Medzhybizh
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Medzhybizh, population 4,614, (Ukrainian: Меджибіж, Russian: Меджибож, Translit: Medzhibozh, Polish: Międzybórz, Międzyborz or Międzybóż, German: Medschybisch Yiddish: מעזשביזש, translit. Mezhbizh) is a town in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the Letychivsky Raion (district), on the main road between Khmelnitsky and Vinnitsa. Medzhybizh was formerly a prominent town in Podolia province and was the birth-place of the Jewish |Hasidic mystical religious movement. Its name is derived from "mezhbuzhye" which means "between the Buzhenka (and the Bug) Rivers".
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[edit] History
[edit] Earliest history
Medzhybizh is first mentioned in the annals of Russian history as an estate of the Kievan Rus. It was given to Prince Svyatoslav by the prince of Kiev in the year 1146. In 1148, ownership transferred to Rostislav, the son of Yuri Dolgoruky . By 1360, the territory passed into the hands of the Lithuanians. It suffered numerous attacks, most notably by the Tatars in 1453, 1506, 1516, 1546, 1558, 1566, and 1615. In the 1500s, the territory was controlled by the Sieniawski and Potocki Polish noble families. In 1511 work began to replace the wooden palisades with massive stone fortifications, many of which can still be seen today. A dam was built across the Southern Bug river to provide a defensive lake, and a rhomboid castle with four towers was built. The state-of-the-art fortifications made Medzhybizh one of the strongest military sites in the region and thus led to its prosperity in later centuries.
The first records of Jews in Medzhybizh show up in the early 1500s. In these records, various Jews are granted special privileges by the Polish kings, including a proclamation in 1566 by King Sigizmund II August that Medzhybizh Jews are forever released from paying taxes. The earliest known burial in the Jewish cemetery dates from 1555. In 1571 a census was recorded, listing 95 Russians, 35 Jews, and 30 Poles.
In the mid-16th century the Zaslavskys, a Polish noble family, turned Medzhybizh into an impregnable fortress. The Zaslavskys used Medzhybizh as their base from which to defend the southern borders from the incursions of the Ottoman Turks and Crimean Tartars.[1]
[edit] Khmelnitsky Massacres
In 1648 Bohdan Khmelnytsky's cossacks invaded the region. At the time, there were approximately 12,000 residents of Medzhybizh and environs. A Jewish historish lid ("historic song") records that 5,000 Jews were massacred by Khmelnitsky that year in Medzhybizh. Jan Casimir and Khmelnitsky negotiated a treaty in 1649 to end the hostilities, but pogroms continued in 1651 and 1653. By 1661, only a handful of Jews remained in Medzhybizh. The year 1664 marked the last of the cossack pogroms. By 1678, only 275 Jews were counted in the region's census.
[edit] Turkish rule and later Polish period
Weakened by the cossack uprising, Podolia was invaded and occupied by Turkey in 1672. Medzhybizh became part of the Turkish Ejalet of Kamieniecki. In 1682, Medzhybizh was recaptured by the Poles under Jan Sobieski.
After Medzhybizh was recaptured from the Turks, it went through what many consider its golden age during the 17th and 18th century. Under the Sieniawski family and later the Czartoryski family, the town prospered. Medzhybizh apparently successfully defended itself from several Haidamak attacks. By the mid 1700s, Medzhybizh was the seat of power in Podilia Province. It had a population of 2,500 Jews, which was more than half of the town's population.
[edit] Russian rule
Medzhybizh fell into Russian hands during the second partition of Poland in 1792. The Czartoryski family continued to own the town until Prince Adam Czartoryski was forced into exile in 1831. During Russian rule, the seat of power for Podilia moved from Medzhybizh to Kamianets-Podilskyi. The economy of Medzhybizh deteriorated as the nearby town of Letychiv flourished and the railroad bypassed the town to the south.
In the late 1880s through World War I, Medzhybizh was a center of military activity, housing an important garrison within its castle grounds.
[edit] Soviet rule
After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the territory was occupied by German and Hungarian troops until the end of World War I. Medzhybizh was the scene of numerous pogroms during the Russian Civil War (Ukrainian Civil War) of 1919-1922. The town changed hands many times as different militia units from either the Bolsheviks, Ukrainian Nationalists, Poles, or Whites gained temporary control. What little wealth was left was stripped in these pogroms turning the entire area into ruins.
