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| Sefarim printed by the Helicz brothers on paper with an unusual watermark. |
INTRODUCTION:
An interesting question is: What is more influential in
shaping Jewish ideology - books or theology? Obviously, there is an overlap
because you cannot have religious books without an underlying theology, but does
theology create the need for books or do books inspire the theology?[1]
The stories behind the emergence of various sefarim
or religious books (including the well-known Shulchan Aruch[2])
and their early reception, are indeed fascinating. It was never easy or
affordable to publish books and often there was some degree of intrigue as to
who got their books printed. Popular Jewish printing enterprises to this very day
hold huge sway on the popular religious mindset.
This article, based extensively on the research by Magda Teter and Edward Fram[3], focuses on the three Helicz (הֶעֶלִיץ) brothers who started the first Jewish printing business in Poland in 1534. We trace the humble beginnings of their printing business to its failure, and then to its surprising subsequent rise to success, and investigate the dynamics of that series of events.
THE STORY:
The three Helicz brothers - Shmuel, Asher and Elyakim -
began a modest printing venture in the early days after the invention of the
printing press. Within the first year they published five works; a Halachic book
entitled Sha’arei Dura and four of the first Yiddish books ever to be
printed. A year later, because their press could not sustain them financially,
they walked away from their printing business.
Three years later, however, they were back in business. This
time they were producing substantial and important rabbinic works.
During the intervening three years, the three brothers had
converted to Christianity and now went by the names Paul, Andreas, and Johannes
Helicz.
It had been believed that the brothers converted to
Christianity due to Christian persecution of the Jews in Cracow but, as Teter
and Fram explain:
“…newly uncovered archival
sources suggest that the story of their conversion may not be a reflection of
Christian pressures on Jews but rather of personal beliefs and the vicissitudes
of the sixteenth-century publishing business.”
Or as they say more bluntly in a footnote:
“the reasons for the brothers’
conversion were tied to problems in the business.”
It seems that the Helicz brothers expected their earlier
printing of Sha’arei Dura (also known as Issur veHetter), the Halachic work by R. Yitzchak ben
Meir of Dura (or Dueren) to be a best seller as it was a popular handbook on
the laws of kashrut (keeping kosher) and on nashim.
According to Encyclopaedia Judaica:
“Sha'arei Dura was first
published in Cracow in 1534. Since then it has been republished ten times with
the addition of many glosses and commentaries by the greatest talmudists in
each generation, among them Israel Isserlein, Solomon Luria, Elijah Loans, and
Nathan Spiro. These glosses, as well as those of the scholars who preceded
Israel Isserlein, were sometimes indiscriminately incorporated into the text, so
that it is difficult, without the aid of manuscripts, to determine the original
content of the book, a critical edition of which is still lacking. The book was
regarded with such sanctity that Ḥayyim b. Bezalel, brother of Judah Loew of Prague,
complains about Moses Isserles' daring to deviate in his Torat Ḥattat from
the order of Sha'arei Dura.”[4]
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| Torat haChatat (Treatise on the Laws of Kashrut) by R. Moshe Isserless. Published by Yitzchak ben Aharon Prostitz, 1569. |
Teter and Fram point out just how popular the Sha'arei Dura was:
“A search of the electronic
catalogue of the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts at the Jewish
National and University Library in Jerusalem lists almost 100 manuscripts of
the work, plus commentaries, abridgements, and indexes, almost all of which
predate 1534.”
It seems, therefore that the brothers did their research and
expected to draw their dividends, but they were to be disappointed when the
book did not sell as well as they thought it would.
Another of the Helicz brothers’ first printings that they
thought would be successful sellers was the Yiddish handbook for women entitled
Azharat Nashim, by R. David Kohen, which dealt with the laws of niddah,
challah and candle lighting. They thought that this book would sell due
to an expected demand from women who lived in more rural areas away from
rabbinic authorities. Also, most Jews in Poland at that time spoke and read
Yiddish, not Hebrew, so their target market was quite extensive.
It was more expensive to produce books in Yiddish than in
Hebrew because, although both languages used the same basic Hebrew alphabet, it
was believed that Yiddish required its own unique font so as to differentiate
it from the Hebrew which was regarded as the “holy tongue”. The Yiddish font
was known by the unfortunate designation, “veibertaitsh“ or “women’s
translation”. This would have referred to the language of the unscholarly
men as well, who could only read and speak Yiddish, not Hebrew.
Most of the other printing businesses from that era - such
as Daniel Bomberg in 1516-7 [see: Kotzk
Blog: 193) DANIEL BOMBERG –THE STORY BEHIND THE TZURAS HADAF:] - began with
much larger works, such as the Chumash (Pentateuch) with over 200
folios. This indicates that the Helicz brothers were more financially
challenged and unable to invest large amounts of capital in their business
venture. Their strategy was therefore to publish works that had not been
published before so as to reduce the competition. Although they were the only
Hebrew publishing house in Poland, there was fierce competition from the major
Hebrew presses in Prague and Italy. This is why their early publications were,
intentionally, practical handbooks and not large canonical works. Also, their
products were relatively cheap compared to the other larger printing houses.
