The Holy cemetery of Mainz (מגנצא)-Here lies the founders of Ashkenazi jewry and Teachers of Rashi

A tour through Ashkenaz part 5
Origins of Ashkenazi Jewry. The Beginnings of Minhag Ashkenaz.
Jews in Germany go back to Ancient times.
Mainz held the first yeshiva in Ashkenaz Germany, and one of the three cities making up the acronym Sh’U’M.
Here lived the founders of the Minhag Ashkenaz. The ancient cemetery holds the remains of many great luminaries among of which are ;
Rabbeinu Meshulam ben Kalonymus,
Rabbeinu Yakov ben Yakar ,
Rabbeinu Gershom Ben Meir Meor Hagolah( the light of the exiles).
And the victims of the first crusade.
www.encycloped...
www.encycloped...
/ rabbenu-gershom-meor-h...
www.sefaria.or...
Siman 29

[@jesusislukeskywalker4294]

history is complicated.. covered up. we all have to do our own research 👍🏻 and listen to our elders.

[@zafirjoe18]

זְכֹר֙ יְמ֣וֹת עוֹלָ֔ם בִּ֖ינוּ שְׁנ֣וֹת דֹּר־וָדֹ֑ר שְׁאַ֤ל אָבִ֙יךָ֙ וְיַגֵּ֔דְךָ זְקֵנֶ֖יךָ וְיֹ֥אמְרוּ לָֽךְ׃
Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of ages past;
Ask your parent, who will inform you,
Your elders, who will tell you:
(Deuteronomy 32:7)

[@jesusislukeskywalker4294]

@@zafirjoe18 yes my mother and father are in heaven now. i am from Australia. my family were trafficked here as white slaves, never permitted to return home. the first Australian flag carries the Star of David

[@zafirjoe18]

@@jesusislukeskywalker4294
Fascinating,
May the eternal rest their souls .

[@davidjay4373]

Do you see a distinct difference between these Ashkenazi tombstones and that of Sephardic and Mizrachi? Or even if it's different than later Ashkenazi kevarim?

[@zafirjoe18]

Yes David there is a difference. In the the time of Chazal the burial method was in caves or catacombs כוכים. Essential for the burial was the גולל and דופק. This is understood to mean the stone that kept the mouth of the cave closed גולל. The דופק was the stone that acted like a wedge , that kept the גולל (which was a very heavy stone like wheel which required the whole town to open it)from rolling out of place.
This was the custom in the land of Israel and even Rome until the middle ages. In Babylonia and eventually the excepted standard custom where the land is not stony rather sandy they practiced a ground burial. The גולל was understood to be the horizontal stone that covers the body of the deceased and the דופק the vertical stones that the גולל rests upon. This is the custom of the Jews worldwide and the main matzeiva is the one laying flat . This also follows the explanation of Rashi R’ Hai Gaon etc. . The Ashkenazim ( not buried in the land of Yisrael) have the horizontal stone laying flat which they call the דופק and the horizontal one they call the גולל .

[@davidjay4373]

@@zafirjoe18 thank you!
Does this tie in to why Ashkenazim have a vertical tombstone whereas Sephardim (and mizrachim?) have horizontal?
Also did they write the year of creation on the tombstones outside of ashkenaz? I see this on some of the Erfurt קברים as well as תנצבה on rabbeinu meshulam's headstone.

[@zafirjoe18]

@@davidjay4373 yes precise ! By the Ashkenazim the vertical stone is which lies at the head of the deceased is called the גולל .In the Rishonim the inscription on the stone to memorize the נפטר is called a נפש . Writing the year of the descendants to the count of creation is an ancient custom that replaced the מנין השטרות . In Yemen the ancient tombstones had the years according to the count of מנין השטרות that was used in the time of chazal. The acronym of תנצבה is תהא נשמתו(ה) צרורה בצרור החיים.
The tombstone of Rabbeinu Meshullam and Rabbeinu Gershom are not the original ones , they were replaced some time ago as the first was not legible anymore. It can be assumed that effort was made to duplicate the original one but there is no certainty.

[@davidjay4373]

@@zafirjoe18 very interesting! Thank you for your insights

[@MMM-kk2kc]

It says on the website that this cemetery is only open to appointment
Any truth to that
Also, it seems that from the three cities , mainz has the least to see?

[@zafirjoe18]

Always difficult to get in to the cemetery in Mainz , There was some 300 hundred years that Jews were not allowed to live there.

[@MMM-kk2kc]

How did you enter
Was it open

[@zafirjoe18]

@@MMM-kk2kc I managed to crawl in from the side gate .

[@Dawid_Dawidowski]

Where ? Mainz ?

[@zafirjoe18]

In Germany on the Rhine river

[@Dawid_Dawidowski]

@@zafirjoe18 danke