M. SIROTA TORAH INSTITUTIONS AND LEADERS Bialystok was well known as one of the centers of Torah learning. Saturated with batei midrashim, there was virtually no street without a synagogue. All kinds of Chasidic and Mitnagdic sects were represented. Many worshippers spent their free time studying Torah, Talmud, Midrashic literature and Jewish ethical lore. Those more learned immersed themselves in advanced texts; others reviewed the elementary religious sources. It was commonplace to see Jews sitting around a table, their eyes riveted on their gemorahs, raptly listening to the rabbi explaining the subject matter. Many of these synagogues and batei midrashim were Virtual libraries housing the full range of Jewish halachic and ethical literature. Wall-to-wall bookcases contained nicely bound volumes of Mishnayos, Maimonides, Zohar, rabbinic commentaries, Aggadic literature, and the like. Jews prayed regularly three times a day in their respective synagogues. Also, study groups at night called mishmarim convened to fulfill the precept, ‘“Thou shalt meditate upon it day and night.” Participants in these late-night sessions were kept awake with two servings of tea and sugar, and three cigarettes for smokers. When the study of a Talmudic tractate was com- pleted, the students joined in a celebration. Well-known rabbis from nearby towns came especially to partici- pate, deeply impressed with the brilliance of the stu- dents. Not only were these occasions spiritually rewarding but they also provided an opportunity for gastronomic delights. A bet midrash founded by Meir Fisz, a wealthy moneylender, attracted the following scholars: the Cha- sidic Kobriner rebbe, Rabbi Nochumke, and his son-in- law and successor, Rabbi Meir Szczedrowicki. Bialystok prided itself on its talmud torah and yeshiva. Several of the rabbinic instructors came to Bia- lystok from other cities, as did many of its pupils because of the celebrated hospitality and graciousness of its Jewish community. Most of the students were poor, unable to pay tuition. This did not prevent them from being accepted at the yeshiva if they qualified on the basis of knowledge and personal piety. The talmud torah, or elementary religious school, consisted of twelve classes. The yeshiva had four grades. Each section contained twenty to thirty stu- dents. The lower talmud torah classes offered the pupils basic Jewish knowledge, like the aleph bais and Bible with Rashi (Biblical commentary). In the eleventh and twelfth grades, the students began studying gemorah. The advanced talmud torah classes prepared many to enter the yeshiva. Because of Bialystok’s generosity in accepting youngsters from other communities, it became a popu- 28 lar place for studying the Torah. This was a measure of the Jewish community’s humanitarianism. Children returned to their parents’ homes in other towns during vacations twice a year, before Passover and before the High Holidays. Not every student was qualified, however, to pursue advanced yeshiva studies. For those who passed through talmud torah and did not show special interest or talent, the best course was trade apprenticeship. Thus, pupils were treated as individuals, and religious education was tailored to meet the needs of each child. 20 0 2 IN THE BIALYSTOKER YESHIVA Two students engaged in the study of the Talmud. I remember Szyele (Jehoszua) Rapoport, who was in my class at the yeshiva and who became a prominent essayist and critic. He was more interested in secular subjects than gemorah. Our rabbi had more trouble from him than from any other student. This was espe- cially irksome in light of his fine background: Rabbi Mojsze Rapoport on his father’s side and the famed Torah authority, Rabbi Jojnoson, on his mother’s. With such a mind, how could it be that Szyele was not at the head of the class? Following World War I, when the Polish govern- ment ruled Bialystok, the yeshiva grew into a large edu- cational institution. The Polish authorities did require that secular studies, particularly the Polish language, be taught in order to round out the education of the yeshiva students. Among the prominent rabbis and religious leaders in Bialystok, Rabbi Meir Rapoport, known as the Bia- lystoker magid, gained prominence not only there but elsewhere. He was revered for his masterful sermons, which he delivered in a sing-song style, offering a trea- sure of anecdotes, parables, humor and _ spiritual insight. Rabbi Rapoport died at the Bialystoker Home in New York in 1963. When the Nazis overran Bialystok, all its glorious Torah institutions were destroyed and most of its august rabbis were killed. Succeeding generations of assimilated Jews bear the burden of this loss. The Bialystoker Memorial Book