Birzh, Lithuania

Appendix 1

A partial list of Rabbis who served in Birzh

Tsevi-Hirsh haLevi Hurvitz - Rabbi of three communities: Keidan, Vizhun, Birzh. He resided in Keidan and was one of the first rabbis of Birzh. His signature appears on a Lublin document dating from 1648.

Yekhezkel Katsenelenboigen (1668-1749). He signed as rabbi of Keidan, Birzh and surroundings.

Shalom Zak - (?-1725)

Yisrael ben Shalom Zak, from 1728 in Birzh

Hayim ben Yisrael Zak

Naftali Hertz Klatskin

Shelomoh-Zalman ben Meir Zaksh - (1814-1876)

Azriel ben Gershon-Mendel Ziv

Asher-Nisan ben Yehudah-Leib Levinzon

Pinkhas haCohen Lintop-(1852-1914), Rabbi of the Khasidim in Birzh.

Eliyahu-Ya’akov-Dov ben Hayim Shor - (1848-1936), from 1932 in Jerusalem.

Binyamin Movshe - (1887-1941), the last Rabbi of Birzh, murdered by the Lithuanians. Yehudah-Leib Bernshtein - (?-1941), the last Rabbi of Birzh, murdered by the Lithuanians.

All above mentioned Rabbis published booklets or books on religious issues.

Appendix 2

List of Jews mentioned in protocols of the Birzh Estate Court (1620-1745)

Aron Yoselevitz, Avram Itselevitz, Itsel Danilevitz, Aron Markovitz, Marek Shlomovitz, Shelomoh Markovitz, Marek Nakhakhovitz, Idel Izakovitz, Mozes Shmerlovitz,

Mozes Zalmanovitz, Yisrael Mozeshovitz, Mozes Zundelovitz, Yisrael Izakovitz,

Idel Natanovitz, Yisrael Lazarovitz, Hayim Shabshevitz, Rasia Abramotz, Avram Mishnovitz,

David Elyashevitz, and wife Lipka, Shakhna Nakhmanovitz, Yozef Hirshevitz and more.

 

Appendix 3

A partial list of personalities born in Birzh

The well known rabbinical family Klatskin had its roots in Birzh.

Yehoshua-Josef Preil - (1858-1896), wrote many articles in the Hebrew press "HaLevanon", "HaMeilitz" and also several books. Died in Kovno.

Josef-Elhanan Melamed - (1859-1932), Rabbi in various towns of Russia, published several books, immigrated to Eretz-Yisrael and was director of the "Mizrahi" school in Hevron, died in Jerusalem.

Elhanan-Bunem Vaserman – (1876-1941), one of the most famous Yeshivah heads in his generation. He was murdered in the Ninth Fort of Kovno.

Elazar-Meir Preil - (1881-?), Rabbi in Manchester, Brooklyn, Trenton and Yeshivah head in Yeshivah University in New-York. Published articles in the Hebrew religious periodicals "HaPardes", "Sha’arei –Zion" etc.

A.B.Kohen - (1873-?) published his book in English "Memoirs of 85 Years" (1958).

Tsevi Golombok - (1880-1954), in England since 1903, in 1914 publisher and editor of his Jewish evening newspaper. In 1918 editor of his weekly :"Yiddishe Shtime". From 1928 publisher and editor of the Jewish-English weekly "Jewish Echo" in Glasgow, where he died.

Yitshak-Aharon Berger - (1889-1979), in America since 1902, published poetry in the Yiddish press of America, died in New-York.

Yosef-Yehudah-Leib Zosnitz - (1837-1910), mathematician and natural sciences researcher, died in New-York.

 

Appendix 4