  The Jewslived durng that time in the "Yiddishe Gass" [Jewish street],having a shul 
l3
{Glossary:  Yid: shul, = synagogue}
l1
and also their own hospital       
l2
{Certainly not a hospital in the modern sense; more a placewhere the indigent elder and dying were taken care of -- TR} 
l1

on PLEBANsQI-GAs [Plebanski Street ]  
[Asterisk Footnote Text]

-----------
[Footnote text] (not translated; please translate)
See, "AUTzR YiSRAeL" F?UN AIYZGeShtIYN, Volume 4, page 119.
-----------------

[RAV MORDECHAI JAFFE OF GRODNO (the "LEVUSH") [16th century] ]

	In the 16th century Grodno had as Rav 
l2
[N.B.:  In my transliteration system,  , Rav, Resh-Bet, isrendered, Rav , with only the intitial letter capitalized, ]
l1

the great and famous Gaon R' MoRDeKI YaFeH [ Mordechai Jaffe] ,the author of the "LevUShIM" (Garments), who built the great andsplendid {Yid. FaREKtIQE, farektike} shul that carried his nameuntil the last years of the previous century.  On the wall of theshul was inscribed, {Yid/Heb: "Ha-BYT HaMQDaSh Ha-ME'aT KONGeH VYesoDaH Ha=GAON HaLaVUSh" } 


"This 'Beit Mikdash ME'AT' [Little, or minor, Temple -TR] wasfounded and built {TR notes that one word {Yesodah, I assume,since it is one of the sephirot]  -- to spiritual, the other tophysical construction} by the Gaon [of] the "Levush" 
l2
[TR notes that, (as customary in traditonal orthodoxy throughthe 19th century, I think -sa)   the Rabbi is identified bythe principal work he authored - ] ({Yikd: PRT: Detail:  TafShin-Lamed--''Chet [5438]  - = 1578 C.E. . - TR.
l1
=================================================================
#p
l1           
-----------------------------------------------------------------
{start ms. p230}

In 1790 already a blood-libel {Yid: ELILT-DaM} 
l2

{Glossary:  Blood-libel.  Lit:  A libelous accusation thatthe Jews of the region had killed a Christian child to usehis child in baking matza.  
l3
In short:  a preposterous excuse, but one most effectivein inflaming ignorant peasanty, for a bit of localgenocide for fun and profit, and to distract the rage ofthe peasants from their feudal oppressors.}
l1
occurred in Grodno provoked by the Jesuits:
l2
{GLOSSARY:  Jesuits. The Catholic monastic order, Society ofJesus.  Noted for their scholarship and a rather consistentlybloodthirsty attitude toward others, esp. Jews. }
l1

on the second day of Shavuot of the same year the {Yid: QaDUSh,Kadush} Holy One [martyr] 
l2
{Glossary: Yid: QaDUSh, Kadush -- apparently a traditionalJewish term for what the Christians call martyr (fr. Gr.,witness),{sa230n1} -- apparently this honorific, when used,supercedes the convention to append z''l }
l1

R' ALIEZR BR' ShLoMeH FUN  WERBALAW [ R' Eliezer Bar Shlomo of [Verbolov] 
l2
{And I am revising this passage in the land of Israel, againunder the sovereignty of the Jewish people, on the 2nd day ofShavuot [by Galutz reckoning] 5756; the Yahrzeit of R'Eliezer Bar Shlomo of Verbolov, z''l}
l1
[was excuted], by cutting up his body into four parts under the sign of a cross {Yid: Tzeshniedendik zein guf auikh fir tielnaunter dem TzIYKN FUN A TzLM}                                        
l2
[The Jewish Encyclopedia (Funk & Wagnalls; 1904, 1916; 1925(I quote from the 1925 edition) notes:  "The last tragedy inGrodno of which there is record occurred on the second day ofPentecost, May 20, 1790, when Elezar b. Solomon of Wirballenwas qauartered for the alleged murder of a Christian girl. The king reufsed to sign the death-warrant, being convincedof theman's innocence, but could not prevent the execution. A ritual murder tiral is also known to have occurred there in1820, but the detals have nto been preserved."]
l3
{N.B.:  Quartering was not an uncommon capital punishment in Elizabethan England, as far as I know. }
l1

