BAUM, MENAḤEM MENDEL BEN AARON OF KAMENETZ

BAUM, MENAḤEM MENDEL BEN AARON OF KAMENETZ (1800?–1873), prominent member of the Ashkenazi community of Safed and Jerusalem, author of a travel book in Hebrew and Yiddish, and one of the first modern hoteliers in Ereẓ Israel. Baum was born in Kamenetz-Litovsk (Lithuania), but immigrated to Ereẓ Israel in 1833, settling in Safed, where he witnessed the anti-Jewish riots by the peasants who rebelled against Ibrahim Pasha (1834). He remained in Ereẓ Israel for a short period, visiting Tiberias, Jerusalem, and Hebron. He then traveled abroad both for personal economic considerations and also on a mission to collect funds for the community of Perushim (disciples of Elijah of Vilna) in Safed and Jerusalem. In 1842–43 he returned to Jerusalem and was active on behalf of the Grodno community (kolel). During this period he established a guesthouse, which evolved into the group of Kaminitz hotels of Jerusalem, Jaffa, and Hebron in the second half of the 19^th century, and which reached their heyday in the lifetime of his son Eliezer Lipa Kaminitz. Run by members of the family, they supplied hostelry services on a European standard.

His travel book Korot ha-Ittim li-Yshurun be-Ereẓ Yisrael (Hebrew, 1839; Yiddish translation, 1841) was intended to serve both as a guide for East European immigrants and as a chronicle of the peasant revolt of 1834, so as to arouse concern about the fate of the Ashkenazi community of Safed and to encourage financial contributions. The historical section is essentially a description of the events of 1834, and is an authentic historical document, as the author himself witnessed many of the events described. The other two sections of the book briefly depict the process of immigration, as experienced by the author, and give a detailed guide to the professional, economic, and cultural conditions of the country. These sections are of great value for the study of the lifestyle of the period. The style of the Hebrew edition is simple and straightforward. The language of the Yiddish version is more popular and the trend of prayer and lamentation in it is more prominent. Korot ha-Ittim was reprinted in Hebrew by Meir Anshin (1931) and with an introduction and notes by G. Kressel, Jerusalem (1946). A new edition of the first printings in both languages with an introduction and indexes was issued in Jerusalem, 1975.

bibliography:

Frumkin-Rivlin, Toledot ḥakhmei Yerushalayim,iii 269; P. Grajewski, Zikkaron la-ḥovevim ha-Rishonim 19; J. Trivaks and A. Steinmann, Sefer Me'ah Shanah (1938), 164–76; A. Yaari, Massa'ot Ereẓ Yisrael (1946), 532–45, 777; D. Tidhar, Enẓiklopediya le-Ḥaluẓei ha-Yishuv u-Vonav, ii, 560–61, iii, 1200–01, xviii, 5391–92, 5452–53.

[Israel Bar Tal (2^nd ed.)]