#13 Pale of Settlement
Eastern European Jews
Wednesday – 10:00 a.m. Fall Term 2008 (14 weeks)
Coordinator: Jerry Gallop Co-Coordinator: Paul Cohen
Course Description
Pale, from Latin palus, stake, boundary, restriction, limit, regulation.
A Geographical Pale was the Pale of Settlement, a western border region of Imperial Russia in which the permanent residence of Jews was allowed and confined. It extended from the Pale or demarcation line of Russia to near the border with central Europe. Additionally, a number of cities within the Pale were excluded (beyond the Pale) for Jewish inhabitants. Essentially, all ancestors of Ashkenazi Jews came from this area.
The expulsion of Jews to the Pale of Settlement was ordered by Catherine the Great in 1791, reinstituted and expanded twice by other Tsars; and, finally terminated with the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.
We will study life and culture in the Pale, popular and political anti-Semitism in Russia and abroad; plus, the mass emigration of Jews to America, Palestine and Western Europe.
Jewish history leading to the Pale contains long periods of intermittent anti-semitism in Russia and Europe. From time to time European countries (England, France, Germany, Spain, etc.) forced Jews to move from their lands, causing migrations from place to place. Their exclusion from Russia is another of those forced migrations.
Topics
1. Jewish history leading to the 1791 expulsion; Russian Pale
2. Geographic Pale - Territories of the Pale; Individual characteristics
3. General Rules of the Pale; Jews outside the Pale – Who - Why?
4. Economic Pale – allowable professions, Earning a Living, etc; Educational Pale – creation of the Yeshiva system;
5. The Decembrist Revolt; The May Laws
6. Zionism: Labor Zionism, Revisionist Zionism, Religious Zionism , General Zionism; Legal Pale; Fashion Pale
7. Language Pale – Yiddish; Religious practices, Influence of the Rebbes
8. Change in Religious Practices over time; and Why?
9. Life in the Shtetls, day-to-day life, growing up, living, dying; governance byHalakha;
10. Family Life, Familial Duties, Neighborliness, tzedakah (charity);
11. Pogroms, History & Linkage to the Areas’ Economic Fortunes, etc;
12. Waves of emigration 1880 – 1928 to U.S., Palestine, and elsewhere; Jews and Bolshevism
13. Searching for ancestors: family names, genealogical efforts by today’s living;
14. Impact of the Pale Experience on current Jewish attitudes & politics.
Bibliography
No Core Book
Jewish Encyclopedia
New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
The Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia
Gilbert, Martin; The Routledge Atlas of Jewish History, ed. 7; Routledge
Aleichem, Sholom; stories, especially “Tevye der Milcheger” (Tevye the Milkman) basis for “Fiddler on the Roof”
Zborowski, Mark & Herzog, Elizabeth; Life is with People: the Culture of the Shtetl; 1962
Rothenberg, Joshua; “Demythologizing the Shtetl”
Pipes, Richard; ‘Catherine II and the Jews: The Origins of the Pale of Settlement,’ Soviet Jewish Affairs, 5, no. 2 (1975)
Klier, John; Russia Gathers Her Jews: The Origins of the "Jewish Question" in Russia, 1772 – 1825; DeKalb Northern Illinois University Press; 1986
Ro'i, Yaacov, ed. (1995); Jews and Jewish Life in Russia and the Soviet Union; Portland, OR
Hoffman, Eva; Shtetl; Perseus, Public Affairs, 2007
Schulman, Abraham; The Old Country, The Lost World of East European Jews; foreword by Isaac Bashevis Singer
FitzLyon, Kyril & Browning, Tatiana; Before the Revolution; Overlook Press; New York, 1978
Rosten, Leo; The Joys of Yiddish; 1968
Web Sites
Internet: http://www.motic.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org
Internet: Jewish Virtual Library
Pre-Meeting: Wednesday, August 13, 2008; 10:00 a.m.
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