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240 ;

A^ram Agricultural Colonies

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

anil formed iinotluT cunsiiciriition. In tlic rnoari tinip political qucstionsocfupiid llii' attention of the community. The united conjirejiations of the kiniriioni

of Croatia (Aaram, Kreutz. Wanisdin. and Sissek) petitioned the Hungarian parliament to ;;rant tlicm the franchise, but their jietition was rejected. The year of the revolution. 1^<4X. witnessed insiiiniticaiit rioting in Ajrram. in spite of which the Jews aliiliated with the Croatian party, and some of them also served in the army that fought against the Hungarians. In 18.")0 the keeping of records of birlhs, inarriages. and deaths was introduced, and the school, which had grown to such an extent that it required live teachers to instruct thcclassi'S, was reorganized. The conservative (larty of the comnuinity continued its .separate organization, altlmugli in 1S.")2 the governor had ordered it to disband, and threatened to punish every attempt at .scces.sion. But in opjiosition the archbishop, George Haulik, encouraged the conservatives, granting them a lot for a cemetery

and a new synagogue. Four years later both congregations luiited and formed a new organization which lasted initil ISOT. when the introduction into the synagogue of an organ caused another secession of the conservative members. In tli<' nunMlimi' the political conditions of the community had been im])roved by the right to own real estate, which was grjinted them in 1800, but a petition for full franchise, repeated in 18fil. was again rejected. It was not until 1873 that the diet of Croatia granted the Jews full rightsas citizens. Subseciuently anotherattempt was made to bring the two congregations together. but as the small orthodo.v congregation demanded the maintenance of a separate synagogue, a sliohct, and a l.iazan, the ctfort was unsuccessful. However, in 1879 the government recognized the orthodox congregation as forming a separate organization, which was. however, not able to erect a modern building until 1897.

The following figures illustrate the steady growth of the commiuiity There were only thirty-two contributing members in 1833; in eight 3'ears this number increased to forty-five, and five years later to sixty-two. In 1899 five hundred and thirty-two Tuenibers represented about two thousand persons comprising the community. Thisabuormal increase is explained by large accessions from Hungary. Bohemia, and Moravia. Still the growth does not seem to have been as rapid as these figures would indicate, as ])robablythe number of families forming the community was considerably greater than might be inferred from the number of members contributing toward the synagogue, especially as the number of families paying the special Jew tax in 1843 is given as one hundred and four. This tax was a heavy burden on the congregation, both from a material as well as from a moral point of view. In vain did the congregation protest against it. In 1838 the tax amounted to 718 silver Horins (about In 1843 it increased to 800 florins, at S3.59. or £72). which time the income of the congregation was only 1,075 florins, or §.537. This income' rose to 20.0(H) florins (.SIO.OOO. or £2.000) in 1899. and the value of the real estate owned bv the congregation is appraised at 10(1.000 florins "(S.50. 000, or £10.000). The occupations followed by the members of the community are varied. Twelve lawyers and fifteen physicians practi.se in the city, and different manufactures and trades afford employment to numbers of Jewi.sh merchants, mechanics, and clerks. The school of the commimity is attended b)' 240 children, and 2(50 Jewish children are admitted to the public schools. Besides its private school, the congrega:

240

tion maintains a separate school for religious instruction. Talmud Tondi and a Hi''jra Kadisha (burial society) were established in 1818, and there exist to-day also a ladies' .society- and a charitable association called Gemilut Hesed. The following persons have offlciatcd as rabbis at Agnim: Aaron Palota up to 1840: J. Goldman, 1840-5(1. when he became a ccmvert to Christianity L. Hokonstein. ls.")-.58. anil Dr. Hosea Jacobi since 18(i7. The last is the author of text -books for religious instruction written in the Croatian language.

A

G. 8.

AORABIAIf LAWS



With the settlement of

ill (':iiiu;iii. und the conseiiuent transfrom their formir nomadic mode of life to agricultural conditions, fixed tenure of landed property

the lsi:irlit(s ition

became a natural institution. At the Fixed time of the consolidation of the monTenure of archy. not only each tribe but each clau Land. and each household was permanently settled

upon some

well-defined, larger

or smaller, area. The estate passed, through inheritance, from father to son: where the sentiment of filial affection was particularly strong, it was not liermitlid to become the pos.session of a stranger, as is shown in I Kings, xxi. 3. "The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee"; otherwise, there was nothing in the way of disposing of it by sale (Gen, xxiii, 9). or barter (I Kiugs,xxi.2).orgift(Gen. xxiii. 11). Whenevertlu? sale of an estate became necessary (as in the ca.se of poverty), in accordance with an ancient custom, the next of kin enjoyed the privilege of preemption ("the right of redemption.'' Jer. xxxii. 7: Hutli. iv. 3,4). According to the older accounts preserved in the Bible, for examide. Judges, i.. the coniiuest of Canaan was gradual and protracted indeeil, it was not completed before the reign of Solomon. Moreover, the invasions were made by the tribes singly: there was apparently at no time anything like a concentrated effort. Each invading honle naturally st'ttled on the territory it conquered. But nothing is known about the manner in which the land was parceled out among the individual clans or households. The information contained in Joshua, chaps, xiii. et Her/., is based upon the theory that the conquest of the greater part of the country was Distrithe work of one generation under the bution of leadership of Joshua, who. before his Land. death, distributed the land by lot among the various tribes in shares proportionate to the number of souls constituting each hou.sehold. The tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, to whom the country east of the Jordan had been assigned by Jloses, were permitted to return to their homes. Special cities, forty -eight in number, scattered through the country, were allotted to the Levites. All this agrees in detail with the instructions which are found in the closing chapters of Numbers (xxxii. -xxxvi.), and which is assumed to belong to the later strata of the Priestly Code; they are probably nothing but the result of the unhistorical reflection of after times. It is clearly provided (Num. xxxvi. 9) that in no case may land be transferred from one tribe to another. Somewhat older and quite idealistic in the expectation of miraculously altered geograiihical conditions is the plan of allotment adopted by the prophet Ezekiel in the constitution he outlines for the restored people (Ezek. xlv. et seq.). With the exception of a reservation for the Temple and its ministers (priests and Levites) and for the domain of the prince, the whole country is divided by the prophet into twelve