Siebengemeinden
The Siebengemeinden were seven Jewish communities located in Kismarton and its surrounding area. The groups are known as Sheva Kehillot in Hebrew.
History
The communities were established after 1670, when Paul I, 1st Prince Esterházy of Galántha accepted the Jews that had been expelled from Vienna by Leopold I.The Siebengemeinden were composed of communities in Kismarton, Nagymarton, Kabold, Lakompak, Boldogasszony, Köpcsény, and Sopronkeresztúr. All together there numbered around 3,000 Jews, who were predominantly of Orthodox Jewish persuasion.
The most pious lived in Nagymarton and Sopronkeresztúr, where there were important yeshivas. Another community developed in Nagymarton under the leadership of Rabbi Moses Sofer. All seven communities fell victim to the persecution of the Jews under the government of the National Socialists.
People
- Samson Wertheimer, chief rabbi of Hungary and Moravia, and rabbi of Kismarton
- Moses Sofer, rabbi of Nagymarton, 1798 - 1806
- Joseph Joachim, violinist, conductor, composer from Köpcsény