Chapter I: Front Matter

HISTORY OF THE JEWS
IN RUSSIA AND POLAND

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES
UNTIL THE PRESENT DAY

HISTORY OF THE JEWS
IN RUSSIA AND POLAND

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES
UNTIL THE PRESENT DAY

BY
S. M. DUBNOW

TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN
BY
I. FRIEDLAENDER

VOLUME I

FROM THE BEGINNING UNTIL THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER I
(1825)

PHILADELPHIA
THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

1916

COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY
THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE

It is not my intention to expatiate in these prefatory remarks on the present work and its author. A history of the Jews in Russia and Poland from the pen of S. M. Dubnow needs neither justification nor recommendation. The want of a work of this kind has long been keenly felt by those interested in Jewish life or Jewish letters, never more keenly than to-day when the flare of the world conflagration has thrown into ghastly relief the tragic plight of the largest Jewry of the Diaspora. As for the author, his power of grasping and presenting the broad aspects of general Jewish history and his lifelong, painstaking labors in the particular field of Russian-Jewish history fit him in singular measure to cope with the task to which this work is dedicated.

In what follows I merely wish to render account of the English translation and of the form of the original which it has endeavored to reproduce.

The translation is based upon a work in Russian which was especially prepared by Mr. Dubnow for THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA. Those acquainted with modern Jewish literature in the Russian language know that the author of our book has treated the same subject in his general history of the Jewish people, in three volumes, and in a number of special studies published by him in the periodical _Yevreyskaya Starina_ ("Jewish Antiquity"). Upon this material Mr. Dubnow has freely drawn for the present work, after subjecting it to a careful revision, and so supplementing and co-ordinating it that to all intents and purposes the book issued herewith is a new and independent publication. Moreover, the history of Russian Jewry after 1881, comprising the gruesome era of pogroms and expulsions, has been written by Mr. Dubnow entirely anew, and will appear for the first time as part of this work. The present publication may thus properly claim to give the first comprehensive and systematic account of the history of Russo-Polish Jewry.

The work is divided into two volumes. The first volume, now offered to the public, contains the history of the Jews of Russia and Poland from its beginnings until the death of Alexander I., in 1825. The second volume will continue the historic narrative up to the very threshold of the present. The book was originally scheduled to appear at a later date. The great events of our time, which have made the question of Russian Jewry a part of the world problem, suggested the importance of earlier publication. In order that there might be as little delay as possible in giving the book to the public, the maps and the bibliographical apparatus were reserved for the second volume. The same volume, which, it is hoped, will appear in the course of this year, will contain also the index to the whole work.

My task as translator has been considerably facilitated by the self-abnegation of the author, who gave me permission to act as editor and to adapt the original to the requirements of an English version. I have made frequent use of the privilege accorded to me, and have endeavored throughout to bridge the wide gap which stretches between the Russian and American reading public in matters of literary taste. This editorial activity includes a number of changes in the framework of the book, which was originally divided into sections of disproportionate length, and has now been arranged in a more uniform manner. In the course of this rearrangement, it became necessary to change the wording of some of the headings so as to bring them into greater conformity with English literary usage. It should be pointed out, however, that the changes made are of a stylistic nature, or relate only to the skeleton of the book. With the exception of a few passages, they leave the contents untouched, and the responsibility for the latter rests entirely with the author.

As translator I had resolved to keep myself in the background and act solely as the interpreter of the author. Much to my regret I found myself unable to maintain this attitude uniformly. The text was already in type when it was borne in upon me that the subject of the book, dealing as it does with the lands of Eastern Europe, was a _terra incognita_ to the average American reader, and that many things in it must perforce be wholly or partly unintelligible to him if left without an explanation. There was nothing for me to do but to step into the breach and supply the deficiency. I did so by adding a number of footnotes, which, in distinction from those of the author, are placed in brackets. With very few exceptions these notes are not of a supplementary, but of an explanatory, nature. They are confined to such information as the reader may need to grasp the full bearing of the text. I trust that in some small measure these detached notes may serve instead of a systematic account of the general development of Eastern Europe, which, it was originally hoped, might be supplied by the authoritative pen of Mr. Dubnow himself, as a background for the history of Russo-Polish Jewry. An attempt in this direction, within a narrow compass and with no pretense to completeness, has been undertaken by the present writer in a recent publication of his own.[1]

