Brisk. Our community is very ancient. It was always glorious for its wealth and honor and its renowned sages, etc.

Because of various events, it regressed in its glory and honor and it had been hibernating for a long time: disorder in synagogue, in the cemetery, in the shelter home for the aged; the number of Torah students has dwindled, and there is lack of enlightment.

However, in the past 10 years, our community has come alive since aluf Arye Leib Feinshtein was elected as gabai and leader in the hospital and in the Great Synagogue. He introduced many improvements: He built a shelter home for weak and poor old people. He built a stone fence around the cemetery. He very actively supported the renovation of the Great Synagogue and also built a most glorious new synagogue. He introduced order in the community affairs. His efforts contributed to the appointment of gaon R' Yosef Ber Soloveitzik as AB"D by our community. He did all that and succeeded despite his rivals and those who are jealous of him.

Unfortunately, it is now more than a year that the situation of our community has changed for the worse. Some rough youth slandered and libeled this honorable aluf to such an extent that he stopped his activity.

We hope Rabbi Feinshtein will not leave us. We hear that his book Ir Tehila has been published and the book tells of the history of our town and its glorious days, pays tribute to the sages and rabbis since it was founded, the takanot introduced over the years, the decrees and regulations of the kingdom and government. At the end of the book there is an addendum booklet Ma'ase Vekheshbon [Deeds Done and Accounts] which records all the construction done in our town throughout its history. This hopefully will move the leaders of our community to follow these deeds and stop all quarrels and disputes. We will see in our time peace and order and the renewed honored status of our community and it will be praised by all of the other Jewish communities.

--ZR"H