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.
Story of a walk taken by Mrs. Mózesné Miriam Felsenburg in her maiden days, as conveyed by her granddaughter, Hadassah Munk
Hadassah recalled that Grandmother Miriam would entertain her grandchildren (Debora, Hanele, and Hadassah) with stories from her youth while they were sitting around the dinner table on Saturday afternoons. Miriam was the daughter of the respected rabbi of Lichtenstadt, Joseph Lerner. The family was so eager to protect her reputation that when she took a walk in the park, she was flanked by two women, with another woman walking in front of her. Once two yeshiva students saw her on her customary walk and one of them vowed to kiss her. No sooner said than done! The man approached her from the back, quickly kissed her and ran away. Both students were kicked out of the yeshiva by Miriam’s father, and from then on, the third chaperon walked behind her.
(Source: Bernát Munkácsi’s notes on family history. Sefer yihotenu II.; information provided by Mrs, Jónásné Pollák, née. Hadassah Munk)