Under Soviet rule starting 1922, the region's economy improved. Electricity, schools, roads and other infrastructure were built. Several kolkhozi (collective farms) were established near Medzhybizh.
In the early 1930s, pressure from the government to collectivize and the needs of private peasants resulted in severe food shortages that resulted in famines throughout Ukraine.
[edit] World War II
Medzhybizh fell to Nazi forces during Operation Barbarossa on July 8, 1941 with relatively light resistance. It remained in Nazi hands until it was liberated by Soviet troops on March 24, 1944.
Medzhybizh was astride an important east-west supply road that the Nazis wanted to expand into an autobahn-like highway. This road led directly between the city of Proskuriv (now Khmelnytsk) and routes westward into Germany and the city of Vinnitsa with routes to the eastern front. Vinnitsa was the site of Hitler's headquarters bunker in Soviet territory where he personally directed the war between 1942 and 1943.
The Nazis set up Jewish ghettos in Medzhybizh and in Letychiv to assist Organisation Todt in providing slave labor for the road building project. Because of this special road project, Medzhybizh retained its Jews longer than most of the surrounding communities, where Einsatzgruppen units executed entire populations of Jews shortly after Nazi occupation. However, when the road project was completed in the summer of 1942, the Einsatzgruppen units were called in. Three separate mass shootings of Jews occurred between August 21, 1942 and October 31, 1942 that murdered all Jews in the ghetto. Soviet authorities reported that 2,558 Jews were murdered in ravines to the west of town.
[edit] Jewish history
 The fortress-like Sirkes Shul in Medzhybizh, probably built in the 17th century (photo taken in 1935) |
 The interior of the main Sirkes Shul in Medzhybizh in 1930 |
 Exterior of the Baal Shem Tov's Shul in Medzhybizh, circa 1915. The shul no longer exists. |
 Another view of the Baal Shem Tov's Shul, circa 1915 |
 Interior of the Baal Shem Tov's Shul, circa 1915 |
Medzhybizh was the center of Jewish culture in its region in Ukraine. Many key rabbinic leaders lived here during the 17th through 20th centuries. The earliest important rabbi to make Medzhybizh home was Rabbi Joel Sirkes (1561-1640), a key figure in Judaism at that time. He lived in Medzhybizh from 1604-12.
The most important Jewish rabbi from Medzyhbizh was Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer Baal Shem Tov "Besht" (1698-1760), the founder of Hasidism. He lived in Medzhybizh from about 1742 until his death in 1760. His grave can be viewed today in the Medzhybizh old Jewish cemetery.
The Baal Shem Tov is considered one of the key Jewish personalities of the 18th century who has shaped Judaism into what it is today. His work led to the founding the Hasidic movement, established by his disciples, some of whom also lived in Medzhybizh, but most of whom travelled from all over Eastern Europe, sometimes from great distances, to visit and learn from him. In Medzhybizh, the Baal Shem Tov was also known as a "doktor" and healer to both Jews and non-Jews. He was known to have been given a special tax-free dispensation by the Czartoryski lords and his house shows up on several town censuses.
There were two fundamentally different rabbinic leaders in the town, those who were Hasidic and those who were not. In general, both groups got along, but the Hasidic leaders believed themselves to have a special connection with God and their followers were cult-like in their devotion to their "rebbe". The non-Hasidic leaders tended to follow a scholarly path and were more responsible for the Jewish institutions, such as observance of kashrut, the social structure of the town, liaison with the town's nobles, and control of the Jewish court.
Hasidic leaders included Rabbi Boruch of Medzhybizh (1757-1811), the Baal Shem Tov's grandson. Rabbi Boruch was notable for his principle of malkhus ("royalty") and conducted his court accordingly. He was also known for his "melancholy" and he had a fiery temper. Many of his grandfather's disciples and the great Hasidic leaders of the time, regularly visited Rabbi Boruch, including the Magid of Chernobyl, the Magid of Mezritch, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (founder of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement), and others.
In an attempt to remedy Rabbi Boruch's melancholy, his followers brought in Hershel of Ostropol as a "court jester" of sorts. Hershel was one of the first documented Jewish comedians and his exploits are legendary within both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities. Hershel is also buried in the old Jewish cemetery in Medzhybizh, though his grave is unmarked. One legend has it that in a fit of rage Rabbi Boruch himself was responsible for Hershel's death.[2][3]
Rabbi Nachman of Breslav (1772-1810), the Baal Shem Tov's great-grandson, was born in Medzhybizh but left at an early age. He became the founder of the Breslover Hasidim.
