RABBI
JOSHUA BARUCH REINITZ

The most important Sečovce rabbi was J. B. Reinitz. Even today, Jews from all over Europe and from Israel meet at his grave. Joshua Baruch Reinitz was born in 1823 in Güssing in what is currently Burgenland, Austria, very near the Hungarian border. He was the son of Nathan Feitl Reinitz, a rabbi in Mád, and the grandson of a rabbi in Csenger. His wife Tzlava, with whom he had ten children, was also from a well-known rabbinical family, the daughter of Asher Anschel Jungreisz. Reinitz became a rabbi in 1852 after studying at the famous rabbinical school of the Chatam Sofer in Bratislava.

According to the inscription on Reinitz's grave, he served as rabbi for 60 years, 42 of which were as the chief rabbi of Sečovce, from 1870 to 1912. He founded the Great Yeshiva in Sečovce, and under his leadership a new synagogue and other important buildings were built. He contributed to the revival of the Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society), and in 1895 founded the Talmud Torah Society. At the initiative of Rabbi Reinitz, a new, amended statute of the religious community was approved on September 15, 1908.

During the tenure of Rabbi Reinitz, the Sečovce Jewish religious community became one of the strongest in Zemplín County, and his influence also extended to Jews in 28 surrounding villages.

Rabbi Reinitz died on 17 September 1912 and is buried in the Jewish cemetery in Sečovce. His fame, reputation, and merits have lasted for years, and there are still some stones on his grave, which is a sign of visits by people who value his memory. According to Jewish custom, no flowers are brought to the tomb; instead, the visitor brings stones and a four-fold piece of paper with a written request. The papers are placed in a tin box next to the rabbi's grave.

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