Grave

Dag HaKadosh (the Holy Fish)

Dag HaKadosh - holy fish (святая рыба)

The Jewish presence in Vienna dates back to the 12th century. One of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in Vienna is located in the city center on Seegasse Street, and it is the only one with exclusively Jewish inscriptions. Most of the stones bear dates from 1540 to 1783. Since the Jews were repeatedly expelled from Vienna and the existence of this cemetery was under threat, the merchant Koppel Frankel bought it out for 4,000 guilders.

A year before Corona, at the end of a trip through Europe visiting the graves of tzadikim, Gaon Rav Yaniv Assuri asked to find out exactly where in Vienna the resting place of the son of the Shelah HaKadosh - Rabbi Shabtai Sheftel Horowitz - was located. It turned out that the grave is located in the old cemetery, whose territory today is occupied by a nursing home, and one can only get there during the day, by passing through the nursing home's lobby.

The main attraction at the cemetery is the sculpture of a monument – the Holy Fish, or Dag HaKadosh, as it is called here.

There is a legend about a Jew named Simon.

One day Simon caught a large, fat fish and eagerly awaited it being prepared for dinner. When the fish was served at the table, it suddenly raised its head and cried out, "Shema Yisrael" - (the sacred words that Jews say before death). And with that, the fish gave up its spirit. When Simon told his rabbi about this, the rabbi suggested that it was probably a "dybbuk." So Simon decided to erect a monument to the soul that had entered the fish. Some visitors have adapted this spot for netilat yadayim.

From a trip through Europe visiting the graves of tzadikim.