Читать книгу A Jewish Journey - Sheldon Cohen - Страница 23

To the rabbi’s surprise, Kolakoff said, “That’s the new law, and you Jews were the ones who recommended it to the Czar.”

This caught him by surprise, but he said nothing as he realized that Kolakoff could be telling the truth. The misnaggidim and the maskalim were opposed to the Hasidim, and, as they were cooperating more and more with the government in their push toward secularism and modernity, it would not surprise him if they did indeed make this suggestion to the Czar. “Yes, I will tell my people,” he said dejectedly.

This was the first time that one of the Jewish divisions had allied itself with the Czar to recommend a restrictive measure against their fellow Jews. He realized that he, as an orthodox rabbi, could live long enough to see a complete shift in Jewish thinking toward a rapprochement with a government repressive to traditional Jewish beliefs.

The fools! Don’t they see what they were doing? When in history had a country ever allowed full rights to all its Jewish citizens? This would be a movement that could end Judaism if carried to the extreme of complete integration.

As an orthodox rabbi, this development strengthened his belief that he must do all he can to keep Judaism alive, and this meant rigid adherence to Torah. Was he an ancient relic? Was there a tide of change that would sweep everything in its path making him and people like him irrelevant?

His father had become a Hasid, yet he remained orthodox. This represented a difference between generations. Would his son adopt the ways of the Maskilim? Was this the nature of change? Was he fighting a losing battle? He left Kolakoff dispirited and depressed.

When he learned that the government had established two rabbinical seminaries, one in Vilna and one in Zhitomar, he realized that the tide had drifted further in the direction of change. These rabbinical students were exempt from military service, and he knew that this would be an irresistible force, which would fill the ranks with students eager to avoid a military from which Jews would often never return and from which Jews could never be officers.

These seminaries, also financed by the candle tax, would provide future teachers and rabbis all steeped in the Maskilim philosophy. He realized that Haskalah was a raging force. Haskalah literature, books and pamphlets printed in Russian, Yiddish and Hebrew would reach the great majority of Jews who were uneducated.

Now, more then ever, he felt that change was inevitable, and as this change whirled around him, he elected to do what he could to keep Jewish learning and study of Torah intact.

The Czar’s decrees were law, and trouble awaited anyone who offered opposition.

Soon there was clear evidence that Torah learning would be restricted or done away with, but there was no law against the teaching of Torah by individuals, so this is where he would concentrate his efforts.

He was like the man climbing the mountain, and the Czar was like the landslide, but whatever small contribution he could make to continue Jewish learning would be his small effort to counter the Czar’s influence; God would give him the strength to continue.

Czar Nicholas I’s hatred of the Jews knew no bounds. He established his most restrictive order to date. He classified Jews by their worth to the state. The first classification was “useful,” and included wealthier Jews who were professionals, merchants, and craftsmen.

The second classification was “non-useful,” and included the poorer, uneducated and tradesmen. This latter classification was subject to general conscription into the army, or if they were unemployed, they would disappear from their community and find themselves in Siberia.

This was the first time that one of the Czar’s anti-Jewish edicts raised eyebrows even in Russia, as some of the Russian political leaders spoke out in opposition. In addition, on behalf of their fellow Jews in Russia, prominent world Jews spoke up against this anti-Semitic directive.

In the meantime, the rabbi intensified his efforts to teach Torah. This was his mission. Most of his waking hours were in the synagogue teaching the children every day.