Dr. Alexandr Putik of the Jewish Museum of Prague believes that a daughter of Abba Maria Chalfan was the wife of the famous historian and astronomer David Gans (1541-1613), who in 1600 took part in astronomical observations with Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler at the Prague observatory. Gans named one of his sons Abba Mari, which is a given name that is unknown in Bohemia except for the family of Abba Mari Chalfan.
Jewish man and woman from Worms, illustrations by Markus zum Lamm, 16th century. The bulb of garlic in his hands indicates that the Jewish man is from Worms. http://cojs.org/jews_from_worms-_16th_century/Elieser Ashkenazi ben Dr. Elia. Possibly brother of Abba Maria Chalfan. Wrote first statutes of the Prague burial society in 1560.
Dr. Elia Chalfan was born in Prague around 1561 to Rabbi Dr. Abba Mari Chalfan and Rachel Kuh. On July 5, 1598 he was granted permission to move to Vienna by Emperor Rudolf II. Only 31 Jewish families lived in Vienna at that time. When in 1599, the Jews of Vienna were unable to pay a tax of 20,000 florins, they were ordered to leave Vienna on February 5, 1600 within fourteen days. All but eleven families and Dr. Elia obeyed the order, but were soon allowed to return. According to a list of Jewish families from 1600, Elia lived with his wife Rebekka bat Heschel and five children in the house of Hannsen Mader in the Wimmer Viertel, the only Jew in that part of town. The address is now Schultergasse 10.
Elia died February 2, 1624 in Vienna and was buried in the old Roßauer cemetery in the Seegasse. During the Nazi era his gravestone was brought to the Zentralfriedhof Tor. IV and buried. A large fragment was recently discovered there, and it should be restored and moved back the Seegasse cemetery. The grave inscription was published by Bernhard Wachstein in 1912.
According to Gerson Wolf, Studien zur Jubelfeier der Wiener Universität in Jahre 1865, p. 27 (1865), many books and manuscripts belonging to Dr. Elia Chalfan are in the Austrian National Library. These likely include manuscripts written by his ancestors from Italy Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Menachem Chalfan and the Astronomer Kalonymos ben David Kalonymos.
1601 list of Jews in Vienna. 17 Jews in Stuben Quarter. In Wimmer Quarter there are no Jews besides Elias Alfanus, a doctor, his wife and five children living next to Hanns Mader in Schiltergássl. Gerson Wolf, Studien zur Jubelfeier der Wiener Universität in Jahre 1865, p. 27 (1865)Anton Meyer et al., Geschichte der Stadt Wien, Vol. V, p. 59 (1914)http://katalog.ahmp.cz/pragapublica/permalink?xid=E1BD2EA1B72711DF8… LAJ, fol. 215v, Prag, 1591 November 22Jews of the Upper Rhine, Germany, End of the Sixteenth Century. From the Basel Stammbuch, 1612. https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-jews-of-the-upper-rhine-germany-end-of-the-sixteenth-century-from-131472398.htmlJewish Book of Customs, Venice 1600 https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/jewish-book-of-customsJewish Book of Customs, Venice 1600 https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/jewish-book-of-customs
Joshua Heschel Chalfan was the son ofDr. Elia Chalfan of Vienna. He is recorded in the 1632 Vienna Grundbuch (Property Register). He died after 1648 but no grave has been found. On his son Chaim’s grave in 1648 Joshua Heschel Chalfan is still alive and is referred to as “Aleph” meaning he was a leader of the community. He was the father of Loeb, Rechel, Salamo and Chaim.
His brother Isak Eisik Chalfan died in 1617 and had a grave in the old Vienna Seegasse cemetery which is included in Bernhard Wachstein’s book. It identifies three generations of ancestors. The graves in the Seegasse were buried during the Nazi era to preserve them, and Isak’s grave has not yet been located.
Chaim Chalfan was born in Vienna to Joshua Heschel Chalfan. in 1619 Chaim is mentioned in a letter sent from Prague to Vienna by Salomon Horowitz. He was married to Kressel who died in 1633 in Prague, the daughter of haRosh Bezalel ben Chaim, a great-nephew of the Maharal of Prague. Chaim died in Vienna on May 12, 1648. He was buried in the old Jewish cemetery on the Seegasse. The graves in that cemetery were buried to save them from the Nazis and to date Chaim’s grave has not been found. The text of the grave was published by Bernard Wachstein in his 1912 book Die Inschriften des Alten Judenfriedhofes in Wien (1. Teil, 1540 (?) – 1670).
