[First
Jews in the territory of the "Soviet Union": Black Sea
region]
<RUSSIA, former empire in E. Europe; from 1918 the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (R.S.F.S.R.)
from 1923 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(U.S.S.R.).
Until 1772. ORIGINS.
[First Jewish settlement in Crimea and Asia]
The penetration of Jews into the territories now
incorporated within the Union began in the border regions
beyond the Caucasus Mountains and the shores of the Black
Sea. Traditions and legends connect the arrival of the
Jews in *Armenia and *Georgia with the *Ten Lost Tribes
(c. 721 B.C.E.) or with the Babylonian *Exile (586
B.C.E.).
[[There are some evidence that these "Lost Tribes" had
exiled up to Afghanistan]].
Clearer information on the settlement of the Jews, in
these regions has come down from the Hellenistic period.
Ruins, recordings, and inscriptions on tombstones testify
to the existence of important Jewish communities in the
Greek colonies on the Black Sea shores, Chersonesus near
*Sevastopol, *Kerch, and other places.
Religious persecutions in the *Byzantine Empire caused
many Jews to emigrate to these communities. At the time of
the wars between the Muslims and Persians during the
seventh century many Jews emigrated to the Caucasus and
beyond, where they established communities which during
subsequent generations maintained relations with the
centers of Jewish learning in Babylonia and Persia.
[Middle Ages: Jewish
merchants on the Silk Road - the merchandise - Judaized
Khazar kingdom - Prince Vladimir of Kiev was a Jew and
then a "Christ"]
From the early Middle Ages Jewish merchants, referred to
the Hebrew as holkhei
Rusyah [[Jewish merchants named "Russian
travelers"]], regularly traveled through the Slavonic and
Khazar lands on their way to India and China. They traded
in slaves, textiles, hides [[furs]], spices, and arms. It
was during this period that the accepted term in Hebrew
literature for those lands - Erez Kena'an ("Land of Canaan") -
appeared (originating in the etymological interpretation
of the name "Slavs"), and the merchants were said to be
familiar with the "language of Canaan" (Slavonic).
It is clear that the conversion to Judaism of the kingdom
of the *Khazars during the first half of the eighth
century was to a certain degree due to the existence of
the many Jewish communities in this region. Jews from the
Christian and Muslim countries which bordered upon the
Khazar realm [[kingdom]] were later attracted to the
Jewish kingdom. Possibly refugees who escaped from this
kingdom formed one of the elements of Russian Jewry in
later generations, though their proportion in the
composition of this Jewry is still under discussion.
[Jewish Kiev - Orthodox
Kiev - "Gate of the Jews" in Kiev - religious contacts
to Babylonian Jews]
The kingdom of the Jewish Khazars is referred to in
ancient Russian literature as the "Land of the Jews", and
warriors of the Russian epic poetry wage war against the
Jewish warrior, the "zhidovin". According to one tradition
Prince Vladimir of Kiev conversed with Jews on religion
before accepting Orthodox Christianity. At the same time
there were Jews living in Kiev. Ancient Russian sources
mention the "Gate of the Jews" in Kiev. The Jews lived in
the town under the protection of the prince, and when the
inhabitants of the town rebelled against Prince Vladimir
II Monomachus (1117) they also attacked the houses of the
Jews.
Extracts of religious *disputations held in Kiev between
monks and clergy and Jews have been preserved in the early
Russian religious literature. There were also Jewish
settlements in *Chernigov and Vladimir-Volynski. The Jews
of Kiev also communicated with their coreligionists in
Babylonia and Western Europe on religious questions.
During the 12th century there is mention of R. *Moses of
Kiev who corresponded with Rabbenu Jacob b. Meir *Tam and
with the Gaon *Samuel b. Ali of Baghdad.
[13th century: Mogul
invasion - Jewish communities in Genoese Crimea]
The invasion of the Monguls (1237) and their rule brought
much suffering to the Jews of Russia. An (col. 433)
important community - *Rabbanites as well as *Karaites -
subsequently developed in Theodosia (*Feodosiya, Crimea)
and its surroundings, first under Genoese rule (1260-1475)
and later under the Tatar khans of Crimea.
