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Rabi Aharon Epstein a jeho pražské práce: Materiály ke studiu dějin pražské židovské ortodoxie ve třicátých letech 20. století

100%

Sládek P.

Historie – Otázky – Problémy (History, Issues, Problems)

2013

vol. 5

issue 1

185-193

Rabbi Aharon Epstein (1895 – died in the Holocaust) came to Prague from Romania via Carpathian Ukraine in 1930. He was one of the last from a long line of Orthodox scholars of Eastern European origin who were since mid‑19th century invited to serve the small Orthodox segment of the Prague community and to help it survive. Rabbi Epstein pronounced his first Prague sermon on 1 Kislev 5691 (22 November 1931) in the Old New Synagogue and served as a member of the rabbinic court (Rabinatsassessor) and was responsible chiefly for supervision of the local Kosher butchers. The present study describes two publications that Rabbi Epstein published in Prague. Chronologically first is Epstein’s most extensive work, namely, collection of responsa Kapei Aharon (Aaron’s Palms, Ex 29:24 and Lv 8:27). The book was published in 1933 and was printed in Mukachevo (Munkácz) in Czechoslovak Carpathian Ukraine. It is marked as the first volume, however, the sequel never appeared. Many of the texts included in the collection are Prague‑related and offer an interesting insight into the life of the Orthodox segment of the Prague Jewish community, refering to figures such as Salomon Hugo (Tswi) Lieben (one of the co‑founders of the Jewish Museum in Prague), the future historian Otto (Gavriel) Muneles or to the study group Tiferet bachurim. The second publication is a short commentary on the Book of Esther called Besime d’pirje (Besima de‑purya), published in Prague in 1937 (typed and cyclostyled on a thicker pink paper). The book as an artefact is a telling manifestation of its author’s identification with Czechoslovak Republic. The selection of the genre – related to the miraculous redemption of Jews from a terrible peril, as narrated by the book of Esther – was certainly not arbitrary considering the historical context. Epstein writes toward the end of his text: “We, the Jews of Czechoslovakia (Yehudim bnei Medinat ha‑Čechoslovakiyah), must thank God that he placed our share and destiny among educated and peaceloving people, to the land of mercy, built on the base of justice and law.” The book contains also a Hebrew eulogy of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (d. 14 September, 1937) authored by Rabbi Epstein. Some of the copies include an inserted sheet of paper (same type as the whole book) with a Czech translation of the same eulogy.

Židovská studia: mezi diverzitou a integritou

100%

Sládek P.

Historie – Otázky – Problémy (History, Issues, Problems)

2013

vol. 5

issue 1

11-19

While the scholarly interest in Judaic themes goes back to the Middle Ages, the field took a long time to become established as a full‑fledged and institutionally recognized discipline. Before the 19th century, the interest in Jewish religion and culture was marred by theological bias, Christian Hebraism being rather an off‑shoot of Christian apologetics, betraying polemical and missionary goals. In the 19th century, many European universities accepted Jewish students, but did not allow them to achieve university positions. The interest of non‑Jewish scholars was still restricted to linguistic and theological issues and flourished as Old Testament Studies or, manifesting a feeling of cultural superiority, under the heading of the German “Orientalistik”. A number of brilliant Jewish scholars worked in the field that later became known as Jewish Studies. Although many of these scholars were well‑connected in the academic community, none of them could flourish outside of the Jewish religious institutions of higher learning, mostly rabbinic seminaries. Not surprisingly, the study of Judaic themes was often self‑contained and with little contextualization within the research of general cultural history. However, in the 1920s and 1930s important progress toward institutional recognition of Jewish Studies occurred with the establishment of the first chairs in the USA and with the creation of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. However important these steps may have been on their own, they could not solve the surviving problem of isolation, as the case of Harry Austryn Wolfson in particular shows only too tellingly. It was only after WWII and especially since the 1970s that the academic institutions throughout the Euro‑American world started to recognize the importance of various “minority‑focused” disciplines including Jewish Studies. Thus the true emergence of Jewish Studies occurred during the period when the iron curtain separated the Czech lands from the intellectual and academic trends of the time. Only since the 1990s has the free study of Judaic subjects been possible, so institutional development started with a considerable delay of half a century. Several Czech universities established new institutional platforms for the study of Jewish culture, e.g. the Kurt and Ursula Institute of Jewish Studies at the Palacký University in Olomouc and the Prague Centre for Jewish Studies at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague. The papers and documents published in the present volume are the work of the members of this institution and of other authors who have participated in its different activities. The volume manifests the interdisciplinary aspect of Jewish Studies, which is the direct outcome of the diversity of Jewish‑related topics. Yet the Jewish aspect is the natural unifying focus of all contributions and of the discipline of Jewish Studies as well.

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2 Historie – Otázky – Problémy (History, Issues, Problems)

2 2013

2 Sládek P.

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Rabi Aharon Epstein a jeho pražské práce: Materiály ke studiu dějin pražské židovské ortodoxie ve třicátých letech 20. století

Židovská studia: mezi diverzitou a integritou