Epitaphs

The main purpose of the epitaph was to appease the soul of the deceased in heaven and join it with the collective souls of the Jewish people. That is why one of the replacement words for the word "died" is "joined [his people]", and the wish "May his/her soul be tied in the Knot of Life [along with the souls of the forefathers and the righteous]" became an obligatory component of the epitaph. The Jewish epitaph enumerates the virtues of the deceased so that they may be counted by the Heavenly Court. Epitaphs on Jewish tombstones are not addressed to casual passers-by and do not serve as a reminder of the impermanence of existence and the need for repentance, as in Christian Necropolistics. The Jewish epitaph, if addressed to a living person, assumes that after reading it, the passer-by will thereby read a memorial prayer for the deceased. These features determine the content and structure of Jewish epitaphs.

Traditionally, Jewish epitaphs are written in Hebrew. In ancient Jewish cemeteries it is rare to see inscriptions in other languages, with the exception of the established and regularly used Aramaic expressions. Epitaphs in Yiddish are also practically not found, since Yiddish was the language of everyday life. Hebrew was the language of the sacred books and the realities behind them, so it made it possible to compare the deceased with the heroes of the sacred books. However, as soon as the compilers of epitaphs had a need to indicate something unrelated to the sacred books on the monument (to write a surname or the name of a place), they had to use the Yiddish orthography.

At the Hlukhiv Jewish cemetery, the epitaphs on the ancient tombstones are written mainly in Hebrew. Bilingual inscriptions and inscriptions composed entirely in Russian begin to appear on tombstones of the beginning of the 20th century. In the period 1900-1917, such epitaphs at the Hlukhiv Jewish cemetery are rather an exception to the rule and are found on the tombstones of secularly educated Jews who departed from Jewish traditions. There is only one tombstone of the 19th century, the inscriptions on which are written in Russian. In the Soviet period, until the beginning of the 1970s, bilingual inscriptions were regularly present on the monuments of the Hlukhiv Jewish cemetery. Gradually, the knowledge of Hebrew came to naught, and the inscriptions on all later tombstones were written in Russian.

The main components of a Jewish epitaph are: the initial formula, the name of the buried person, the date of death and the final formula.

Hebrew epitaphs use the phrases זה עמבה של "this tombstone belongs to [so-and-so]", פה נטמן "He rests here", as well as פה ניקבר עבורה "the sign of the burial monument", ח' צ'ון לנפש "the sign living soul", עד הגל הזא אעדה עמבה "this hill is a witness and this monument is a witness", בזו המארה "in this cave", etc. In the Hlukhiv Jewish cemetery, in most cases, the initial formula is the abbreviation פ''נ, which means "He rests here" or "He is buried here."

Next, the name of the deceased is indicated in its "official form", that is, in the form in which a person was summoned to the Torah, it was recorded in a ketubah or gett and represented the formula "son of such / daughter of such and such". One's own name or father's name was preceded by a "title" or form of polite address - מורנו הרב "our teacher rabbi" or הרב רבי "reb/rabbi". Subsequently, the address רבי "rabbi" ceased to mean an ordained rabbi, but could refer to almost any adult man. To distinguish a more learned person, the formulas "ha-rav, rabbi" began to appear, מוהר''ר "moharar" = "moreynu ha-rav, rabbi" ("our teacher, rav, rabbi"), ה''ה מוהר' 'ר "hah moharar" = "ha-rav, rabbi, moreinu ha-rav, rabbi". On women's tombstones, marat "Ms" could be indicated. At the Hlukhiv Jewish cemetery, in most cases, only the initial of the address "rabbi" was indicated as a "title". If the deceased was an unmarried person, then the words בחור "young man", בתולה "girl", ילד "child" are used. After the deceased's own name in a Jewish epitaph, the name of the father follows, and for women, often and / or the name of the husband. The father's name is followed by a formula of benevolence, usually ז''ל "blessed be his memory" if the father is dead, and יצ''ו "may the Almighty guard and preserve him" if the father is still alive. All these standard formulas are known from Talmudic literature.

