THE JEWS OF NORTHERN BUCOVINA
The history of the Jews of Bucovina is over 500 years old. From the end of the 19th century until the beginning of the First World War, independent Jewish communities existed in Chernivtsi, Storojineț, Vijnița, Suceava, Siret and other localities. In 1774, when Bucovina passed to the Austrian Empire, there were about 560 Jewish families in the Land of the Beeches. In the city of Chernivtsi, the capital of Bukovina, there were over 112 Jewish families. These data were transmitted to Vienna by Governor-General Gabriel Anton von Splény. He also mentioned that the city of Chernivtsi was built chaotically, but the best houses were inhabited by Jews.
Currently in Chernivtsi there are many names of streets and buildings that have a Jewish historical past: the special vocational school “Safa-art” on Eliezer Steinbarg Street, the Hasidic house of Yisrael Friedman, the Jewish cemetery, the former Great Synagogue.
The Jewish religious community of the city of Chernivtsi was established in 1786, according to the Decree of the Austrian emperor. It brought together people who shared Judaism. The Jewish religious community in Chernivtsi had its own institutions, including a school, a hospital, public synagogues, a bathhouse, a cemetery. Initially, the council of the Jewish religious community in Chernivtsi worked in rented spaces. With the construction of the Jewish-German School in Chernivtsi (1860), the office of the Jewish Religious Community in Chernivtsi was located here, with a meeting room, as well as a room of the Jewish register, where civil status documents were registered.
At different times in the history of Chernivtsi, Jews made up 60-65% of the population of the capital of Bukovina. More than 300 historic buildings in Chernivtsi have been erected by the Jewish community or Jewish funds. There are between 1500 and 2000 ethnic Jews in the Chernivtsi region in terms of the concept that a Jew belongs to this nation if he was born to a Jewish mother. According to the conception applied by the state of Israel, there are about 5,000 Jews in Chernivtsi, who have roots up to the third generation, according to the president of the Council of the Jewish Community in the Chernivtsi region, Leonid Milman. The Jews of northern Bukovina adhere with holiness to their customs and traditions, determined by the holidays consecrated by the Jewish religion, religious or secular commemorations of important events or personalities in Jewish history and other festive days in the life of the Jewish people.
Sadagura – the birthplace of the song “Hava Nagila”
In 1915 the composer Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, in Jerusalem, heard and recorded from the Hasidics who arrived from Sadagura (today a suburb of the city of Chernivtsi) a very beautiful song, which suddenly conquered him.
In 1918 World War I ended, the Turks left Palestine to the British. On this occasion, an unprecedented concert was being prepared in Jerusalem. For the final piece, the composer Abraham Zevi Idelsohn used the song “Hava Nagila”, which appeared, according to the legend in Sadagura.
Abraham Zevi Idelsohn also wrote this song of joy to celebrate the British Empire’s victory in Palestine against the Ottoman Empire in 1918, as well as the Balfour Declaration, by which Lord Balfour, the head of the British Government, recognized the right of Jews to emigrate to Palestine.
Most likely, the song “Hava Nagila” first became popular among Jews from Bukovina, who emigrated to Palestine after this Declaration was issued. Then, the song became known in all communities in Israel, and in the 50s of the last century it became a real “hit”, known all over the world.
The composer added words to this song with Bucovina roots: “Let us rejoice, / Let us rejoice, / Let us rejoice and be happy! // Let’s sing, / Let’s sing, / Let’s sing and be happy! // Wake up, wake up, brothers! / Awake, brethren, with an open heart! // Wake up, brothers, wake up, brothers, / With an open heart! ”
A monument was installed in the center of Sadagura, where this Bucovina song is supposed to have been sung for the first time. A monument dedicated to the song “Hava Nagila”, a well-known and famous song from Jewish folklore, was unveiled in October 2020 in the Sadagura micro-district – a former important religious center of the Hasidics in Bukovina. The famous song is inspired by folk songs from Bucovina, having an interethnic character. “Hava Nagila” is sung especially on Jewish holidays. The song is sung at traditional weddings.
Yisrael Friedman from Sadagura – the founder of a famous dynasty of Hasidism
In 1842, in the town of Sadagura, which is 6 km from Chernivtsi, the founder of a new denominational current arrived – Hasidism. This is Yisrael Friedman. According to historian Mykola Kushnir, director of the Museum of Jewish History in Bukovina, Sadagura has since become an epicenter of Jewish pilgrims around the world. Thanks to Yisrael Friedman in Sadagura, a beautiful synagogue, a school and other cultural and economic objectives of the Jewish community appeared. “He managed to establish a true Hasidic dynasty, a special historical memory, an unprecedented confessional experience and an architectural pearl – the great synagogue in Sadagura. The building was erected in the middle of the 19th century “, said Kușnir. Thousands of Hasidic Jews come to Sadagura every year to pray.
