Der Israelitische Friedhof Endingen-Lengnau – list of the deceased and their places of burial in the Jewish cemetery between Endingen and Lengnau, towns in the Canton of Aargau in northern Switzerland. Including a map of the cemetery. Before us is the personal copy that belonged to the Av Beit Din of Basel, Rabbi Asher Michael HaKohen (initiator of the Zionist Congress in Basel).
The book contains close to 1000 names of those who passed away in the late 18th century and in the 19th century, who were buried in the cemetery of the towns of Endingen and Lengnau – the only towns in which Swiss Jews were allowed to live until the emancipation of 1866. In 1776, Jews were only permitted to live in two towns Endingen and Lengnau. Indeed, Endingen became a town with a population that was almost half Jewish, and it remains one of the few towns in Switzerland without a church. However, it does have a synagogue, which was established in 1764. It was forbidden to be buried within town limits (this is why the Jewish cemetery is indeed outside the town). Following the emancipation, Endingen completely changed, and at the beginning of the 20th century, it was essentially empty of Jews. Today, the old synagogue still stands, as it was renovated in 1852, as well as the ancient cemetery, the topic of this book (both are recognized as national heritage sites of Switzerland). Only three Jewish families live there currently, and the key to the ancient Jewish cemetery of the between Endingen and Lengnau can be received from the office of the Jewish retirement home in Lengnau. Meir Guggenheim [1828-1905], the renowned American Jewish philanthropist, one of the wealthiest men on Earth in the 19th century, patriarch of the American Guggenheim family, was born in Lengnau and immigrated from there to the United States when he was 19 years old.
Rabbi Dr. Asher Michael HaKohen [1862-1926] was the chief rabbi of Basel and one of the leaders of Swiss Jewry; a disciple of Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer. He corresponded in halachah with Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, and other rabbinic leaders of his generation. In 1897, Rabbi Cohen invited Herzl to hold the First Zionist Congress in his city, (hence Herzl’s immortal words, “I founded the Jewish state in Basel”). Rabbi Cohen took an active part in the Congress; he even spoke there. Rabbi Cohen was one of the initiators of Agudat Yisrael in Germany and participated in the founding conference of Agudat Yisrael in Katowice, and was the first speaker at the opening ceremony.
62, [2] pages + map, 22 cm. Fine condition. Abrasions and remains of a sticker on the binding.