Surnames were rarely recorded on traditional Jewish tombstones. Since the majority of Ukrainian Jews received them only in the 19th century, they were not reflected in Jewish traditions and culture. For a long time, Jews used surnames only for secular, state, non-Jewish documents and for contacts with the authorities. The only exceptions were the surnames of noble rabbinic families, family nicknames that later became surnames (סגל "Segal", כץ "Kats"), as well as an indication that the buried belonged to the Kohen or Levites. In the majority of Jewish cemeteries in Ukraine, actual surnames begin to appear in the 19th century. This pattern is also present at the Jewish cemetery in the town of Hlukhiv. Surnames on tombstones of the 19th century at the Hlukhiv cemetery are indicated in approximately 30% of cases. It should be noted that in the bilingual epitaphs of the beginning of the 20th century, the surname is most often present only in the Russian version of the inscription.

The date of death is indicated according to the Jewish calendar; in addition, the number of the month and the year ("according to the small calendar", that is, without indicating the millennia, which is indicated by the abbreviation לפ''ק) are written in letters with the corresponding numerical value. In addition, the year may be indicated by highlighting the letters in the Bible quotation with apostrophes, periods, ticks, or other means. To find out the year of death, you should add up the numerical values of the highlighted letters. Sometimes you need to add up the numerical value of all the letters included in the phrase that means the year. If the day of death fell on a holiday, semi-holiday, fast, the beginning of the month or the day before, then instead of the number, the name of this day is indicated in the epitaph. The month of Av often has the epithet מנחם אב "the Comforter of Av", which is accepted for the dating of mourning events. Sometimes the day of the week is given, especially if it is Saturday, such as שבט קודש or ש''ק "Holy Saturday." The date can be given both in the middle of the text and at the very beginning. Usually, the date is preceded by the word נפתר "he died" or נפטרה "she died". Epitaphs can contain more detailed information about the cause of death. For example, from an illness, an accident, an epidemic (מגפה) or a violent death. In the latter case, the formula ה'ינקס בדמו "God will avenge his blood" is possible. On the gravestones of the victims of the Jewish pogrom of 1918 at the Hlukhiv cemetery, the date of death is marked with שנהרג "killed".

The final formula of most Jewish epitaphs is the abbreviation תנצב''ה "May his/her soul be tied in the Knot of Life." This wish formula is borrowed from the Yizkor memorial prayer, which says: "May his soul be tied in the Knot of Life together with the souls of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rivka, Rachel and Leah and other righteous people". The Talmud says that with these words the angels greet the souls of the righteous who ascend to heaven. It is this abbreviation that completes the vast majority of epitaphs on the tombstones of the Hlukhiv Jewish cemetery. Also, the abbreviations יעמ''ש "may there be peace on his (her) bed" or נבג''ע "his soul is in the Garden of Eden" can be used as the final formula of the epitaph.

However, often epitaphs are not exhausted only by the main components.

Often before one's own name in a Jewish epitaph there is a description of the virtues of the deceased. By them, to a certain extent, it is possible to determine the level of learning of the representatives of the Jewish community and the ideal that prevailed at that time in the Jewish environment. Moral traits come to the fore. Biblical righteous people were considered role models. For men's tombstones, the most common variant of the positive characterization of the deceased was יש תם וישר "a person blameless and honest (just)". In the studies of M. Nosonovsky, the following lists of the virtues and merits of the deceased are mentioned: ירא אלקים וסר מרע "God-fearing and who avoided evil", יש צדיק ותמים "a righteous and blameless person", יש נקבוד "an honourable person". God-fearing, love of God, and righteousness were valued above all in those times, therefore the following expressions were found in the texts of epitaphs: יש ירא שמים "a man who fears the heavens", הרדה לדבר הי דר עשרה ראשונים "was in the synagogue from the first ten" (language refers to the early morning minyan), איש אשר אהב את יה' בכל לבבו בכלנ "loved the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his strength." Along with this, the charity of the deceased, his help to the poor, was noted in the epitaphs: גמל חסד לעניים "he did mercy for the poor", מלחמו נתן לדל "he gave from his bread to the poor". The fate of the deceased in the life of the community was spoken in the epitaph by the expressions דרש טוב כל עמיו "he sought good for all his people" and נודע בשערים "known in the gates". The honesty of the deceased in business affairs was marked by the formulas: נשא ונתן באמונים "engaged in trade in honesty" and איש אמונים "faithful man". Learning and knowledge of the Torah have always been valued in Jewish circles and are also regularly noted in epitaphs. In this case, the formulas were used: עסק תורה "was engaged in the Torah", האמיד מציצים חלון "had many students", חריפ ובקי "perceptive and knowledgeable" ישמח אב בן חחח "a wise son pleases his father".