Another Hasidic leader, Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apt (1748-1825) "The Apter Rov", made Medzhybizh his home from 1813 until his death in 1825. The Apter Rov is also buried in the old Jewish cemetery in Medzhybizh, very close to the Baal Shem Tov's grave. The Heshel family became one the foremost Hasidic rabbinic dynasties and various descendants remained in Medzhybizh well into the 20th century. This family took wives several times from the Friedman rabbinic family of the Sadigura Rebbe. The famous American rabbi and civil rights proponent, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) is a notable descendant.
The non-Hasidic rabbinic leadership of Medzhybizh was controlled by the Rapoport-Bick dynasty, the most important of all the non-Hasidic rabbinic dynasties of Medzhybizh. Rabbi Dov Berish Rapoport (d. 1823) was the first to make Medzhybizh his home. He was the grandson of Rabbi Chaim haCohen Rapoport of Lvov (d. 1771), a notable sage during the mid 18th century. Dov Berish Rapoport's grave can be seen today at the old Jewish cemetery in Medzhybizh. Other rabbis of this dynasty include Rabbi Isaac Bick (1864-1934) who immigrated to America in 1925 and founded a synagogue in Rhode Island. Rabbi Chaim Yekhiel Mikhel Bick (1887-1964) was the last known rabbi to reside in Medzhybizh. He left Medzhybizh for New York in 1925. It is not known whether Medzhybizh had another rabbi when it served as a Jewish ghetto in World War II.
The Rapoport Dynasty traces its roots back to Rabbi Jacob Emden (1697-1776) who was involved in the Frankist debates and his father Rabbi Tsvi Hirsh Ashkenazi, known as the Chacham Tsvi (1660-1718). The Rapoports themselves are a long distinguished rabbinic family that traces its roots back to Central Europe and Northern Italy in the 15th century. The first Rapoport rabbi to make his home in Medzhybizh was Rabbi Dov Berish Rapoport (d. 1823). He was the grandson of Rabbi Chaim haCohen Rapoport of Lvov (d. 1771), who was also involved in the Frankist debates. Rabbi Dov Berish became the head of the Jewish court (Av Beth Din) and leader of the entire Jewish community of Medzhybizh. However, in a dispute with Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim, the Baal Shem Tov's grandson around the year 1800, the non-Hasidic and the Hasidic communities separated into two leadership groups. The Rapoport/Bick family continued to control the town's Jewish religious court. The Hasidic community at the time chose Rabbi Issachar Dov-Ber Landa to represent them in official matters. Interestingly, both Rabbis Rapoport and Landa are buried side-by-side in the Medzhybizh Jewish cemetery, just a few steps away from the Baal Shem Tov's grave.
[edit] Jewish institutions in Medzhybizh
Medzhybizh was the home to at least two synagogue buildings and numerous small minyanim. One synagogue still stands today but is used for other purposes. It was the synagogue of R. Sirkes. The other synagogue, the Baal Shem Tov's old wooden synagogue, was torn down for firewood during World War II. It has recently been rebuilt according to plan.[citation needed]
Medzhybizh also contains two Jewish cemeteries. The old Jewish cemetery contains the grave of the Baal Shem Tov and other famous and notable Jews. It has turned into something of a tourist attaction, a magnet for Hasidic Jews from all over the world. The new Jewish cemetery has graves from the early 1800s through to the 1980s. A Nazi mass killing site outside of town holds the graves of almost 3,000 Jews in 3 different trenches.
[edit] Sites to see
Today, Medzhybizh is dominated by a castle and fortifications built during the Polish period. Many of these fortifications are deteriorating, however inside the castle is a museum which describes some of the history of the area. The castle itself consists of four towers and overlooks the main road and the dam.
Just outside the castle, the dam and the lake are still in working order. Adjacent to the dam are two old mill buildings that are no longer used but used to be a valuable concession (arenda) during Tsarist and Polish times.
