DAVID BISTRITZ rabbi english

           DAVID ha KOHEN BISTRIZAR

                                                          1815/17 – 1864

                                

(Rabbis of Zitny ostrov/Csalloköz)

Rabbi  Bistrizar’s maceva in Mliečno 2019

Places of work: Senica(Senitz), Mliečno(Milchdorf,Tejfalu)

David Kohen Bistrizar/Bistritz was a significant figure among 19th century’s rabbis mentioned in Jewish encyclopedias as well. He got his education mainly in yeshiva in Bratislava under its most important leader and Bistrizar’s teacher Chatam Sofer (Mose Schreiber 1762-1839). Rabbis educated at this schools were famous and prominent scholars both in Hungary and worldwide in the 19th century.

He shared and consulted his knowledge mainly in written form with other great rabbis, namely Rabbi Jehuda Aszud (1796-1866) from Dunajska Streda who stood by his side at the  beginning of his work in Senica/Senitz, then Mose Schick (1807-1879) who was the rabbi of Sv. Jur and Chust, Abraham Shmuel Benjamin Schreiber (Ketav Sofer 1815-1871) who was David Kohen’s peer and fellow student and the son of Chatam Sofer, then Joel Ungar (1800-1885), the rabbi in Paks and many more.

He wrote a couple of halakhic commentaries, however, not all of them were preserved. His Shulchan Aruch commentary called “Bet David“ written probably in Mliecno was published by his son Koloman Zev in Vac in 1911.

BET DAVID commentary http://www.hebrewbooks.org/8058 http://www.hebrewbooks.org/8059

David Kohen Bistrizar took a position of a rabbi in Jewish community in Mliecno/Milchdorf/Tejfalu (next to Shamorin), replacing his 90-year-old colleague Jisaschar (Samuel/Salamon) Beer (1758-1848) who died soon after that. He stayed there for 17 years, using his knowledge to run a local yeshiva where he tutored a number of future rabbis, namely Rabbi Salamon Lichtenfeld (1845-1937), a talmudist born in Mliecno and later working in Bratislava.                                

Ujvari’s Jewish lexicon states the year of 1862 (actually in was 1864) to be Bistrizar‘s last year in Mliecno as he was invited to be a rabbi in Hegyaljamad (Hungary). However, on sabbath July 14, 1864 he suddenly died during the worship, probably of a heart attack.

It is difficult to estimate the accurate birth year of Rabbi Bistrizar because there are two of them. The marriage register from 1856 states he was 41 years old at the time, meaning he must have been born in 1815. However, the obituary from 1864 suggests he was 47 when he died, changing the year of his birth to 1817.

He was born in Povazska Bystrica (that is where his name Bistritz/Bistrizar is derived from) in a family of Rabbi Kolonmot (Koloman/Kalman) Kohen of the place and his wife Cirl. They are associated with a famous family of Gomperz-Emerich too. 

David Kohen in Trenčin

His grandfather (named David Kohen too) was a rabbi in Trencin from 1772(?) to 1783 where he also died. Rabbi Bistrizar’s father, Kolonmot, saw the birth of Jewish community in Povazska Bystrica in 1804.

During his early years in Senica while supervised by Jehuda Aszud, he married the local girl Chana/Hany Mandl, the daughter of Simeon/Simon (1777-1867) and Mirjam/Elizabet (1798-1851) Mandl. We know of one daughter born to rabbi Bistritzar and his wife in Senica – Bele/Betty (1839-1906) but it is quite possible there were more children born in that place.

There were more children born in Mliecno:

Cilli (*1849), Benjamin (1851-1867), Salamon (1852-1855), Emerich (1852-1855), Emanuel (*1854) and Fany (1855-1856).

Betty married Samson/Simon Quastaler (1835-1917) in 1859. He was the son of Meir and Ester/Netty (1804-1866) from Reca where they also had lived before moving to Senica. Betty died in 1906 in Bratislava where she lived with her son Moritz. She was buried there as well.

Cilli left for Reca too because in 1867 she married Sigmund Quastaler (*1842) the son of Moritz (*1804) who was probably Simon Quastaler’s cousin.

Emanuel married Franciska Fischer (*1856), the daughter of Zallel and Rosalie, born Kohn. The wedding took place in Senec in 1878.

Rabbi Bistritzar’s wife Hany, born Mandl, died of cholera in September 1855 in Mliecno at the age of 38. The disease was frequent and took two of their children as well.

In December 1856 Rabbi Bistritzar married again. His young wife Hany Fischer (*1830) was the daughter of Herman and Netty from Reca. They had two children: Herman (*1857) and Rachel (*1862).

Rabbi Bistritzar is buried at the end of the Jewish cemetary in Mliecno. A part of his original sandstone maceva is still preserved. That tombstone was later replaced with the new one which was made of more quality material but the text transcription copies the original one.

A part of the original maceva

http://rabini-rabbik-rabbis.blogspot.com/2016/01/david-kohen-bistrizarbistritz-181517.html

Betty Quastaler’s grave (Rabbi Bistritzar’s daughter) in the Jewish Orthodox cemetery in Bratislava.

Samson Quastaler’s grave (Rabbi Bistritzar’s son-in-law) in the Jewish cemetery in Senec.

From the right: the graves of Rabbi Bistritzar’s two grandchildren: Chana (married Mayer) and Mose/Moritz, then Bernard Quastaler and Betty (the mother of the first two and Rabbi Bistritzar’s daughter) in the Jewish Orthodix cemetery in Bratislava.



TRANSLATION: MIROSLAVA DUBANOVA