GROSSWARDEIN (NAGY-VARAD):
Hungarian city, with a population of 51,000, about one-fourth of whom are Jews. The ḥebra ḳaddisha was founded in 1735, the first synagogue in 1803, and the first communal school in 1839. The old Jewish quarter, known as the "Katona Város," is in the neighborhood of the fort. It still bears its ancient aspect and is still occupied mainly by Jews. The old synagogue remains, though no longer used for worship. The Jewish hospital also stands there. Not until the beginning of the nineteenth century were Jews permitted to do business in any other part of the city, and even then they were required to withdraw at nightfall to their own quarter. In 1835 permission to live at will in any part of the city was granted them.
The Jewish community of Grosswardein is divided into an Orthodox and a Reform congregation. While the members of the Reform congregation still retain their membership in the ḥebra ḳaddisha, they have used a cemetery of their own since 1899. The Jews of Grosswardein have won prominence in the public life of the city; there are Jewish manufacturers, merchants, lawyers, physicians, and farmers; the present chief of police (1902) is a Jew; and in the municipal council the Jewish element is proportionately represented. The community possesses, in addition to the hospital and ḥebra ḳaddishia already mentioned, a Jewish women's association, a grammar-school, an industrial school for boys and girls, a yeshibah, a soup-kitchen, etc.
The following are among those who have held the rabbinate of Grosswardein: Joseph Rosenfeld (Orthodox); David Joseph Wahrmann (Orthodox); Aaron Landesberg (Orthodox); Moricz Fuchs (Orthodox: still officiating, 1903); Alexander Rosenberg (Reform: removed to Arad); Alexander Kohut (Reform: removed to New York, 1885; died, 1894); Leopold Kecskeméty (Reform: still officiating, 1903).
