1826

This Machzor, a prayerbook for the Jewish High Holidays, was printed in Hebrew and in German translation with Hebrew letters in Vienna in 1826 by Anton Schmid. Originally owned by Rabbi Joseph Lerner’s educated and, according to Munk family lore,“strikingly beautiful” daughter Miriam Felsenburg (née Lerner), the Machzor was passed down through four matrilineal generations of the family. A note in the book, written by Miriam in Yiddish, records the death of her eldest daughter, Chaile Felsenburg, in 1842. Inscribed on the leather binding is the married name of Miriam’s granddaughter Hadassah Munk (Mrs. Jonás Pollák) and, inside the book, a note by Miriam’s great-granddaughter Gizella Pollák. According to Hadassah, Miriam read the weekly Torah portion in German with her granddaughters every Saturday.