Jewish Philanthropy and Enlightenment in Late-Tsarist Russia

by Brian J. Horowitz

Overview

The Society for the Promotion of Enlightenment among the Jews of Russia (OPE) was a philanthropic organization, the oldest Jewish organization in Russia. Founded by a few wealthy Jews in St. Petersburg who wanted to improve opportunities for Jewish people in Russia by increasing their access to education and modern values, OPE was secular and nonprofit. The group emphasized the importance of the unity of Jewish culture to help Jews integrate themselves into Russian society by opening, supporting, and subsidizing schools throughout the country.

While reaching out to Jews across Russia, OPE encountered opposition on all fronts. It was hobbled by the bureaucracy and sometimes outright hostility of the Russian government, which imposed strict regulations on all aspects of Jewish lives. The OPE was also limited by the many disparate voices within the Jewish community itself. Debates about the best type of schools (secular or religious, co-educational or single-sex, traditional or "modern") were constant. Even the choice of language for the schools was hotly debated.

Jewish Philanthropy and Enlightenment in Late-Tsarist Russia offers a model of individuals and institutions struggling with the concern so central to contemporary Jews in America and around the world: how to retain a strong Jewish identity, while fully integrating into modern society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295988979
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	03/25/2009
Series:	A Samuel and Althea Stroum Book
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Brian Horowitz is Sizeler Family Chair of Jewish Studies and director of the German and Slavic Studies Department, Tulane University. He is the author of The Myth of A. S. Pushkin in Russia's Silver Age.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

A Note on Transliteration

Introduction

Part 1: Integration Schemes

1 The Gintsburg Family and the Emergence of a Jewish Enlightenment Society

2 Forging a Mission

3 The Odessa Branch and Radical Russification

Part 2: Confrontations with Reality

4 Confrontation with Anti-Semites

5 Pogroms and the Shtadlanut

6 Generational Change and New Agendas

Part 3: An OPE School Network

7 Designing an Ideal Jewish School

8 Developing Educational Networks

9 Envisioning New Leaders: Modern Teachers and Reform Rabbis

10 Struggles with the Orthodox Elite: Schools versus Heders

Part 4: Nationalism

11 Diaspora Nationalism

12 Militancy in 1905

13 Building Institutions between the Revolutions

14 The OPE in War and Revolution

Postscript

Appendixes

Notes

Bibliography

Index

What People are Saying About This

James West

Horowitz provides the most complete account to date of one of the most important organizations in the history of Russian Jewry, setting a confused and in many respects incorrect record straight.

Blair Ruble

A wonderful and important book, based on unprecedented archival research that transforms the historical debate by bringing to light sources once unavailable.

Editorial Reviews

"This volume offers a model for individuals and institutions trying to retain a strong Jewish identity while fully integrating into modern society."

Shofar

"The subject matter is thoroughly researched, with abundant archival material. Turbulent eras in both Russian and Jewish history converge during this span of approximately 50 years, from the period of the liberal policies of Tsar Alexander II to the 1917 revolution . . . . This book belongs in libraries with Jewish studies collections."

Association of Jewish Libraries

Horowitz's book makes an important contribution to the historiography of Russian Jewry and to the history of modern Jewry more generally.... The book is well written, well organized, and quite informative. It will remain an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the modern history of Russian Jewry.

Slavic Review

"This study is a welcome addition to the literature on the formation of the Russian-Jewish community and the development of its modern leadership in the second half of the nineteenth century."

Russian Review

"Horowitz successfully challenges this judgment [OPE symbolic of Jews' powerlessness] in an intellectual history of an ideologically inclusive philanthropic agenda that attempted to carve out a viable space in the public sphere for Russia's Jews while protecting communal identity. . ."

Canadian Journal of History - Kevin C. Cramer