The Noda B’Yehuda’s Takanos for Spending on Luxuries.
Prague, 1767
List of takanos instituted by Rabbi Yechezkel Landau, Av Beis Din of Prague and author of the Noda B’Yehuda, together with the Prague Beis Din, limiting extravagances at celebrations and luxuries that were becoming commonplace among the Jewish community in Prague at the time.
These takanos were officially announced and read aloud in shuls throughout the Jewish community of Prague on Shabbos Parshas Tetzaveh, 1767. They were subsequently published, presumably at the Noda B’Yehuda’s request, in this present pamphlet.
The takanos are highly detailed and relate to a wide range of practices at the time. Among the takanos is a limit to the number of guests one may host at a bris seudah, bar mitzvah, engagement and wedding; a specific menu that may be served at the affair; and set payment to waiters, which precludes the practice of tipping waiters.
The enforcement of these regulations was entrusted to a supervisory committee, and violators were subject to monetary fines or imprisonment.
The present takanos also include regulations concerning permissible behavior in public areas both inside and outside the ghetto, aimed at preventing competition among Jews and jealousy from non-Jews. For example: walking sticks were to be used only by the elderly, specific guidelines were established for carriage travel, and stipulations were made regarding the attire and fashion of women.
The last leaf bears the printed signatures and affirmations of the Noda B’Yehuda, Rabbi Meir Fischeles, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Emrich, other community Rabbanim and dignitaries, and the supervisory board, with a total of 32 signatures.
The Noda B’Yehuda dedicated great efforts to ensure the socioeconomic and financial well-being of his community and congregants. Several of his drashos include compelling words of rebuke regarding luxuries, extravagances and breaches in modesty which are all addressed in the present takanos (see Drashos Noda B’Yehuda Hashalem, Drush 1, 7, 28, 29).
Prague, 1767. Written entirely in Yiddish-German. Page Count: [5] leaves.
Page Size: 17 x 21 cm.
Condition: Good with new binding.
Bibliography: Giznei Yisrael, Mehlmann Collection #1663.
The takanos are translated into Lashon Hakodesh and appear in Mofes Hador (Pietrekov, 1934 Ch. 6).
For a detailed list of the takanos, see Berenstein, M. Takanos Bei Yiddein Kegen Luxus Un Oisbrengerei. Yarbuch, 1956; Fun Der Yiddisher Kehillah in Buenos Aires, 1955 pgs. 13-14.
