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In the second half of the 17^th century Poland was shattered by tragic events. the Cossack storm, the Swedish War and the Moscow War left hundreds of Jewish communities in ruins and swallowed up almost half of the Jewish population. The Apt community suffered especially during the Swedish War, in 1656-1657. The Swedes overwhelmed the Jews with hatred; they persecuted and murdered Jews at every step. We know that during the Swedish invasion a handful of Polish noblemen in Tsoyzmir [Sandomierz] put up a resistance, which was joined by several hundred young Jewish men. The Swedes quickly broke through that position and for the youths' rebellion the entire Jewish community paid with their lives. It is no wonder that the nearby communities also suffered, among them Apt. Fayvish the son of Nosn Faytel from Vienna, relates in his chronicle Tit ha'Yaven how the Apt community suffered: “200 very wealthy families who were shockingly murdered”. In the Pinkes of the Pintshev Jewish community we find a “memorial of souls” for the souls of the murdered and a special prayer for the ruined Jewish communities, among which the Apt community is reckoned.

The Peace of Oliwa finally ended the war that was so fatal for the Jews. Some Jews returned to their demolished settlements. They were presented with the tasks of building back the destroyed houses and institutions for public use, of help for widows and orphans abandoned to God's custody, of ransoming the prisoners of war from deportation and so on. In 1689 two Apt Jews were accused of dishonoring the Catholic religion. The Jewish community then felt a great fear from the Christian population, which had after the Swedish invasion sought a kind of Azazel to blame. The false accusations could lead to a great misfortune; in order to extricate itself from the difficult situation, the Jewish Council gifted the Apt a capitulation 1000 Polish zlotych. The misfortune did not happen, but the gift changed into a yearly obligation.

In 1704 a confederation was organized in Sandomierz, that expressed its loyalty to the King August II, and obligated Apt on the 29^th of January 1704 “to be prepared to sacrifice your possessions, to defend until the last drop of blood, the faith rights of the king and his honor”. The elected marshal Stanislaw Denof, the Lithuanian town resident, called in the other provincial members and even the Warsaw Confederation, who held with the Swedes, to attend the union. Not considering that Premier Radziejowski ordered the national Parliament together in order to elect deputies to the Parliament who would have to crown Leszcynski. During the deliberations of the Sandomierz constituency in Apt (in 1705) Smigelski, the Elder of Gniezn, captured some citizens and dispersed the gathering. Among those dragged in were also some Jews. And so we read in the Jewish Council Pinkes that “in the year 1705 the Germans attacked and robbed to town, arrested the eminent citizens. We declared a collective action in order to ransom them, throughout the town.”

After the death of August II, the Sandomierz group supporting the candidacy of Leszcynski, concluded in a confederation in Apt on the 3^rd of December 1733, and swore their allegiance to him. During the civil war Sasow i Lasow the Jewish population had to pay large contributions in order to insure their lives and possessions. The meetings of the Sandomierz county council regularly took place in Apt. This was a real plague for the Jewish population. The Jewish Council had to continually give the head of the County Council, his assistants and even his servants, various gifts in cash and in kind in order to stave off attacks by the Councilor's staff on Jewish houses and possessions. But the gifts did nothing to help. And the Jewish Council had to continually protest in Sandomierz against the attacks. As we read in the Apt Pinkes: “We have covered the expenses of an official from Sandomierz in order to protest against the thieving attacks by the marshal's staff on Jewish houses”. The Jewish community suffered more though, from the frequent excesses of the school children, who had changed the flickering Jew-hatred of their parents into deeds. They continually attacked Jews, beating them mercilessly and robbing them. In order to stop that, every Jew who went past the school or a church had to pay the so-called Kuzubalec. This was a too-high,

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indefinite tax, and because of that it led to terrible and often bloody fights. The Jews therefore had to give ransom money to the rectors, prefects, higher and lower priests, and so on. From the Apt Jewish community they received a regular tax for every market-day – the lebakalar jarmarczny or fairground fee.