	In 1795 Grodno came under Russian soverignty; then therelived 2000 Jewish souls [ie the Jewish population of Grodno in1795 was 2000] ; Grodno was as that time almost {Yid: KaMEt} aJewish city {Yid: ShtAt} [
l2
I assume that means;  almost entirely Jewish].  
The JE notes: "of the 4000 inhabitants [of Grodno] in 1793, amajority were Jews.  The increase went on under Russian rule,and in 1816 the city had 8422 Jewish and only 1451 non-Jewishinhabitants.  In 1890 there wer 29,779 Jews in a totalpoulatin of 49,952; and in 1921 about 24,611 Jews in a totalpopulation of 34,916. 


l1
In 1816 there were already 8422 Jews and 1451 non-Jews {Yid:nisht-Yidn}.  In 1907 Grodno counted a general population of46,871 souls of which 25,000 were Jews.
l2
[Apparently the author, writing from Argentina prior to 1952,is consulting a source published after 1907.  It does notappear to have been the Funk & Wagnalls Jewish Encyclopedia,1925 edition. ]
l1

                                
[R' NATHAN SHAPIRO ASHKENAZY of GRODNO; author "MEVO SHE'ARIM"]

	The first Rav, who is known of Grodno, was R' NaTaN ShaPIRAAShKeNaZY.  Nothing is known of his activites, the only knownthing is that he was the author of the book {Yid: Sefer, holybook} "MEVOA SHE'aRIM" -- a Commentary {Yid/Arm?: PIRUSh} on theWork {Yid: ChIvIR} "ShE'aRI DORA" of the Gaon R' YiTzChAQ M-DORA[Yitzak of Dora]  [TR:  Maybe Dura, a city in Asia Minor? ] wholived {Yid: mit hEKER - not translated?} 600 years earlier [TR: This fact point to Dura.]  
l2
{N.B.:  I assume that the spelling is identical, except forthe dagesh, which is optional:  That is:  Dalet-Vav-ReshAleph .  Only:  Where & What was Dura?}
l1

He is also held to be the author of the Book {Yid: Man shreibt aimtzu auikh dem sefer}   "B-AVREI RASHI"
l2
[N.B.:  B-AVREI would seem to be, b'ouvre-i , fr. Fr. (orMF?) ouevre, literary work ]
l1

but this cannot be conclusively stated.  According to the book"BeAR ShevE" [Be'er Sheva] brought down {Yid: "SheM HaGeDOLIM"["in the name of the great ones"]  of R' CHAIM YOSEF AZULIY[Azulay] , the {end text p15}
-----------------------------------------------------------------
{start text p16

author of "BA-AoURI RASHI" was a different Gaon. R' Nathan ShapiroAshkenazy passed away in the year {Yid: Het-Shin-Lamed--Zain}[5437]  - 1577.  It is said that the Krakow Rav and {Yid: Ba'ELMeQUVaL} [Ba'al-Mekuba], [mystic, 
l3
{Glossary:  Ba'EL-MeQUVaL} [Ba'al-Mekuba], A [Jewish] mystic. }
l1

the author of the book "MaGaLeH EMUQOT" [Explorer of the depths]was the grandson {Yid: AIYNIQL} of Rav Nathan Shapiro and carriedthe same name.                  

