81

THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

GRANTOR AND GRANTEE. See GIFTS.

GRAPE: The fruit of the grape-vine. The general Hebrew term for ripe grapes when not in clusters is 2JJJ (Gen. xl. 10-11), and of grapes in clusters, ^DBW (Num. xiii. 23). There are other terms
for different kinds of grapes and for grapes in different stages of development; as 1D3 for unripe or
sour grapes (Isa. xviii. 5); D'tJ'IKa for wild grapes
(Isa. v. 2, 4); DID for grapes that fall off when ripe
(Lev xix. 10); ni^y for gleaned grapes (Judges
viii. 2); D'plDX for dried grapes or raisins (I Sam.
xxv. 18; II Sam. xvi. 1). According to R. Judah,
DWin and Jf (Num. vi. 4) respectively represent
the skin and the seed of the grape; but according to
K. Jose, whose interpretation has been accepted by
later commentators, Jt is the skin, D'Win the seed
(Naz. 34b). A word which has given rise to discussion is YiDD (Cant. ii. 13, 15; vii. 12). According
to Gesenius ("Th."), who is followed by other commentators, it means "grape-blossom," while Ibn
Janah and David Kimhi thought it meant the
young grape which appears immediately after the
opening of the blossom (see Rubens Duval in " R.
E. J." xiv. 277 et seq.). R. Jose, prohibiting the
"semadar" in the first three years, likewise considered it as a fruit ('Orlah i. 7).
Grapes are referred to in the Bible and Talmud in
symbolical senses. As grapes can not be found after
vintage, neither can the good and upright man be
discovered by diligent searching in Israel (Micah vii.
1, 2). " The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the
children's teeth are set on edge" (Ezek. xviii. 2);
"When the vintagers come to thee they will not
leave even the grape-gleanings " (Jer. xlix. 9, Hebr.);
that is, when the enemy comes he will carry off everything. A man who marries his daughter to a scholar
("talmid hakam") is like one who mingles vine
grapes with vine grapes, but he who marries his
daughter to an ignorant man (" 'am ha-arez ") is like
one who mingles vine grapes with the berries of the
thorn-bush (Pes. 49a). According to R. Aibu, the
forbidden fruit which Eve ate was that of the vine
(Gen. R. xix. 8).
j.
M. SEL.
GRASSHOPPER. See LOCUST.

GRATZ: Town in the province of Posen, Prussia, with a population of 3,784, of whom only 319
are Jews. The Jewish community there is one
of the oldest in the province. Jews are mentioned
in the city charter of April 9, 1594. In 1634 the
tailors' gild of Gratz permitted two Jews of Posen
to settle in the city and to open a tailor-shop. The
Chmielnicki rebellion brought disaster upon the
Jews of Gratz. On May 14, 1663, the overlord of
the city issued a "Jews' privilege," regulating the
affairs of the Jews. During the " northern war "
(1700-21) the community was almost entirely destroyed, and its rabbi, Judah LOb, who had been
called in 1701, was obliged to flee to Frankfort-onthe-Oder. The great conflagration of 1711 was also
a heavy affliction to the community, which had to
apply for aid to coreligionists at Posen, who afforded
relief to the best of their ability, although themselves impoverished and in debt through a succession of misfortunes.
VI.-6

Granada
Gratz

In 1797 it was decided that the officials of the

community should consist of the following: one
chief rabbi, one assistant rabbi (dayyan), three elders,
one "schulklopfer," one synagogue attendant, two
undertakers, three hospital nurses, two cantors,
three school-teachers, and one bathhouse superintendent. The debts of the community in that year
amounted to 10,151 thalers, repayable in yearly sums
of 441 thalers. For that year, also, the rabbi received a salary of 88 thalers, while 666 thalers were
paid to the overlord. In 1798 a Jew was permitted
to live in the house of a Christian. At the end of
the eighteenth century there were 1,135 Jews, nearly
half of the whole number of inhabitants; the number had risen from 1,499 in 1816 to 1,634 in 1820, the
largest in the history of the city; by 1840 and 1850
the number had decreased to 1,548 and 1,532 respectively. The Polish uprising of 1848, during
which the Jews on the whole remained neutral or
sided with the Germans, destroyed much property
in the city.
The following were rabbis in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries: Simon b. Israel Ashkenazi
(c. 1677); Benjamin Wolf b. Joseph Joske (c.
1689); Judah Lob b. Solomon, previously darshan at Prague, and subsequently rabbi at Schneidemiihl (c. 1699); Phinehas Selig b. Moses (dayyan
of the German community at Amsterdam in 1708);
Sanvel Spira of Lemberg; Gershon b. Jehiel
of Landsberg, who at Friedberg in 1742 called
himself ex-rabbi of Gratz; Jacob b. Zebi Hirsch
(1743); Marcus Baruch Auerbach. Among those
of the nineteenth century were: Benjamin Schreiber (d. 1839); Elijah Guttmacher of Borek, formerly at Pleschen, the "Gratzer Rav," whose
counsel and aid were sought by thousands from far
and near (d. 1874); Dr. B. Friedmann, subsequently at Berlin (d. 1902); Dr. Silberberg, subsequently at Konigsberg; and the present (1903) incumbent, Dr. J. Friedmann.
In the first half of the nineteenth century there
was a famous Talmudic school at Gratz. The literary and philanthropic societies include: sukkat
shalom, hebra kaddisha, and bikkur holimunited
in 1901; in 1898 a society for the study of Jewish
history and literature was founded; and there are
also a women's society, and funds for the poor, including one especially for poor travelers. The large
city hospital, built by the heirs of Dr. M. Mosse,
receives patients regardless of creed.
BIBLIOGRAPHY : Wuttke, St&dtebuch des Landes Posen, 1864;
Warschauer, Die Stddtischen Archive der Provinz Posen,
1900; Perles, Gesch. der Juden in Posen, 1864-65.
D.
J. FBI.
GRATZ: American family prominent in the affairs of the city of Philadelphia and of the state of
Pennsylvania. According to some authorities, the
name " Gratz " is derived from a town in Styria,
Austria; according to others, from a city in Posen,
Prussian Poland. Both suppositions, however, are
probably wrong. The true place of origin is most
likely the town of Gratz in Austrian Silesia, whence
the family or some of its members removed to Langendorf (since 1745 in Prussian Silesia), which town
was known then and later by its old Slavonic name.
The name of the family was then "Gratza," that