Raj Tamás: A nagyhalászi Hevra-könyv - A Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg Megyei Levéltár Kiadványai II. Közlemények 37. (Nyíregyháza, 2009)

provides us with information on Hungarian village Jewry which was almost completely wiped out during the time of calamity, as well as its intimate rustic life and to some extent its popular art. The illustrated section of the Hevrah book was produced in the winter of 1926/27, though it was continuously added to before the holocaust. The entries in the Hevrah book were made by different persons with a variety of handwritings, the coloured drawings and the commemorative page with text in semi-circular form are assumed to have been produced by Yoel Kohn of Kemecse. The drawings seen in the book are simple, even naïve, but at the same time they are extremely charming and endearing, and they bear witness to the close relationship between the Hungarian peasantry and the Jewish population living there. The Hungarian rustic environment (landscape, vineyard, sweep-pole well, poppies, cornflowers, cherries, etc.) constantly returns to greet us from the pictures. The drawings sometimes point to the occupations of the individual Hevrah members: a mirror was depicted by the name of the barber, a Star of David assembled from laths by that of the joiner/picture framer, and pair of scissors next to that of the tailor. In fact, next to the name of Béla Weisz the retailer, even a picture of his shop (house) can be seen. Even humour is not lacking in the drawings: alongside the name of Rabbi Solomon Zucker, a cactus on two pillars is to be found (these are reminiscent of the two pillars of the one time Sanctuary in Jerusalem), clearly referring to the very severe, prickly nature of the Rabbi... According to Jewish tradition, humiliating another person is one of the greatest sins. "Whoever humiliates his fellow man (literally: whoever whitens the face of his fellow man), is like one who has taken his blood" - as we read in the Talmud. For this reason, the writers of our book took particular care to provide everyone's name with the highest-ranking titles possible. "Reb" (= Mr) was due to everyone. Whoever was more accomplished in the religious teachings, or even the Talmud, could straightway claim the title of "Chief Rabbi" (Hebrew: morenu harav). We should not be surprised, therefore, at the frequently repeated high-ranking titles in our book. At the same time, the producers of the entries and the signatories, with modesty and religious humility, name themselves "meek" and "small" (Hebrew: hakatan)

. After the names of the living, the expression "may his candle (or his lamp) shine" (Hebrew: nero yair, meaning: may he live long) is to be found. Following the names of the deceased, it was customary to add the Biblical formulae, "may his soul be joined with the bonds of the living", "may the memory of the righteous man be blessed in the life of the world to come", or more simply, "may his memory be blessed" or "(may) peace (be) upon him". These are mainly indicated by Hebrew abbreviations formed from initial letters. Moreover, Hebrew mosaic words formed from initial letters and known as "notarikon" are also very frequent in our texts. As for every traditional Jewish community or association, the officer-bearers of Nagyhalász Hevrah Kadishah also gained their honori lie titles by way of election. The old records produced on the elections of the chairman of the Association and the elders (they are also sometimes called benefactors, tuvim, or parnasim), and most importantly the association elder performing the task of treasurer (Hebrew: gabai, Yiddish: gäbe), were subsequently appended to the Hevrah book. They also took care to stipulate in the Hevrah regulations: "the elder (treasurer) of the Holy Association should not be a charitable elder as well", so that the performance of the two offices by one person would give no opportunity for abuse. Practically just a few family names are repeated in the Holy Association register, which clearly points to the fact that the local community kept very much to themselves, the members usually marrying one another. It is interesting that not one typically magyarised family name is to be seen among them, although original Hungarian family names do occur: Farkas, Fényes, Retek, etc. (The Jewish family name Farkas even appears in a 13th century charter from Hungary.) Personal names, however, were always entered in the Hevrah book in Hebrew. It is interesting that individual drawings also point to the name of a person: for example, alongside the person named Tzvi we see a deer, in accordance with the meaning of this Hebrew name. If someone comes from the tribe of Levi (Levite) or if a person is a descendent of the High Priest Aaron on the paternal side (Kohen), then they feel it is necessary to mention this in every case: "true kohen" (Hebrew: kohen tsedek, abbreviated Katz).