Yehuda Opatov
Yehuda (Yudel) Opatov (1797-1898), whose nickname was "the Assaulter", was one of the richest Jews in Russian Empire and one of the leaders of Vilna Jewry. The fact that he came from a very humble background and had no schooling, coupled with his enormous wealth gave the impression that he was typically "nouveau riche", in the folklore of Vilna Jewry. He is mentioned in Alter Druyanow's Book of Jokes and Witticisms along with the regular prankster, Motke Habad
Opatov was born in the village of Variana in southern Lithuania (in the north-west of the Russian Empire); his family was poor, uneducated and had no connections. He grew up in Bantučol, a suburb of Vilna, to where the family had migrated following the economic depression caused by the Napoleonic wars, the partition of Poland and the subjugation of Lithuania to the Russian Empire
Despite the fact that nothing is known of his early life in Vilna, it is obvious that he managed to climb the social ladder quickly. According to his biographer Avraham Kaplan, he was "a nameless son from a poor family" who was a shoe cleaner and "nobody knew how he acquired his great wealth". According to a story by Y.L. Gordon, Involved in Mind, Opatov was a tailor who became wealthy providing uniforms for the army and "when the battalion hit with his thousands the tailor hit with his tens of thousands….and he returned to his home weighted down with gold and silver; then he put down his needle and began leasing land. Yudel the tailor was a simple man and a total ignoramus"
By the time he reached the age of 40, Opatov was already a member of the "Kahal", the highest institution of the community
From the records of the city governors, Opatov combined business acumen and sound economic policies, speculation based purely on economic considerations together with cooperation with the government even at the expense of other Jews. He was one of the five richest Jews in Lithuania (that is, in the Vilna part of Russia). He was called the "gvir" by the Jews by virtue of his economic status
In 1846, Opatov together with Hirsch Katzenelbogen and Bar Notkin were the representatives of the Vilna Jewish community at a reception for Moses Montefiore in St. Petersburg. At the synagogue service, Opatov was seated next to Montefiore and was called up to the Torah after him; he was also the liaison between Montefiore's secretary and the representatives of the other Jewish communities. His stature in the community was particularly obvious when he went ahead of the rabbis and the representatives of the intelligentsia
In 1864, after 25 consecutive years as a member of the First Guild, he was awarded to title of "honorable citizen of his generation" – the highest award in the Russian Empire to a person who was not of aristocratic birth. The award entitled him to tax exemptions, exemption from the army for him and his offspring and exemption from corporal punishment
The Jewish community needed Opatov for financial reasons but did not respect him and mocked him because of his lack of scholarship and his abject origins. He remained a social outcast despite his financial status, the total protection of the government and his philanthropy. He did succeed in marrying off his daughters to scholars but even that did not gain him respect. He developed strong contacts with non-Jewish merchants and government representatives. There were only a few random cases in which he was able to liaise between the Jewish community and the government representatives and he did almost nothing to lobby for the Jewish cause, unlike many other "gvirim". On the other hand, he worked for the Jews in the "Pale of Settlement"; he set up philanthropic projects such as a private welfare system which included a bakery providing subsidized bread for the needy of all creeds, matzot at Pesach and a hospital to treat the victims of the cholera plague that broke out in the 40's of the 19th century
Opatov became one of the opponents of the Enlightenment Movement in Vilna, informed on its leaders so that their sons would be recruited to the army and they would have to pay taxes. The leaders of the Enlightenment Movement called him "head of the gang of thieves…a total ignoramus, totally ignorant in every sense
Opatov's funeral was held on the 30th June, 1868 and was an unprecedented occasion; the hearse was followed by "all the residents of the town" and "many of the distinguished Christians". The Lebanon newspaper described the crowd as "a very big camp of G-d". Most of the eulogies were from indigent people who lived from his charitable projects and scholars in his bet midrash
The most renowned folklore context is connected to the figure of Opatov, smug and bloated with self-importance with the wag Motke Habad. On the one hand there is the indigent sharp-tongued wag, and on the other hand there is the extremely wealthy social outcast. At each of their encounters, Motke gets the better of Opatov, who is presented as an empty vessel. Opatov's efforts to marry his daughters off to Talmudic scholars are the butt of most of the jokes
From Wikipedia
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