Rypin

RYPIN, town in Budgoszcz province, N. central Poland; from 1815 until World War I within Russia. In 1799 the Jews of Rypin were granted civic rights and freedoms by the municipal council, which sought to improve the economic situation of the town with their assistance. Henceforward the Jewish population increased, numbering 517 (35% of the total population) in 1827; 1,024 (47.8%) in 1856; 1,706 (38.6%) in 1897; and 2,791 (38.6%) in 1921. The Jews developed commerce and crafts in the town. After World War I, 300 Jewish families (about 60% of the total Jewish population) were engaged in commerce, and 25% in the crafts. In the 1930s their economic situation was undermined, however, as a result of a campaign launched by antisemites.

The community was organized on democratic principles after World War I. In the first elections to the council held in 1924, as well as in those of 1931 and 1936, the Zionists obtained a majority, although the Ḥasidim had considerable influence within the Jewish population. Noteworthy of the community's rabbis were Nahum Manasseh Guttentag-Tavyomi, who appears to have participated in the Polish uprising of 1863, and Asher Gershon Luria, rabbi of the town for 40 years (d. 1932). There was a network of Jewish schools and cultural institutions of various kinds. Modern social and cultural activity began under the German occupation of World War I.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.