eng. Holy Mouth. Religious association established in the ghetto in the second half of 1940. Its purpose was to protect the population of the ghetto from the consumption of products banned by religious laws. Members of the association actively advocated their idea: standing in front of slaughter houses and instructing consumers, or even preventing them from purchasing non-kosher meat, which sometimes came from a dead animal carcass. Not content with campaigning, they began a constant struggle against those who used non-kosher products in their homes: they were excluded from prayer services, not summoned to read the Torah, not to mention leading prayer services at the cantor’s lectern. The Association decided that “unclean lips, God protect us, are forbidden to pray, especially to lead prayers” (excerpt from a manifesto distributed wherever minyan groups were praying on Rosh Hashanah in 1941).

The leaders of the group were the rabbi of Lutomiersk, Reb1 Mendele Łęczycki (Reb Mendele Lutomierski) and Reb Eliezer Gutsztat.

Life, however, turned out to be more important than promoted principles and after a year of fruitless struggle in the second half of 1941, the association ceased to exist.

I.B.A. [Jerachmil Bryman]