Zbarazh
ZBARAZH (Pol. Zbaraż), town in W. Ukraine (formerly in E. Galicia). Jews were living there at the end of the 15th century. The cemetery dates from 1510. According to a document of 1593 the city and its entire revenues were leased to Jews and Christians jointly. The Jewish community expanded in the 17th century and a synagogue was erected. The siege on Zbarazh by *Chmielnicki in 1649, its capture by the Turks in 1676, and the *Haidamak raids of 1708 caused terrible suffering to the community. There were 910 Jewish inhabitants in 1765. The number increased under Austrian rule after 1772, reaching 2,896 (35% of the total population) in 1900. The 1931 census records 3,000 Jewish residents. Two followers of Judah *he-Ḥasid originating from here were Isaiah of Zbarazh and his son. Zbarazh was also the birthplace of the folk poet B.Z. *Ehrenkranz.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.