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of worship took upon themselves the responsibility
for providing the funds to cover the expenses
of keeping them clean, providing water, light,
heat during the winter, security, etc. They did
this by means of donations, vows, and selling
aliyot on Sabbaths and festivalsall voluntarily
and usually generously. If it happened on occasion
that there was a deficit, the gabbai would
announce the "confiscation of prayer shawls" at
the Torah reading on a Sabbath, and would permit
them to be redeemed after the Sabbath with a
cash payment. With the end of services that
morning, each worshipper would place his prayer
shawl on the table and go home without it, as a
sign of solidarity and agreement with the "confiscation."
Even those who had actually fulfilled all
their obligations toward the synagogue would do
the same. This "confiscation" was the only involuntary
means of fund raising available to the
gabbai , but it was stronger than any other means,
for the worshippers could not pray without a
prayer shawl Immediately after the conclusion
of the Sabbath the "debtors" would hurry to pay
their debts and redeem their prayer shawls.
Each day, most of the town's Jews would
come to their houses of worship in the early hours
of the morning for the Shacharit prayer, and for
Minhah and Maariv towards evening. On Sabbaths
and festivals the houses of worship were
completely full. Many young peope would come,
and many women would come to pray in the
women's section.
Old people would remain in synagogue all
day, every day of the week. They would study
Torah in small groups or as individuals, discussing
hiddushei Torah (new interpretations) or
Talmud passages. Less learned people would
study Ein Yakov, a popular collection of talmudic
legends and non-legal statements.
Earning a Living and Governmental Decrees
LIFE, RECONSTRUCTION, AND CREATIVITY 109
The yoke of sustaining and supporting one's
family fell primarily on the men; a woman's
obligation was to be the housewife and raise the
children. However, storekeepers' wives helped
their husbands run the store: there were also
women who sold vegetables and fruits, or fish, in
the market, or worked as seamstresses.
Half of the town's Jews were artisans of all
sorts (there were almost no artisans among the
non-Jews of the town, aside from shoemakers).
They worked hard to earn their poor living: their
work days extended from dawn to the late hours
of the night (as in the case of tailors and shoemakers),
and they ate their meals hurriedly while
working. They interrupted their work only for
prayers in the morning and evening.
On Fridays and on the eve of festivals the
work day would end at between noon and 1 PM.
On Friday nights and on Sabbaths and festivals
these Jews would feel like princesfree of work,
clean and wearing festive clothes, until the end of
the Sabbath or festival. Then the work would
begin anew, for the entire week.
Work was carried out by hand, without the
aid of machinery, or any mechanical contrivance,
aside from the usual sewing machines. Despite
this, or perhaps thanks to this, they produced
work which was clean and expert.
A segment of the town was made up of storekeepers
or small businessmen, whose income
and profit was dependent on the weekly fair,
which occured every Monday. On that day the
peasants of the neighborhood, near and far, would
gather in the town, bring with them their products
or produce for sale, and purchase their own
necessities from the Jews. Another good day for
the storekeepers was Thursday, when the Jews
would purchase their necessities for the Sabbath.
The major worry of each was to earn a living, and
the Sabbath was the central worry: for Sabbaths
and festivals it was necessary to prepare fine,
tasty dishes and many courses, while during the
week small amounts of simple food was sufficient.
There were also peddlers, who made a circuit
of the small hamlets on foot, or with a horsedrawn
wagon, or they moved from one fair to
another, buying and selling whatever came to
hand. Most of them would leave their houses and
families at the start of the week, immediately after
the end of the Sabbath, returning home on Friday.
Note should be taken of a significant number
of unemployed Jews without the means of earning
a livelihood, whose economic situation was