"Sons of Rachel" [Jewish deputies in the Russian Empire, 1772–1825] Minkina Olga Yurievna
Assembly of Jewish deputies in Polotsk
The governor of Polotsk M. N. Krechetnikov, both in the memoirs of his contemporaries and in historiography, is characterized with surprising unanimity as an "intelligent performer" who did not have the ability to take initiative either as a military leader or as an administrator. Nevertheless, after becoming acquainted with Speer's project, he took measures that were unusual from the point of view of the administrative practice of that time. On July 23, 1773, the governor issued an order to the Vitebsk, Polotsk and Dvina provincial offices. Contrary to Speer's project, responsibility for the plight of the Jews rested solely with the qahals, "those governments established to preserve order and keep everyone in his office." The latter, "corrupted by the former Polish liberty, become burdensome to their one-laws." At the same time, some of the Jews are severely oppressed by the kahals, while “others, on the contrary, enjoy unnecessary benefits, keeping silent about other inconveniences here, also nasty equalities, and therefore I am forced to both consider all the details of those inconveniences more closely, and decide on the issues that concern up to now benefit societies and other newly established institutions".
To do this, the provincial offices should have collected all the information related to the kahals and “everything that can only be useful to this society, and the state profitable, make their own opinion, and meanwhile, having told the kahals my intention, related to their own benefit, order to choose from each kahala of four Jews, who know their affairs and are aware of all their fellow citizens, the state and inconvenience, as well as being able to provide useful and equal institutions, send to Polotsk "by August 15, 1773.
At the moment, only documents related to the reaction of Vitebsk Jews to the order of the governor are known. They came in copies and, unfortunately, are provided only with an indication that the originals have signatures in the "Jewish language", which are not reproduced in copies. Consequently, it is almost impossible to identify the authors of the documents. It has not yet been possible to find out how different the materials presented by the Polotsk and Dvina Jews were from them.
So, on August 2, 1773, the Vitebsk provincial chancery received a "report from the Kagalsky assembly." Members of the Vitebsk kahal referred to the privileges once granted to them by the Polish kings, which they could not use in full "due to various maral and political circumstances."
This was followed by specific complaints and claims: two synagogues were taken away from Vitebsk Jews “for no reason, only by violence”. One building was confiscated by local nobles, and the other by the Dominican order. The latter was also rebuilt as a church. Members of the Vitebsk kahal, “being taken away by the deceptive brilliance of their aforementioned privileges, could not imagine that such violence in refutation of all people’s and natural rights could go unpunished and, having found the protection of one Polish magnate, joined with the kidnappers of our shrines to the court, but due to long-term lawsuits, unbearable red tape and losses of up to thirteen thousand rubles, we saw, to our extreme condolences, that all our hopes were in vain.
All the huge debts of the Vitebsk kahal to monasteries and private individuals that had accumulated by that time, the members of the kahal were inclined to explain the expenses associated with "this unfortunate adventure of ours." According to other sources, the situation was much more complicated. In 1763, S. Piora, the sub-captain of the Vitebsk province, concluded a contract with the Vitebsk kahal for the supply of salt from Riga, and in 1765 he demanded payment of the kahal money due to him through the Zemstvo court. The penalty was accompanied by the imprisonment of several members of the kahal, the sealing of the synagogue and the prayer house. By 1766, the total debt of the Vitebsk kahal reached 6,587 thalers (52,800 złoty). Among their creditors were the monastic orders of the Jesuits, Carmelites, Bernardines and the Dominicans mentioned above. To quickly raise funds, the Vitebsk qahal sought a monopoly position in the local market, which led to constant clashes with neighboring qahals. Thus, the rent of taverns by the Vitebsk kahal was accompanied by frequent excesses, because the members of the kahal, according to the complaints of their competitors, did not stop at “grabbing, robbing and confiscating drinks.” In Vitebsk itself, the qahal banned the production of alcoholic beverages for Jews and jealously guarded its monopoly.
Here we should return to the claims of the Vitebsk kahal submitted for consideration by the provincial office in 1773. After an eloquent description of the litigation for the buildings of the synagogues, they complained about the arbitrariness of the judicial officials and the owners of the shtetls. Members of the kahal considered it necessary to note that the debts of the poor members of the community, who were “imprisoned in the most vile prisons, ... undergoing various shameful and most painful punishments from their [so-called] lenders, were repeatedly paid from the kahal funds.” In his “report”, the Vitebsk kahal also touched upon the topic of “blood libel”: “... When it happened somewhere to find a body killed by robbers, cruelty of the weather or drunkenness, they always tried to attribute the cause of death of this body to the atrocities of the Jewish people by various intrigues.” Similar accusations were raised both against the kahals and individual wealthy Jews. Both of them usually preferred not to bring the case to court and pay off the accusers with large sums. “To put it in one word,” the kahals concluded, “our life could not be called the life of free people,” “our society is exhausted, emaciated, and reduced to absolute poverty and untidiness.” This was followed by the reform program proposed by the Vitebsk kahal to the new Russian administration.