[R' Mordechia Jaffe, Continued] 

	The second known {Yid: Bewuster} Rav in Grodno was thepreviously mentioned Gaon R' MORDaKI YaFeH [R' Mordechai Jaffe] ,known in {Yid: der POsuQISher Welt, the Posuk-er World} ) [ thatis:  the society of those of decided questions of halachic law forthe Jewish community; TR `Jewish legislative circles'] under thename of  "Ba'EL HaLavUShIM" [Ba'al Halevushim] 
l2
[To this day a household word for Tora-students - TR).  
l1
The exact date of his birth is not known, but according toestimates {Yid: Luit HaSherUt} , it happened in the year 1530, inthe city of Prague.  He passed away  in Pozen, {end text p230}
=================================================================
#p
{start text p231}

on the 3rd of Adar 1612, so that he had a long age {Yid: ELtER,old age} (82 years).  Besides his deep genius, brilliance inTalmud, and in the old legislative {Yid: PIQIShER} literature[that is: the corpus of precedent halachic opnions], he was alsovery learned in Philosophy, Mathematics and Astronomy.  He wasalso interested in the wisdom {Yid/Heb: HoKMaT} of Kabbalah. According to what he himself writes in the Foreword of his bookLevUSh,  "AOR  YeQaROT [Ohr Yekarot] ([ight of the Previous ones], his teachers were the RaSh''aL and [the]  RaM''A (Acronymns for[respectively] R' ShLoMeH LURIA  and R' MoSheH  AIsERLEs[Isserles]) , the two greatest Gaonoim of 16th century PolishJewry; and R' MaTiYaHU BR' ShLoMeH DELEFQROt [Mattiyahu Bar Shlomo Delcrotte {end ms. p16 before previous word}
----------------------------------------------------------------
{start ms. p17}                                        

(the former two in Talmud and Poskim [legislation], and the latter-- in Kabalah.)

	We {Yid: MIR} find R' Mordechai Yaffe was head of the PragueYeshiva while still in his young years.  In the year 1561 heleaves Prague, togther with all Jews because of the "Pragueexpulsion" {Yid: "GIRUSh PRAG"} decreed by Kaiser Ferdinand ofBohemia.  He spends a long time in Venice {Yid: WENEDIG} (Italy). There, it appears, he learmed mysticism at {Yid: bei, meaning,with} the MeQUBaL [Jewish mystic] DELaQROte [Delcrotte]  

	There is an opinon that The "Levush" [ie, R' MordechaiJaffee, known after the name of his book] is the Founder of the"Va'ED Ha-ARTzOT" [Va'ad Ha-Artzos] 
l2
[ Council of the Lands; apparently the original form of the'Council of Four Lands" ie the Jewish forum for co-ordinationbetween the Jewish communties of those four adjacent regionsof different sovereignty  -sa] 
l1
in which were connected Great-Poland (Poznan), Little-Poland(Krakow) and Ukrania or Russia (Lemberg) and later Lithuania.     This opinion is held by Prof. GRETz and other Jewish historians,but Shaul-Pinchas Rabinovitch, translator into {Yid: AIN} Hebrewof GRETz's   work in German "GESCHICHTE DER JUDEN' [History of theJews] does not agree with the former.  ALIaHU HaRKavI [EliyahuHakavi] , in  his great work under the title "QoDaShIM V-GaMYeSheNIM" {TR: Holy ones and also Hoary Ones} printed as anaddition {YId: HosPeH} to the Hebrew text of {YID Abbrev: ShF''R 
l3
[Translator has marked this with a question mark;presumably can't identify it; probably the initials oracronymn of some then-well-known reference-work.  NB:There's no dagesh in the Peh, so it's ShF''R, notShP''R.}
l1

