Temerl Bergson (also spelled Tamarel; Hebrew name
Tamar; surname alternately Sonnenberg or Berekson; he, תמריל ברגסון, died 1830) was a Polish Jewish businesswoman. She was a supporter of
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
living in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
and patroness of the
Hasidic movement in Poland. She was renowned for her largesse in her philanthropy toward Polish Hasidic leaders and
tzadik
Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...
im, and was said to have "distributed money like ashes". Referred to as the "
Doña Gracia of Hasidism", she is credited with the success of the Hasidic movement in Poland in the early 19th century.
Early life and marriages
Temerl's father, Avraham of
Opoczno
Opoczno ) is a town in south-central Poland, in eastern part of Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Piotrków Trybunalski Voivodeship (1975–1998). It has a long and rich history, and in the past it used to be one of the most importa ...
, Poland, was said to be "learned and extremely wealthy". She had a sister who married Rabbi Moshe Simcha of Opoczno.
Temerl was married at a young age to Jacob Jacobson, a Warsaw merchant; they had one son, Hirsch, before Jacobson died. The young widow remarried in February 1787 to Dov (Berek) Sonnenberg (1764–1822) son of Shmuel Zbitkower. Berek changed his surname to Sonnenberg during the
Prussian rule of Poland. Like his father Shmuel, a
court Jew
In the early modern period, a court Jew, or court factor (german: Hofjude, Hoffaktor; yi, היף איד, Hoyf Id, קאַורט פאַקטאַר, ''Kourt Faktor''), was a Jewish banker who handled the finances of, or lent money to, European, main ...
who amassed a fortune by supplying both the Polish and Russian armies during the
Partitions of Poland in the late 18th century, Berek built up a personal fortune through his own government contracts. He gave generously to Jewish causes and was known as the "Rothschild of Polish Jewry".
While Berek engaged in general Jewish philanthropy, his wife Temerl directed the couple's efforts to support the Hasidic movement in Poland. Followers of Rabbi
Yisroel Hopsztajn
Yisroel Hopstein (1737–1814), also known as the Maggid of Kozienice, Kozhnitz, was the founder of Kozhnitz (Hasidic dynasty), Kozhnitz Hasidism, and a noted ''hasidic'' leader in Poland during the late 18th and early 19th century. He was a stu ...
, the Maggid of
Kozhnitz, they donated generously to Hasidic causes, took hundreds of Hasidic Jews into their employ, and made their home a meeting place for the movement's followers. In 1807, the couple built the first Hasidic
synagogue and
study hall
Study hall, known as private study, SAS, structured study or free periods in the United Kingdom, is a term for a place to have a study time during the school day where students are assigned to study when they are not scheduled for an academic cl ...
in the
Praga
Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter.
History
The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...
suburb of Warsaw. The couple was honored by the Hasidic leaders of their day with their attendance at their children's weddings; they also married their only daughter to a grandson of
Shmelke of Nikolsburg.
Business career
After Berek's death, Temerl took over his business interests and also founded a bank. She was one of the few Jews permitted to deal in real estate. In 1810 she had purchased a home in a street "technically forbidden to Jews", and was granted an exemption from the ghetto residence laws. In 1827 she received permission from the
Russian tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
to buy the estate of Jerzy de
Hesse-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...
, making her only the third Jew in Poland permitted to own property beyond the ghetto walls.
Her support of Hasidic leaders and tzaddikim also continued after her husband's death. Several impoverished Hasidic leaders reportedly rebuffed her efforts to assist them, including Rabbi
Yitzchak Meir Alter
Yitzchak Meir Rotenberg-Alter ( yi, יצחק מאיר אלטער, pl, Icchak Meir Rothenberg Alter, he, יצחק מאיר אלתר) (1799 – 10 March 1866), was the first Rebbe of the Ger Hasidic dynasty, which he founded in the town of G ...
of
Ger and Rabbi
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk
Menachem Mendel Morgensztern of Kotzk, better known as the Kotzker Rebbe and the Kotzker (1787–1859) was a Hasidic rabbi and leader.
Life
Born to a non-Hasidic family in Goraj near Lublin, Poland, he became attracted to Hasidic philosophy in hi ...
, but Rabbi
Simcha Bunim of Peshischa
Simcha Bunim Bonhardt of Peshischa (Yiddish: שמחה בונם בונהרט פון פשיסכע, ; – September 4, 1827) also known as the Rebbe Reb Bunim was the second Grand Rabbi of Peshischa ( Przysucha, Poland) as well as one of the key le ...
and Rabbi
Yitzchak of Vorka accepted her largesse. Temerl hired the latter two tzadikim to help manage her business interests.
Her philanthropy extended to non-Hasidic Polish Jews as well; she was praised by one
mitnagid (Jewish opponent of Hasidism) as "the Polish Hasidah". In 1818 she contributed close to 54,000
ruble
The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union.
, currencies named ''rub ...
s to a Warsaw community charity, and left 300,000
złotys in her will to another local charity supporting the poor.
She used her standing to influence the authorities to favor the Hasidim during the "anti-Hasidic investigations" of 1824 that were promulgated by members of the ''
Haskalah
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...
'' (Jewish Enlightenment). In one instance, she helped rescind an official order barring Hasidim from visiting the tzadikim by personally appealing to the governor of Warsaw. Hasidic leaders accorded Temerl the honorific ''
Reb'', a title traditionally given to men.
Personal
Temerl and Berek Bergson were both religious Jews; despite his wealth and government connections, Berek retained his beard, ''
payot
''Pe'ot'', anglicized as payot ( he, פֵּאוֹת, pēʾōt, "corners") or payes (), is the Hebrew term for sidelocks or sideburns. Payot are worn by some men and boys in the Orthodox Jewish community based on an interpretation of the Tanakh's ...
'', and traditional dress. The couple had four sons and one daughter. Their sons Jacob, Leopold, and Michael later adopted the name Berekson (son of Berek).
Among the descendants of Temerl and Berek Bergson were Joseph Bergson (1812–?), an instructor in medicine at the
University of Warsaw
The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields o ...
;
Michał Bergson (1820–1898), a Polish composer and pianist; and
Henri Bergson (1859–1941), a leading
French philosopher and winner of the
Nobel Prize in Literature.
Legacy
Her tombstone states: “In this Land, a life that was mighty among princes / To her nation she was a protector against oppression—a helper during distress. / To the poor she was a mother. / She was a virtuous woman, powerful and famous.”
References
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergson, Temerl
18th-century Polish Jews
Jewish philanthropists
Polish philanthropists
Polish women in business
Businesspeople from Warsaw
Year of birth unknown
1830 deaths
19th-century Polish businesspeople
19th-century businesswomen
People from Opoczno