Historical Background and Interviews
I. Ludvipol: A Modem Shtetl Ludvipol: A Modern Shtetl
Jewish Life People in Ludvipol were traditional “but not fanatic like they were in Galicia,” said Arje Katz, “where they were Hasidim and only at- tendedyeshivas [religious schools]According to Katz, most people went to the mikvah and steam baths every week, the women on Thursday afternoons, the men on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. Some poor people, such as Joseph the shoemaker and Isaac the shoemaker, lived with their families in the same building as the mikvah and steam bath; they helped run the facilities and were partially supported by the community. Ludvipol thrived on discussion and debate, and every weekend Tailor Street became a gathering place for speeches by shlichim (emissaries) from Eretz Yisrael, visiting rabbis, and religious or- ators. On election days, non-Jewish peasants would come and try to strong-arm Jews to vote for certain Sejm (Polish parliament) candidates, and it was on Tailor Street that the czar was formally blessed when Ludvipol was under Russian rule, and the president of Poland when it was part of Poland. In many homes, the man of the household made Kiddush while the mother lit the Shabbat candles. Havdalah (traditional ceremony for the end of Shabbat) was observed on Saturday nights. Spices were passed around, the prayers were said, and the braided havda- lah candle was lit, although it was not necessarily passed around because of fear of starting a fire. According to Shmuel Shafir, Ludvipol’s Jews observed all the fasts, major and minor. For instance, the fast of Tzom Gedalia (Gedalia was an ancient leader of the Jews) was observed the day after Rosh Ha’Shana. Another fast was Shiva Asar b’Tammuz, be- ginning the three-week mourning that culminates on Tisha b’Av, the ninth day of Av, between late July and mid-August, when the Babylonians destroyed the first temple and the Romans burned the second; on this day, the Book of Lamentations was read. In fact, said Leon Rubinstein, who grew up in nearby Koretz, “It seemed as if the older people would look for any excuse to fast.” tended yeshivas [religious schools].”
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