shtetlinks

Gargzdai (Gorzd), Lithuania
HaMelitz No. 247
St. Petersburg - November 12 (24), 1895

At the time that we parted from my friend Moshe Chaim Friedman, when he journeyed to the house of his in-law*, we donated for the benefit of the community(?):

m.y.l.g.** Dov Boruchov, 36 kopeks, Friedman and the undersigned each 25 kopeks, according to receipt number 12/643.

For a Yom Kippur candle I donated 18 kopeks; for the redemption of Kapparot*** 18 kopeks. When I commemorated the soul of my father Yeshaya Rafael, I donated 18 kopeks. On the 20th of October at the time of the memorial service for Tsar Alexander III (may his soul repose in Paradise), I donated 18 kopeks for the benefit of the community according to receipt number 613/13.


   Gorzd.     Yechezkel Zusmanovitz, the one authorized

______________________

*Heb. Mechutan - one related by marriage; refers to the father-in-law of one's son or daughter.

**uncertain abbreviation; could be "my future brother-in-law"

***Kapparot is a ritual performed prior to Yom Kippur in which a live chicken is swung around above one's head and prayers are said designating it as an atonement for one's sins. The chicken is then slaughtered and eaten at the meal preceding the fast. Some dispense with this ritual and substitute for it the giving of a contribution to charity.


Translation by Barry Marks

For original image of this issue posted by Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem, click here. (Go to page 8; left column; second article from bottom.)
If above link is unavailable, click here (website of Historical Jewish Press).  Look for date on the image of the newspaper, rather than relying on the date as reflected in the software. 
Chester G. Cohen, in Shtetl Finder: Jewish Communities in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries in the Pale of Settlement of Russia and Poland, and in Lithuania, Latvia, Galicia, and Bukovina, with Names of Residents, Los Angeles: Periday Co., 1980, page 25, indicates that Yechezkel Zusmanovitz was the local representative for the Eretz Israel farmers and workers support association.
Further information about Dov Ber Boruchoff may be found at the website of Congregation Beth Israel in Malden, MA. He was the first rabbi of that congregation. Database of mariages Rabbi Boruchoff performed in Malden is available at JewishGen.
about HaMelitz
Gargzdai  main page

Copyright © 2002 - 2014 John S. Jaffer