Rabbi Moses ben Israel Naphtaly Hirsch Porges

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~prohel/names/misc/porges.h...

JewishEncyclopedia: Rabbinical author; lived at Jerusalem at the beginning of the 17th century. He was the author of "Darke Ẓiyyon" (Amsterdam, 1650), written, in Judæo-German, after he had removed to Prague. The work is in four parts and is illustrated. Part 1 deals with the return to Palestine; part 2 with prayer; part 3 with teaching; and part 4 with the commemoration of the dead

Rabbi and emissary of the Ashkenazi community of Jerusalem. Nicknamed "Prager". Chmielnicki massacres of 1648-49, the contributions from Poland ceased, and the Ashkenazi community in Jerusalem was overwhelmed with debt, Porges was sent as their emissary to Germany. During this mission he published, in Prague, Frankfurt and Amsterdam (1650), a small illustrated work "Darkhei Ziyyon" in judeo-german designed to arouse sympathy and obtain support for the Jewish community in Erez Israel.

(b. ca 1600 Prague, d. 1670 Jerusalem)

(der Gemeindevorsteher und Rabbiner der Pinkas synagogue in Prag war und später nach Jerusalem auswanderte)

Rabbi in Prague at the Pinkus Synagogue>

Rabbi and emissary of the Ashkenazi community of Jerusalem. Nicknamed "Prager".

Born in Prague, he was a relative of Isaiah ha-Levi Horowitz, whom he followed to Erez Israel, settling in Jerusalem, where he became a scribe.

When, after the Chmielnicki massacres of 1648-49, the contributions from Poland ceased, and the Ashkenazi community in Jerusalem was overwhelmed with debt, Porges was sent as their emissary to Germany.

During this mission he published, in Prague, Frankfurt and Amsterdam (1650), a small illustrated work "Darkhei Ziyyon" in judeo-german (see below) designed to arouse sympathy and obtain support for the Jewish community in Erez Israel.

"Darkhei Ziyyon" :

One of the best examples of this type of literature, the work is divided into 4 sections : the virtue of living in Erez Israel, prayer, study, memorial prayers.

The first section "Schaar biath haarez" is a kind of guide book for new immigrants to Israel, in which Moses draws upon his personal experiences and advises them on what to take for the journey, the easiest routes, how to conduct themselves on the way and the like. In this section he also gives practical details on prices and currency, describes the food available in Erez Israel, recounts in detail how much is needed for living, rent, and taxes, and lists customs of dress and conduct in everyday life.

In the second section "Schaar Hatephilia", he describes in detail the liturgical customs of Jerusalem,

in the third section "Schaar halimmud", the methods of study there, including various details about the holy places,

and in the fourth "Schaar hazkarath", customs then practised in Jerusalem, among them those of reciting memorial prayers for the departed and of obtaining contributions from generous individuals outside of Erez Israel, in whose honour lights were kindled in the synagogues on Sabbaths and festivals and for whom blessings were invoked.

The book was directed to the masses, and therefore was written in the language they knew best - Yiddish.

It succeeded admirably in its aim of presenting an attractive picture of Israel. "Darkhei Ziyyon" has only been published once and is very rare.

Bibliography :

A. Yaari, Masot Erez Israel (1946), 267-304,770f.;

Yaari, Sheluhei, 275-6;

Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. col 1827;

Fürst, bibl Jud. ii 398;

Wolf, Bibl. Hebr. iii, 764;

Benjacob, Ozar ha-Sefarim, p. 121, N° 518;

Lunez, Jerusalem, iii., N° 44.

Sources : Encyclopaedia Judaïca , The Jewish Encyclopaedia

Thesis at the Charles University in Prague, department of Middle East and Africa, written in the summer of 2000 by Dan Polakovic.

Page 5 Title of the thesis is “Mose b. Jisrael Naftali Porges: Darchej Cijon (1650)” ( “Darchej Cijon means “Roads to Sion”).

