Shtetl Links: Lyakhovichi

On August 27 1875, 56 Jewish householders in Lyakhovichi petitioned to be allowed to build a new synagogue in the Shul plaza of Lyakhovichi. Three prayer houses still stood following [the event is missing from the text] which happened August 3, 1874. The petition asserted that the three remaining houses of prayer were insufficient to accommodate the sizable number of congregation members, but there was space on the plaza to accommodate another synagogue in the courtyard without being too close to Christian houses of prayer. The Jews were willing to build this at their own expense, to have a plan of the interior and façade made and had put their signatures on this document to be presented in petition to the authorities.

The petition, officially addressed to Czar Alexander Nikolaivich, began its path by approaching the city administration. It was formally submitted to the next jurisdictional level upward, the Minsk Gubernia Administration, in December 1875, offered on the community’s behalf by assistant rabbi Mordukh Yankelovich Aginsky. There is a note on the cover page that it was begun Dec 29, 1875 and “completed” May 4, 1876. The price to submit the petition was a declared 40 silver kopeks. The entire document is 8 pages long, including the cover page created by the Minsk Gubernia administration record keeper; the petition page; the statement that these 56 Jewish householders listed in the petition select Mordukh Aginsky, assistant rabbi to represent them, and two pages of signatures provided by those same 56 householders.

Click on the titles of these pages above to see the English language translation, the petition itself and the signature pages.

Questions the webmaster has after editing this information. If you think of others, or know the answers, please write.
1. There were five synagogues on the Shul plaza at the beginning of WW I – the Bet Yakov, the Tailor’s shul, the Shoemaker’s shul, and two Hasidic shuls. One of the Hasidic Shuls belonged to the Lechovitzer Hasidim, and one reportedly to the Koidanovers. Slonimers had no shul in the town, and the Stoliners had theirs on the Market Place. Lubavichers had a presence in the community, but their numbers had dwindled since the Mittler Rebbe had moved from our town, and no report of a Lubavicher shteibel has been heard. Was the Kalte shul still standing at that time? Had it been on the Shul Plaza?
2. What do we know of the synagogue that burned?
3. Were there any incident reports filed with any authority when there was a fire in the town in August 1874? Where might we find relevant info today?
4. Was the petition granted or denied?
5. Lord Rejtan was credited with offering to finance the rebuilding of the synagogue, and in that report (from Avrom Lev) it was specifically stated that the Kalte shul that had been burned and that Lord Rejtan had offered to rebuild it. Any confirmation or other source, that independently offers that fact?
6. The first signature on the petition, in a very large hand, was that of Yechiel Maziya, who was one of only a few that did not also sign in Hebrew. Why did he sign first?
7. If a synagogue was built at this time, which one?
8. We know that philanthropist Abraham Yankel Kaplan had the Bais Yakov Shul built, is there a petition comparable to this one in support of his application to build?
9. Do you have photos of a family event taken at any Lyakhovichi synagogue?

The List of those 56 petitioners is in the center column of this page. The surnames, names, and patrynomics, were provided by the Russian translator and he combined those that he found on two locations in the document. The first grouping of the names was in the body of the petition, where each of the 56 men were listed as a permanent part of the document. The second group of names were Russian "signatures" for each man, though they seem to have been largely in the handwriting of a single scribe. The translator noted with an asterik where there was a discrepancy between the Cyrillic name in the petition and the Cyrillic name in the signature list.

There was a third listing of names in Hebrew characters which was not assessed by that researcher and which has not yet been formally translated. That column was roughly approximated by the webmaster, who would welcome your input upon your viewing of the originals that are attached. In the Hebrew signature field, the webmaster used the letter w to indicate when a double–vov was used and a tz to represent the letter tsade. In a couple of cases there was a discrepancy or clarification provided by the Hebrew name. In one case, that of Feivel Nevakhovich Los, no surname appears in the Cyrillic, and Nevakhovich could have been either a surname or a patrynomic. In the Hebrew signatures, he signs himself Feivel ben Noach Los. Number 18, Abram Zosielovich Lis, signs himself Abraham ben Nosel Los, indicating that both his surname and patrynomic were written inaccurately by the Russian-speaking scribe. Zosel does appear as a patrynomic properly for men on this list who give their father's name as Zusiel in Hebrew, Nosel is a variation for Nota [Nathan]and is also on this list. Each set of brackets with a question mark indicates a separate name unable to be read by me. If it says "Heb. Sig" there is a name that I have not translated and it is available to be read on the facsimile pages adjacent to this article.

Help us build the Picture Gallery of the Townsmen, Merchants, and Community leaders, on our FaceIndex!

The generation of the 1870s and 1880s is not the one whose pictures fill our family albums, but many of their images may still exist. Can you help us find them?