North of town is the old Jewish cemetery, which has turned into a tourist attraction primarily for Hasidic Jews making a pilgrimage to see the Baal Shem Tov's grave. Legend has it that this cemetery remained protected and well-preserved during World War II because the local Ukrainian population remembered the Baal Shem Tov's healing powers during his lifetime and they were afraid of his powerful magic even beyond the grave. The old Jewish cemetery contains a modern building over the graves of the important Jewish dignitaries. Other gravestones in this cemetery are worth visiting as the artwork on many stones shows a level of cultural achievement matching the rise of importance of the town. The oldest burial in this cemetery dates from 1555.
Toward the central western portion of town is the new Jewish cemetery, which is only in fair condition. Here Jews are buried from the early 1800s through modern times.
Outside of town to the west, and adjacent to the Yuzhny Bug river, is the Nazi mass killing site where approximately 3,000 Jews were buried. A monument marks the site. The three ravines that holds the graves are covered in concrete.
[edit] Famous people associated with Medzhybizh
- Rabbi Joel Sirkes (1561-1640), a prominent rabbi of his generation
- Rabbi Israel ben Eliezar Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760), founder of Chasidism
- Rabbi Boruch of Medzhybizh (1757-1811), son of Udl the daughter of the Baal Shem Tov
- Rabbi Nachman of Breslav (1772-1810), Great Grandson of the Baal Shem Tov and founder of the Bratslaver Chasidim
- Hershel of Ostropol (early 1800s), Jewish comedy figure
- Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apt (1748-1825), the "Apter Rov" and founder of the Apt/Mezhbizh/Zinkover Chasidic rabbinic dynasty
- Micha Josef Berdyczewski (Micha Bin Goryon) (1865–1921), Hebrew author
- Joseph Barondess (1867-1928), after living with his wife in Medzhibozh, immigrated to the US in 1888 and became an important labor leader and politician
- Leonid Afanasyevich Berdichevski (1908-1944), son of Micha Josef Berdyczewski, rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel in the Soviet army during World War II. Was awarded "Hero of the Soviet Union" because of a heroic stand where he was mortally wounded in a tank battle near Yelgava.
- Milton Shprintzen (1912-2007), born in Medzhybizh, escaped pogroms to emigrate first to Montreal and then to New York in the 1920s. Beginning work as a laborer in textile companies, he worked his way to partnership in a textile firm in New York City and after retiring from that business, he started a new career in finance working until he was past 90.[4]
[edit] See also
- Meziboří (Schönbach), near Most, is a different city in the Czech Republic.
- Międzybórz (Sycowski) (Neumittelwalde) is the eponymous city in Silesia, now Poland.
- Międzybórz (disambiguation page).
[edit] External links
- Medzhybizh information
- (Russian) Анатолий Хаеш. Несостоявшееся выселение евреев из Меджибожа (1843-1852 гг.) (Anatoly Haesh: The Exile of Jews from Medzhibizh that Never Happened)
[edit] Bibliography
- Chapin, David A. and Weinstock, Ben, The Road from Letichev: The history and culture of a forgotten Jewish community in Eastern Europe, Volume 1. ISBN 0-595-00666-3 iUniverse, Lincoln, NE, 2000.
- Chapin, David A. and Weinstock, Ben, The Road from Letichev: The history and culture of a forgotten Jewish community in Eastern Europe, Volume 2. ISBN 0-595-00667-1 iUniverse, Lincoln, NE, 2000.
- Rabinowicz, Tzvi M. The Encyclopedia of Hasidism: ISBN 1-56821-123-6 Jason Aronson, Inc., 1996.
- Rosman, Moshe, Founder of Hasidism: ISBN 0-520-20191-4 Univ. of Calif. Press, 1996.
- Rosman, Moshe, "Miedzyboz and Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov", Zion, Vol. 52, No. 2, 1987, p. 177-89. Reprinted within Essential Papers on Hasidism ed, G.D. Hundert ISBN 0-814-73470-7, New York, 1991.
- Rosman, Moshe, The Lords' Jews: Magnate-Jewish Relations in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Eighteenth Century, ISBN 0-916-45847-4 Cambridge, MA, 1990.
[edit] References
- ^ Medzhybizh
- ^ Wiesel, Elie, 1978, Four Hasidic masters and their struggle against melancholy: Univ. of Notre Dame Press, p. 54-56
- ^ Learsi. R., 1961, Filled with Laughter: A Fiesta of Jewish Folk Humor: Thomas Yoseloff, p. 183-184.
- ^ Legacy.com Secure Server
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