It’s not a classical Jewish itinerary from the Middle Ages, however, rather a “manual” for Jewish immigrants searching for peace and home where their home once used to be – in Erec Israel. The author of the book, Mose Porges, wasn’t the only Jew in the 16/17th century in the Czech land who traveled to the sacred land and left behind the message of that time. Rachel, a Prague’s Jew, wrote letters to her father about life in Jerusalem at the end of the 16th century… Page 29-34

Very little is known about the biographical details of Mose Porges. Mose came from Prague, worked in Jerusalem (he likely settled there in the first half of the 17th century). According to some authors, he was also a direct companion/partner? of rabbi Horovitz on the trip to Erec Israel in 1621. He assembled his book as a letter and was likely selling it himself during visits in Diaspora. Some authors assumed that he returned to Europe in 1649 (Prague, Germany), where he assembled and published this book. His father, Jisrael Naftali called Hirsh was a rabbi. His brother, Gutman Porit, also settled in Erec Israel. Another relative, Jesaja H-Levi Horovic. Bibliotheca Hebreaea from 1733 mentions M. Porges as the author of Darchej Cion. Hebrew literature from the first half of the 18th century mentions two authors with name “Mose ben Jisrael – one worked as a rabbi in Rhodose and Alexandria, the other worked in Wurzburg. Porges family in Prague is registered until half of the 17th century as “Purja-Pfefferkorn (on the tombstones) and from the end of 17th century with altered female version of the name “Porit”. This name was preserved in the non-Jewish and non-Hebrew sources given the influence of German pronunciation in the form of “Porges or Porjes, Pories, Porias, Purges, Borges, Borgis, Burges, etc. and remained in this form till today. The oldest notes about this family is in the listing of members of the family of rabbi Meir ben Natan Purja-Pfefferkorn in the directory of Jewish families owning a letter of safe-conduct in 1546. Meir ben Natan was likely a physician and had ten children: sons Jicchak, Gutman, Eliezer, Natan, David, Jehuda, Jona, Mose, Jaakov and daughter Cipora. Some of his children have their name as the original dual name Purja-Pfefferkorn on tombstones, however, majority has only the shortened version of Purja or Porit. Their successor didn’t use the name Pfefferkorn and after 1639, this name is no longer mentioned nor is it found on tombstones. There are several theories of the origin of the name Porit or Porges : 1. The current users of the name emphasize this hypothesis – it originated in Spain, when Jews were forced to leave in 1492 and they moved to Germany and the Czech land. This theory has no support in remaining onomastick (?) sources. 2. Name originated from female name Cipora; 3. Name originated from the German name of Prague – Prag, Prager, Prags. The Porges family belonged to the oldest Jewish nobility in the Austrian monarchy. Brothers Moses (1781-1870) and Leopold Juda (1784-1869), both businessmen in the field of cotton manufacturing and owners of factories in Smichov (note: Smichov is a part of Prague) received title of “Porges von Portheim” in 1841 from Ferdinand in 1841. In 1892, Simon Hock published a list of 205 tombstones of the Porges family members from years 1573-1787 (it's only a preview of the names, often without all data from the tombstones). The real number according to Dr. Otto Munels (1892-1967) is over 300 tombstones. He estimates 313 tombstones, 16 without details. The most of tombstones are from 1639, the so-called “plague years”. The smaller cemetery on Fibich street in Prague had 39 tombstones in good condition from years 1792-1890 (this was noted during 1960s). The author’s father was rabbi Zvi named Hirsh b. Selomo Porit (Porges). He functioned as a “dayan” (Dayan is a rabbi who is judge in a rabbinical court (Beit Din)) of the Jewish religious community in Prague. He died on 31 Aug 1639 in Prague. His tombstone indicates that he was very knowledgeable, respected elder (old man). His wife Ciperl (Cipora) died on 28 Jul-1646. They had several children: son Mose (author of the book), Gutman, Abraham, and daughter Sejla (wife of Abraham Bondy). Abraham Porit worked as a rabbi in Kolin in the middle of the 17th century and later as a “dajan” in Prague. He died 14-Dec-1673 in Prague. Gutman Porit became a dayan in 1646. His wife Dina died in 1649 in Prague.