Yitzchak ben Samuel HaLevi. Shir Geulah [a hymn commemorating the redemption of the Golden Rose Synagogue of Lemberg]. With an extensive commentary.
AUCTION 65 |
Thursday, June 25th,
2015 at 1:00
Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Ceremonial Objects and Graphic Art
Lot 52
(UKRAINE).
Yitzchak ben Samuel HaLevi. Shir Geulah [a hymn commemorating the redemption of the Golden Rose Synagogue of Lemberg]. With an extensive commentary.
Lemberg (Lvov, Lviv): 1609 (and later)
Est: $10,000 - $15,000
PRICE REALIZED $10,000
Lemberg / Lvov (presently Lviv, Ukraine) was settled by Jews from the time of the city’s establishment in the mid-13th century. The Golden Rose Synagogue, also known as the Nachmanowitz Synagogue, or the Turei Zahav, was a synagogue in Lviv - the oldest synagogue in the Ukraine. The synagogue was founded in 1581, however it became the target of a lengthy and often violent property dispute with the Jesuits. In 1606 the synagogue building was removed from Jewish title and given over to the Jesuits to establish a church.
Rabbi Kalman of Worms and his wife, Rosa (“the golden Rose”) succeeded in reclaiming the property by paying a ransom of 4,000 guilders (other sources state 20,000 guilders). Thus, although originally the synagogue was called the Nachmanowitz, it was later known as the Golden Rose or ‘Di Goldene Royz’ in her honor. After a lengthy process of refurbishment (church back to shul), on Purim, 1609, the synagogue was rededicated and this special hymn “Shir Geulah” was recited, wherein the return of the synagogue to the Jewish community was compared to the salvation of the Jews from Babylonian and Egyptian captivity. This hymn was later inserted in the Sabbath liturgy and recited annually in most of the synagogues of Lvov.
In 1943 the synagogue was destroyed by the Germans. The bare architectural shell of the synagogue remains in place to this day.
M. Tzetzik, Meonoth Arayoth in: Yeshurun Vol. 18, pp. 833-35 and 845-56; S.R. Kravtsov, Di Gildene Royze - The Turei Zahav Synagogue in Lviv (Petersburg, 2011).