Przedecz (Jewish Community) - Jewish Life

Jewish Life

In a 1793 census, the population of Przedecz was 355, 139 of them Jews. By 1827, the town had grown to 1,935 persons, 346 of them Jews. Over the next three decades, the total population increased by only 2,000, whereas the Jewish population rose to 606. In other words, during these thirty years, the percentage of Jews radically increased. This occurred because Jews from the neighbouring villages moved to Przedecz. By 1921, the population was 3,040, of whom 840 were Jews.

Przedecz consisted of a few streets, but it had all the components of Jewish community life: a synagogue, Beth midrash, mikva, Jewish schools, a yeshiva, Jewish library, Jewish cemetery, eruv, welfare and cultural organisations. Przedecz had its own rabbi, shochet and mohel.

In the early days, the shechitah of animals took place in the butcher's backyard, and the shechitah of fowl in the shochet's backyard. Prior to the Second World War, a large abattoir was built under the auspices of the Local Council. In this new abattoir, sanitary conditions were better and there was regular veterinary inspection by the Polish authorities.

Many Jews were tailors, hatmakers, cobblers, etc. They worked from their homes assisted by their children and other employees, sometimes traveling from city to city to sell their wares. Other were small traders.

Each village had its market day; for Przedecz it was Monday. On Mondays, the non-Jews would come from their farms to sell butter, eggs and chickens, and stock up on items they needed produced by the Jews. From morning to evening, the market was crowded with people.

Apart from the big synagogue of Przedecz, there was a Chevrat Tehillim. This served as a synagogue for the artisans of the city. Services were also held in the Bet Hamedrash. The Bet Hamedrash had its own library. On Fridays two boys aged 13–14 went around the houses collecting money to buy new books and pay for the rebinding of the old ones.

The mikvah was situated very near to the lake and quite near to the Chevrat Tehillim. The city had its own eruv, which enabled the Jewish residents to carry in the streets on Shabbat. On occasions when the eruv was down, the children would carry the siddurim and tallitot to the synagogue and bring the cholent to the houses from the bakery.

The religious affairs of the community were controlled by a committee (Parnasai Ha’ir). Every year members of the community would meet in the Bet Hamedrash and elect eight members to this committee. The function of the committee was to fix the salary of the rabbi and other religious officials, the price for shechitah, the charge for the mikvah, etc. A tax was levied on the families in order to pay for these services.

In Przedecz, there was a state elementary school. There was no high school and thus pupils who wished to study in a high school had to go to neighbouring cities. The elementary school was attended by both Jewish and non-Jewish children of the city. At first it was situated in the same building as the town hall, the school being upstairs and the town hall downstairs, but later a new large building was built on Stoldona Street.

For their religious instruction there was a Bet Sefer Ivri, which would meet after regular school hours. Subjects such as Tanakh (Bible) and Dinim (Jewish law) were taught in this Bet Sefer Ivri. In the religious education of the children, particularly of the boys, a love for Eretz Israel was prominent. In addition there was a Bet Ya’acov school for the more religious girls, although most of the Jews in Przedecz were observant. In the courtyard of the Bet Hamedrash there was another more religiously-oriented school. There was also a yeshivah, whose principal was Rabbi Joseph Alexander Zemelman, the rabbi of Przedecz. For those who wanted to learn a trade such as tailoring, hatmaking or shoemaking, there were evening classes.

The city had a Jewish library that also functioned as a cultural centre. People met there in the evenings to read books, dance, listen to lectures, watch theatre performances, etc. The more religiously observant used the Agudah or Mizrachi facilities.

There were also welfare organisations in Przedecz, such as the Bikur Cholim society, which looked after the sick, and a "Benevolent Fund" which granted interest-free loans to needy Jews.

In 1926, with the assistance of the "Joint" a Jewish bank was set up in Przedecz. The main purpose of this bank was the granting of loans. These loans were made according to usual banking procedures and required two guarantors who were acceptable to the bank. This bank closed in 1936 as a result of the difficult financial situation of the Jews at that period.

During the 20th century, various Zionist groups were established in Przedecz, including branches of the General Zionists, Poale Zion Yemin, Hashomer Hatzair, the Mizrachi and the Revisionists. Money was collected in Przedecz for the J.N.F. There were also a few Bundists.

In 1937 there were seventy people who had voting rights for delegates to the 20th Zionist Congress held in Zurich that year, of whom all but three utilised their rights. The establishment of these groups caused friction between those of the right and those of the left. As a result those of the left stopped coming to the Jewish library. For the younger people there was the Young Mizrachi and Betar. The programmes of these youth groups included activities on Shabbat afternoons.

Agudat Yisrael also had a branch in Przedecz, most of its members being Gerrer Hassidim. One of the people active in this branch was the Rabbi of Przedecz, Rabbi Zemelman.

There was even Hachsharah (preparing people for aliyah to Eretz Israel) in Przedecz. This group had some fields in which young people planted and grew vegetables which they then sold in Przedecz.

The houses in Przedecz were mostly just one story high. Some were owned by the Jewish residents and others were rented from non-Jews. There was no running water in the houses. In the centre of Przedecz was a pump. Electricity was only installed in 1928. Before that, the residents used gas lights. There were very few telephones in Przedecz and radio was a luxury.