The debt obligations registered on the kahal and individual Jews should have been canceled as unfair. The Jews living in the landowners' villages and townships were to be protected from the landowners and local residents. The Vitebsk Kahal also proposed a whole range of measures aimed at encouraging Jewish trade and crafts: it was necessary to equate the Jews in legal terms with Russian merchants, establish preferential duties on goods brought by Jews from abroad, and help Jews obtain the pre-emptive right to produce and sell alcoholic beverages ( "propination"). Among the more private “inconveniences”, the members of the kahal, who often came to Riga on business, noted the shortcomings of the local hotel service. Back in 1765, Jews who traded in Riga, through their “factor” (attorney) Benjamin Ber, sent Catherine II a complaint against the Riga magistrate about illegal harassment of Jewish merchants, which consisted in limiting the period of stay in Riga to two months, the need to obtain a special “view” from the burgomaster for accommodation, as well as the fact that all Jews were forced to stay in a special "Jewish gerberg" (inn). The empress preferred to support the magistrate in this dispute and, in her decree of January 9, 1766, ordered that Beru be denied his demands. The result of the decree was a curious document - "Institution by which Jews coming to Riga can enter" and the instructions attached to it to the owner of the inn for Jews. The latter was instructed to ensure that “every Jew in the inn was at night in his apartment”, and also to ensure that the Jews did not carry out “rag trading in new and old dresses, household utensils and furniture” in the inn, and to report on the noticed relations of the Jews with suspicious people. Members of the Vitebsk kahal complained about “an immoderate payment for an apartment and for food,” and also about the fact that “in our bidding, this apartment is a considerable obstacle for us because of the remoteness, and we can also say that due to the crowd and live in it, it’s not subjecting oneself to the most dangerous disease, it is almost impossible.
After the “economic” part of the program proposed by the Vitebsk kahal, the “political” part followed. And here the members of the kahal showed themselves to be active supporters of Jewish autonomy. They put forward the demand, which later became traditional for some representatives of the Jews, "so that the qahal should be honored on an equal footing with the magistrate." Kagal also asked for judicial autonomy to be granted to the Jews, “so that learned judges elected by the whole society, judging by the rights and laws of our synagogue teachers, based on the law of God given to us through the great prophet Moses, could deal with disobedient people according to the rights prescribed by them, the government most humbly Please give them a helping hand."
The surviving documents provide an opportunity to imagine not only the position of the kahal, but also the mood of the "opposition" circles. On the same day as the project of the members of the kahal described above, the Vitebsk provincial office received a "report of the Jewish community from residents who do not participate in the kagal meeting." Unlike members of the kahal, who sought to explain all the shortcomings of Jewish life by oppression from outside, the "oppositionists" focused their attention on conflicts within the Jewish society itself, primarily related to the fact that "our kahal consists almost entirely of close relatives" in the amount of twenty-seven a person who distributes taxes unfairly. Another communal institution that has caused constant criticism is the "brotherhood of the intermentors of the dead, under whose department the cemetery is located." It "can, according to its whims, impose on a poor accomplice, crying for the dead of his neighbor, for the land of money according to his whims, without giving anyone any answer, nor an account of the collected money." In addition, members of the funeral brotherhood, at least in Vitebsk, were also members of the kahal. To correct the existing situation, the authors of the project proposed to prohibit the election of relatives up to the fourth generation to the kahal, to ensure the rotation of members of the kahal so that the same persons are not elected every year, to limit the imposition of taxes and fees, to give artisans a "voice in the assembly of the kahal", and rabbis and dayans complete independence from the kahal, to establish clear unified prices for the services of the funeral brotherhood. And finally, “so that the choice of the aforementioned deputies in Polotsk for making other orders in favor of the society was impartial, and they were not obliged to be related to each other.” Thus, in this document, for the first time, the word “deputies” appears, which did not appear in the governor’s circular on convening a meeting of representatives from the Jews (recall that in the latter the essence of the Jewish representation was expressed descriptively: “From each kahal, there are four people of Jews who know their affairs and those who are aware of all their fellow citizens' condition").
On August 5, 1773, a report was submitted to the Vitebsk provincial office from the "Jewish society of artisans of various ranks." The craftsmen recounted the dramatic history of the Vitebsk hevrots: “Repeatedly we tried to establish a brotherhood among ourselves to observe in our society craftsmen of any order, for which, having hardly obtained permission from the kahal and from the former government with great difficulty, elders were chosen among us, who, with the assigned from the kahal our fraternity made various useful institutions as foremen. But the alliance with the kahal did not last long: “After a few times, for unknown reasons, the kahal forced us to destroy the aforementioned brotherhood with various violence and all sorts of spiritual punishments.” Then the complaints appearing in the previous document were repeated: about the unfair distribution of taxes, about the fact that “the power of the Kahal always remains between families that are stronger than others”, about the arbitrariness of members of the funeral brotherhood who are also members of the kahal, about the removal of artisans from participating in the affairs of the community . A significant difference between this document and the previous one is a more vivid and detailed description of intra-communal orders. “We are so discouraged by such neglect from our fellow lawmen,” the Vitebsk Jewish artisans concluded the enumeration of the injustices committed against them, “we are so much discouraged that a rare of us tries to go into detail in his art ... Complaining to us, all the roads were stopped, fearing corporal punishment, oaths and removal from the synagogue and from all the holiness, according to our law used. At the same time, the craftsmen hastened to assure the officials of the provincial office that "our intentions ... do not tend to liberate [Jews] from the power of the rule of the kahal." On the contrary, the artisans were ready to submit to the qahal "with the proper subservience of honest fellow citizens" and carefully pay all taxes. Thus, the proposals of the Vitebsk artisans differed from the radical proposals for the abolition of the kahal, put forward at the same time by opposition groups in other communities. The only desire of the artisans was to "avoid unbearable contempt" and "to achieve only the title of fellow citizens who have a share in their society." What follows is a project for the transformation of Jewish society. The wish regarding the election of Jewish deputies to the meeting in Polotsk literally repeats a similar proposal of the previous document, with the only difference that it is not the last, but the first item in the list of recommended changes. Among other things, it was proposed to revive the brotherhoods of artisans and allow their foremen to participate in the affairs of the kahal, to establish "independent control" authorized by artisans over the elections and expenses of the kahal, "to legitimize in which case and to what extent the power of the kahal and the brotherhoods of the burial of the dead can extend over the estate and honor of his accomplice, and, limiting their power, allow the entire brotherhood of a master or private member, with the consent of this brotherhood, to bring his complaint against the entire kahal or one member of the kahal. As a result of all these transformations, “art will be encouraged, every person practicing in some kind of skill will try to have perfect knowledge in it, taxes will be paid without grumbling and with great joy, then every fellow citizen will be known,” for which the money paid by him was spent. money into the treasury. The artisans were aware of how dangerous they had started by confronting the qahal, and therefore asked the provincial authorities to accept them "in their special protection, so that we would not feel the wrath of the qahal elders."
