The images below have been collected from various individuals and researchers who have obtained (or taken) photographs of the Bircza area, or images relating to the community. At the right of the page, you will find an index for the photographs, separating them by category. Large pictures have been reduced in size to fit below; to view the full size, click on the photo. Information about the origin of the pictures (such as the photographer) is included below each one; these individuals own the rights to these images and must be contacted if you intend to distribute or reproduce them. If you have any images of this region, please contribute them to the website by contacting me. By pooling our resources, we can keep the spirit of qehīllat Bircza alive.
community documents and stamps
The following documents and lists can also be found, with detail and explanation on the Bircza area lists page. Click here to view the various lists.
Intervention letter issued by Rabbi Yitsḥaq Yehuda Shmeʿlqis (Isak Jehuda Schmelkes) of Przemyśl in 5644/1884, and seconded by Rabbi Yosef Mosheh (Jozef Mosze [Teichner]) of Żołynia (and Przemyśl [1860–1887]) and by Rabbi Ari Libish (Leibish) ha-Levi of Mościska [?], regarding the work of a new butcher (‘Mosheh’) in Bircza, operating without local rabbinical permission, which prohibits the purchase of meat from this unlicensed butcher. Other rabbis are signatories.
Public announcement regarding the marriage of Frida, the daughter of Bircza Rabbi Mordechai Shapira (Markus Spira), to Yaʿaqov Yitsḥaq (Jakób Isak), the son of ‘the righteous famous’ Rabbi Dov Beʾer Blandwayn (Blandwein) of Lwow, in Bircza on 17 Adar 5664/04 March 1904. The poem at the top of the document is an acrostic, spelling the names of both the bride (right column) and the groom (left column).
Title page of a Shulḥan ʿarukh, published in Sztetyn in 1863 (5624). This holy book was the property of the Bircza religious seminary (beyt ha-midrash), whose stamp is evident on the inside cover, along with signatures of various community members.
Title page of a Shulḥan ʿarukh (first volume), published in Warszawa (Warsaw) in 1895 (5655). This holy book was the property of the Bircza religious seminary (beyt ha-midrash), whose stamp is evident on the inside cover, along with the signature of a community member.
Polish business directory entry for the town of Bircza and the village of Stara Bircza, 1929. More information and detail on this document can be found here.
An article (in Polish) about Bircza from Nowe Horyzonty, written in the 1940s, which mentions the teacher and painter Antoni Rudawski. For more information about this remarkable Bircza teacher and painter, click here.