[14th century: Expansion
of Poland-Lithuania in western Russia - Jewish
large-scale settlement activity - Chmielnicki massacres
- Muscovite raids - Haidamack revolts]
FROM THE 14TH CENTURY.
From the beginning of the 14th century the Lithuanians
gained control over western Russia. Under Lithuania the
first extensive privileges were granted to Jewish
communities in the region at the end of the 14th century.
Under Poland-Lithuania the wave of Jewish emigration and
large-scale settlement from Poland to the *Ukraine,
*Volhynia, and *Podolia from the middle of the 16th
century laid the foundations at the close of this century
for most of the Jewish communities of the Ukraine and
Belorussia [[Belarus]], their Polish-Jewish culture and
autonomy (see *Poland-Lithuania; *Councils of the Lands).
In 1648-49 the *Chmielnicki massacres devastated the Jews
of the Ukraine, and some years later the Muscovite armies
annihilated the Jews in the cities of Belorussia and
Lithuania that they had captured.
During the 18th century the Jews suffered severely during
the revolts of the *Haidamacks. (col. 434)
[Moscow is a forbidden
city for the Jews - Jewish merchants - Judaizer sect in
Novgorod detected - Czar Ivan IV Vasilievich's
conversion method with drowning]
PRINCIPALITY OF MOSCOW.
In the principality of Moscow, the nucleus of the future
Russian Empire, Jews were not tolerated. This negative
attitude toward Jews was connected with the negative
attitude to foreigners in general, who were considered
heretics and agents of the enemies of the state. During
the 15th century Jews arrived within the borders of the
principality of Moscow in the wake of their trade from
both the Tatar kingdom of Crimea and Poland-Lithuania.
During the 1470s the religious sect known in Russian
history as the "*Judaizers" (Zhidovstvuyushchiye) was discovered in
the large commercial city of *Novgorod and at the court in
Moscow. The Jews were accused of having influenced and
initiated the establishment of the sect.
When Czar Ivan IV Vasilievich ("the Terrible"; 1530-84)
temporarily annexed the town of *Pskov to his territory,
he ordered that all Jews who refused to convert to
Christianity should be drowned in the river. During the
following two centuries Jews entered Russia either
illegally or with authorization from Poland and Lithuania
on trade, and they occasionally settled in border towns.
Repeated decrees issued by the Russian rulers prohibiting
the entry of Jewish merchants within their territories,
and explicit articles included in the treaties between
Poland and Russia emphasizing these prohibitions, testify
that this penetration was a regular occurrence. Small
Jewish communities existed during the early 19th century
in the region of *Smolensk.
[Jews at stake in St.
Petersburg - czarina Elizabeth Petrovna expels the few
Jews - some Jews entering by trade - public opinion
against the Jews - Turkish Crimea]
In 1738 the Jews, Baruch b. Leib, was arrested and accused
of having converted the officer Alexander *Voznitsyn to
Judaism. Both were burned at the stake in St. Petersburg.
In 1742 Czarina Elizabeth Petrovna ordered the expulsion
of the few Jews living in her kingdom. When the senate
attempted to obtain cancellation of the expulsion order by
pointing out the economic loss which would be suffered by
the Russian merchants and the state, the czarina retorted
[[answered]]:
"I do not want any benefit from the enemies of Christ."
At the beginning of the reign of Catherine II the question
of authorizing the entry of Jews for trading purposes
again arose. The czarina, who was inclined toward
authorizing their admission, was compelled to reverse her
decision in the face of hostile public opinion. Some Jews
nevertheless penetrated into Russia during this period,
while the (col. 434)
authorities did not disturb those living in the
territories conquered from Turkey in 1768 (Crimea and the
Black Sea shore) and even unofficially encouraged the
settlement of additional Jews in these territories. The
question of the presence of Jews within the borders of the
empire was however decided by historical circumstances,
when at the close of the 18th century hundreds of
thousands of Jews were placed under the dominion of the
czars as a result of the three partitions of Poland (1772;
1793; 1795).> (col. 435)