On August 26, 1773, Governor Krechetnikov issued an "Order to the Jewish Society." From the text of this curious document, it turns out that the initiative to collect information from the Jews and convene a meeting of Jewish deputies in Polotsk, as expected, came from the Governor General. The conclusions from the documents submitted for consideration by the governor were disappointing: “... Government everywhere is so depraved that, under the pretext of religion, the rabins invent their own benefits ... sometimes the entire kagal of relatives close to each other is composed ... and is not limited in its power by anything” and, most unpleasantly for a representative of the bureaucratic system, "no one thinks of any report." Further, the governor solemnly announced the opening of a meeting of commissioners from the kahals: “All the above circumstances forced me to call in Polotsk from three kahals to four people chosen and reliable people, so that they would try for their own and their fellow good, without mixing any of their own interest and fiction, having honored them with this distinction, I order them to proceed to the consideration of the best decree, which would bridle the Jewish people with power and that justice would be delivered to everyone to the highest degree.
The currently available documentary materials do not reflect either the election procedure or the full composition of the participants in the Polotsk meeting. It is also unclear how and where the meetings took place. It is only known that the debate, contrary to the usual practice of such commissions, did not last long, and exactly one month later, on September 26, 1773, the governor received a “most humble report” “from the Jewish community here in Polotsk, a meeting consisting of three elected provincial qahals of deputies": "We, having sworn an oath in the humblest way, tried in an impartial manner to find useful ways in which all the turmoil and inconveniences that still happened in our qahal boards were stopped in order to observe justice and humanity [humanity] in everything." The deputies drafted a kagal reform and submitted it to the governor for approval. The project was drawn up in two languages: Russian and Hebrew. The version in Hebrew, signed by the Polotsk and Vitebsk rabbis and deputies from the kahals, probably did not survive. The Russian version at our disposal was written by Benjamin Speer and modestly called a translation of the Hebrew version, but there is some reason to doubt its accuracy. In any case, Speer supplied the version of the project intended for the governor with his own explanations regarding the realities of Jewish life and a separate appendix in which he outlined his own position on a number of problems raised in the project.
In the preamble to this document, the deputies, like the Vitebsk kahal somewhat earlier, declared all the shortcomings of Jewish life “coming from the most difficult yoke with which we were oppressed” and proclaimed their goal “to curb our private accomplices and kahal governments and so that everyone, observing the limits of his office, could use the rights and liberties that belong to him by citizenship, without making the slightest distinction between the powerful and the powerless, unanimously agreeing, prescribed, considering justice and impartiality in everything, points to each public meeting and private accomplices.
The composition of the kahal, “with a warning that it should not be filled with close relatives,” was supposed to be limited to six foremen, three assistants and “juniors”, the number of which could vary. Participation in community affairs of persons, “whom we will call the heads of a society that does not have a kagal meeting in the presence”, in the amount of four people and two foremen of handicraft brotherhoods - who, thus, were declared legitimate organizations - was regulated by special “conditions”. It was also proposed to annually elect “commission agents” independent of the qahal for the distribution of taxes on society. Any taxpayer could take part in the elections of the kahal, who thereby "voluntarily puts himself under the power of this government." Kagal was given the right to impose extracurricular fees in the range of one hundred rubles no more than twice a year, “to punish criminals with money, prison and corporal punishment (but not more than thirty-nine blows, because in the books of Moses it is not allowed to give more than that number of blows)”. For insulting members of the kahal, a fine of ten to fifteen rubles was due, or a two-week imprisonment for bread and water. However, in the event of a judicial error, the guilty members of the kahal were obliged to pay a fine in favor of the victim. Crimes were also determined for which it was necessary to betray the hereme (“anathema”): perjury, false bankruptcy, concealment of the true size of the inheritance from the rest of the co-heirs and their income from the kahal. In addition to these categories of criminals, all “people harmful to society, that is, malicious and insidious scammers, ... as an example to others, those who have an inclination to enter into such vile deeds” could be betrayed to hell.
Under kahals, it was supposed to establish "banks", and it was especially noted that they are an analogue of European pawnshops. After this point, a curious digression follows: “Benjamin Speer promises to pay fifteen percent of his movable and immovable property to this charitable cause for the recovery of the next money and for the payment of his debts. Of the Vitebsk deputies, Mr. Yakov Isaakov, having a son-in-law worthy of holding the rank of Rabin, promises five hundred efimki when establishing a bank in the Dinaburg kahal, if one [son-in-law of Yakov Isaakov] ... will be put in a rabin. This note limits the data we currently have on the composition of the Polotsk assembly.
The deputies asked the governor to assist the Jews in the competition for the right of propination against the Polish nobility and magistrates and expressed the hope that in the near future "a helping hand will be mercifully granted from the government to our kahals and our courts." Behind all this, it is not difficult to discern a call for an alliance between the two elites - Russian and Jewish, and for unity against the Polish aristocracy and city self-government.
