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1961 \"TOLDOT YEHUDEI KALISH\" – HISTORY OF THE JEWS OF KALISZ, POLAND\'S OLDEST JEWISH COMMUNITY – BY ISRAEL DAVID BETH-HALEVI – TEL AVIV – HEBREW – FROM THE LIBRARY OF RABBI YEHOSHUA MOSHE ARONSON OF PETACH TIKVA, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR AND AUTHOR OF \"YESHUAT MOSHE\"
STORY
Kalisz holds a unique place in Jewish history. Jews were living there as early as the 12th century, and in 1264 Duke Bolesław the Pious granted the Jews of Kalisz the famous \"Statute of Kalisz\". It was a charter of rights and protection that King Casimir the Great later extended to all of Poland, and it became the legal foundation of Polish Jewry for centuries. Kalisz is often called the cradle of Polish Jewry.
For seven hundred years the community flourished. It was the city of the \"Magen Avraham\", Rabbi Avraham Gombiner, whose commentary on the Shulchan Aruch is studied in every yeshiva in the world. His beit midrash stood beside the Great Synagogue, both shown in the title-page photograph, now destroyed. Kalisz had great rabbis, Hasidic courts, yeshivos, schools, workers\' movements, Zionist youth, a famous lace and textile industry, and newspapers.
In August 1914 the German army destroyed most of the city. In 1939 more than 20,000 Jews lived there. The Nazis occupied Kalisz on September 6, 1939, and destroyed the community in stages: in the forests, in gas vans, and by deportation to the Łódź Ghetto and the death camps. Almost no one survived, and there is no Jewish community in Kalisz today.
In 1961 Israel David Beth-Halevi published this full scholarly history of the Jews of Kalisz, from the first settlement to the Holocaust. It draws on charters, community records, the Hebrew press and personal memories. It is not a typical yizkor book of memoirs. It is a true history, with chapters on the community\'s institutions, its rabbis, its economy and its public life, illustrated with rare photographs and documents, including detailed tables of the kehilla\'s budget from 1931 to 1936.
This copy comes from the library of Rabbi Yehoshua Moshe Aronson (1910–1993), whose printed stamp is on the title page. He was the rabbi of Sanniki in Poland and survived the Konin labor camp, Auschwitz and Ebensee, keeping a secret diary and writing responsa in the camps. He later served as one of the rabbis of Petach Tikva and was the author of \"Shut Yeshuat Moshe\". A survivor-rabbi\'s copy of the history of a destroyed community adds real meaning to the book.
THE BOOK
Title: Toldot Yehudei Kalish יהודי קאליש) – History of the Jews of Kalisz
Author: Israel David Beth-Halevi (ישראל דוד dir=\"ltr\" style=\"margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;\">Publisher: published by the author
Place and year: Tel Aviv, 1961 (תשכ\"א)
Language: Hebrew
Motto: \"אלה אזכרה עלי נפשי\" (\"These I remember, and pour out my soul\", Psalms 42:5)
Pages: [_____]
Illustrated: photographs, documents and tables
Binding: original dark blue cloth hardcover, with the title stamped in gold on the front cover and spine
Provenance: printed stamp of Rabbi Yehoshua Moshe Aronson, \"of the rabbis of Petach Tikva, author of Shut Yeshuat Moshe\", on the title page
WHAT\'S INSIDE
[Full chapter list: to be completed from the table of contents.]
The book traces the whole history of the community, from the first Jewish settlement and the Statute of Kalisz to the Holocaust.
Chapter 8, \"HaKehilla\", covers the institutions and activities of the community from its earliest days to its destruction in the Holocaust:
- the founding of the community
- rabbis, dayanim, shochtim, chazzanim and mikvaos
- the \"Kalisz Statute\" and the rights of the Jews
- charity, chesed and welfare societies
- the Jewish hospital and the society for tuberculosis patients, with a group photograph of patients at their summer camp
- the community\'s finances, with detailed budget tables for 1931–1936
The illustrations include the title-page photograph of the Great Synagogue and the beit midrash of the \"Magen Avraham\" in the snow, both now destroyed, along with group photographs of community activists and documents.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Israel David Beth-Halevi
Israel David Beth-Halevi was a historian of Polish Jewry and a native of the Kalisz region. In Israel he devoted himself to recording the history of Polish Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust, and this book is his major work. He published it himself in Tel Aviv in 1961.
[Birth and death dates and further biography: to be added.]
ABOUT THE FORMER OWNER
Rabbi Yehoshua Moshe Aronson, 1910–1993
Rabbi Aronson was the rabbi of Sanniki (Sanik), near Gostynin, Poland. During the Holocaust he was held in the Konin labor camp and other camps, Auschwitz and Ebensee among them, where he secretly kept a diary and wrote halachic responsa. After the war he settled in Israel and served as one of the rabbis of Petach Tikva. His works include \"Shut Yeshuat Moshe\" and the posthumous \"Alei Merorot\" (Bnei Brak, 1996), his diaries and responsa from the Holocaust.
CONDITION
Original dark blue cloth hardcover, with the gold-stamped title on the front cover and spine. Some wear and rubbing to the spine, with a scuffed mark along the spine. The binding is solid, and the pages are clean and complete. The former owner\'s printed stamp is on the title page.
[Add any other notes: corners, endpapers, previous owner\'s marks.]
Please see all photos.
WHO IT\'S FOR
- Descendants of Kalisz families and genealogists
- Researchers and libraries of Polish-Jewish history and the Holocaust
- Collectors of Hebrew community histories and yizkor-related literature
- Collectors of books from rabbinic libraries
- Judaica collectors
KEYWORDS
English: Kalisz, Kalish, Kalisch, History of the Jews of Kalisz, Toldot Yehudei Kalish, Israel David Beth-Halevi, Beth Halevi, Bet Halevi, Statute of Kalisz, 1264, Boleslaw the Pious, Casimir the Great, Magen Avraham, Avraham Gombiner, Great Synagogue Kalisz, Polish Jewry, Poland, Holocaust, Lodz Ghetto, Jewish community history, kehilla, yizkor, Jewish genealogy, Rabbi Yehoshua Moshe Aronson, Yeshuat Moshe, Petach Tikva, Sanniki, Konin, Holocaust survivor rabbi, provenance, Hebrew book, Tel Aviv, 1961, Judaica
Hebrew: יהודי קאליש, קאליש, קליש, ישראל דוד בית הלוי, סטטוט קאליש, החסיד, הגדול, המגן אברהם, רבי אברהם בית הכנסת הגדול, יהדות פולין, קהילה, השואה, גטו לודז\', ספר יזכור, הרב יהושע משה ישועת משה, רבני פתח תקווה, סאניק, קונין, תשכ\"א, תל אביב
Yiddish: קאליש, יידן, חורבן, dir=\"ltr\" style=\"margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0;\">Polish: Kalisz, Żydzi w Kaliszu, historia Żydów kaliskich, Statut kaliski, gmina żydowska, Zagłada
German: Kalisch, Juden in Kalisch, Geschichte, Polen, Holocaust
