BEAUTIFULLY DECORATED PINKAS (REGISTER) OF THE HEVRAH TEHILLIM VE-NER TAMID OF ŁÓDŹ, ŁÓDŹ: 1855-1935

110 folios (12 1/4 x 7 7/8 in.; 312 x 200 mm) on paper, with 9 blanks; contemporary foliation in black ink in Hebrew characters in upper-outer corner of recto through f. 46 (= f. 32 in modern foliation) (with gaps); modern foliation in pencil in Arabic numerals in upper-outer corner of recto (cited); written in clear, elegant Ashkenazic square and semi-cursive (Rashi) scripts in black ink; ruled in pencil; no writing on versos (except f. 82v); later strikethroughs and additions mostly in pencil. Enlarged titles, names, and incipits; title featuring floral border, architectural frame, and eagle and griffin motifs; checkered lettering on ff. 2-3; thirty-four membership pages with multicolor (a few are monochrome) decorations featuring illumination in gold leaf, architectural elements, geometric designs, flora (wreaths), and/or fauna (doves, eagles, deer, lions, and even an elephant). All pages mounted on guards; restorations to damaged pages throughout; ink biting; some ink chipping; thumbing, especially to title; scattered staining; the table of contents (ff. 5-6) and gaps in the original foliation (ff. 6-10, 17, 26-28 are not accounted for) suggest that a number of pages are lacking and/or bound out of order; short tears at foot of ff. 24, 47 and in outer edge of f. 58. Modern orange-red morocco binding, slightly worn; title, place, and year lettered in gold in English on upper board and lettered in gold in Hebrew on spine; modern paper flyleaves and pastedowns.

A decorated record of philanthropic activism in the second largest Jewish community in independent Poland. The Jewish community of Łódź was founded circa 1810 by a group of about one hundred Jews. A century later, following a period of rapid expansion due to industrialization, there were 166,628 Jews in Łódź, constituting 40.7% of the total population. Many had immigrated from Russia to work in the city’s booming textile industry, although poverty among laborers was rampant, prompting the establishment of an extensive network of charitable organizations to serve various religious or social functions.

The present lot is a pinkas recording some of the history and regulations of the Hevrah (not Hevrat) Tehillim ve-Ner Tamid in Łódź, originally founded around 1820 as an association of men committed to reciting tehillim (psalms) every day – and especially on the Sabbath and the New Moon (when the entire Book of Psalms was to be completed by each member) – and to donating at least 3 grosze per week to fund the ner tamid (eternal lamp) of the local synagogue. After a number of years of operation, the society ceased to function but was renewed and reorganized first in 1830 and then again toward the end of 1855. The sixteen articles included here set forth the minimal terms of membership and the duties of the sextons, the methods for admitting new members and selecting new sextons, the sanctions imposed on delinquent members, and the requirement to gather for special celebratory meals twice a year, among other regulations.

Aside from its historical value, the pinkas is also beautifully decorated. Thirty-four of its pages feature the names of society members, often accompanied by the year in which they joined (the latest being 1935), surrounded by architectural or geometric frames, flora, fauna, and/or other (generally richly colored) motifs. This manuscript thus conveys important information about a significant charitable organization in Łódź in an elegant, artistic key and constitutes a valuable monument to the folk art tradition of Eastern European Jewry.

Provenance

R[euben ben Joseph] Warszawski, Lodz (f. 1r)

Ch[aim] K[alman] Senderowicz, Łodz (f. 1r)

Literature

P.Z. Gliksman, “Tsvey alte khevres in lodzh,” Lodzher visnshaftlekhe shriftn 1 (1938): 267-276, at pp. 267-272.