On women's gravestones, the most common laudatory formula of the epitaph is אשה מעשוע וצנועה (sometimes נקבודה) "a woman highly respected and modest (respected)". Quotations from the book of Mishlei 31:10-31, which contain a description of a "virtuous wife" were often used as a description of the merits of the deceased in the epitaphs: ממשפשות הביאה לחמה "brings her bread from afar", כפה חה לאביון "She stretches out her hand to the poor and stretches out her hands to the beggar", פיה פתחה בחכמה “she opens her lips with wisdom”, קמו בניה ויאשרוה “her children rise up and praise her”, אשהיראתה “a woman who fears the Lord”, יהללוה ב שערים מעשיה “her deeds will glorify her in the gates (of the city)” and others. God-fearing חרדה לדבר ה "trembling before the word of the Lord" was valued in a woman. Epitaphs on women's tombstones marked intelligence as a dignity: אשה משלת "an intelligent woman."

Sometimes, as a eulogy, a biblical verse was included in the epitaph, which referred to the biblical character with the same name as the deceased. For example, נאספ דוד אל עמו ויקבר בערים דוד "and David joined his people, and he was buried in the city of David", ויהודה אוד רד נאמן "and Yehudah already clung to God and was faithful to the Holy One", ומשה היה רועה צאן "and Moshe shepherded the sheep ", ומשה עלה על אלקים "and Moshe ascended to God", נפתי שבע רצן "Naphtali is full of favor", גור אריה “young lion” (of Aryeh, Yehudah, or Leyb), גור אר צבי "runs like a deer" (about Zvi or Girsh). Similar symbolic likenesses of the deceased to biblical characters were not found in the epitaphs of the tombstones of the Jewish cemetery in the town of Hlukhiv.

In addition to the main components, the epitaph of the tombstones of the Jewish cemetery can describe the grief that befell the loved ones of the deceased. There are expressions: על אלה אני בוביה עיני עיני יורדה מים "for this I cry, tears pour from my eyes like water", הספד הור יה "his father's grief, because he was the son of old age." In the same context, a life cut short is compared to a crown that has fallen, the Ark of the Covenant taken away, a tree or a flower uprooted: נפלה עטרת ראשנו "the crown of his head has fallen", הוסר המנצפת והורם העטרה "take off the turban and give up the crown", נלקה ארון "the ark was taken", נקטף אילן "the tree was torn down".

In rare cases, in the epitaphs of Jewish tombstones, one can find relatives addressing the deceased: אבי מורי "my father is my mentor" or אמי מורתי- אמי היקרה "my dear mother". In the epitaphs of the tombstones of the Hlukhiv Jewish cemetery, similar addresses to the dead are found exclusively in the Russian-language inscriptions on the monuments of 1921-1965.

Frequently, the age of the deceased and his marital status are indicated in the epitaphs on Jewish tombstones. For this, the following words and expressions are most often used: זקן "old", ישיש ותיק "old man", שבע ימים "had his fill of days", שיבה "grey-haired", אודנו באבי "youth", אברן "young man", אב בחקמה רן עברים "father in wisdom, young in years", בתולה "maiden", ערירה בלי בנים "single without children", עטרת באלה "crown of her husband" and others. Sometimes even the exact number of lived years is indicated.

The epitaphs on the tombstones of the Jewish cemetery reflect the professional activity of the deceased, his social status and various merits. For example, ר' רבני "rabbi", ש''ץ ,שליח עבור "cantor", רבניט "rabbi's wife", מו''ץ, מןרה צדק «rabbi’s assistant»,  שו''ב, שוחט ובודק «shochet (butcher)», אב''ד, אב בת דין "head of the rabbinic court", בעהמה''ס, בעל המקבר ספר "book compiler", מורה "teacher", רופא "doctor”, מילדת  «midwife», etc.

Sometimes epitaphs contain information about family members, parents and other ancestors of the deceased, about their occupation, social status, place of residence, where the deceased came from or where he or she died. This makes epitaphs a very valuable source for genealogy, family history, and Jewish community history.

Some Jewish epitaphs contain mentions of the messianic concepts נאולה "salvation", משיח "Messiah", סוף הימים "end of days", as well as quotes from the prophets relating to the era of the end of days, for example, “נתן פאר תחת אפר"gave a crown of beauty instead of ashes. This is a reference to the Jewish tradition that connects Salvation in Messianic times with the resurrection of the dead. It is believed that the grave is only a temporary place of their stay. Related to this is the idea of a tombstone as a gate זה השער לה' צדקים יבואו בו "this is the gate of the Lord, the righteous will enter it" or of a house ביט מנוחת שלום "House of Comfort".

