From the annals of Tarnow’s rabbinate. Three documents from the year 1743

Abstract

The published documents with their explanatory introduction concern a brief episode in the history of the Jewish community in Tarnów, namely the conflict between the local rabbi and the land elder. They both came from influential families of the Jewish elite of Lesser Poland, or even the whole of Poland, and they were additionally related. At first glance, the disagreement between the two most important Tarnovian Jews seems to be a family feud, but in fact it was an element of a significantly broader conflict, taking place in the heart of Lesser Poland’s Jewish population. This was a dispute over land rabbinate, which involved not only Jews but also their Christian protectors. The conflict, which arose for reasons still not entirely clear, placed on opposite sides the rabbi, who was the brother of Dawid Szmelka, and the Landau family, who actively sought to remove Dawid and elect a new land rabbi. The documents show, incidentally, the functioning of the latifundium administration and allow us to understand the motives behind the actions of the owner, Paweł Karol Sanguszko. After a period of hesitation, he definitively settled the dispute in favour of one side, the then land elder, Jecheskiel Landau, which resulted in the Tarnovian rabbi losing his position. Despite his clear support of the new candidate, Sanguszko did not want to burn any bridges, and, even while removing the Tarnovian rabbi, he tried not to antagonize this part of the elite of Lesser Poland Jews.