Notwithstanding all their market research and thorough
preparation, their strategy failed and, as mentioned, the Helicz press closed a
year later in 1535. Within three years the brothers (and a sister as well as
other family members) converted to Catholicism.
Majer Bałaban, who recorded the history of this period[5], maintained that the family was coerced to
convert because of persecutions and pressure from the powerful and influential
Bishop of Cracow, Piotr Gamrat. This appears to have been the prevailing view
until recently when it was shown that Piotr Gamrat was only appointed Bishop of
Cracow on July 29, 1538, which was years after the conversions took place.
Paul Helicz was personally responsible for arranging the
baptism of thirteen or fourteen Jews to Catholicism, and on that same day King
Sigismund I granted him the monopoly on the import and sale of all Hebrew books
in Poland. They were also given money as well as a piece of ground on which to
build a house. While it is difficult to ascertain what motivates people in
their hearts, it does seem that these were all enticing incentives for
conversion, especially considering their past financial failures in the
printing business and their disappointment that their own people did not
support them.
Soon, with a new cash injection, the Helicz brothers
re-established their printing business, but this time with a difference – they
no longer only produced the smaller Yiddish handbooks but began printing major
rabbinic works just like the large Hebrew presses of Venice.
Thus, we see that around 1539, prestigious works like
the Arba’ah Turim with over 500 folios, were produced. The brothers were
able to do this because they were also given access to new sources of paper.
Teter and Fram explain:
“All of the Helicz brothers’
books that had been published while they were Jews had been printed on generic
paper stock that had very simple watermarks reflecting only the wires and
chains used in the production of the paper. As Christians, however, they were
able to purchase better-quality paper with distinguishable watermarks.”
And interestingly:
“The vast majority of the
paper used by the brothers in the production of their postconversion books
published for the Jewish community had a double-cross watermark, the stock of
paper that had been used for some time by both the Cathedral Chapter in Cracow
and the bishop’s office.”
The double-cross watermark, clearly visible, represented the
Duchaków (Holy Spirit) monastic order and was used by the mill which produced
the paper because it operated on lands belonging to that order.
However, despite all the finances and contacts made
available to the Helicz brothers, they ran into an unforeseen problem. Jews
refused to buy books from them.
Teter and Fram continue:
“Struggling to sell their
stock of books, the brothers resorted to deception.”
They decided to backdate their printed work to 1532 which
was prior to their apostacy. But the good quality double-cross printing paper
was a give-away to the perceptive eye.
Additionally:
“On December 31, 1539, King
Sigismund I responded to the brothers’ pleas and issued a decree forcing the
Jewish communities of Cracow, Poznań, and “Russia” (Lwów) to purchase all of
the remaining inventory of Hebrew books held by Paul, Andreas, and Johannes
Helicz and to divide the costs evenly among themselves…
[T]he brothers had in their
inventory 800 mahִzorim,
850 copies of selihִot,
500 copies of the Tur, 400 yozִerot, 200 copies of a minhagim book, 300 Pentateuchs, 300
small siddurim, 300 large-format zemirot books, and 200 zemirot in a small
format—in all, 3,850 books, valued by a royal committee at 1,600 florins.”
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| Responsa literature published by the Helicz press. |
The Helicz brothers were again given another injection of funding, but unwilling to take any chances, they began to produce works for the Christian community and - not forgetting their original birth community - in 1540 they even printed a Yiddish translation of the New Testament. The work was dedicated to the Bishop of Cracow, Piotr Gamrat. According to Encyclopedia Judaica, Paul "became a Catholic missionary among Polish Jews".
But this is not the end of the story:
In 1551, a printer in Constantinople published a vocalized
version of the Torah with Rashi’s commentary. On the title page the following
inscription was to be found:
“… Do not call me Shemu’el…but
rather Shevu’al (who has returned to God (she-shav le-’el) …
After my return [to Judaism],
I considered what to do. I said that this [i.e., printing the Bible] will bring
me relief from my deeds and the toil of my hands.”
That printer, then living in Constantinople, was non-other
than Paul (or Shevu’al) Helicz.
[1] We
see this debate reflected in the Scholarly analysis of the causes of the
Sabbatian movement: According to Scholem, Lurianic Kabbalah gave rise to expectations
of messianic redemption and therefore must be viewed as a cause –
whereas according to more recent research by scholars like Moshe Idel and Matt
Goldish, the interest in Kabbalah increased as a result of the popularity
of the Sabbatian movement.
[3] Magda
Teter and Edward Fram, “Apostasy, Fraud, and the Beginnings of Hebrew printing
in Cracow” (2006).
[4] Encyclopaedia Judaica, under the entry: Dueren, Isaac Ben Meir.
[5] Majer
Bałaban, (July 1929), “Zur Geschichte der Hebräischen Drukkereien in Polen,” Soncino-Blätter
3, no. 1:
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