Besides that, the Apt Jews had to support pupils who traveled from various towns and give them gifts and even money. And in the Pinkes we read: “Two pupils from Krakow received the full maintenance, wine and cash, and the same for pupils from Sandomierz, Lublin, Lemberg and others”.

In such an atmosphere of complete economic ruin and insecurity from the outside, the Jews were trying to rebuild their town anew. The Jewish community wanted to rise from the destruction in a short time, when it met yet another problem. In the winter of 1714 a terrible fire wiped out the entire Jewish Street, the moveable and immoveable possessions. The Jews sought a place of refuge in the surrounding villages.

When the Jewish community recovered a little after this reversal, they issued a call to the Apt Jews in which they “Forbid the Jews to build houses on the Polish street, or on the Christian market, or even to base any large or small business there, because the fire destroyed our entire possessions and all the land, and now as we step once again to rebuild the Jewish Street, and we must fortify the situation of our community, each Jew must build his house on the Jewish Street”.

The community's tasks were very heavy. Taking pains to offer advice, the Elders of the Jewish community enlarged the direct duties a lot, introduced heavily-loaded fees and consumer taxes. At the same time the Elders instituted in 1717 a special tax, that the Apt Jews must pay the Jewish Council on all merchandise, silver, gold, clothing, plots of land. All under oath. Freed from the oath were only the rabbis, the cantor and the shul beadle. The town began to be repopulated in stages; many Jews returned from other provinces and settled there. With the growth of the population the crowding in the town grew worse. That forced the Elders of the Jewish community to contact the Vad Arbe Artsos about limiting the influx of “outside” Jews, to eventually exploit their settling there in order to achieve greater hospitality. In 1717 they finally received the wished-for privilege of the right to undisputable possession by giving the newly-arrived the right of community membership. For the text of that privilege – see the excerpt from the Apter Pinkes.

The repression and limitations related to the new-comers were then turned by the Apt Jews into the privilege of the Vad Arbe Artsos. We read in the Pinkes about a decision in the year 1714, which “forbade the exchange of money with newly-arrived merchants. An Apt citizen must not mediate between such a merchant and the Christian merchants. If a new-comer merchant does himself sell to a Christian, he will be severely punished by the Jewish Council”. Thanks to that privilege the competence of the Apt Jewish Elders was broadened. Whoever wanted to settle permanently had first of all to apply for permission from the president of the community council. The community managers also had to give attention to not letting any of the “outside” Jews remain in the town any longer than three days in a row. But the important thing was that the community leadership also had the right to reclaim either partly or wholly the right to settle permanently (right of preemption).

That sanction became, in the hands of the community leaders, a first-rate source of revenue, a tool in the struggle with their personal opponents who could at any time, in the case of an opposition, revoke a right of preemption.

That is how the history of the Apt Jews presented itself on the edge of the 18^th century. In that era of terrible wars, of frequent student unrest under the protection of the wealthy landowners who considered the Jews as a tool to enlarge their own capital, one of the largest Jewish communities in Poland was formed. These historical events, which took place in this town, had first of all a colossal impact on the economic development of the Jewish community.

Before I approach dealing with the economic development of the Apt Jewish community, I will outline in a table the number of the Jewish population, and thereby also name the various trades. Among the lists of Jewish head-taxes I have found another head-tax list of the Apt Jews along with the surrounding smaller Jewish communities, originating from the year 1755.

A total of 1675 Jewish souls:

Lessees	2
Brokers	6
Chicken dealers	1
Bakers	1

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Butchers	5
Tailors	8
Cap-makers	7
Furriers	2
Fur-tanners	4
Sock-makers	2
Old clothes dealers	2
Goldsmiths	3
Conserve makers	2
Dyers	1
Doctors	1
Apothecaries	1
Early ed. teachers	9
Musicians	3
Cantors	1
Singers	4
Beadles	2
Measurers	2
Guards	2
Chimneysweeps	1

The rest – merchants, inn keepers, middle-men. Besides those, there were three rabbis in Apt: One (the community Rov); the Wysla Rov; the Miedzyrecz Rov.