A word must be said concerning the spelling of foreign names and terms, which are naturally numerous in a work like the present. After considerable deliberation I decided on the phonetic method, as being the most convenient from the point of view of the reader. I have consequently endeavored to reproduce, as far as possible, the original sounds of all foreign words in English characters. In conformity with this principle, I have adopted the spelling _Tzar_, instead of _Czar_. As far as I am aware, the only exception is the Russian word _ukase_, which reflects in its spelling the effect of French transmission, and is to be pronounced _ookaz_, with the accent on the last syllable. Needless to say I have had to resort to artificial contrivances to indicate those sounds which are unknown in English, but I have reduced these contrivances to a minimum. They are as follows: _zh_ represents the Slavic sound which corresponds to French _j_; _kh_ stands for the sound which is to be pronounced like hard German _ch_ (as in _lachen_, not as in _brechen_); _tz_ is the equivalent of a Slavic letter which is to be pronounced like German _z_. To avoid mispronunciation, _g_ in all foreign words has been spelled _gh_ before _e_ and _i_. _U_ in these words is to be pronounced like _oo_, and _a_ like French and short German _a_. With every desire for uniformity, I have yet little doubt that inconsistencies will be found, particularly in the transliteration of Hebrew, which, as a Semitic idiom, is more difficult of phonetic reproduction than are even the Slavic languages. I hope that these inconsistencies are not numerous enough to be offensive.

The method of transliteration referred to in the foregoing presents a special difficulty in the case of Polish names, in view of the fact that the Polish language uses the general European alphabet, and that the Polish spelling of such names has found access to other languages. In some instances even the question of identity may arise. Thus, to quote but one example out of many, the name _Chmielnicki_, written in this form in Polish, differs considerably from the phonetic spelling _Khmelnitzk_i, adopted in this volume. To meet this difficulty, the index to this work will give all Polish names and expressions both in their transliterated English forms and in their original Polish spelling.

In conclusion, it is my pleasant duty to record my appreciation of the help rendered me in my task. I am indebted to the Honorable Mayer Sulzberger for his great kindness in reading the proofs of this volume and in giving me the benefit of his subtle literary judgment. Professor Alexander Marx has assisted me by reading the proofs and making a number of suggestions. My thanks are finally due to Miss Henrietta Szold for her indefatigable and most valuable co-operation.

I. F.
NEW YORK, May 19, 1916.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] "The Jews of Russia and Poland. A Bird's-Bye View of Their History and Culture" (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1915). To avoid any misconception on the part of the reader, I desire to point out that the aim and scope of my little volume are totally different from those of Mr. Dubnow's work. As indicated in the title of my sketch, and as stated in the preface to it, my purpose was none other than to present a "bird's-eye view" of the subject, to point out the large bearings of the problem, with no intention on my part "to offer new and independent results of investigation." The publication is based on a course of lectures delivered by me before the Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning in Philadelphia in March, 1915. My natural reluctance to anticipate Mr. Dubnow's large work was overcome by the encouragement of several friends, among them Mr. Dubnow himself, who, from their knowledge of public affairs, thought that a succinct, popular presentation of the destinies of the Jews in the Eastern war area was a word in due season.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE JEWISH DIASPORA IN EASTERN EUROPE
1. The Jewish Settlements on the Shores of the Black Sea 13
2. The Kingdom of the Khazars 19
3. The Jews in the Early Russian Principalities
and in the Tataric Khanate of the Crimea 29