The decree regarding marriages corresponded to Speer's project: early marriages (girls under fifteen and boys under sixteen) were subject to a special tax in favor of the kahal and were not to be concluded until "until the young people recognize each other." It was also supposed to limit the "barbaric" luxury in clothing: men's velvet semi-caftans decorated with silver hooks, women's dresses trimmed with galloon, and gold necklaces were condemned. In addition, the deputies were worried "about the observance of cleanliness and neatness in all our people."
The last curious document from the complex of materials connected with the activities of the assembly of Jewish deputies in Polotsk is B. Speer's "remarks" to the project outlined above. Speer tried to explain to Krechetnikov why he abandoned his previous radical plans for the reorganization of Jewish society and united with the kahal deputies: to sneakiness, having received at least the slightest freedom. All transformations within Jewish society had to be carried out gradually. Therefore, the project of partial modernization of the kahal and communal structures proposed by the deputies, according to Speer, had to be considered as an inevitable intermediate stage in the process of "civilization" of the Jews. In conclusion, Speer recommended that the governor continue to act "in agreement" with the qahal and the rabbis.
At the moment it is impossible to say how further events developed and to what extent the project of the Jewish deputies was implemented. In any case, many of the ideas expressed by the deputies, B. Speer and other participants in the controversy unfolding under the auspices of the Polotsk governor continued to circulate in the Russian bureaucratic environment at least until the end of Alexander's reign.
Thus, the inclusion of the Jewish population in the number of objects of control immediately put the Russian authorities in front of a number of problems. Speer's speech with the reform project served as a convenient pretext for an attempt to interfere in the internal life of the Jewish communities of the annexed territories. The most interesting side in the position of the authorities in this situation is the initiative of the Jewish representation coming from the Governor-General (and possibly from the Empress herself). The participation of the Jewish representatives themselves was required to provide first-hand information about the Jews, just as the rest of the estates and regions of the empire had the opportunity to speak out during the meetings of the Legislative Commission of 1767–1768, which, in the words of Catherine II herself, “provided her with information about the whole empire, with whom we are dealing and about whom we must worry. In other words, the authorities found in the Jews a new object of control, but subsequent events showed how difficult this task turned out to be. It was precisely the desire to identify among the Jews, as well as among other "foreigners", an elite with which the authorities could cooperate, perhaps, the wide spread of various forms of Jewish representation in subsequent years was due.
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Spiritual life in Eretz Israel.
From generation to generation
Even in the times of Zerubbabel and Yehoshua ben Yeozedek, the spiritual leaders of the Jewish people dealt with the issues of systematizing the Oral Torah and introducing it into the life of the inhabitants of Judea. In the period of Ezra and Nehemiah this work was renewed. The sages who explained and commented on the laws of the Torah were called Men of the Great Assembly. In the years following the reign of Nehemiah, they became teachers and educators, passing down from generation to generation the Oral Torah, which Moshe Rabbeinu received at Mount Sinai along with the Written Torah, and which he passed on to his disciple Joshua bin Nun. He, in turn, passed it on to the wise men, from the wise men it passed to the prophets, and from the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly. Outstanding leaders, they adopted many decrees aimed at the spiritual perfection of the Jewish people, whose life had to be turned away from alien influences and firmly connected with the commandments of the Torah. The members of the Great Assembly established the schedule of prayers and their exact time, in particular, Shmone esre - the main prayer of all three daily services. They also streamlined all the books of the Tanakh received by them from their predecessors - the prophets.
Torah commitment
The Mishnah has preserved for us the sayings of the Men of the Great Assembly: "Do not be in a hurry to judge, teach many disciples and make a fence for the Torah." Thus they warned judges against hasty judgments; Judges must be very careful in their decisions and take them only after a thorough check of all the facts. Every sage should teach as many students as possible to spread the Torah among the people of Israel. The Rabanim must also carefully protect the Torah and its commandments from involuntary violations, and then the Almighty will reliably protect His people. So, for example, the Torah forbids any creative work on Shabbat; accordingly, the sages also forbade the transfer of work tools from place to place, so as not to disturb the Sabbath peace. The Torah forbids eating and storing leaven (chametz) in the afternoon on the eve of Pesach. The sages added another two hours to the prohibition of the Torah in order to protect the Jews from possible mistakes.
Egyptian sanctuary
The period of the reign of the Men of the Great Assembly continued until the arrival of the Greeks, who captured the Persian kingdom, which for more than two hundred years owned Eretz Israel. At this time, the Jewish population of Egypt lived mainly in the city of Ev, not far from Aswan. This settlement was formed, apparently, even before the destruction of the First Temple.
When Cambyses, the son of Koresh, conquered Egypt, Jews were already living in Eve. Cambyses did not harm them, because he knew that they were on the side of the Persian authorities. The local Jews had a sanctuary with an altar, on which they offered sacrifices to the Creator. They did not know that it was forbidden to make sacrifices anywhere except the Jerusalem Temple. Perhaps they believed that after the destruction of the First Temple, such a sacrifice was not against the law. The Egyptian priests hated the Jews and did not miss the opportunity to mock them. When the Persian governor left Egypt for a while, the priests burned the Jewish sanctuary. The local Jews turned to the high priest of the Temple in Judea with a request to help them, but he did nothing for them, perhaps because he did not want them to again bring sacrifices in their sanctuary and thus violate the Torah. Then the Egyptian Jews turned for help to the Samaritan leader Sanbalat and the Persian governor in Judea and obtained permission to restore their sanctuary. It is not known whether they achieved their goal, because soon after the events described, the Egyptians freed themselves from Persian rule, and over sixty years passed before the Persian king Darius again conquered Egypt.