Total 359. Mostly lessees and innkeepers. Together with the town and those attached to the Apt community periphery, 2034 Jewish souls.

I provide the list in order to show the reception power of the Jewish Street in Apt; the number of handworkers and the percentage ratio among the various trades, because the number of handworkers is evidence about the level of living of the population and about the scope of its needs.

The last three decades of the 17^th century and the beginning of the 18^th find the Apt Jewish community in a pitiable, deplorable state. The economic situation became ever tighter under the pressure of the increasing taxes and payments demanded from every side, and depressed any opportunity of life and trade. In order to cover them, the Jewish Council had to take out huge loans from the princes and the clergy. The Apt Jews had their usual creditor – the Lord Cszerski, whom they borrowed from through the mediators Khayim Yosefovitsh and Yitskhak Davidovitsh (two brokers who were often mentioned in the town's documents) – in the year 1692-1693 – 600 zlotych, and in 1702 – 800 zl. from Herr Stanislaw Budzinski (a creditor of the community); in 1700 – 2100 zl.

The temporary help in the form of loans led the Jews into even more complicated conflicts. Wealthy landowners – who were not in a position to demand the debts from the whole community because of its poverty – made the community Elders responsible for private debts. When one sees the expenses, which were clearly shown in the community Pinkes, they create the impression that the entire town, the head tax, the priests, officials, students, the military garrison, all that had received gifts from the community in kind and in cash. I will present a few characteristic examples:

The “respected one”, the lessor of Apt, used to receive “money, meat, fish”. When he came to visit the town, the Jewish community maintained him. And so the community in the year 1702 paid out just in order to sustain the Lessor, 300 zl. – and that is a very serious sum for that time. Above that, his “household” of servants received various gifts.

Among the assignments of the Jewish community was figured a yearly payment for the official, which reached 840 zl. – 4 zl per head. The community paid out 1,000 zl. a year for the large capitulation and a second 1000 zl. for the smaller one. Besides that, the priests received meat, fish, candles, oil, honey, sugar, clothing and even hats (30 zl. for a hat for the deacon). When in 1708 the Bishop of Krakow came to Apt, the Jewish community maintained him and his entourage.

In 1686 a new head for the church came to Apt – the community sent him a gift. Also, each Christmas the community sent various gifts to the priests and even their servants, and what is interesting is that the community gave gunpowder for the traditional shots during the procession of Boze Cialo. Besides that came travel expenses for the plenipotentiary persons in order to undertake all possible defensive means against their plans to limit Jewish activities.

These examples illustrate vividly how large the expenses were for the Apt Jewish community. Already at the end of the 17^th century the usual taxes did not suffice to cover the deficit. The Jewish Council constantly sought new sources of revenue. And thus came an increase in the direct taxes, gradually up to an intolerable height, to the instituting of higher community fees for marriages, engagements, judgements, divorces and so on. But even that did not help, and the Council had to institute consumer taxes, such as the so-called “meat tax” on meat (Krupka wielka), milk, baked goods and so on.

Thanks to the taxes, the situation of the community Council improved a little, although their expenses were constantly growing. The financial dependence of the Council on the creditors and most of all on the Apt Prince finally led to the limiting of the Council's competence. In 1755 the Apt Prince issued an order to the Elders of the Council that limited the rights

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of the Jewish residents. We provide the content of the order:

1. “Whereas since Jews, residents of our town, marry members of other communities, and fall into deep debt to our Prince, our Prince must prohibit either rich or poor marriages, which may not take place without his permission.
2. In the case of a marriage of a son or a daughter of an Apt resident to a resident of another community, our Prince prohibits the Apt Jews from moving to another community without his special permission; our Prince makes the Jewish Elders responsible for observing this prohibition, threatening the severest punishment in case of negligence.
3. From today on it is forbidden for Jews – Apt residents – to sell any kind of immoveable goods, trade them, or sell “places” in the Apt shul without the prior permission of our Prince.
4. Whereas, in the case of selling whisky that is from the hands of another Prince, we warn the members of our community most sharply, that they may in no manner, under the threat of the most severe punishment, sell any whisky that comes from another place, even for their own use or for someone else. In the case that someone happens to travel through another community as a guest and has whisky with him that comes from an outside place and wants to leave that whisky in Apt, we prohibit that whisky from being sold or drunk.”