Sadagura is documented in 1770. It had an important Jewish community and played an important role in the history of Jewish Hasidism. The rabbinic Sadagura dynasty was an important Hasidic dynasty. Yisrael Friedman’s six sons established Hasidic dynasties in various parts of the world.
Avrohom Mattisyohu Friedman was born on the eighth day of Hanukkah, according to the representatives of the Jewish community, in 1847, in the town of Sadagura, near Chernivtsi, today in Ukraine. His father was Menachem Nochum Friedman (1823-1869), a famous rabbi of the Hasidic dynasty of Rujin, the son of the famous founding rabbi of this dynasty and one of the fathers of the Hasidic cult Yisrael Friedman. Avrohom moved in the middle of the 19th century to Ştefăneşti, in the current Botoşani county, Romania, where there was a strong Jewish community. Jewish pilgrims, as well as members of the Jewish community in Botosani, say that Avrohom Mattisyohu Friedman founded one of the most important Hasidic rabbinical courts in Eastern Europe. Through his wisdom, he became famous throughout Romania and Eastern Europe, being consulted by people of all religions, who came to his house and discussed various topics, asking his advice. The rabbi in was famous for the miracles he performed.
There are many stories about the miracles of Avrohom in the Jewish community. For example, since childhood, he was considered a clairvoyant, being taken by the butcher in the city to see if the cattle were healthy and clean. He could only distinguish them by looking at them, and he was never wrong. Then he managed to put out a fire in 1925. People of all faiths asked for his help, and he got up from his chair and, with just a glance, changed the direction of the wind to calm the fire. Jewish legends show that the rabbi from Stefanesti, originally from Chernivtsi, helped people regardless of religion. He would have cured, for example, the boy of a boyar, who came to ask for his help. The landowner no longer knew how to deal with a disease that was afflicting his child, and the rabbi made him a little clay man called “midbrie”, and the child would be cured immediately. The boyar gave the rabbi a chariot as a thank you. When Avrohom Mattisyohu Friedman visited the Jews of Bucharest, they all closed the shops in honor and respect and came to ask for his advice. Members of the Jewish community say that only through his presence did he emanate peace and good mood.
Klezmer music – a unique element of the intangible culture of the Jews of northern Bukovina
The “Feldman Band” orchestra was created under the auspices of the Jewish Society of Chernivtsi. Considering that northern Bukovina is a synthesis of nations, a tolerant territory, the music that this orchestra set out to present to the public was specifically Bukovinian. “Feldman Band” is a collective star of Chernivtsi, which creates the music of the peoples of Bucovina. Lev Feldman, conductor and coordinator of the instrumental band, claims that it was difficult to revive klezmer music in Bucovina: “I made most of the arrangements. The difficulty is that we do not have such a music library in Chernivtsi. I turned to the World Library, which has a collection of ancient Jewish songs. This is the first source that inspires me when I create music. In addition, I listen to world bands working in this direction and then I make my own arrangement of songs ”.
Klezmer music is old. From Hebrew, “klei” means instrument, and “zmer” – song. Klezmer music would mean an instrument that sings, that is, that sings as a person. This unique musical genre in the orthodox sense first appeared in the 15th century. XV in Spain, where Jews were placed in isolated areas of Christians and were not allowed to use musical instruments that emit sounds with high frequency.
Another source of the master’s work is the Bucovina musical heritage. Feldman combines the music of different peoples who lived in Bucovina for a long time: Jews, Romanians, Ukrainians, Poles, Armenians, etc.
“Feldman Band” came on stage for the first time in Chernivtsi in 2000. At that time it was not a professional team. “I took a Jewish song and arranged it for an orchestra of Ukrainian folk instruments,” says Feldman.
In its more than 20 years of existence, the orchestra’s team has changed several times, until a team of true professionals, fans of authentic music and culture, was formed. For rehearsals, the orchestra uses the hall of the School of Arts, the director of the institution supports these musicians a lot. The orchestra has had important concerts in the great capitals of Europe.
“Jewish klezmer music requires a group of musicians, but more to be leaders. We built the orchestra based on the fact that it should have leaders. Let it be, first of all, violin and clarinet. These two tools must lead. The violin is the first to talk about the longing and destiny of people. Then come other instruments, their singing is similar to human conversation. For each musical instrument we look for exactly those sound moments that reflect the language or sounds characteristic of the Jewish people, sounds that, in general, reflect the musical world of Jewish culture. Such sounds are made by our cymbals, trumpet and trombone. We look for such moments everywhere. It is very important. That’s the difference between this music and other genres, “says Lev Feldman.
