Mordecai Marcus Meisel ( cs, Miška Marek Majzel; 1528,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

– 13 March 1601, Prague) was a philanthropist and communal leader in

Biography

Born to the Meisel family. In 1542 and 1561 his family, with the other Jewish inhabitants, was forced to leave the city, though only for a time. The source of the great wealth which subsequently enabled him to become the benefactor of his coreligionists and to aid the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n imperial house, especially during the Turkish wars, is unknown. He is mentioned in documents for the first time in 1569, as having business relations with the communal director Isaac Rofe (Lékarz), subsequently his father-in-law. His first wife, Eva, who died before 1580, built with him the Jewish Town Hall in Prague, which is still standing and serves today as the headquarters of the Czech Jewish Community, as well as the neighboring High Synagogue, where the Jewish court sat. With his second wife, Frummet, he built (1590–92) the

Maisel Synagogue Maisel Synagogue ( cs, Maiselova synagoga) is one of the historical monuments of the former Prague Jewish quarter. It was built at the end of the 16th century which is considered to be the golden age of the ghetto. Since then its appearance has c ...

, which was much admired by the Jews of the time, being, next to the Altneusynagoge, the metropolitan synagogue of the city; it still bears his name. The costly golden and silver vessels with which he and his wife furnished this building either were lost during the lawsuit over his estate or were burned during the conflagrations in the

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

on 21 June 1689 and 16 May 1754. The only gifts dedicated by Meisel and his wife to this synagogue that have been preserved are a curtain (''paroket'') embroidered with hundreds of pearls, a similarly adorned wrapper for the scroll of the Law, and a magnificent bronze ornament for the ''almemar''. Jacob Segre, rabbi of Casale Monferrato, celebrated the dedication of the synagogue in a poem which is still extant, and his contemporary

David Gans David Gans ( he, דָּוִד בֶּן שְׁלֹמֹה גנז; ‎1541–1613), also known as Rabbi Dovid Solomon Ganz, was a Jewish chronicler, mathematician, historian, astronomer and astrologer. He is the author of "Tzemach David" (1592 ...

, the chronicler of Prague, has described in his ''Tzemach Dawid'' the enthusiasm with which the Jewish population received the gift. Meisel went on to build quarters and provide housing for Jews who migrated from what is now modern-day

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

References

JewishEncyclopedia
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Meisel, Mordecai Marcus Czech Orthodox Jews Court Jews 16th-century Bohemian people 1528 births 1601 deaths 16th-century businesspeople of the Holy Roman Empire Businesspeople from Prague