Jüdische Privatbriefe #13, page 34 from Salomon Horowitz in 1619 mentions Chaim Chalfan.Rembrandt: Portrait of Dr. Ephraïm Bueno (1599-1665) Date: 1647 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_van_Rijn_-_Ephraim_Bonus,_Physician.jpgMap of the Jewish quarter in Unterer Werd at the time of its dissolution in 1670, 1656, From the collection of: Jewish Museum ViennaBoundary stone of the ghetto in Unterer Werd, Ignaz Schwarz (design), A. Kronstein (graphics), 1910, From the collection of: Jewish Museum Vienna
Jentl Chalfan was the daughter of Chaim Chalfan and Kressel and was probably born in Vienna. She was married to Joseph Ausch, haLevi, the Rosh Medina (literally, “head of the land”), a signatory of the statutes governing Bohemian Jewry (outside Prague) from 1659. In 1665 Jewish dealers in woolen goods were barred from entering the town of Litomerice, but Joseph Ausch petitioned to be allowed to enter the city so that he could pay off his debts. Joseph Ausch died in Auscha (Úštek) Bohemia (near Terezin and Litomerice) on August 24, 1674. His grave still exists in the cemetery in Ustek.
Expulsion of the Jews from Vienna 1670, Print from a contemporary pamphlet on the expulsion of the Jews from Vienna and other places, 1932, From the collection of: Jewish Museum Vienna Bertha Pappenheim, a descendant of Glückel bas Judah, poses as Glückel for this portrait painted by the artist Leopold Pilichowski. Portrait courtesy of Leo Baeck Institute.
Frumetl Ausch was the daughter of Jentl Chalfan and Joseph Ausch, haLevi, the Rosh Medina (literally, “head of the land”), a signatory of the statutes governing Bohemian Jewry (outside Prague) from 1659.
Frumetl and her husband Manis Nachod donated two torah curtains, one of them (red) dedicated to their grandson Moyses Nachod. Manis attended the Leipzig Fair from 1689 to 1703. It is likely that he obtained the textiles for the curtains at the fair.
In 1700 Frumetl was elected as a female official (gabayot) of the Pinkas synagogue.
1700 election of Frumetl Nachod as a female official (gabayot) of the Pinkas Synagogue.Prague Jewish Procession 1716. Jüdisches Franckfurter und Prager Freuden-Fest Johann Jacob SCHUDT · 1716 https://www.google.com/books/edition/J%C3%BCdisches_Franckfurter_und_Prager_Freud/h3l9ctbBZiYC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=prager+judischer+aufzug&pg=PP4&printsec=frontcoverGlückel of Hamlen as portrayed by Bertha Pappenheim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gl%C3%BCckel_of_Hameln https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_PappenheimTorah curtain from the Sinzheim family private synagogue, 1700, From the collection of: Jewish Museum ViennaHaggadah, Joseph ben David Leipnik, 1737Portrait of Laura Henschel-Rosenfeld (1857-1944) (first cousin of Dr. Rudolf Kolisch) painted by Maurycy Gottlieb (1856-1879)
Benet Nachod was the only child of Frumetl Ausch and her second husband Manis Nachod. He was probably born around 1665 and was married by 1694 when his son Moyses was likely born (three years before the 1697 dedication of two torah curtains in his honor).
Bendet attended the Leipzig Fair (with his father) in 1695, 1698 and 1699.
In Purim 1709, Benet Nachod was caught with Meir Perels in a snowstorm in Nußdorf outside Vienna (now the Viennese district of Döbling), as recorded in Perles’ Megilat Sefer.
Benet was married twice, first to Tscherne Cholisch, who died in 1718, and then briefly to Pessel Horice, who died in 1721. At the time of the 1729 census he is unmarried and has one unmarried son named Manis (Menasse). His occupation was jeweler. His son Moyses was living next door with his family. Benet had one daughter named Shirei who was married already to Hertzl Neustadtl in 1729.
There is a 1724 mortgage record in Liber Judeorum Albus which might help us figure out which house he lived in. A 1727 list of houses lists the house of Benet Nachod or Jacob Thein and an attached synagogue or school. Dr. Alexandr Putik believes it was on the northern side of the Pinkas street near the cemetery. The house was burned down during the 1754 fire and the Chewra Kadisha building is now located in that area.
Benet died April 5, 1742 and is buried in the Prague old Jewish cemetery.
Max Freudenthal, Die jüdischen Besucher der Leipziger Messen in den Jahren 1675 – 1699, page 45.1727 House List #137 Benet Nachod1741 Procession in honor of birth of Josef II. Jewish Museum PragueProcession. Jewish Museum PragueSamson Wertheimer (1658-1724)
Moyses Nachod was born in Prague to Benet Nachod and Tscherne bat Avigdor Cholisch sometime before 1697, when his grandparents donated two torah curtains in his honor. He may have been three years old at the time, so probably born in 1694.
