The Jews of Stühlingen

9-5

Ralph

December 25, 2016

¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 The first mention of a Stühlingen rabbi was less than auspicious: “David Jew of Eberfingen and Marx Jew, the rabbi of Stühlingen, have beaten each other bloody” [R1545].

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 Stühlingen does not appear to have had its own rabbi between 1660 and 1680. In 1660 the resolution of a quarrel between Jacob Nöwenburger (Z8) and Calmeli (G1.2.1) regarding an issue of family law had to be deferred “until a rabbi comes to town” [R3799]. Joneli (G1.4) had to pay a fine in 1660 because he had brought his problem before Rabbi Matheis in Tiengen [R3841]. Apparently it was not unusual for small, rural Jewish communities in Swabia to flourish without a resident rabbi.28

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 But occasionally a rabbi was employed in Stühlingen. In 1684 a “Jew Lidtmann, hitherto the rabbi in Stühlingen, sues Schmulin Calmelin’s son [G1.2.2.1] for the return of a credit of 30 Reichstaler plus interest…” [R1354]. A local rabbi also was present in 1729 [R2204]. In 1741 the community dismissed Rabbi Falck Levi, two years before the community was abolished, “because his services were no longer required” [R1168].

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 In several cases, authorities and secular courts required the assistance of community elders or other knowledgeable Jews to interpret specific aspects of Jewish laws, mainly family law [R1009]. Occasionally, even external rabbis from as far away as Frankfurt had to be consulted to solve particularly intractable problems [R2253, R90]. These findings are compatible with the conclusion of Augusta Wedler-Steinberg that a single common rabbi served the Jewish communities of Tiengen, Stühlingen, Endingen, and Lengnau during most of the seventeenth century and may have resided in any of these places at one time or another.29

¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0 In contrast to the rabbi, cantors (Vorsinger) and beadles (Schulklopfer) seemed to have had a more permanent role in the Stühlingen community:30 “Beer Jew from Prague, currently the cantor of the local Jews, is fined 10 fl. for attempting to defraud a man at the Zurzach fair” [R3765]. It is likely that the cantor led the synagogue service, a role well established as “envoy of the congregation” (shaliach tzibur).31

¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 0  

28Johler, “Geschichte, Landes- und Orts-Kunde” 36.

29Weldler-Steinberg and Guggenheim-Grünberg, “Geschichte der Juden in der Schweiz.” 144.

30Elbogen, “Der jüdische Gottesdienst,” 482–92.

31Baer, “Das Protokollbuch.”