Dow Ber Meisels
Dow (Dov, Dob) Ber (Beer, Berisz, Berush) Meisels (1798 – 17 March 1870) was a
Biography
Dow Ber Meisels was the son of Isaac from the Silesian town of Szczekociny, though the Meisels family came from Kraków's Jewish community; he also lived as a youth in Kamianets-Podilskyi, where his father was a rabbi.[2] After marrying the daughter of the wealthy Solomon Bornstein of Wieliczka, he settled as a banker and rabbi in Kraków.[2] He supported the cause of Polish independence,[2][3] providing weapons for the insurgents in the November Uprising; some sources even describe him as a Polish patriot or nationalist. In 1832 he would become Kraków's Chief Rabbi, though he was not recognized by the entire community, a considerable part of which adhered to his opponent, Saul Landau.[2] He occupied the Kraków rabbinate for nearly a quarter of a century.
Meisels always took a conspicuous part in the civic life of his place of residence; and in the stormy times of 1846 (see
In 1856 Meisels became rabbi of Warsaw (in the
For his support of Polish demonstrators, in 1861 he was arrested by the Russians and expelled from the city.[2] Meisels was invited to settle in London; but in 1862 he was permitted to return to Warsaw, where he remained until his death.[2] Meisels actively aided the Polish January 1863 Uprising, supporting it in his speeches and organizing financial aid for the insurgents. For this he was again expelled by the Russian authorities, this time for several years. After his return, he would be under constant supervision by the Russians.
He died in Warsaw on 17 March 1870. After his funeral, which turned into a large Polish-Jewish anti-Russian demonstration, the Russian government forbade obituaries of him to be printed.[4]
Meisels was the author of
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herman Rosenthal and Peter Wiernik (1901–1906). "MEISELS, DOB BERUSH B. ISAAC". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
Inline:
- ISBN 9781137008305.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Jewish Encyclopedia
- ^ The history of the Jews in Warsaw until 1939 Archived May 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ *1798 - 1870 DOV BERESH MEISELS (Poland), jewishhistory.org