Reprinted with permission from Shvut Ami
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The exact time when Judaism arose has not been established. The adherents of this religion themselves attribute its appearance to about the 12th-13th centuries. BC e., when on Mount Sinai the leader of the Jews Moses, who led the Jewish tribes out of Egyptian slavery, received a Revelation from the Most High, and a Covenant was concluded between the people and God. This is how the Torah appeared - in the broadest sense of the word, written and oral instruction in the laws, commandments and requirements of the Lord in relation to his worshipers. A detailed description of these events is reflected in the book "Genesis", the authorship of which the orthodox Jews also attribute to Moses and which forms part of the written Torah.
A Scientific Perspective on the Origins of Judaism
However, not all scientists are ready to support the above version. First, because the very Jewish interpretation of the history of man's relationship with God includes a long tradition of honoring the God of Israel before Moses, starting with the forefather Abraham, who lived, according to various estimates, from the 21st century to the present. by the 18th century BC e. Thus, the origins of the Jewish cult are lost in time. Secondly, it is difficult to say when the pre-Jewish religion became Judaism proper. A number of researchers attribute the emergence of Judaism to much later times, up to the era of the second Temple (the middle of the first millennium BC). According to their conclusions, the religion of Yahweh, the god that the Jews profess, was not monotheism from the very beginning. Its origins lie in a tribal cult called Yahwism, which is characterized as a special form of polytheism - monolatry. With such a system of views, the existence of many gods is recognized, but veneration turns out to be only one - their divine patron by the fact of birth and territorial settlement. Only later did this cult transform into a monotheistic doctrine, and so Judaism appeared - the religion that we know today.
History of Yahwism
As already mentioned, the God Yahweh is the national God of the Jews. All their culture and religious traditions are built around it. But in order to understand what Judaism is, let's briefly touch on its sacred history. According to Jewish doctrine, Yahweh is the only true God who created the whole world, including the solar system, the earth, all its flora, fauna and, finally, the first pair of people - Adam and Eve. At the same time, the first commandment for a person was given - not to touch the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But people violated the divine command and for this they were expelled from paradise. Further history is characterized by oblivion by the descendants of Adam and Eve of the true God and the appearance of paganism - gross idolatry, according to the Jews. However, from time to time the Almighty made itself felt, seeing the righteous in a depraved human community. Such was, for example, Noah - the man from whom people again settled on the earth after the Flood. But the descendants of Noah quickly forgot the Lord, starting to worship other gods. This continued until God called Abraham, a resident of Ur of the Chaldees, with whom he made a Covenant, promising to make him the father of many nations. Abraham had a son, Isaac, and a grandson, Jacob, who are traditionally revered as patriarchs - the progenitors of the Jewish people. The last - Jacob - had twelve sons. By the providence of God, it happened that eleven of them sold the twelfth, Joseph, into slavery. But God helped him, and over time, Joseph became the second person in Egypt after the pharaoh. The reunion of the family took place during a terrible famine, and therefore all the Jews, at the invitation of Pharaoh and Joseph, went to live in Egypt. When the royal patron died, another pharaoh began to abuse the descendants of Abraham, forcing them to hard work and killing newborn boys. This slavery lasted for four hundred years, until finally God called Moses to free his people. Moses led the Jews out of Egypt, and at the command of the Lord, forty years later they entered the Promised Land - modern Palestine. There, waging bloody wars with idolaters, the Jews established their state and even received a king from the Lord - first Saul, and then David, whose son Solomon built the great shrine of Judaism - the temple of Yahweh. The latter was destroyed in 586 by the Babylonians, and then rebuilt on the orders of Tyr the Great (in 516). The second temple existed until 70 AD. e., when it was burned during the Jewish war by the troops of Titus. Since that time, it has not been restored, and worship has ceased. It is important to note that in Judaism there are no many temples - this building can be only one and only in one place - on the temple mount in Jerusalem. Therefore, for almost two thousand years, Judaism has existed in a peculiar form - in the form of a rabbinic organization led by learned laymen.
Judaism: basic ideas and concepts
As already mentioned, the Jewish creed recognizes only one and only God - Yahweh. In fact, the original sound of his name was lost after the destruction of the temple by Titus, so "Yahweh" is just an attempt at reconstruction. And she did not receive popularity in Jewish circles. The fact is that in Judaism there is a ban on pronouncing and writing the sacred four-letter name of God - the tetragrammaton. Therefore, from ancient times it was replaced in conversation (and even in the Holy Scriptures) with the word "Lord."
Another important feature is that Judaism is the religion of a purely one nation - the Jews. Therefore, this is a rather closed religious system, where it is not so easy to get into. Of course, in history there are examples of the adoption of Judaism by representatives of other peoples and even entire tribes and states, but in general, Jews are skeptical about such a practice, insisting that the Sinai covenant applies only to the descendants of Abraham - the chosen Jewish people.
The Jews believe in the arrival of the Mashiach - an outstanding messenger of God, who will return Israel to its former glory, spread the teachings of the Torah throughout the world, and even restore the temple. In addition, Judaism is inherent in the belief in the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment. In order to serve God righteously and to know him, the people of Israel were given the Tanakh by the Almighty - the sacred canon of books, starting with the Torah and ending with the revelations of the prophets. The Tanakh is known in Christian circles as the Old Testament. Of course, the Jews categorically disagree with this assessment of their Scriptures.
According to the teachings of the Jews, God is indescribable, therefore in this religion there are no sacred images - icons, statues, etc. Artistic art is not at all what Judaism is famous for. Briefly, one can also mention the mystical teaching of Judaism - Kabbalah. This, if you rely not on tradition, but on scientific data, is a very late product of Jewish thought, but no less outstanding for that. Kabbalah views creation as a series of divine emanations and manifestations of a number-letter code. Kabbalistic theories, among other things, even recognize the fact of the transmigration of souls, which distinguishes this tradition from a number of other monotheistic, and even more so Abrahamic religions.