II. THE JEWISH COLONIES IN POLAND AND LITHUANIA
1. The Immigration from Western Europe during
the Period of the Crusades 39
2. The Charter of Prince Boleslav and the Canons
of the Church 43
3. Rise of Polish Jewry under Casimir the Great 50
4. Polish Jewry during the Reign of Yaghello 54
5. The Jews of Lithuania during the Reign of Vitovt 58
6. The Conflict between Royalty and Clergy under
Casimir IV. and His Sons 61

III. THE AUTONOMOUS CENTER IN POLAND AT ITS ZENITH (1501-1648)
1. Social and Economic Conditions 66
2. The Liberal Régime of Sigismund I. 70
3. Liberalism and Reaction in the Reigns of Sigismund
Augustus and Stephen Batory 83
4. Shlakhta and Royalty in the Reigns of Sigismund
III. and Vladislav IV. 91

IV. THE INNER LIFE OF POLISH JEWRY AT ITS ZENITH
1. Kahal Autonomy and the Jewish Diets 103
2. The Instruction of the Young 114
3. The High-Water Mark of Rabbinic Learning 121
4. Secular Sciences, Philosophy, Cabala, and Apologetics 131

V. THE AUTONOMOUS CENTER IN POLAND DURING ITS DECLINE (1648-1772)
1. Economic and National Antagonism in the Ukraina 139
2. The Pogroms and Massacres of 1648-1649 144
3. The Russian and Swedish Invasions (1654-1658) 153
4. The Restoration (1658-1697) 158
5. Social and Political Dissolution 167
6. A Frenzy of Blood Accusations 172
7. The Massacre of Uman and the First Partition of Poland 180

VI. THE INNER LIFE OF POLISH JEWRY DURING THE PERIOD OF DECLINE
1. Jewish Self-Government 188
2. Rabbinical and Mystical Literature 198
3. The Sabbatian Movement 204
4. The Frankist Sect 211
5. The Rise of Hasidism and Israel Baal-Shem-Tob 220
6. The Hasidic Propaganda and the Growth of Tzaddikism 229
7. Rabbinism, Hasidism, and the Forerunners of Enlightenment 235

VII. THE RUSSIAN QUARANTINE AGAINST JEWS (TILL 1772)
1. The Anti-Jewish Attitude of Muscovy during the
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 242
2. The Jews under Peter I. and His Successors 246
3. Elizabeth Petrovna and the First Years of Catherine II. 254

VIII. POLISH JEWRY DURING THE PERIOD OF THE PARTITIONS
1. The Jews of Poland after the First Partition 262
2. The Period of the Quadrennial Diet (1788-1791) 278
3. The Last Two Partitions and Berek Yoselo 291
4. The Duchy of Warsaw and the Reaction under Napoleon 298

IX. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE RUSSIAN RÉGIME
1. The Jewish Policy of Catherine II. (1772-1796) 306
2. Jewish Legislative Schemes during the Reign of Paul I. 321
3. Dyerzhavin's "Opinion" on the Jewish Problem 328

X. THE "ENLIGHTENED ABSOLUTISM" OF ALEXANDER I.
1. "The Committee for the Amelioration of the Jews" 335
2. The "Jewish Constitution" of 1804 342
3. The Projected Expulsion from the Villages 345
4. The Patriotic Attitude of Russian Jewry during
the War of 1812 355
5. Economic and Agricultural Experiments 359

XI. THE INNER LIFE OF RUSSIAN JEWRY DURING THE PERIOD
OF "ENLIGHTENED ABSOLUTISM"
1. Kahal Autonomy and City Government 366
2. The Hasidic Schism and the Intervention of the Government 371
3. Rabbinism, Hasidism, and Enlightened "Berlinerdom" 379

XII. THE LAST YEARS OF ALEXANDER I.
1. "The Deputation of the Jewish People" 390
2. Christianizing Endeavors 396
3. "Judaizing" Sects in Russia 401
4. Recrudescence of Anti-Jewish Legislation 403
6. The Russian Revolutionaries and the Jews 409