Jakab Réka: Bérlőből polgár. Pápa város zsidó közösségének társadalom- és gazdaságtörténete 1748-1848 (Veszprém, 2014)
was also used for services. The construction of the new Synagogue from 1841 on and the election of Lipót Löw as rabbi in 1846 gave rise to almost a decade of sharp internal conflicts and divided the community. This conflict involved two related matters: that of the construction of the Synagogue and the person of the rabbi elected on the basis of the ownership of seats in the new Synagogue, or rather the values that he represented. During the course of construction, a conflict arose within the community about the positioning of the almemor, leading to the formation of two camps. The progressive camp wanted to place the almemor before the ark according to the plans previously approved by the rabbi; while the orthodox camp wanted to place it, as was the custom, in the middle of the Synagogue in a place where it could be processed around and considered the new plans to be an innovation at odds with religious tradition. But the financial difficulties surrounding the construction presented much more serious conflicts than disagreements about liturgical matters. In these conflicts, we can clearly see how those who rejected responsibility for the seemingly intractable financial situation tried to retain their influence over the religious life of the community by making accusations about religious practice. Since a good many members of the community lived in the city without permission and were not contributing to the costs of building the Synagogue, the leaders of the community wanted to ensure the necessary resources for continued construction by reserving the right to vote in the upcoming elections for the post of rabbi for those who bought themselves seats in the new Synagogue. Thus, those protesting against the moving of the almemor who therefore did not buy themselves seats lost their right to vote. The new rabbi elected in this way, Lipót Löw, prompted another, four-year long conflict in the community after disaffected members challenged the election process and claimed they had been shut out of decisions that impacted on religion. They demanded a new election process, in which the franchise was based not on ownership of seats in the Synagogue, but on the consumption tax - the kóser krajcár. They believed that many more of the poorer members of the community who followed the religious strictures more closely paid this tax than the rich, who consumed their own meat and wine (thus breaking religious rules at the same time). Since they did not get a favourable decision despite their arguments, they tried to get rabbi Low removed by accusing him of breaking religious rules and trying to get false witnesses to support the charges against him. Though their plans did not succeed and they were in fact punished, the serious conflict within the community did not subside until Lipót Löw took a position as rabbi of Szeged and moved, in 1850. The religious education of Jewish children was mostly done in cheders in private dwellings right up to the middle of the 19th century. These continued 298