On the basis of these prohibitions one can come to the conclusion that the Apt Prince is mixing himself too much into the interior affairs of the Jewish Community; the heavy tax burden and the loans from the Prince to cover the debts have led the community to a complete dependence on the owner. He standardizes the economic life of the Jews, having first of all in mind his pocket and his cash treasury.

And so the Apt Jewish community rolled downhill, that community whose economy still blossomed in the second half of the 17^th century. Wars, attacks by the students, catastrophic fires, the huge cost of taxes, the demoralization because of the frequent gifts from the community to the various princes – those are the reasons for the economic ruin that beat against each member of the Apt Jewish community, that bore all the burdens on their shoulders. The most vivid witness is the town chronicle, which illustrates a chain of continually growing need and poverty, that is tied to the progressing economic ruin of the community. The protests and accusations that I encountered in the Apt town documents give the best testimony. Jews came forward with both accusations against the citizens who refused to pay the debts and against one Jew on one of his co-believers that he would be ruined by his dishonest competition.

The Christian population often bought various merchandise in the Jewish shops, mostly on the market days, when the village population drove in to gather in Apt. More than once groups of peasants attacked Jewish shops and robbed them.

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Apt was known even the very olden times for its great rabonim, genius minds and influential Jews, and in that vein, not lagging behind the large cities in Poland like Lublin, Krakow and Lemberg [Lwow].

The Apter Pinkes – a chronicle kept over hundreds of years by the Jewish community – immortalizes for future generations, among other important historical documents, the successive genealogy of the Apt rabbis, brilliant individuals and great minds of their generations who were known in their time in the larger rabbinic world and contributed much to the interpretation of Torah with their published holy books and other explications. The writer of these lines had the great merit to personally study three parts of the Apt Pinkes with the Apt Rov, Rov Tsvi Hirsh Fridman may his sainted memory be for blessing and observe their contents. Of course, not all of it is readable, first of all because of the long time since it was written, and over hundreds of years much of it was effaced. Second, a manuscript from those years is not similar to many of our writings today and so a large part is not comprehensible.

The first one who is mentioned there is the well-known Rov Elieyzer Shmuel Ashkenazi, the author of Damshek Elieyzer, an interpretation of the Talmud section Khulin [kosher foods]. The book, consisting of some 600 pages in a large format, was printed in 1648. In its time the book created a stir in the scholarly world with its deep logic and sensible interpretations. Rov Elieyzer left several compositions after him, on the entire Talmud, which were not published. Only in the book Shmos ha'Gitin printed in 1657 do we find his novel interpretations of various Talmud tracts.

Many people maintain that Rov Elieyzer bar Shmuel is the well-known philosopher Rov Elieyzer Ashkenazi, author of the book Ma'asi D, the Krakow Rov soon after RaM”O and before the BaKh [Rov Yoel Sirkes]. As evidence about him attests, the great thinker, the creator of “Magini Shleyme” , was an “outstanding figure of his generation”. All the great thinkers of his time sent him their most difficult questions. But as one can see from his books, that is a great error, given the difference in the names of their parents. But since the Apter Rebi, the Damshek Elieyzer, was also well-known in the Jewish world, an equal with Ma'asi D, people thought that both were the same person.