, also agrees {Yid: MsKIM} with him, basing himself on excerptsfrom chronicles of Va'ad of the Three Lands", Va'ad of the FourLands" and Va'ad Lithuania."  One thing, though, is sure, {Yid:Aiyn zakh ain aber ziker} that The Levush  was one of the foremost{Yid: Shtarkste, strongest} "Tone givers" {Yid: tangevers} 
[Eng: "one of those who most strongly set the tone "] in the"Va'ad Ha'Artzos"   {end ms. p17}
---------------------------------------------------------------
{start ms. p18}

and his word was authoratative.  Such we find again {end textp231}
=================================================================
{start text p232}

in the book "NeTIvOT EOLaM" [Netivot Olam] of the MaHaR''aL ofPrague  -- on whose account was created the legend of the Golem
l2
[ That is:  the legend of the creation of the Golem wasattached to the Maharal of Prague.  The TR notes thatalthough nowadays this is taken as a quaint  folk-tale, inits time, in Tora circles, it was taken as actual  fact]
l1
a Cherem [ban] 
l2
{Glossary:  {Yid/Heb} Cherem:  A biblical notion first anddramatically encountered in the Book of Joshua, where bootyfrom Jericho was considered contaminated by idolatry and sowas sacrificed.  Subsequently, a sort of ostracism [notprecisely excommunication; since the excluded person is stilldeemed Jewish, but stripped of all qualifications forreligious service . -sa}
l1

signed by The Levush  against persons who maligned the honor {Yid:Farloimdt dem KavoD} }  of a certain family of noble descent {Yid:MI-ZeChusDiQER}  { TR notes roots "Yichus"; that is, a family withancestors of distinction, presumably in Torah -sa} of that time;and in the chronicle {Yid: PNQs} "POZNA" we find translated intoYiddish-German an appeal {Yid: AOIFRUF} made at the {YEROsLAVVER[Yaroslaver]   Fair {Yid. YARID} in the year 1640 (signed by theTOsFOT YOM-TOv) an affirmation of a {Yid: TaQaNaH [Takanah]} TR:Rabbinical by-law]
l3
{Glossary: {Yid: TaQaNaH [Takanah]}  Rabbinical by-law]}
l1
made fifty years earlier in the town {Yid: ShtAt, city(?)} ofLublin -- Seat of the "Va'ad Ha'Artzos" -- and on which the firstsignature {Yid/Heb: ChaTIMaH -- apparently a more formal term forsignature?} is that of R' Mordechai Yaffe.  The aforementioned pamphlet {Yid: KRUZ, ader QOL-QORA -- [cruz or kol-kora]  allusionto the cruz of oil at Chanukah?? - sa} relates to the strictprohibition {Yid: HARBN AIsUR} on communties to hire a Rabbi whobribed {Yid: ointerqoif-gelt , Cf. Eng: "under the table"} } [hisway into the postition] .  The Rabbis of that time forbade thisact with curses {Yid: QLLUT} and bans [cherem's].  It seems thatat that time, it was common for  a a Rabbinic position to beacquired {Yid: BAQUMEL A ShTELE} by giving a "Hand-Gift" {Yid:"MaTaNoT YaD" } to the community heads {Yid: RAShI-HaQaHaL} , andthis brought no honor {Yid: kavod} to the institution of theRabbinate.  Therefore the aforementioned ban  is understandableand the tone of {end ms. p18}
---------------------------------------------------------------
its contents.                               

[SUBSECTION: R; Mordechia Jaffe, Cont.}

	The "Ba'EL HaLevUShIM":  
	As said, R' Mordechai YafeH led in Rabbincial {Yid:POsiQIShER, Responsae} Litrature under the title  "Ba'al HaLevushim".  The name is based on the verse {Yid: Posuk} inMegillat Esther (Chapter 8, Verse {Tet-''Vav} 14 and {Tet-''Zayin} 15), where it says:  
l2
[The following quotation is only from Ch. 8:15]
l1

