Add introductory text here.
This is one specific case:
On page 25 Zonnenberg briefly describes the construction of a synagogue in Brest in 1411 with support of King Witold:.
Witold ordered in his decree of 25th September 1411 that clay
and bricks be provided, free of charge, to the
Brest Jews.
This date is suspect. It is not supported by any other source. In Ir Tehila, Rabbi Feinstein gives a credible account of an exactly parallel situation – 100 years later.
Zonnenberg gives us a minimal description of the synagogue:
A wonderful synagogue was built. It was famous
throughout Europe /2/. Its
architecture and graceful design aroused admiration among all
experts and envy among Poles at late as the XVI century.
Zonnenberg cites his source in his footnote /2/:
/2/ Georg
Gustav in Lehr-Buch,
Berlin 1766,
in von der Geographie says of Brest: Brest
mit einem Bisthume und berühmten synagoge der Juden.
(Brest,
with a Bishopric and Famous Synagogue of the Jews.)
Misled by Zonnenberg's mis-identification of the author as Georg Gustav, we eventually identified the source as Lehr-Buch, darin ein kurzgefasster Unterricht aus verschiedenen philosophischen und mathematischen Wissenschaften, der Historie und Geographie gegeben wird... (Instructional book in a concise lessons from different philosophical and mathematical sciences, history and geography is given...) by Gotthilf Christian Reccard, Berlin, 1766. Worldcat citation, viewable on-line here. Reccard is described here as a Protestant theologian, astronomer, and educator/administrator who worked in Berlin and Koenigsberg, East Prussia.
We found the text Brest
mit einem Bisthume und berühmten synagoge der Juden on Reccard's original page 572 in a listing of religious facilities in cities of Poland of the time, including also Vitebsk, Minsk, and Nowogrodek.
Zonnenberg rarely identifies his sources, and we are surprised that he cited this one, a textbook by a Protestant academic with no apparent connection to either Jews or Brest. Perhaps this demonstrates that Zonnenberg had access to no more relevant or weighty references about Brest Jewish history –besides Ir Tehila, authored by A. L. Feinstein, whose skills Zonnenberg strongly, broadly disparages. That's unusual, and does not add to Zonnenberg's credibility.
This is another specific case:
On page 103, at the end of the book Zonnenberg describes a Brest publisher named Dzentsl. Though clearly very familiar with Ir Tehila, Zonnenberg fails to note that Dzentsl is credited as promoter/financer/publisher of Ir Tehila.
Zonnenberg versus Rabbi Feinstein
In Chapter 13, Zonnenberg belittles Feinstein’s work. Feinstein does cite sources that before publication of the book in 1886 were much more difficult to find than in the span of years between 1886 and-1907 when Zonneberg’s book was published. Still Zonneberg Zonnenberg is not entirely faultless with citation of his sources. Link to 1511 Syngaogue. Feinstein made a huge effort to find a copy of the Pinkas of Va’ad HaMedina Lita and then extracted from the 1030 takanot those 56 takanot that pertain to Brest and add a great deal of information about its role in the Jewish self-government.
See also: Zonnenberg vs. Feinshtein-discussion.docx (on our shared cloud)
See also chapter 12: Zonnenberg speaks very kindly of Feinstein's public service.