Commandments in Judaism
The precepts of Judaism are widely known in world culture. They are closely connected with the name of Moses. This is indeed a genuine ethical treasure that Judaism has brought to the world. The main ideas of these commandments come down to religious purity - the worship of the one God and love for him, and to a socially righteous life - honoring parents, social justice and integrity. However, in Judaism there is a much more extended list of commandments, called mitzvot in Hebrew. There are 613 such mitzvahs. This is believed to correspond to the number of parts of the human body. This list of commandments is divided into two: prohibitive commandments, numbering 365, and imperative, of which there are only 248. The list of mitzvahs generally accepted in Judaism belongs to the famous Maimonides, an outstanding Jewish thinker.
Traditions
The centuries-old development of this religion has also formed the traditions of Judaism, which are strictly observed. First, it concerns the holidays. Among the Jews, they are timed to coincide with certain days of the calendar or the lunar cycle and are designed to preserve the memory of the people about any events. The most important of all is Passover. The command to observe it was given, according to the Torah, by God himself at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. That is why Pesach is dated for the liberation of the Jews from Egyptian captivity and the passage through the Red Sea into the desert, from where the people were then able to reach the promised land. Also known is the holiday of Sukkot - another important event that celebrates Judaism. Briefly, this holiday can be described as a memory of the journey of the Jews through the desert after the Exodus. This journey lasted 40 years instead of the initially promised 40 days - as a punishment for the sin of the golden calf. Sukkot lasts seven days. At this time, the Jews are charged with the obligation to leave their homes and live in huts, which the word “sukkot” means. The Jews also have many other important dates celebrated with celebrations, special prayers and rituals.
In addition to holidays, there are fasts and days of mourning in Judaism. An example of such a day is Yom Kippur - the day of atonement, which symbolizes the terrible judgment.
There are also a huge number of other traditions in Judaism: wearing sidelocks, circumcising male children on the eighth day of birth, a special kind of attitude towards marriage, etc. For believers, these are important customs that Judaism imputes to them. The main ideas of these traditions are consistent either directly with the Torah, or with the Talmud - the second most authoritative book after the Torah. It is often quite difficult for non-Jews to understand and comprehend them in the conditions of the modern world. However, it is they who form the culture of Judaism of our day, based not on temple worship, but on the synagogue principle. A synagogue, by the way, is a meeting of the Jewish community on the Sabbath or a holiday for prayer and reading the Torah. The same word also refers to the building where believers gather.
Sabbath in Judaism
As already mentioned, one day is allocated for synagogue worship in the week - Saturday. This day is generally a sacred time for Jews, and believers are especially zealous in observing its charters. One of the ten basic commandments of Judaism prescribes to keep and honor this day. Violation of the Sabbath day is considered a serious offense and requires atonement. Therefore, not a single orthodox Jew will work and generally do what is forbidden to do on this day. The holiness of this day is associated with the fact that, having created the world in six days, on the seventh the Almighty rested and prescribed this to all his admirers. The seventh day is Saturday.
Judaism and Christianity
Since Christianity is a religion that claims to be the successor of Judaism through the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Tanakh about the Messiah on Jesus Christ, the relationship of Jews with Christians has always been ambiguous. Especially these two traditions moved away from each other after the Jewish conclave in the 1st century imposed a herem on Christians, that is, a curse. The next two thousand years were a time of hostility, mutual hatred, and often persecution. For example, the archbishop of Alexandria Cyril in the 5th century expelled a huge Jewish diaspora from the city. The history of Europe is replete with such relapses. To date, in the era of the flourishing of ecumenism, the ice has gradually begun to melt, and dialogue between representatives of the two religions is beginning to improve. Although in the broad layers of believers on both sides there is still distrust and alienation. Christians find it difficult to understand Judaism. The main ideas of the Christian church are such that the Jews are charged with the sin of the crucifixion of Christ. The Church has long represented the Jews as Christ killers. It is difficult for Jews to find a way to dialogue with Christians, because for them Christians obviously represent heretics and followers of a false messiah. In addition, centuries of oppression taught the Jews not to trust Christians.
Judaism today
Modern Judaism is a fairly large (about 15 million) religion. It is characteristic that at its head there is no single leader or institution that would have sufficient authority for all Jews. Judaism is spread almost everywhere in the world and represents several denominations that differ from each other in the degree of religious conservatism and the peculiarities of the doctrine. The strongest nucleus is represented by representatives of Orthodox Jewry. The Hasidim are quite close to them - very conservative Jews with an emphasis on mystical teachings. Several Reform and Progressive Jewish organizations follow. And on the very periphery there are communities of Messianic Jews who, following Christians, recognize the authenticity of the Messianic calling of Jesus Christ. They themselves consider themselves Jews and in one way or another observe the main Jewish traditions. However, traditional communities deny them the right to be called Jews. Therefore, Judaism and Christianity are forced to divide these groups in half.
Spread of Judaism
The influence of Judaism is strongest in Israel, where about half of all the Jews of the world live. Another approximately forty percent is accounted for by the countries of North America - the USA and Canada. The rest are settled in other regions of the planet.
MASS MEETING OF JEWS
At the Hippodrome in New York
Charles Taze Russell, Pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, addressed an enthusiastic audience at the Hippodrome in New York.
The pastor received an invitation to speak at a mass gathering of Jews at New York's large Hippodrome Theatre. Here is Brother Russell's invitation and response to it:
To Pastor C. T. Russell, Brooklyn, New York.