And Mordechai went out from before the King dressed (Be-Levush) inSkyblue {Heb: techolat} and blinding white {Heb: V-ChoR} and agreat crown of gold and a cape of Ermine  {Heb: V-TaKRiKh BOTz VARGaMoN} 
l2
[I'm not clear where the ermine came from -- sounds a bitlike an hassidic embellishment.  Soncino has:  linen, whichdoes fit the climate better in Susa (SW Iran) I guess.   -sa]
l1

and Royal purple, and the town of Shushan cheered and rejoiced. For the Jews there was light and joy and bliss and substance." Well, so:  His  was called Mordechai, and the book he gave thetitle "Garments of Kingship", 
l2
[The obvious allusion here is to the Divine Attribute ofKingship, as declaimed on Rosh HaShana }
l1

divided into ten smaller books, parts under the following names:
.a1
A):  "Garment of Skyblue" {Heb: Ha-TeKoLoT"}, in which he dealswith all laws {Yid: DINIM} of the "Tur" and the "Shulchan AruckhOrakh Chaim" up to the laws of Shabbat, according to the order ofearly Poskim {end text p232}
=================================================================
END TRANSLATION RETURNED TO BE TO DATE 19 MAY 96

NOTES:

  .l2
{COMMENT:  My paternal Aunt Minnie V. Sack  once wrote, indeference to my relaying an unevidenced speculation that we mightbe descended from R. Hayim Heikel of Amdur, that, in reference toher mother, Mollie (Malka(?)) Silberblatt (b. 1/24/1880, Grodno) ,that "we are descended on both sides from famous rabbis".  Irecall now with interest that she used the plural, although thecontext leaves an ambiguity.   
	Reference is to Rabbi NOCHEM JAFFE, (his wife is noted asCHESSA), whom I note as "Distinguished Rabbi in Grodno.  Collectedfunds for orphan girls (dowries).  Widely respected and reveredfor his generosity by persons in all walks of life.  (My sourcefor that would have been great-Aunt Rose Malakoff, sister ofMollie Silberblatt (Amdur).)   His daughter is Minah (Minnie)Jaffe, who married Labe (Leib) Jaffe.
	One would estmate that R. Nochem Jaffee was born in the early1800's, eg ca. 1820.   That raises the question of whether his descent can be traced to this famous R. Mordechai Jaffee, authorof the work, LEVUSH, 1578.  

I have just noticed from the Jewish Encyclopedia, Funk & Wagnals,(1904, 1914, 1925 Ed. -- that is, the 1925 Revised Edition, whichis what I find here at the library at Tzemach, at the base of theKinderet -- that such is apparently the case; assuming that onecan identify "Nehemia of Amdur" with my aunt Min's maternalgrandfather, identified in Geneology #00238 as "Nochem, Nochemke"Jaffe, wife Chessa (who maintained a store); father of Minah(Minnie) Jaffe, (who married Labe, Leib Silverblatt, and d.Grodno, age 42) 
	That reference notes in a genelogic chart ("Jaffe PedigreeII") a "Nehemiah of Grodno" as 3rd of 4 brothers in the 8thgeneration [Counting as generation 1 "Mordechai Jaffe (author of"Lebushim") 1530-1612)"] of lst-born descendents or R' MordechiaJaffe. 
	[Curiously, the 2nd of 4 brothers in generation 6 is "Tobiahof Indur' [no further details  given; Indur = Indura = Amdur]     
	That would make my grandmother, Malka Silberblatt, b. 1880,the 10th generation from R. Mordechai Jaffee, b. 1530.  
	Jacob of Ludvinovi is b. 1822; he is the, lst-born son in the8th generation; the generation of Nehmiah of Grodno.   Mygrandmother is b. 1880 , in the 10th generation; a reasonableconvergence of dates.

	Taking Nehemia of Grodno as generation A (as I do in #00238),and numbering earlier generations from Z backwards, one then has: 
#p
[N.B.:  JE notes as unsubstantiated a speculative tracing by R.Joseph Lewinstein of Serock, Warsaw, as follows:

"Accoridng to Joseph Lewinstein, rabbi at Serock, government ofWarsaw, the progenitor of the Jaffes was Samuel ben Klhanan, agrandson of Issac ha-Zaken (died at the end of the 12th century),whose father was Samuel, the sone-in-law o9f Rabbi Meir ofRamerupt, the father of Jacob Tam, grandson of Rashi. Lewinstein's conclusions, however, have not yet beensubstantiated."
	I'm not clear from the syntax of the prceeding , where JacobTam fits . 