In views of the inhabitants of Jewish towns that originate from ancient traditions, tombstones were associated with certain images, which was reflected in the shape of tombstones, the motifs of carved ornaments and the texts of epitaphs. There is often a connection between the shape of the tombstone and its decorative ornamentation with the texts of the epitaphs. For example, a gravestone in the form or with an image of a portal or gate can have an epitaph with a Bible verseזה השער לה' צדיקים יבואו בו  "This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter it.". Tombstones in the form of a tree or with a similar image may have epitaphs containing quotes: פרי צדיק עץ חיים "The fruit of the righteous is the tree of life" or עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה "The tree of life is for those who keep it". Similarly, on headstones with the image of hands having the semantic meaning of kohen, the epitaph may mention that the person buried was a kohen. Tombstones with the image of a vessel may indicate that the deceased was a Levite. The bookcase depicted on the tombstone, which has the semantics of "Knower of the Torah", can confirm that the deceased was a learned Jew with the text of the epitaph ארון מלא ספרים. An ornament in the form of a crown above an open book or scroll of the Torah has a similar interpretation. The phrase in the epitaph "crown of the Torah" can duplicate the semantics of this ornament. The ornament in the form of a crown above the blessing hands has the semantics of "crown of the priesthood" and can be duplicated in the epitaph with the phrase כתר כהנה. The crown depicted above the name of the deceased has the meaning "crown of a good name", was depicted on the tombstones of the righteous, and the epitaph on their tombstones can confirm the meaning of this symbol with the phrase כתר שם טוב. A goose feather had the semantics of "soifer", a knife for circumcision - "moel", a lion - a person named Aryeh, Leib or Benjamin, a bird - a woman named Zipporah or Feiga, a dove - a man named Iona or a loving spouse, etc.

The correlation between the texts of the epitaphs and the symbols depicted on the tombstones was gradually lost. Most often, the text of the epitaphs and the semantics of the carved decor began to carry completely different semantic loads, and often the semantics of the symbol was lost altogether, and the symbol turned into a decorative motif only. Similar relationships between the semantic meanings of the symbols of the carved ornaments and the texts of the epitaphs on the tombstones of the Hlukhiv Jewish cemetery were found only on the kohen stelae on which images of blessing hands, which have the semantic meaning of "kohen", are confirmed by the corresponding texts of the epitaphs.

In some Jewish cemeteries of Ukraine, there are epitaphs written in poetic form. At the same time, the name of the buried person can be encrypted using an acrostic poem. As a rule, if we consider these poems as full-fledged poetic works, then their artistic quality is usually low. They use a very limited set of rhymes and images. Meanwhile, on their basis it is possible to judge the tastes, outlook and level of morality of the inhabitants of Jewish towns.

Specialists in the field of Jewish necropolistics and literature study epitaphs from the point of view of their literary value. These studies examine the relevance of Jewish epitaphs to other literary genres, draw parallels with the hesped, kina, and melitsa; search epitaphs, and identify quotations from the Bible, Talmud, and literary texts. The most interesting and valuable epitaphs for such studies contain numerous biblical and Talmudic quotations and allusions, various developed "baroque" panegyric and mourning formulas, all kinds of poetic techniques, highlighting the individuality of the deceased and established regional and local styles. As a rule, large texts of epitaphs were characteristic of monuments in those areas where communities were distinguished by a higher level of education and religious knowledge. The existence of the Jewish cemetery in Hlukhiv fell on the period of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, i.e., the period of decline of the Jewish epitaph genre. At this time, individual elements and poetic formulas disappear from Jewish epitaphs, and the community of the town showed signs of significant assimilation. Only a few gravestones have the resemblance of a literary epitaph.

The epitaphs of most tombstones of the Hlukhiv Jewish cemetery contain only the main constituent parts, such as the initial formula, the name of the person buried according to the "official form" (sometimes with a short list of the virtues of the deceased, and for women, sometimes with an indication of the husband), the date of death and the final formula. On tombstones of the early Soviet period, the epitaph is often duplicated in Hebrew and Russian (sometimes with the use of some interpretations or additions in one or another language). On many tombstones of the second half of the 20th century, the initial abbreviation פ''נ and the final ת''נצבה are left in the epitaphs, and the rest of the text is written in Russian. By the end of the 20th century, epitaphs became completely Russian.