Vol 17, No 2 (2018): JEWS IN RUSSIA

The article deals with the traditional Jewish education in the Russian Empire of the 19th - early 20th centuries. The author pays great attention to the key Judaic Religious Academy - yeshiva of Volozhin (Belarussia-Lithuania) as it existed from 1802 to 1914. The study is based on the contemporary sources - documents, media articles, memoirs, literary sources, archival materials and the works of foreign historians. The main aim of the article is to present this yeshiva in its social and cultural context. The author pays particular attention to the founder of yeshiva Volozhin Rabbi Hayim of Volozhin (1740-1821). The first objective of the work is to understand the reasons for the foundation of this yeshiva. In this context the author touches upon the relations with Vilna Gaon, his attitude toward the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala), the attitude to Hasidism, secular studies etc. It is this yeshiva that was marked by a novel structure - total independence of local community. In many aspects, it was the model for other Jewish Higher Traditional institutions. The Russian historian pays considerable attention to the Imperial Government policy toward the Jewish traditional education; mutual relations between parents and students of yeshiva, the role of some rectors, teachers and form-masters of yeshiva of Volozhin. The author deals with the every-day life of the yeshivas, traditional holidays, modernization and the reaction to the challenge of the time and especially to the values of traditional Jewish culture in general. The author considers that the closure of the Volozhin yeshiva in 1892 by the tsarist authorities was formal. In fact, the yeshiva continued working. The last students perished in the Holocaust.

The article considers the peculiar features of the Soviet Aliyah as one of the leading themes of the Russian-language periodicals in Israel. Special attention is paid to the articles published in the 1970-2000s in the most prominent “thick” literary-political journals - “Vremya i My” and “22” which covered the fate of the Russian and Soviet Jews, as well as the phenomenon of repatriation. The study of the topic makes it possible to resolve several scientific problems. First of all, the analysis of the publications enables the authors to identify the key problems that are reflected in their content: the historical prerequisites for the formation of repatriation ideas in the minds of the Soviet Jewish intelligentsia, the attitude of the Soviet authorities to this phenomenon, and the evolution of the perception of the migration process as such and its various stages by the Israeli society. The studying of the above journals allowed distinguishing the contents specificity of each of them. The “Vremya i Mi “ journal was characterized by demonstrative anti-Sovietism, based on the commitment to the concept of human rights and liberal values. In turn, the “22” journal was aimed at the development of Zionism ideas and strengthening of the position of those Jews who sought deep integration into the Israeli society. However, the both periodicals had similar content features: the articles published in them were of high analytical and artistic level. Both “Vremya i Mi” and “22” were characterized by a common desire to understand the problems of Jews’ repatriation and their adaptation in Israel. The both journals made a significant contribution to the history of Israel periodicals and to the formation of self-consciousness of the Russian-speaking population of this country. The article is presented in the historical context. It reveals the main stages of the emigration of Jews from the USSR and modern Russia and the evolution of the reflection of this process on the pages of the journals.

The article considers the problems of forming the religious component of the Polish uprising in 1863 in the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. The author analyzes the peculiarities of the relationship between the Roman Catholic clergy and its laity in the process of the religious mobilization of the participants in the uprising. The article reveals the methods of influence of the radically-minded clergy on the consciousness and political behavior of the laity. There is shown that the spiritual power of the Roman Catholic clergy was used to achieve the political goals of the liberation of Poland. There is established the relationship between the religious motivation of the participants in the uprising and the brutality towards the law-abiding population in various forms of insurgent terror and violence. The author comes to the conclusion that radically-minded Roman Catholic priests and monks managed to turn the church doctrine into a mobilizing ideology of the armed struggle. Religious legitimization, propaganda and organization of the armed uprising turned a part of the Roman Catholic clergy of the Northwestern Krai into a political enemy of the Russian Empire. The article deals with the retaliatory measures of punishment applied to the rebellious representatives of the clergy on the part of the administration of M.N. Muravyov, which were caused by the conditions of martial law, the necessity to protect the territorial integrity of the state, to protect the lives and property of law-abiding citizens. In this regard, the Russian government, army, society and the Orthodox population of Lithuania and Belarus perceived the uprising as an attempt on the part of the Polish separatists on the ancestral Russian territory. Therefore, for the Russian side, the goals of the armed struggle were not the return of the Polish land, but the morally justified protection of the Russian land and the Russian people living in the West who had the same faith. In this regard, the author comes to the conclusion that in the process of preparing and carrying out the uprising, some of the Roman Catholic clergy of the Northwestern Kraiacted as a political enemy of the Russian Empire.

The article considers the peculiar features of the selfless service in the far regions of the Russian Empire. The analysis is carried out on the example of the life and ministry of missionary, educator, teacher, preacher, Bishop Jacob (Domsky). His participation in the process of improving spiritual schools, the conditions of teaching and mentoring, developing new and improving old educational programmes contributed to the solution to one of the most important tasks - the training of highly educated Ministers of the Church. These graduates were able to serve the Fatherland in Siberia, the Far East, the Russian mission in China and Japan, in the vast territory of the Aleutian and Alaska dioceses. The opening of rural parish and parochial schools, the establishment of women’s diocesan schools, public library and translation activities - all these facts are about the life of Jacob (Domsky). As the Bishop of one of the most distant and great foreign dioceses, he did much to establish Orthodoxy and raise the authority of the Orthodox priesthood. Based on the brief analysis of the main theological works, among which is “Russian preaching, historical review and contemporary perspective on its direction”, the article shows the importance of the heritage of the missionary in the development of the Church historiography. For example, the activities of Bishop of Jacob (Domsky) reveal the role of Russian spiritual warriors in the organization and development of librarianship, education and spiritual enlightenment of the indigenous peoples of Siberia and the Far East.