Confessions Of The Shtetl: Converts From Judaism In Imperial Russia, 1817-1906 (stanford Studies In Jewish History And Culture)
by Ellie R. Schainker /
2016 / English / PDF
21.8 MB Download
Over the course of the nineteenth century, some 84,500 Jews in
imperial Russia converted to Christianity.
Over the course of the nineteenth century, some 84,500 Jews in
imperial Russia converted to Christianity.Confessions of the
Shtetl
Confessions of the
Shtetl explores the day-to-day world of these people,
including the social, geographic, religious, and economic links
among converts, Christians, and Jews. The book narrates converts'
tales of love, desperation, and fear, tracing the uneasy contest
between religious choice and collective Jewish identity in
tsarist Russia. Rather than viewing the shtetl as the foundation
myth for modern Jewish nationhood, this work reveals the shtetl's
history of conversions and communal engagement with converts,
which ultimately yielded a cultural hybridity that both
challenged and fueled visions of Jewish separatism.
explores the day-to-day world of these people,
including the social, geographic, religious, and economic links
among converts, Christians, and Jews. The book narrates converts'
tales of love, desperation, and fear, tracing the uneasy contest
between religious choice and collective Jewish identity in
tsarist Russia. Rather than viewing the shtetl as the foundation
myth for modern Jewish nationhood, this work reveals the shtetl's
history of conversions and communal engagement with converts,
which ultimately yielded a cultural hybridity that both
challenged and fueled visions of Jewish separatism.
Drawing on extensive research with conversion files in imperial
Russian archives, in addition to the mass press, novels, and
memoirs, Ellie R. Schainker offers a sociocultural history of
religious toleration and Jewish life that sees baptism not as the
fundamental departure from Jewishness or the Jewish community,
but as a conversion that marked the start of a complicated
experiment with new forms of identity and belonging. Ultimately,
she argues that the Jewish encounter with imperial Russia did not
revolve around coercion and ghettoization but was a genuinely
religious drama with a diverse, attractive, and aggressive
Christianity.
Drawing on extensive research with conversion files in imperial
Russian archives, in addition to the mass press, novels, and
memoirs, Ellie R. Schainker offers a sociocultural history of
religious toleration and Jewish life that sees baptism not as the
fundamental departure from Jewishness or the Jewish community,
but as a conversion that marked the start of a complicated
experiment with new forms of identity and belonging. Ultimately,
she argues that the Jewish encounter with imperial Russia did not
revolve around coercion and ghettoization but was a genuinely
religious drama with a diverse, attractive, and aggressive
Christianity.