We will further mention other important rabonim, great thinkers, who were very well-known in the scholarly world, whose descriptions would themselves take a book. The most famous of them were: Rov Berish Kohen, a grandson of the ShKh”S, who had earlier been the Rov of Stopnica. It is worthwhile to mention that his sons and grandsons occupied rabbinic positions in Stopnica until the very last days. Also, the Rov of Bagri was a son of Rov Yosel Shukht's daughter from Apt, Rov Hirshl Apter, who was an unsalaried Rov in Apt. Due to conflicts, he left that place and went to Kalish and became a leader in the synagogue and the community.

After that came Rov Hershel, a son of the genius of Kremenets, Rov Mayer'l. He was not related to the later Apter Rov, Rov Avrom Yehoshue Heshil, who was indeed a great, great grandson, as we will clarify later on.

Rov Yosef Segal Landa was the Rov of the Apt kloyz [small shul]. He was famous for his Talmudic library of thousands of holy books. It seems that the Apt Jewish community had two rabonim in those years, one who was the town Rov and one who was the kloyz Rov who also served as the Yeshive Head. Such was the Rebi Rov Leyb who was Yeshive Head and Rebi of “Yud ha'Kadush” in Psziske. Because of a dispute he left Apt and settled in Sochaczew and was known by the name Rov Leyb Kharif. Among the well-known rabonim of Apt it is worth mentioning: Rov Yehude Leyb Landa, a shul and community leader, a member of the contemporary “Jewish Parliament” the Vad Arbe Artsos [Council of the Four Lands], a son of Rov Hirsh Landa, known by the name Rov Hirsh Vetish, after his mother's name, who was a daughter of a prominent wealthy man and a champion of charity. Rov Vetish's great-father-in-law was famous in Jewish circles as the genius Rov Hershel, the Rov of Krakow, and was born in Apt himself. He, his father Rov Ruven and brother

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Rov Yankev, great thinkers of their time, lived and died in Apt, and are buried in the Apt cemetery.

The famous Apt Rov Yehude Landa is worth a closer acquaintance. He was indeed the father of the well-known genius Rov Yekhezkel Landa, the Rov of Prague. His wife Khayele was known for her fineness, wisdom and knowledge, and as one of the great prophets of the People Yisroel. Their son Yekhezkel was born in Apt in 1714 (passed away in Prague in 1793). When he was five years old, his father presented him to the Apt Rov and Yeshive Head, Rov Moyshe Yankev. The Rov tested the child Yekhezkel on with a subtle argument from the Talmud tractate Kidushim on a difficult issue. When he was 13 years old, he received rabbinic ordination. He was already known as one of the great thinkers of the time. At 18, he married Libe, daughter of the Genius Rov Yankevke of Dubna, a grandchild of the famed Rov Yankevke, the Nickelsburg Rov. While they were living with his wealthy father-in-law, he constantly sat and studied. Later the father-in-law went to Brod and took his son-in-law Rov Yekhezkel Landa [1713-1793] with him.

Brod at that time was a town with a hundred rabbis, great thinkers and wise men. Well-known at the time was a kloyz known as the Rov Khayim Sansert's Kloyz where the greatest scholars and kabalists of the time studied. Needless to say, our Rov Yekhezkel made friends with them. He mentions them in the introduction to his book Nude b'Yehude as “Lions and tigers at study and in awe of heaven”. There he befriended the thinker and kabalist Rov Avrom Gershon Kituber, one of the Bal Shem-tov's brothers-in-law. All of 24 years old, he wrote responses to some of the most knotty questions, posed to him from all corners of the world. He became Head of the four Jewish Courts that existed then in Brod. At 30 he became Town Rov in Yampil, in Podolia Province. By then he had such a big and famous name that all the best rabonim and thinkers, turned to him as the final judge in the huge disputes between the rabbis Rov Yonatan [Yehoneson] Eybeshuts, Rov in Altona Hamburg, and Rov Yankev Emden about amulets that had split the scholarly world into two camps. The larger half held by Rov Yehones and the other half with Rov Yankev. Among those were also great thinkers, like the “Pney Yehoshua” , Rov in Frankfurt-am-Main, also born in Apt. All the thinkers said that he had written his book Pney Yehoshua with the Holy Spirit [beside him]. The fire of the dispute was huge, indescribable. Books were written about it.

