<<This Lot has been Withdrawn.>> (Galanta, Hungary). Melatsche-Buch Chevra Kadisha [community memorial volume]. Volume II.
Auction 92 |
Thursday, February 18th,
2021 at 1:00pm
Fine Judaica: Rare Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters & Graphic Arts
Lot 43
(PINKAS).
<<This Lot has been Withdrawn.>> (Galanta, Hungary). Melatsche-Buch Chevra Kadisha [community memorial volume]. Volume II.
Gallandau (today, Galánta, Slovakia): 1888
Est: $1,000 - $1,500
The name ‘Melatsche,’ which means ‘small’ in Slavic languages, for a chevra kadisha is curious. An oral explanation attributed to Rabbi Chaim Ehrenreich (1887-1942) suggests that ‘melatsche’ is a Hebrew acronym for the duties performed by a Chevra Kadisha: Melaveh, Lina, Tahara and Shmira. See Khayim Liberman,Rabbinic Etymologies of Yiddish Words, in: Yiddishe Shprach 27:2 (Sept. 1967) p. 56.
Galanta's Jewish community was established in the 17th century. Permission was granted to build its first synagogue and Jewish cemetery was in 1729. By 1840 there were 430 Jews resident and by 1900 that number had grown to 937. After the notorious split of Hungarian Jews in 1868 into Orthodox and non-Orthodox communities, Galanta chose to affiliate Orthodox.
See www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/galanta.