O:  MOSES JAFFE of Bologna (15th Cent.) 
    [EALIEST JE ENTRY]
P:  ABRAHAM OF BOHEMIA
	(Prefect, Jews of Poland, 1512)
	See JE Vol. 1, p100 
Q:  ELIEZER JAFFEE
R(m1): JOSEPH of Prague
S(m1): ABRAHAM of Prague (d. 1564)
T(m1): MORDECHAI JAFFE 
	(author of "Lebushim") (1530-1612)
U(m1): PEREZ JAFFEE
V(m1): ABRAHAM ABERI of Nikolsburg (d. 1657)
	d. Nikolsburg, Moravia

W(m1):  JOSEPH JAFFE OF POSEN

-------------------------------------------
X(m1):  MORDECAI of Plungian 
	b. 1721, "Went with his father from Posen to Pungian.  At theage of 12 he was captured by soldiers of the army of the PolishConfederation and taken to Wilkoviski, where he was ransomed bythe wealthy Enoch Zundel (son-in-law of Tobia b. Joseph SolomonHasid-BACHARACH)  [note , sa]

l2

for 1200 "tinpes".  He married Enoch Zundel's daughter.  In1756 he was appointed Rabbi at Keidany.  

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

Y(m1): ENOCH ZUNDEL of Olinkn              
-----------------------------------------

	Y(m2): TOBIA of Indur
		Rabbi at Indur (1765-1769) and later at Tykotzin
---------------------------------------------------------
Z(m1): PINEHAS of Karlvariya

A.1 (m1):  JACOB of Ludvinovi (1822)
A.1 (m2):  ENOCH Zindel
A.1 (m3):  NEHMEMIA of Grodno

.p
ADDITIONAL NOTES FROM JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA:

Jewish Encyclopedia, Funk & Wagnalls, 1904, 1916, 1925Edition (latest edition at Tzemach Library; edition usedhere.)

1569 - Lithuania part of Poland
1576-86:  King Stephen Bathori, friend of the Jews
	Great synagogue built; destroyed by fire 1599
1616 - Jesuit arrive; all hell breaks lose
[1648-49 - First Cossak War.  Grodno esapes]
1655-57 Taken by Russians 
1658-62 - Held by Swedes
1703-1708 - Held by Swedes
1560: 60 Jews on the "Jewish Street" and "Jewish SchoolStree"; Jewish hopital on Plebanski Stree.  543 Houses totalin Grodno.
Russian encylclopedia says in 2nd half of 16th cent. therewere 56 Jewish houses out of a total of 712.
		
============================================================
Notes on Mordechai Jaffe, from JE

