THE MEMORIAL BOOK OF PÁPA JEWRY - JewishGen

OUR RABBIS
We are going to light a memorial candle…Let the first flame be lit for servants of the
Faith who devoted their life to a profound knowledge of the Torah, propagating the ideas of
religion, ethics, and love. Their pious life served as a model for the congregation of believers.
They both studied and taught.
In addition to rabbis active in Pápa, we are going to recall the activities of those connected
to the local kehila of the town by birth or by education, on account of which they all deserve to be
commemorated here. The first rabbi of the community mentioned in the register of Jews by the
Governor's Council in 1745, was
IZSÁK BERNARDUS.
According to the census there were 73 Jews living in Pápa then.
He was succeeded by R. ZELIG BETTELHEIM.
Among his successors we find WOLF RAPPOPORT
in the 1800s. He was mentioned as the chief rabbi of Pápa in the responsa (Q&A) of his
contemporary Yuda Asad. His son
EFRAYIM RAPPOPORT
worked as a dayan, and then went to Torna to serve as rabbi. In the 1830s the Paks rabbi
PINCHAS HOROVITZ
was chosen to be the chief rabbi. He was the first to give sermons in Hungarian. In this period,
the conflict between progressive and conservative Jews was deepening. R. Horovitz made an
attempt at conciliation and called for a rabbinical assembly, inviting rabbis from both sides.
However, the rabbinical assembly of Paks on August 20-21, 1844, was attended by only
25 rabbis. Apart from Lőrinc Schwab from Pest, Schwerin Kohn from Baja, and Oppenheim from
Temesvár, there were only rabbis from insignificant communities. The proposal presented by
Horovitz might have prevented the schism of Hungarian Jewry… However, it was not accepted.
They just decided to continue their discussions in Óbuda in the following year. Due to the
unexpected death of Horovitz in 1845, the discussions were cancelled.
The chair of the rabbi in Pápa remained empty.
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