The Jewish cemetery and its legends
The Jewish cemetery, which is part of the historical and cultural reservation of the city of Chernivtsi, was established in 1866. At the entrance to the Jewish cemetery, the magnates and patrons of the region were buried. Here the funerals are majestic and pompous. Next are the usual tombs with inscriptions in Hebrew and German. At the entrance to the cemetery there is a wall of weeping. The wall was created from fragments of monuments and tombs that were destroyed during the period when the cemetery was closed. Jews often come here. Not everyone can find the graves of their relatives, so they symbolically built a wall.
The cemetery has its mystical legends and stories. The energy here is really specific. For example, if it is hot in the city, then it is cold in the cemetery. Also, according to legends, it is recommended not to visit the cemetery after sunset. People feel the energy of the cemetery differently. Someone is calm here, someone is in an inexplicable panic.
The director of the Cemetery, Angela Nikolaeva, claims that in Chernivtsi a culture of visits to the old cemeteries should be formed in order to know the past of Bukovina. In the Austro-Hungarian period, the masters built tombs from quality materials. Of course, nature and time had an evil action and now most of the crypts are in a not very good condition.
Jews have specific funeral habits. To the dead are placed, on both eyes, a harpoon from a pot that broke at the moment of his death, as a kind of punishment, that he, being alive in the world, saw and coveted with many eyes. And a piece of grass was put on the dead man’s mouth, because, while he was alive, he spoke with much malice. Small wooden forks are placed between the fingers of his hands, so that, if he wants to get up, on the day of judgment, he will have something to stop.
No one of the Jews looks out of the window into the dead man’s room, nor does he walk over the threshold into it, believing that he who undertakes such a thing would hear the dead man’s cry and then die.
Bringing the dead to the cemetery, the Jews ask the gravedigger if there is room for the dead. The gravedigger must give a negative answer, after which they ask him and give him tips, in order to receive only this dead man. This formality is based on the belief that, then, no other confessionals of their own will die. If, however, the gravedigger, by mistake or malice, answered in the affirmative to the question asked, this is considered a very bad sign.
For 7 days, all the nations of the dead walk, regardless of gender, in the house only in corners, in mourning, and sit on the ground sprinkled with ashes. These traditions have been partially preserved among the Jews of northern Bukovina.
The Jews also believe that every dead person rolls so much on the ground, until he reaches the space of the promise, that is, in Palestine, where the resurrection of all the Jewish dead will be.
Traian Popovici, the mayor who saved 20,000 Jews from deportation
A true example of deep respect for people of other ethnicities is the activity of the Romanian lawyer Traian Popovici, appointed on August 1, 1941 at the head of the municipality of Chernivtsi. The mayor received an order during the Second World War from the Government of the Province of Bucovina to present a project to organize the ghetto, where about 49,000 Jews from the city were to be introduced.
Regarding this fact, Traian Popovici will write later: “A few days after my installation as mayor, I had the opportunity to speak in a working audience with Governor Rioşanu on Jewish issues. The deceased governor asked me to proceed with the delimitation of a city district to which he wanted to give the ghetto destination. I exposed my clear point of view and showed him the enormity of this medieval measure, related to the degree of culture of Chernivtsi Jewry, I showed him that from a technical point of view I can not admit the degrading aspect of closing a part of the city in barbed wire barricades and plank fences. Chernivtsi with its allure of a western city, refusing from an urban point of view such a defilement of its aesthetics ”.
Governor Alexandru Rioşanu died and General Corneliu Calotescu was appointed head of the province of Bucovina, who did not accept the mayor’s position and, on October 10, 1941, issued “Orders for the establishment of the Chernivtsi ghetto, for confiscation of assets and deportation across the Dniester.” The next day, he began to move the Jews to the ghetto and deport them across the Dniester. Mayor Traian Popovici is moving towards Bucharest, demanding the exemption of Chernivtsi Jews from deportation to Transnistria. Following these steps, the then Romanian leadership agreed to release many Jews from the city from deportation. On October 15, 1941, the nominal lists of Jews who were to remain in Chernivtsi were drawn up, receiving “special bulletins.” 19,689 people entered the lists, who obtained these bulletins. Thus, due to the intervention of Traian Popovici, about 20,000 Jews were saved from death. 28,391 people took the road to Transnistria.
In 1946, when the former mayor of Chernivtsi closed his eyes forever, many Jews attended his funeral, because the Romanian Traian Popovici remained for them the man who showed the whole world how to behave with your neighbor in the difficult conditions of life. .
On January 2, 1969, Traian Popovici was posthumously awarded the Medal of the Righteous by the “Commission for the Righteous” at the “Yad Yashem Martyrs and Heroes Memorial Institute.”