Russia's First Modern Jews: The Jews of Shklov. by David E. FishmanReview by: John D. KlierSlavic Review, Vol. 55, No. 2 (Summer, 1996), pp. 466-467Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2501948 .

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466 Slavic Review

lapses aside, this well-done work merits reading by anyone interested in recent German history or, indeed, the troubles of totalitarian and democratic political systems alike.

JAMES J. WARD Cedar Crest College

Russia's First Modern Jews: The Jews of Shklov. By David E. Fishman. New York: New York University Press, 1995. xv, 195 pp. Index. Plates. Maps. Hard bound.

The existence of an atypical, rationalist, and mildly acculturationistJewish center in Shklov in the eighteenth century has long been recognized by scholars. The so-called Shklov Enlightenment is usually seen as no more than a forerunner of the Haskalah in Russia, without system or lasting influence. David Fishman argues for the signifi- cance of this phenomenon as an important paradigm of theJewish confrontation with modernity. Of equal significance, he ties its course securely to events transpiring in the broader, non-Jewish environment.

Shklov in 1772 was a "typical Polish town stinking of Yids," an unimportant town in the backward Polish province of Belorussia. Jewish Shklov was devoid of important scholars or institutions. The first partition of Poland changed all this, at a stroke transforming Shklov into an important border town, a center for the empire's import- export trade. Newly cut off from traditional sources of leadership, Belorussian Jews were forced to develop their own communal strategies for life under Russian rule. So completely did they succeed that at the time of the final partitions influential centers like Minsk sent delegates to Belorussia to learn how to accommodate the new Russian overlords.

The decisive movement for Shklov itself came when Count Semen Zorich settled in the town in 1777, having received it as a "golden handshake" after his brief stint as Catherine II's favorite. Zorich sought to recreate the bright lights of Petersburg on the Belorussian plains. He staged balls and soirees, attracting guests in transit between Petersburg and western Europe. He founded both theatrical and ballet troupes of high standard, staffing them with foreign composers, conductors, musicians, and choreog- raphers. He created a Shklov Noble Academy for the sons of the local aristocracy. Foreign masters were hired to oversee industrial enterprises on his estate.

Jews, who comprised 80 percent of the local population, could not fail to be affected. A number of local businessmen, such as Nota Notkin and Joshua Zeitland, made their fortunes and established links with St. Petersburg. Fishman demonstrates how these merchants became adherents of acculturation and partisans of some form of political emancipation.

The dynamism of Shklov touched the religious and cultural leadership as well. With a sure hand, Fishman moves through a variety of obscure Hebrew and Yiddish sources to reveal, through individual biographies, the confrontation of Shklov Jews with modernity. Barukh Schick, author of popularizing scientific works in Hebrew, traveled to Berlin in 1776, where he used and was used in turn by the Berlin maskilim. A more overtly maskilic program was espoused in Shklov itself by Naftali Hirtz Schul- man, whom Fishman characterizes as the "first Russian Maskil." Fishman also rescues the memory of Hayim Avraham Katz whose pioneering Hebrew drama, Milhama ba- shalom (War against peace), strongly suggests the influence of Zorich's Shklov theater troupe. Nor was the traditionalist religious leadership untouched. Followers of Elijah, the renowned Gaon of Vilna, in accordance with their mentor's adherence to the rationalist tradition in Judaism, sought to accommodate Torah study to the spirit of the times, albeit while subordinating science to the purposes of Torah study.

Fishman is less successful when he chronicles the decline of the Shklov tradition of acculturation. (The death of Zorich and the economic effects of the later partitions easily explain the eclipse of Shklov itself as a cultural and economic center.) Members of a Shklov Circle in Petersburg, which centered on the household of the merchant Abraham Perets, played an active role in the deliberations of a committee appointed

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Book Reviews 467

by Alexander I in 1802 to draft a new legal code for Russian Jews. According to Fishman, the restrictions of the resulting Statute of 1804 were so severe that they destroyed faith in the possibilities of emancipation and Jewish acculturation. The Perets family ceased to struggle for emancipation and abandoned efforts at accultur- ation as Jews by converting to Christianity. I find this argument unconvincing. The Statute of 1804 was not nearly as negative as Fishman contends, and it contained many provisions suggested by the Jewish reformers themselves. Its educational provisions permitted exactly that mode of acculturation which Fishman associates with the Shklov Enlightenment. The conversions that swept the Perets household appear to have been motivated by specific personal considerations (i.e., in order to conclude advantageous marriages). Not surprisingly the conversions were to Lutheranism, the religion of convenience for insincereJewish converts.

This book is a very important contribution to the early history of the Jews under Russian rule, and it challenges a number of established assumptions about the spread of Haskalah to eastern Europe. It deserves the serious attention of any student of modern Jewish history.

JOHN D. K1IER

University College, London

TheJews of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk: Identity, Antisemitism, Emigration. By RobertJ. Brym with Rozalina Ryvkina. New York: New York University Press in association with the Institute of Jewish Affairs, 1994. 142 pp. Appendixes. Index. Photographs. Figures. Tables. Hard bound.

Robert J. Brym, an established scholar and associate of the Centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Toronto, has published many works on Russian and Soviet studies. He raises pertinent questions and proceeds to competently answer them in a methodical and scientific manner. One has difficulty leveling criti- cism against this book. A map of the former Soviet Union or Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) might have been included for the benefit of some readers.

Brym used the results of several surveys, the last (1993) in collaboration with Rozalina Ryvkina of the All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Research, Moscow. This unique survey (Appendix B in the book), which would have been impossible to conduct until a few years ago, sheds considerable light on the Jews of Moscow, Kiev, and Minsk, in particular their "intentions, perceptions, motivations and fears ... as well as the degree to which they were rooted in their social circumstances." Further- more, the book enlightens the reader as to the situation of Jews in general in Soviet and post-Soviet society.

The book has six chapters and two appendixes as well as a foreword by Howard Spier, head of the Central and East European Department, Institute of Jewish Affairs, London. The book is well bound and done in quality print. It is compact and informa- tive. The bibliographical sources are sound.

Brym has a very personable writing style, one that carries the reader from chapter to chapter, point by point. His analysis is succinct, and the reader can easily follow and understand the full significance and consequence of this study. The preface and first chapter succinctly explain the importance of the research, outline the author's major ideas, and provide some discerning judgments about their importance.

The book is objectively written. It is a constructive, lucid, and well-researched work. Brym has an intimate knowledge of his subject; his scholarship is sound and supports his conclusions. The many tables and statistics are an important part of the book, which is an important contribution to the study of Jews of the former Soviet Union and the CIS. Many readers might be surprised to learn that by the year 2000 fewer than half a million Jews will still reside in the CIS and that more Jews emigrate for economic than for any other reason, including anti-Semitic persecution.

Thought-provoking tables illustrate the book. It is bound to be required reading

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