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The School of the Wise Men of Lublin, 1930-39
Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin.
The history of this yeshiva goes back to the sixteenth century � the heyday of Lublin's Jewish Community. The first yeshiva is said to have been founded at the initiative of rabbi Szalom Szachna, pupil of Jakób Pollak, known as the father of Polish Talmudism. The seminal date, however, was the year 1567, because it was then that the Lublin Community was granted permission to build a Talmudic academy and synagogue. The director of this school was Salomon Luria (1510-1573). He was granted the title of rector by the Polish King Zygmunt August and freed from his tax obligations. This outstanding scholar, the author of Yam Shel Shlomoh (The Sea of Solomon), had equally illustrious successors: Mordechaj Jaffe, Meir ben Gedalia (called "Maharam Lublin") and Samuel Eleazar ben Jehuda ha-Lewi Eideles (called "Maharshal").
The seventeenth century proved devastating to the entire Commonwealth, which had been exhausted by wars and invasions. This was also reflected in the situation of the Lublin Jews. Although over the coming centuries Lublin did may not have regained its former glory, for Polish Jews, it remained the center of Talmudic studies with a glorious past.
Only after Poland regained its independence in 1918 could there be a scholarly rebirth in Lublin. Majer Szapira was the advocate of such an idea. He formulated the idea of creating a modern center of Talmudic studies for the first time publicly in Vienna in 1923 at a congress of the Agudas Israel organization. He gained acceptance and financial support for his plans from wealthy Jewish industrialists, including Samuel Eichenbaum, who donated a large piece of land on ul. Lubartowska for the school. In 1924, he was already able to organize the ground-breaking ceremony for the academy's building. This was a special event, which attracted 20,000 people, including 2,000 Jews from abroad. The fund-raising that began on the day of the ground-breaking ceremony was continued by Majer Szapira during his travels to Europe and the United States. The funds that he managed to collect made it possible for an impressive school to be built, which was dedicated in June 1930.
The building was five stories tall. The ground floor was used for utilitarian purposes - for example, a mechanical bakery was even located there. On the mezzanine level there was a lecture hall with a large model of the Temple in Jerusalem - a modern aid for the study of the Talmud. In addition, on that same floor there were two reading rooms and an office. On the first floor, there was also a lecture hall that also served as the yeshiva's synagogue, which was lit with a 36-lamp chandelier - a present from the Przemyśl community. Next to it was a conference room, guest rooms, the rector's apartment and a library containing one of the largest collections of rabbinical literature in Poland. When the school opened, it boasted about 13,000 volumes. Szapira's intention was to have this became the basis for a world renowned rabbinical library. The upper floors had dormitory rooms for two hundred students. Behind the academy's building there was an expansive garden.
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The Rabbinical Collegium was in charge of the school, which was directed on a day to day basis by the Rector, who was chosen by the Collegium. The Pedagogical Council also assisted him. The final exams were also presented to the Collegium. These always took place on 7 Adar, which according to the Talmud is the anniversary of Moses's death. Financial questions were dealt with by the Administrative Council, which was responsible for the budget and disbursal of funds. In many towns in Poland, Yeshiva Chachmei associations would collect money for the school, which was wholly dependent on donations, subsidies from the Jewish communities, bequests, fund-raising and some government support.
Yeshivat Chachmei, photo: A.Olej&K. Kobus:
The daily schedule for students at the academy was strictly planned, taking into account time for prayer, reading the Talmud, independent study, lectures, meals and ethics courses. After supper, the oldest students led work that was to lead to the preparation of a Talmudic encyclopedia. The first class, which had a total of fifty members, graduated in 1934, having been granted the title "tserva d'Raban" (Colleague Rabbi).
A critical moment for the academy came with the death of its founder on 27 October 1933, which set off a period of intense rivalry among rabbis vying to be its next rector. This indirectly destabilized the school and ruined the academic atmosphere to the extent that the police had to intervene several times to bring order to the school. Despite the expulsion of several dozen students and a temporary suspension of classes, it proved impossible to completely gain control of the situation.
The last day at the Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin was 18 September 1939, when the German army entered the city. The school's building was then converted into a military hospital, its interior and belongings destroyed. In accordance with a decree of the occupying authorities in July 1940, the collections of the Lublin libraries were moved to the H. Łopaciński Library. At that time, the school's collection numbered about 22,000 books and 10,000 volumes of periodicals. In the spring of 1943, it was even cataloged by a rabbi brought from the Lublin ghetto. Nevertheless, the collection's later fate is unknown. After the war, the academy's building once again served academic purposes: the Medical Academy continues to be housed there to this day.
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