| Yitzkhak | |
| Fictional Character | |
| "The More it Changes" POD: September, 1666 | |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct POV |
| Nationality: | Habsburg monarchy (born in Kingdom of Poland) |
| Religion: | Judaism |
| Date of Birth: | c. 1730s |
| Date of Death: | 1772 |
| Cause of Death: | Shot in the chest |
| Occupation: | Cobbler |
| Spouse: | Rivka |
| Children: | Aaron |
Yitzkhak was a Jewish cobbler in the village of Kolomija. Yitzkhak was born in the village when it was part of Poland. Kolomija came under the rule Joseph II after the Poland was partitioned in 1772. While poor, Yitzkhak had steady work. He had a wife named Rivka, and a son named Aaron.
In August 1772, word reached Kolomija that Sabbatean haidamacks were gathering. Yitzkhak and several of his neighbors, both Jews and Poles were terrified, as Kolomija had been attacked several times in the last 40 years, and many could remember those attacks.
While the rainy season reduced the roads to mud and kept the haidamacks at bay for a time (well past Yom Kippur), the winter arrived in November, and the roads froze. The haidamacks began their raids, attacking first Zastawna, where they burned the synagogue with the rabbi in it. Then they moved to Snyatyn, located between Zastawna and Kolomija. Refugees from Snyatyn described how the haidamacks murdered the town's Catholic priest.
Realizing that Kolomija was the next target, Catholics and Jews decided to fight the haidamacks. Yitzkhak's son, Aaron, announced his intention to join the defenders. Despite Aaron's youth and Rivka's protests, Yitkhak agreed to Aaron's request. Both joined the defenders.
Yitzkhak was given a make-shift spear. Unfortunately, it did him no good when the haidamacks finally came. The defenders were quickly overrun. When the haidamacks attacked both the church and the synagogue, the defenders were further divided along religious lines, as each group rushed off to defend their respective houses of worship.
Aaron was killed during the attack. In revenge, Yitzkhak attempted to kill a haidamack on horseback, who simply pulled the spear from Yitzkhak's hands and demanded Yitzkhak admit that Sabbatai Tzevi was the Messiah. Yitzkhak refused, and the haidamack shot Yitzkhak in the chest with his pistol.
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