The former market town is a typical example of a Hegyalja settlement. The first Jews arrived in the 17th century from Galicia. The Jews settled on the estates the local aristocracy as vineyard tenants and wine merchants. They played a defining role in the wine trade to Poland, and later to Russia and Europe. According to certain data, the village had a temple in 1771. Further proof of the burgeoning religious community is the construction of the synagogue in 1790-1795. The catholic, protestant and Jewish communities cohabitated in Mád for two centuries. The peaceful coexistence came to a halt because of the Holocaust. A mere 40 people returned from the inferno of war. In spite of their efforts to reestablish the community, the Jewish population of Mád ceased to exist by 1956.

The Mád synagogue
(Mád, Magyar u. 67.)
The baroque style synagogue, which was built between 1790-95, is still standing today. Its construction was financed by two wealthy wine merchant families, the brothers Brenker and Teitelbaum. The building was designed by Italian masters. After WWII the Synagogue was neglected and started to crumble by the 1960’s. There were some preservative works done in 1978, but full reconstruction only happened between 2000-2004. The restoration of the building received a ’Europa Nostra’ prize in 2005 for its professional reconstruction.

The former rabbi’s houses
(Mád, Rákóczi út 75.)
The synagogue is organically connected to its neighboring rabbi houses, the famous yeshiva (Talmud school). The first record of the yeshiva is from Rabbi Amram Blum (1864 – 1881). It reached its peak in the early 20th century, with more than 140 students. Many famous rabbis are associated with the building: Avram Blum, Feivel Horowitz, and son Naftali, Mordeháj Winkler. The long-neglected building was reconstructed in 2016 with the help of EU funds, the Hungarian government and the Unified Hungarian Israelite Community (EMIH). It thus became the center of Jewish memorials in Tokaj-Hegyalja, housing the interactive exhibition of the “Way of the Wonder rabbis,” and accommodations for pilgrims.

Mád Jewish cemetery
(Mád, Magyar u. 67.)
The cemetery in the northern end of the village is the largest Jewish burial ground in Hegyalja. The cemetery is well looked-after, there are 300-year-old graves to be found within the stone fence, among them the graves of Rabbis Abraham Schwartz (1824-1883) and Mordeháj Winkler (1844 – 1932).

Sources:
www.mad.hu
Wikipédia
www.zsido.com
www.csodarabbikutja.hu
Tóth Eszter: A zsidó Mád, (ZRVA Sátoraljaújhely, 2022.)
Photo: Juhász István