Chasydzi z Galicji wobec współczesnej farmacji w świetle dzieła Beerot ha-majim (Przemyśl 1888)

Chasydzi z Galicji wobec współczesnej farmacji w świetle dzieła Beerot ha-majim (Przemyśl 1888)

Hasidim of Galicia and the Modern Pharmacy in the Light of Be’erot ha-mayyim (Przemysl 1888).

Marek Tuszewicki

Be’erot ha-Mayyim (Wells of Water), a collection of Hasidic commentaries and homilies, appeared for the fi rst time in 1888 in Przemysl (Galicia) as a supplement to Moshe Bavli’s ethical work Ta’amei Mitzvot (16th cent.). Its editor and publisher was Abraham Abbele Kanarvogel, a well-to-do Hasid born in Rzeszow, who lived, however, much of his life in Rymanow. Kanarvogel gathered together seven different brochures (or “wells”), including sermons given by his rabbi and tzaddik R. Zevi Hirsch ben Yehuda Leib ha-Cohen (1778–1847). Only two of those texts can be described as commentaries to Ta’amei Mitzvot, while most of them represent different kinds of Hasidic exegesis of the Torah. The last part of this work titled Be’er Mayyim Hayyim [Well of Living Water] had been composed of three chapters devoted to the matter of health and healing. It represents, at least to some extent, traditional believes and practices, as refl ected in the Hasidic literature and books of segulot (practical means). However the main bulk of the material consists of modern medicines and prescriptions, attributed to famous Austrian physicians: Heinrich Bamberger (1822–1888), Adalbert Duchek (1824–1882) and Josef Škoda (1805–1881). A relatively large number of medical recommendations had been also derived from the Hebrew translation of Hufeland’s Art of Prolonging Life, written at the end of the 18th century by Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland (1762–1836). The present article seeks to explore Kavarvogel’s social background and the attitude of the traditional Jewish population of Galicia, to which he defi nitely belonged, towards contemporary pharmacology, as it appears in the light of his work. Alongside the translation of all three chapters of the brochure Beer Mayyim Hayyim, the article includes their interpretation within the context of German language medical handbooks of that time.

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