I've got a silver religious object from the early 1800's with a hebrew
inscription about a burial company or society named "Podlesha."  That
is
at least how you pronounce it in english.  I thought maybe it
references a city, village or town in Germany or eastern europe.  I've
had no luck with my research. I want to find a reliable reference to
it somewhere and some information. Can you help?

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Request for Question Clarification by tehuti-ga on 09 Aug 2002 01:44 PDT

Similar pronunciations to the one you give would be obtained in Polish
with some of the grammatical forms of Podlesie and Podlasie (because
the combination si is pronounced sh when it comes before a vowel), for
example the possessive form and following the words for "of" or
"from". That makes me think you could be looking at a reference to a
society "of Podlesie".

Unfortunately, there over 50 towns and villages in Poland with the
name Podlesie!  You can see a list of them here, and if you click on a
town name you will be taken to a page with maps showing its location:
http://www.calle.com/world/poland/Po.html

There is also the Podlasie region in eastern Poland with Bialystok as
its capital: http://www.gopoland.com/wheretogo/regions/podlasie.shtml

I'm aware that this is not a real answer to your question, so am
posting it as a clarification rather than as a paid answer.

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Clarification of Question by marlap-ga on 09 Aug 2002 19:33 PDT

The object is a double-sided, silver comb used by a Jewish burial
society.  It appears to have been donated by a Rabbi when his wife
died.  Here is the address to the picture.
http://www.hammersite.com/hammersiteImages/no2776_lg.jpg

Can  you describe what the object looks like? Perhaps take a picture?

I checked Russia, but didn't find anything ending in -sha among the towns.
******************************
And you can't get Podlesha from Podol'sk 

Podolsk And Its Environs

http://www.avotaynu.com/kptoc.htm

Podol'sk
http://www.roofnet.org/progs/po-en.html

brad-ga

There's a good chance the language on it is Yiddish, not Hebrew - they
use the same sets of characters. Yiddish is a mix of Hebrew and
several European languages, and was the vernacular of many Eastern
European Jews for quite a while (outside of some secularized urban
centers like Berlin). A picture would be immensely helpful (this will
probably take a non-web based solution, so the actual yiddish would be
quite nice to have if someone needs to speak to someone in the field)
... or even just a description of what the religious object in
question is... candlesticks? a menorah? kiddush cup? I think some
Jewish museums can do identification/appraisals (generally in the
hopes you'll loan them for display if the object in question is any
good), or at the very least can point you in the right direction - you
can try calling the NY Jewish Museum at 212.423.3200 or find your
local Jewish museum and give them a call. Other appraisal sources are
OK too, but they generally will just tell you what it's worth; it
seems to me you're looking more for the story than the price estimate.
If you have any other questions email me at ysamlan@hotmail.com - hope
this helps.

Most of the towns mentioned by Tehuti are in the Lublin/Bialistok
area, and in what was called "Galicia" and is now part of the Ukraine.
However, the spelling or the comb itself cannot provide us with
information on where is. Read here to understand the problem:
http://www.csi-net.net/krefman/Miedzyrzec/name.htm

Moreover, names changed hands many times in the region: 
"A small hamlet existed in the early 15th century that was located
South-West of Sanok, between Kostarowce and Jurowce.   According to
sources it was known as Podleshe, Podlansie or Poleze. After some time
its name changed to Popiele and with this name it became a part of
Jurowce." http://kingpopiel.tripod.com/english/roots.htm

I have also searched for a record of Mr Wertheimer, and found only
irrelevant information.

However, I suggest you'll also contact Yad VaShem institute. They
publish notes on congregations, and might will be able to guide you to
the right source.