Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Grünfeld

Born in 1834, Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Grünfeld, died at age 76 on September 28, 1910. He was

married to Kaila/Katalin Fleischer, born 1837 and died at age 76, September 20, 1913. Both of them

are buried in the Rimaszecs cemetery.

R. Moshe Yehuda’s parents were Jacob Grünfeld and Borbala, Breindel Gelman. Kaila/Katalin’s

parents were Samuel Fleischer and Esther, nee Goldstein. She had a brother, David Fleischer, who

was divorced from his first wife and at age 34 married Katti Blau, aged 28, daughter of Salomon Blau

and Rozsi Weisz on March 28, 1878 in Erdotelek. Both David and Kaila/Katalin were born in Meszes a

tiny village close to the city of Szendro in the Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, a well known Jewish

community with rabbis.1.

The chapter about Rimazecs in Hungaria, in a book about Hungarian Jewish communities, mentions

R. Moshe Yehuda Grünfeld.

Translation of this chapter about Rimaszecs

Jews were allowed to settle in this small township after 1840. The restriction on Jewish settlement

was lifted gradually and Jews who had previously lived in the surrounding countryside moved to the

township. By 1876, there was a very small Jewish community in that area and they joined the

organisation of religious communities. The local shochet was also the baal tefilla (chazan) and

teacher. A synagogue was built in the 20th century and there was a chevra kadisha, a cemetery, a

mikvah and a women’s organisation. There was a place with apartments for the local workers and a

small place for teaching Torah. Livelihood activities of the Jews were mostly as traders (buying and

selling small merchandise) and manual labourers. Only few of them did farming. After WWI, a few

Jews had lumber businesses, liquor stores and pubs/bars. There was a Jewish doctor in the area.

After the area was annexed to Hungary in November 1938, the Jews were persecuted and the

authorities cancelled their licenses and stores and businesses were closed. Many Jews were

excluded from community work opportunities. In 1941, many of the Jewish men were deported to

do forced labour and many died. On May 19, 1944, the German army occupied the area and at the

end of that month, the Jews were deported to the Ghetto. After a few weeks, they were deported

to Shalgo Tar’yan and on June 13th, they were deported to Auschwitz. After the war, only 20 of the

Jews from that area returned. In 1949, most of them migrated to Israel and all the others left the

area.

Rabbis:

The first Rabbi of the community was Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Grünfeld. He died in 1910. The last

Rabbi was his son, Ephraim Benyamin Grünfeld, born in 1864 in Putnok. He was later the Av Beit Din

(head of the Jewish Court) in Rimaszecs. He studied in Pressburg at the Shevet Sofer and also at

Rabbi Moshe's Sofer, Av Beit Din in Tiszafüred. In his first marriage he was the son in law of Rabbi

Shimon HaLevi Lefler, a scribe (sofer Sta"m) and a community trustee in Budapest. After he was

married, he settled near his father-in-law, where he served as a "Maggid" (preacher) and teacher of

Torah in the Chevra Shas. In his second marriage he was the son in law of Rabbi Chaim Yitzchak

Shvartz from Nemash-Atcha. And, after his father died, he became the Rabbi of Rimaszecs. He was

murdered in the Holocaust.

The yeshiva:

The first Rabbi, Moshe Yehuda Leib Grünfeld established a yeshiva ketana from time to time

(yeshiva for younger boys Bar Mitzvah - approximately 17 years old).

Census in 1914:

In the census, Rabbi Efraim Binyamin ( Grünfeld Efraim) is listed as the Rabbi and registrar. Born in

1914, his son Rabbi Moshe Grünfeld (Mor Grünfeld) was listed in the census. He was also a Rabbi

and served as a Dayan and Moreh Tzedek with his father, and was also murdered in the holocaust.

Sources:

From the register of the congregation of Slovakia, p 577, Spitzer.

The Chasam Sofer and his Disciples, page 560,

Yad Vashem witness pages: Chaim Yitzchok Manheim, Bnei Brak, Yolana Sherman-Shenfeld, Yisroel

Schwartz, Nir Galim

1 Information from Berish Weber,