Dear Sir: Your friendly interest in the Jewish people over the past few years has not escaped our attention. Your exposure of the atrocities committed against our people in the name of Christianity has also influenced us to believe that you are a true friend. Your lecture on the topic “Jerusalem and Jewish Hopes” caused a lively reaction in the hearts of many of our people. And yet, for a while, we doubted whether any Christian pastor could be truly interested in a Jew as a Jew, and not just in the hope of converting him. And, in fact, for this reason, some of us asked you to publicly present the essence of your interest in our people, and we want to inform you that the statement you made completely satisfied us. Because you have convinced us that you are not persuading Jews to become Christians and join any Protestant or Catholic sect or group. This statement, Pastor Russell, was widely circulated in the Jewish papers. Therefore, we feel that as a people we have nothing to fear from you. Quite the contrary, in your statement you recall that the basis of your interest in our people is the faith and evidence of our Law and the messages of our prophets. You obviously understand very well how amazing it is for a Christian confessor to admit that the Bible contains unfulfilled prophecies concerning Jews, not Christians, and that these prophecies, according to your research, are approaching fulfillment, which is of such great importance. for us as Jews, and through us for the peoples of the world.
These facts, dear Pastor Russell, have led to the formation of a Committee for Organizing a Mass Meeting of the Jews, which by this letter asks you to make a public speech, especially to the representatives of our people. If you would like to kindly accept this invitation, then let me suggest the topic of this speech, which - we believe - will be very interesting for the public, and especially for us Jews, namely: "Zionism in Prophecy".
If we talk about the meeting, then we propose Sunday afternoon, October 9 at three o'clock. On this date we have hired the Hippodrome, the largest and most beautiful hall in New York, and we hope that the date and place we have chosen will be convenient for you. We guarantee a large audience of deeply interested Jews, not counting those who may come other than them.
We hope to receive a response from you soon.
Sincerely
JEWISH COMMITTEE FOR MASS MEETINGS
TO THE JEWISH COMMITTEE FOR MASS MEETINGS
GENTLEMEN: Your invitation to speak at the Mass Gathering of Jews at the New York Hippodrome on Sunday, October 9th at 3:00 pm came to me just in time. Thank you for the trust in me expressed in this invitation. The proposed date not only fits in with the Jewish New Year, but fits in well with my own plans as I'm leaving for London and other parts of the UK on October 12th.
From among several distinguished representatives of your people proposed as leaders of this Mass Meeting, I choose Mister John Barondes, as I have already had the pleasant opportunity of personal contact with him, and besides, I know of his very loyal interest in your people. I also believe that both his personality and his advice are held in high esteem by your people.
Sincerely
Ch.T. Russell
During the week leading up to the Mass Gathering, newspaper outlets sold out thousands of copies of a special newspaper printed in Yiddish, which was also added to other Jewish newspapers. This newspaper contained quotations from the writings and sermons of Brother Russell, as well as an account of his discoveries in Palestine, which were made during a recent trip to the Holy Land. Two very significant drawings were placed in this newspaper.
One drawing showed a gray-haired Jew sitting in a cemetery, surrounded by tombstones. Each of the tombstones represented the dead hopes of the Jews. This drawing shows that the Jews had reached their end - that all their hopes were practically dead, and also that they did not know which way to turn.
The second drawing represents an awakening Jew - he hears a voice, looks in surprise and sees Pastor Russell holding a scroll with their prophecies in his hands and pointing them to the New Jerusalem in the background, surrounded by walls, which will soon rise from the current ruins.
Pastor Russell was received with a standing ovation by the Jewish audience
Four thousand people gathered at the Hippodrome applauded the venerable preacher from Brooklyn, advocating the creation of a Jewish state. Listeners who came to ask the pagan about his views on the subject of their religion saw that he agreed with their most important views. After welcoming them as one of the most courageous nations on earth, the preacher says that the kingdom may return to them around 1914.
An unusual performance, during which four thousand Jews enthusiastically greeted a pagan preacher after he addressed them on the subject of their own religion, took place yesterday afternoon at the Hippodrome, where Pastor Russell, the famous head of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, performed a most unusual service. The Reverend Pastor is known for his unconventional approaches. His religion is not associated with any particular organization, and covers, as he himself claims, all of humanity. The pastor has his own methods of preaching, but he's never been able to do anything as out of the ordinary as this - he's never had as much success either. He attracted an audience that arrived - at least some of them - willing to discuss with him, and perhaps express their protest against what might seem to be interference in their affairs. "Pastor Russell intends to make an attempt to convert Jews to Christianity," were the words of many before the meeting. "He wants to convert us."
FIRST, SILENCE WELCOMED HIM
In the crowd that filled the huge auditorium, some rabbis and teachers were visible, who came to protest in case a Christian attacked their religion, or tried to turn them away from it. They prepared questions and criticisms for him. At first, a dead silence greeted him. But Pastor didn't try to convert the Jews. To their boundless surprise, he pointed out the good points in their religion, expressed agreement with them on the essential elements of their beliefs that pertained to their salvation. Finally, after expressing his fervent support for the plans for establishing a state for the Jews of their own, he drew a round of applause as he led the chorus in the Zionist anthem, "Hatikvah is Our Hope."