Both sides turned to Rov Yekhezkel despite his youth (he was then 32 years old), and however he decided, so it would remain. So great was his authority. Out of his great love for the truth, Rov Yekhezkel did not sleep and did not eat, but with all his powers, day and night, he wrote to all the great thinkers and rabonim in all the corners of the world, of whom he strongly demanded that there should be peace. As Rov Yekhezkel was a wonderful writer, he devoted himself to making peace. In the letter, Rov Yekhezkel praised Rov Yehonason and compared him to the ancient Commentators. He actually decided that people should hide the amulets because he is not better than Moses Our Teacher, who made the snake of all snakes, and then Hezekiah the King broke the [bronze] snake, and the wise men of Israel from that time on agreed with him. Rov Yekhezkel issued a decree of a strict ban not to speak against Rov Yehonason, and heaven forbid dishonor him or inform on him to the non-Jews, because he is a sacred vessel.

Rov Yekhezkel prevailed, and it stopped the dangerous disputes that had endured for several years.

Rov Yekhezkel was the Rov of Prague for 40 years. The rabbinic contract that they gave him was signed by 25 men, prominent thinkers and proprietors. The contract itself is a rare masterpiece. It was written into the contract that they took him for ten years as Rov and president of the Jewish Court and Yeshive Head and so on and so on. His salary was twelve Reinisch a week – then a very large sum, on which his large family could live generously and rent a roomy apartment. His first work was to found a large yeshive where hundreds of young men could study. True geniuses came from there, well-known in the scholarly world.

The following two facts can serve to demonstrate his greatness. A Rov from a small town asked him a question: A Jewish woman had related to him that a woman friend of hers, an honorable Jewess, had confessed to her that her husband was not really a man and that all her children were from other men. He asked the Rov: What to do with this man? The Nude B'Yehude answered that he would leave things as they are and not acknowledge it. The second fact: Two young men came to Prague, uncultured and not children of Torah. No one

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paid any attention to them. The two fellows went into trade, were successful and became rich, powerful men. They married and had children and became bitter enemies. One competed with the other. Then came the day when a famous violinist came and, as was the custom at the time, he stood between the two houses which were across from one another and played. After he played, people threw money from their windows. The two former friends began to fight – each one said that the violinist had played only for him. A large crowd gathered, and the shouting reached up to the heavens. Until one of them cried out, Why are you fighting? Go to the Rov, he will quickly smooth things out. And so it was. They went to the Rov Yekhezkel Landa. After hearing their complaints, they each took out 25 rendars and laid out their judgement fees. The Rov then said this to them: The violinist played not for you and not for you. Hearing this, the two enemies jumped up with a complaint – Rebi, then who did he play for? The Rov replied calmly, He played for me; and you two go in good health and do not be enemies any longer.

The response he gave General Pakelheim is characteristic. The story goes like this: When the Queen Maria Therea, the famous Austrian queen, paid a visit to Prague, Rov Yekhezkel Landa ordered that a troupe of fine Jewish girls be assembled and be taught a collective dance. When the Queen arrived, the Rov and the Mayor went to greet her. The Rov invited her and her entourage to the courtyard of the synagogue. All were seated and the Rov gave the order to dance. Then the girls carried out their dance for the first time, which was called a sher. The Queen was very pleased with the dance. Despite the fact that she was a very great antisemite, she could not withhold her warm applauds and thanks for the girls and musicians and pressed the Rov's hand. Her adjutant General Field Marshal Pakelheim was sitting with her, a bitter antisemite. He called out, “Majesty, it is not for nothing that these Jewish girls are dancing, they have inherited it from their ancestors who danced around the golden calf. ” “Yes, yes,” called back Rov Yekhezkel, “That is true. But the Jews did not put the gold into their pockets.” (It was said that the General took gold from the Prussian king, so he would close his eyes to the Battle of Frustits because the Austrians were then losing the war.) The General nearly had a fit of rage on hearing this.

