(PINKAS).
<<(Urzhyshchev (Rzhyshchev), Ukraine).>> Pinkas MeheChaburah Shulchan Aruch [community ...

(PINKAS).
<<(Urzhyshchev (Rzhyshchev), Ukraine).>> Pinkas MeheChaburah Shulchan Aruch [community volume].


Hebrew manuscript, written in a very fine square and cursive calligraphic hand on paper.
pp. 21 (excluding blanks). Touch stained. Blind-tooled title over calf boards, rubbed. Sm. folio.
Urzhyshchev, Ukraine: 1882-85


This manuscript is a beautifully and artistically prepared collection of the regulations and membership list of the Shulchan Aruch Study Society of the town of Urzhyshchev. Following two ornate title pages composed of geometric shapes and subtle coloring in the case of one, and gold accents in the other, the volume commences with an introduction signed by one Aryeh Yehuda ben Rabbi Shlomo. This introduction tells the reader of thirteen local societies that bring honor to Urzhyshchev. The first is the Burial Society and the thirteenth is the Chaburah Shulchan Aruch, dedicated to the mitzvah that is ‘equivalent to them all’ that is, Torah study. Following this is a second introduction expanding upon the importance of Torah study and the motivation for the formation of this society. Following this introduction is an acrostic poem formed from the letters of ‘Chaburah Shulchan Aruch.’ The Regulations (Takkanoth) of the society appear next. The initial page bears an elaborate visual of lions flanking a crown, with assorted flowers and geometric shapes. Then are listed the takkanot, with a place for 22 of them, according to the Hebrew alphabet. Apparently this Pinkas was a work in progress as only four of the twenty-two are written. However, the heading for each one is completed or near completed, and thus we may oberve the progress of an artist at work. The first regulation orders that all members of the society must meet daily at the home-synagogue of the late Reb Noach and his wife Madam Raisa, in order to pray mincha. Afterwards all members are to study together as they please for an hour, so long as it is Shulchan Aruch or Chayei Adam. Another takkana requires the hiring of a qualified teacher, a God-fearing man, who will be present during the study session. Prior to a list of of the fifty-seven members, a well-appointed calligraphic listing of men who joined the society on Hoshana Rabba of 1882, two of whom appear to be the son of the deceased Reb Noach. . A Jewish community was present in Rzhyshchiv (as it is known in Ukrainian) since the end of the 18th century. A mid-19th century census put the Jewish population at about 1,500. In the 1897 census, about half of the city’s 11,600 inhabitants were Jewish. The Chassidic dynasty of Ostrog was located in Rzhyschiv (known as Urzhyshchev in Yiddish), a Chasidic community which existed until the Holocaust (See, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rzhyshchiv).