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Temerl Bergson

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Temerl Bergson
תמריל ברגסון
Born
Tamar
Died1830
Other namesTemerl Sonnenberg
Temerl Berekson
Known forPatroness and benefactress of PolishHasidicJews
Spouses
  • Jacob Jacobson
  • Berek Bergson
Children6
ParentAvraham ofOpoczno
RelativesMichał Bergson,Polish composer and pianist
Henri Bergson,French philosopher
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Temerl Bergson(also spelledTamarel;Hebrew nameTamar;[1]surname alternately Sonnenberg or Berekson;Hebrew:תמריל ברגסון,died 1830) was a Polish Jewish businesswoman. She was a supporter ofJewsliving inWarsawand patroness of theHasidicmovement in Poland. She was renowned for her largesse in her philanthropy toward Polish Hasidic leaders andtzadikim,and was said to have "distributed money like ashes".[2]Referred to as the "Doña Graciaof Hasidism ",[3]she is credited with the success of the Hasidic movement in Poland in the early 19th century.[4]

Early life and marriages

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Temerl's father, Avraham ofOpoczno,Poland, was said to be "learned and extremely wealthy".[2]She had a sister who married Rabbi Moshe Simcha of Opoczno.[5]

Temerl was married at a young age to Jacob Jacobson, a Warsaw merchant; they had one son, Hirsch, before Jacobson died.[2]The young widow remarried in February 1787[2]to Dov (Berek) Sonnenberg[6](1764–1822)[7]son of Shmuel Zbitkower. Berek changed his surname to Sonnenberg during thePrussian rule of Poland.[1]Like his father Shmuel, acourt Jewwho amassed a fortune by supplying both the Polish and Russian armies during thePartitions of Polandin the late 18th century,[8]Berek built up a personal fortune through his own government contracts.[7]He gave generously to Jewish causes[9][10]and was known as the "Rothschild of Polish Jewry".[6]

While Berek engaged in general Jewish philanthropy, his wife Temerl directed the couple's efforts to support the Hasidic movement in Poland.[9]Followers of RabbiYisroel Hopsztajn,the Maggid ofKozhnitz,[11]they donated generously to Hasidic causes, took hundreds of Hasidic Jews into their employ,[6][12]and made their home a meeting place for the movement's followers.[1]In 1807, the couple built the first Hasidicsynagogueandstudy hallin thePragasuburb of Warsaw.[13]The couple was honored by the Hasidic leaders of their day with their attendance at their children's weddings;[14][15]they also married their only daughter to a grandson ofShmelke of Nikolsburg.[16]

Business career

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In this Land, a life that was mighty among princes
To her nation she was a protector against oppression – a helper during distress.
To the poor she was a mother
She was a virtuous woman, powerful and famous.

Epitaph of Temerl Bergson[17]

After Berek's death, Temerl took over his business interests and also founded a bank.[2]She was one of the few Jews permitted to deal in real estate. In 1810 she had purchased a home in a street "technically forbidden to Jews", and was granted an exemption from the ghetto residence laws.[18]In 1827 she received permission from theRussian tsarto buy the estate of Jerzy deHesse-Darmstadt,making her only the third Jew in Poland permitted to own property beyond the ghetto walls.[18]

Her support of Hasidic leaders and tzaddikim also continued after her husband's death. Several impoverished Hasidic leaders reportedly rebuffed her efforts to assist them, including RabbiYitzchak Meir AlterofGerand RabbiMenachem Mendel of Kotzk,but RabbiSimcha Bunim of Peshischaand RabbiYitzchak of Vorkaaccepted her largesse.[19]Temerl hired the latter two tzadikim to help manage her business interests.[18][4]

Her philanthropy extended to non-Hasidic Polish Jews as well; she was praised by onemitnagid(Jewish opponent of Hasidism) as "the Polish Hasidah".[17]In 1818 she contributed close to 54,000rublesto a Warsaw community charity, and left 300,000złotysin her will to another local charity supporting the poor.[17]

She used her standing to influence the authorities to favor the Hasidim during the "anti-Hasidic investigations" of 1824 that were promulgated by members of theHaskalah(Jewish Enlightenment).[20]In one instance, she helped rescind an official order barring Hasidim from visiting the tzadikim by personally appealing to the governor of Warsaw.[21]Hasidic leaders accorded Temerl the honorificReb,a title traditionally given to men.[22]

Personal

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Temerl and Berek Bergson were both religious Jews; despite his wealth and government connections, Berek retained his beard,payot,and traditional dress.[23]The couple had four sons and one daughter.[10]Their sons Jacob, Leopold, and Michael later adopted the name Berekson (son of Berek).[1]

Among the descendants of Temerl and Berek Bergson were Joseph Bergson (1812–?), an instructor in medicine at theUniversity of Warsaw;Michał Bergson(1820–1898), a Polish composer and pianist; andHenri Bergson(1859–1941), a leadingFrench philosopherand winner of theNobel Prize in Literature.[1][24]

Legacy

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Her tombstone states: “In this Land, a life that was mighty among princes / To her nation she was a protector against oppression—a helper during distress. / To the poor she was a mother. / She was a virtuous woman, powerful and famous.”[22]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^abcdeGelber 2007.
  2. ^abcdeDynner 2008,p. 105.
  3. ^Rabinowicz 1961,p. 80.
  4. ^abAlfasi 1969,p. 149.
  5. ^Alfasi 1997,p. 216.
  6. ^abcRabinowicz 1996,p. 271.
  7. ^abDynner 2008,p. 99.
  8. ^Dynner 2008,p. 97.
  9. ^abDynner 2008,p. 104.
  10. ^abDawidowicz 1996,p. 353.
  11. ^Shapiro 2002,p. 218.
  12. ^Brayer 1986,p. 165.
  13. ^Dynner 2008,p. 102.
  14. ^Dynner 2008,p. 108.
  15. ^Bialystocki & Alfasi 1997.
  16. ^Dynner 2008,pp. 97–98.
  17. ^abcDynner 2008,p. 109.
  18. ^abcDynner 2008,p. 106.
  19. ^Dynner 2008,p. 107.
  20. ^Dynner 2008,pp. 109–110.
  21. ^Dawidowicz 1996,p. 98.
  22. ^abDynner 2010.
  23. ^Dynner 2008,p. 103.
  24. ^Shapiro 2002,p. 229.

Sources

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