At the time of the Prague Jewish census of 1729, Moyses was married to Hindele Altschul and had children Simche, Figdor (=Dan Avigdor) and Roßel. He later had children Mannes and Serl. In 1729 Moyses dealt in saddle pads.
Moyses and his family left Prague during the expulsion period 1745-1748, enacted by the Empress Maria Theresa, and then returned. In the 1748 census he has three unmarried children, Simche, Ewigder and Sarl. His occupation was tabacconist.
Moyses Nachod claimed 800 gulden (or florins) in losses from the fire that ravaged the Prague ghetto in 1754
Moyses died in 1759 and is buried in the old Jewish cemetery in Prague.
Moyses Nachod claimed 800 in losses from the fire that ravaged the Prague ghetto in 17541754 Fire damage list1741 procession in honor of birth of Josef II. Prague Jewish Museum
Daniel Avigdor Nachod was born in October 19, 1727 in Prague to Moyses Nachod and Hindle Altschul. His circumcision (under the name Avigdor ben Moshe) by David Jenikau is recorded on October 26, 1727 with the god-father Bennet Emmerich. He is listed with his family in the 1729 census. Avigdor was unmarried in 1745, when all Jews were expelled from Prague by Empress Maria Theresa. His family returned in 1748.
In 1756, Avigdor was involved in a lawsuit before the Jewish court (Beit Din) against Beer Schefteles, who had been married to Avigdor’s sister Rosel from 1740-1745. Avigdor had worked for Beer for five years when Beer obtained a string of pearls at a bargain price and asked Avigdor to take them to the Leipzig fair to sell them. Avigdor claimed that he was owed a salary and Beer promised he could keep what he obtained for the pearls. Beer testified that he did not owe anything to Avigdor and the suit was dismissed.
Minutes of Prague Beit Din from 1756 recording a lawsuit for wages between Avigdor Nachod and his former employer Beer Schefteles.
In 1760, Daniel Avigdor obtained permission to marry Pessel Bunzel. At that time he is described as a shopkeeper. It appears that Avigdor became known as Daniel, probably after Josef II’s Edict of Tolerance of 1781 which required Jews to adopt German given names. He died August 13, 1792 in Prague, house 223. His grave was in the old Wolschan cemetery, which was destroyed in 1985 when the Czech Communists built a radio tower. His wife Pessel died already in 1779 and is buried in the old Jewish cemetery.
Index card to 1782 tax list in Austrian State ArchivesExpulsion of Jews from Prague 1745. Jewish Museum PraguePortrait of the Bishop of Würzburg’s doctor, Moses Bernhard Wolfsheimer (ca. 1720–1782), father of Esther, wife of Gawriel Löwy, pharmacist of the Golden Lion in Prague Unknown artist , Undated, 1770s, Oil on canvas, 70 x 54.5 cm, UnsignedIsrael Simon Frankel (1711-1791. Painted 1776. Jewish Museum Prague
Leah Frankel 1713-1791, Painted 1776. Jewish Museum Prague
Gabriel Nachod was born in 1776 in Prague to Daniel Avigdor Nachod and Josefa “Pessel” Bunzel. He was a cantor, a wedding singer and a wedding presenter. By the time of the 1794 Prague Jewish census, his parents had died. He married Eva Zodex on July 21, 1801 and lived in house 85. The wedding was presided over by Samuel Landau, the son of Rabbi Ezechiel Landau (known as the Noda b’Yehuda).
In 1905 one of his descendants published a poem Gabriel wrote, a rhyming version (in German) of the creation story from Genesis.
Gabriel died age 74 on November 29, 1849 in house 226/V. He left behind 2 sons and 3 daughters, and established a prayer fund supporting the Altneuschul synagogue. He had a wooden grave in the Wolschan cemetery in Prague, which was mostly destroyed in 1985 when the Communist government removed the cemetery and built a large radio tower.
For photo of the street see http://katalog.ahmp.cz/pragapublica/permalink?xid=A0C508D3B67611DF820F00166F1163D4&scan=1#scan1Portrait of the moneychanger Gawriel ben Simon Löwy (ca. 1745–1823), husband of Ester Wolfsheimer (1750–1833), daughter of Moses Bernhard WolfsheimerFanny von Arnstein, née Itzig (1758–1818), Georg Vinzent Kininger after a painting by Guérin, 1804, From the collection of: Jewish Museum ViennaCäcilie von Eskeles, née Itzig (1760–1836), Anonymous, Lithography (undated), From the collection of: Jewish Museum Vienna