The hippodrome, in all likelihood, has never received such an interested public. Serious Jews from all parts of the city came to listen to what this stranger, the Gentile, wants to tell them in his ministry, and this is during their holiday week of Rosh Hashanah. They were calm, well-dressed, thoughtful men and women. Among them were many prominent personalities of the Jewish literary world. Some of them accompanied Pastor Russell as he drove to the Hippodrome and then took their seats in the auditorium. Representatives of the literary world recognized Pastor as a world-famous writer and researcher in the field of Judaism and Zionism. Present among others: Dr. Jacobs, publisher
American Hebrew, W.D. Solomon from the Hebrew Standard , D. Broski, co-editor of the same magazine, Lewis Lipsky, publisher Maccabean, A.B. Landau from Warheit , Leo Wulfson, head of the Society of Romanian Communities, D. Fefer from Jewish Weekly , S. Dimont, editor Jewish Spirit , S. Goldberg, editor American Hebrew, D. Arondes of Jewish Big Stick and also Goldman, editor H'Yom , the only Jewish daily.LACK OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS
No symbols of any religions were brought to the attention of those who looked at the stage of the Hippodrome. The stage was completely empty except for a small pulpit and three peaceful flags hung from silk ropes at the top. One of them is the famous white silk flag with stars and stripes, on which there was a golden inscription: "Peace among the peoples." The other flag featured a rainbow and the inscription "Peace". The third flag was a silk stripe with miniatures of all national flags. There were no introductions. Pastor Russell, tall, straight, with a gray beard, came on stage without any announcement, raised his hand, and a double quartet from the Brooklyn Tabernacle sang the song "Joyful Day of Zion." The members of this quartet were: Mrs. E.V. Brenneisen, Mrs. E.N. Detweiler, Miss Blanche Raymond, and Mrs. Raymond, Emil Girscher, C. Meyers, D.P. McPherson and D. Mockridge. Their voices were absolutely harmonious, and the song, performed without instrumental accompaniment, made a great impression.
But there was always an atmosphere of distrust among the listeners. There was no applause, and everyone sat in silence, peering at the tall figure of the Pastor. But when he began to speak, he was listened to with full respectful attention. With a strong but charming voice, he filled this beautiful concert hall. The unconventional spiritual spoke in such a way that every word of his was heard by all listeners. His tone of voice was pleasing to the ear, and his lively gesticulation soon concentrated all eyes on him, and in a few minutes his deep knowledge of the subject under discussion attracted their minds. Although silence continued to reign, the attitude of the four thousandth audience "warmed up".
RESTRICTION AND DOUBT DISAPPEAR
It was not long before all reserve and doubt was dispelled by the full sincerity and benevolence of Pastor Russell. Then the mention of an outstanding Jewish leader - who, as the preacher said, was called by God to this work - caused a storm of applause. From that moment on, the audience belonged to him. The Jews were filled with such enthusiasm for the preacher, as if he were an eminent rabbi or a famous preacher of their religion. He called them one of the most courageous peoples on earth - a people who have kept their faith in the face of persecution and cruelty from all people for thousands of years. He also predicted that they would soon be the greatest on earth - not only as a people, but as a people. Drawing conclusions from ancient prophecies, the Pastor said that the revival of the Jewish kingdom could come in such a not distant time as 1914. The persecution will end, and universal peace and happiness will reign in the world.
Concluding his speech, the Pastor again raised his hand towards his choir. This time, an unusual, foreign-language, Zionist anthem “Our Hope”, one of the masterpieces of the eccentric oriental poet Imber, sounded. The unprecedented event, when Christian voices sing the Jewish anthem, caused great surprise. For a while, the Jewish public did not believe their ears. Further, convinced that it was their own anthem, they began to greet and applaud it so warmly that it was difficult to hear the music. Then, in the second stanza, hundreds of people joined in the singing. On top of the wave of enthusiasm caused by this unexpected surprise prepared by the Pastor, he left the stage, and the meeting ended with the end of the anthem. He received congratulations from many men and women who arrived in an indifferent, if not hostile, mood. As everyone claimed: Pastor became a friend to all who listened to him.
The following text is a shorthand transcript of the entire speech:
Zionism in Prophecy
PASTOR RUSSELL:
In your presence, I will read the Holy Scriptures in the translation of Liser, according to the Hebrew version: Psalm 103:14-17: “You will arise, O Lord, and show mercy to Zion, for the time has come to have mercy on her, for the appointed time has come; for Thy servants have become dear to his stones, and they will have pity on his dust. And the peoples will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory.” Malachi 3:1,5,6,7: “Behold, I am sending My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me, and suddenly the Lord whom you seek will come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant whom you desire; Behold, He is coming, says the Lord of hosts... And I will come to you for judgment and will be a swift witness... For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you sons of Jacob were not destroyed. Since the days of your fathers, you have departed from my statutes and do not keep them; Turn to Me, and I will turn to you, says the Lord of hosts.”
Ezekiel 16:60-63: “But I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will restore an everlasting covenant with you. And you will remember your ways, and you will be ashamed when you begin to take your sisters to you, greater than you, as well as lesser than you, and when I give them to you as daughters, but not because you were faithful to your covenant. I will restore My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord: so that you will remember and be ashamed, and so that you will not be able to open your mouth from confusion when I forgive you everything that you did, says the Eternal God.
Jeremiah 31:31-37 : “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; that My covenant they broke, though I remained their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord; and I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will no longer teach one another, brother to brother, and say, "Know the Lord," for all themselves will know Me, from the least to the greatest, says the Lord; because I will forgive their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. Thus says the Lord, Who gave the sun to light by day, guides the moon and stars to light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar – the Lord of Hosts is His name. If these ordinances cease to operate before Me, says the Lord, then the tribe of Israel will cease to be a people before Me forever. Thus says the Lord: If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched below, then I will also reject all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the Lord.”
“Comfort, comfort my people! Your God speaks. Speak (comfort) to the heart of Jerusalem: proclaim to her that her appointed time has been fulfilled, that her iniquity has been forgiven, and that she has accepted twice for all her sins from the hand of the Lord.- Is. 40:1,2.
… to be continued
BS #869, '12.20-23; SB #246, '12.20-24