Codifier of rabbinical law; b. Prague about 1530; d. PosenMarch 7, 1612.  His fatehr, Abrahm b. Joseph was a puol ofAbraham ben Abigdor.  Moses Isserles and Solomon Luria wereMOrdecai Jaffe's teachiers in rabbinics, while Mattithiah b.Solomon Delacrut was his teacher in Cabala.  Jaffe studiesalso philosohy, astronomy, and matehematics. He was head of aheshiva in Prague utnil 1561, when by order of the emperorFerdiand, the Jews were expelled from Bohemia. Jaffe thenwent to Venice and studiesed astronomy (1561-1571).  [Butthat remarks would seem to convey, veiled, an allusion to hisstudy of Kabalah under Delacrotte].  In 1572 h3 2as electedreabbi of Grodno; in 1588, rabbi of Lublin, where he becameone of the leaders of the Council of Four Lands.  LaterJaffee accepted the rabbinate in Krementz.  In 1592 hwew wascalled as rabbi to Prague, from 1599 until his deadh heoccupied the position of chief rabbi of Posen. 
	The Lebusshim is a rabbinic code, arranged in the oderadopted in the Turim and the Shulhan Aruch.   The reasonadvanced by Jaffe for the complation of the work was hisdesire to give a digest of the latest decisiond and minhagim,mainlly those of German and polish authorities and includingthose of his teachers, in order to shorten the course n hisYehisva.
	The appears of Joseph Carol's "Bet Yosef" appented tothe Turim was hailed with joyh as as great event inRrabbinical cirlce.s  Even Jaffe thought at the time, thatthis work was final.  The 'Bet Yosef' hwoever was toscientific and voluminous fo rth generual use of an ordinaryrabbi.  Jaffe was on thepont of publishing his work, whencaro anticipated him with the Shulahn Aruch, to whichIsserles later added annotations and minhagim prvailing inGermany, Poland, and JRussia.  The two extremes presented bythe copiousness of th e'Bet Yosef' and the brevity of thehulan Aruk had left many dissatisifed and Jaffe accoringlycontined his owrk on is own liens, avoiding both theexhuberat, argumentative style and the too terse and legalmanner of caro.  Adnotehr cadvantage prsented by the Lebushwas that it included parts of the Turim omitted by Caro, andthe latest minhangim collectged by Issac Trynau.  The Lebush,while it sauthor was alive, enjoyed geat opularity; abutafter his death Cro's code gradually superesed it, not nolyin the Orient but also in Eruope ...hNevaertheles,s forshcoldars who studyh the spriit of th eLaw, the Lebushim area valuable contribution to halakic literature.  As Jafeerightly obserses, the Shulan Aruk is "a table well prepateredwith all kinds of refreshments, but it lacks of the salt ofreasoning."  Jaffee seasoned his work with the 'salt ofreasning' by giving logical explanations at the beginning ofalmost every section.  In tearing ritual-legal matters from acabalistic standpont, Jaffe is an esception among thecaaofiers...Jaffe's method was to draw to a certian extent aninnovation, and tended to draw together the JTalmudists andcabalitsts, otherisise in danger of an open split. 

	He was very strict against ursury (cites par. 160,""permit an opneing of the size of a pinhole, and it willenlarge from day to day until it becomes as wide as tehentrace of the Temple corridor.". 
	He had various other published works; his annotation ofthe Talmud was publisehd in Veitnna in 1830. 
	Lublin was one of the great fair-tonws and ocmmericalcenters of Poland, and thousand of Jews from neibhborhingcountries attended its fairs.  jdisputes growing otu of theirtransacidtons there require adjudication by an authority ofmore than local standing, and Mordecai Jaffe, who had alreadyestablished a preputaiton in Lithuania, as rabbi of g\Grodno,was chosen as judge.  The reputation he ahd own did much asloto increase and extend his influence in the Counico of FourLands,  and even after his return to Prague he rewasrecongized as it principle lider (Dl Gands, Semzch David,p56a, Frankfort9-on-Main 19692; see also Harkavy in Hebr.trnasl. by Rabinowitze of Greatz, Gesch, Vol. Vii [Hadashimv'gam Yshanim p18]








                                                         




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NOTES TO TEXT:
l3
[note, sa]
[N.B.:  On my mother's side of #00238, according to thehandwritten notes of my Great-Aunt Elsie WurzburgerDewald,  of #00238, the Hecht line starts with JACOBBACHARACH  [Can't yet re-locate that note in ms.] 
 "b. 1760?", Germany, father of MEYER BACHRACH b. 1820[emigrated, Baltimore]; Jacob Bachrach apparently m. aFrau Barmdaak, Langenscharbe, Hesse Kassel, Germany,1755? [not clear if that is the date of birth  or ofmarriage]


l3
{sa230n1}
a term now blasphemously misused by facistic Islamicfundamentalists 
l4
For is said that on Purim we must again pledge towipe out Amalek; but it is nowhere said that hepromises to wear the same mask in every time andplace. }