Rov Yekhezkel Landa left behind three sons. The last, Rov Akive, was a genius and a rich, powerful person; he lived in Brod and married into the family of the wealthy scholar Rov Zalman Posner of Warsaw. Their grandson was Rov Zanvil Landa, a fine, wealthy Jew in Apt, whose daughter was the mother-in-law of the writer of these lines. Among all the redresses that Rov Yekhezkel Landa issued in Prague was one where he called together all the Jewish barbers and had them agree with a handshake not to shave a Jewish beard. In fact there was one Jew, a rich man, who got shaved by a gentile barber. The Rov had warned him many times. But as they say, “He heeded not at all”. Then the Rov was informed that the rich man had died. Then Rov Yekhezkel Landa ordered the burial society that before they took the body for burial, they should bring it to the shul courtyard. And so it was. When the body was brought the Rov ordered a Jewish barber to be brought, and told him to soap up and shave the corpse, because during the time he was sick, the rich man's beard had grown out, and the Rov did not want him to arrive in the next world with a beard. Once the barber had shaved the corpse, the Rov went home.

The father, Rov Yehude Landa, lies in the Jewish cemetery in Apt. On his left side lies the mother Khayele and on the right side is a grave that stood empty for 150 years, for the honorable Mordkhe Yehude may his sainted memory be a blessing, the grandfather of the writer of these lines.

In Apt in those days was an important wealthy man, a lumber merchant, Reb Noyakh, one of Reb Liber Vinshenker's great-grandfathers. Once, hearing the Rov of Apt speaking in exaggerations, he called out, “Rebi! True. True.” The Apter Rov suddenly stood up in wonderment and asked, “Reb Noyekh, how did you know this?” There are a number of exaggerations told about him. For example, when the Apter Rov went to Miedzyboz he was warmly welcomed by Rebi Brukhl, the “Bal Shem-tov's” grandson. Rebi Brukhl took him in very kindly and served him honey cake and whisky. When the Apter Rov had eaten the honey cake, Rebi Brukhl asked, “Apter Rov, another?” “Yes. I'd like another.” he answered. And so he ate up several plates of honey cake, and when he was served more, the Rebi answered, “I have

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prepared for kings, but not for the seraphim.” When the Rebi asked for an explanation, the Apter Rov said that when he had built his study-house in Apt, with 13 balconies above, they had to bring 25,000 wagons for each balcony. And other exaggerations: The other people could hardly keep from laughing, but the Rebi was sitting earnestly, deep in thought and listening with great intent. When the Apter Rov left, he said to the others, “As long as I've lived, I have never seen a person who ate so “little” and talked so little…”

The Rebi Rov Mayerl took over the Apter Rov's position, arriving from Stopnica, where he had been the town Rov. When he looked at the Apter Rebi's study house he could not contain himself and went right to Miedzyboz, to the Apter Rov. Coming into his room, the old Apter Rov promptly asked him, “New Apter Rov, how do you like my study-house?” And he began to relate new exaggerations about the millions of bricks and wagons and so on. When he left, exhausted, the hangers-on asked him if he had understood anything. He answered them, “Up until the windows I did understand some of it.” He was known as a great genius in Torah and a great saint and opponent of the Psziske and Kock [Kotsk Hasidim]. After Rebi Rov Mayerl came his son Rov Pinkhas, and after Rov Pinkhas came Rov Yanke'le. His daughter Rokhl was known for reciting Torah in public and telling stories of the hasidim. After him was the above-mentioned Rov Tsvi Hirsh Fridman may his sainted memory be for a blessing, and then his grandson Rov Khayim Yosef BaKh, a great scholar. The very last was the Belc Rov's youngest son Rov Sholem Rukakh, who was murdered by the Hitlerists may God avenge his blood.

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