|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 8
The Jews in the land of the Slavonians were fortunate in being regarded
as aliens in a country which, as we have seen, they inhabited long
before those who claimed to be its possessors by divine right of
conquest. If their position was precarious, their sufferings were those
of a conquered nation. As the whim and fancy of the reigning prince,
knyaz, varied, they were induced one day to settle in the country by the
offer of the most flattering privileges, and the next day they were
expelled, only to be requested to return again. Now their synagogues and
cemeteries were exempt from taxation, now an additional poll-tax or
land-tax was levied on every Jew (serebshizna); one day they were
allowed to live unhampered by restrictions, then they were prohibited to
wear certain garments and ornaments, and commanded to use yellow caps
and kerchiefs to distinguish them from the Gentiles (1566).
But all this was the consequence of political subjugation. Judged by the
standard of the times, they were veritable freemen, freer than the
Huguenots of France and the Puritans of England. They were left
unmolested in the administration of their internal affairs, and were
permitted to appoint their own judges, enforce their own laws, and
support their own institutions. Forming a state within a state, they
developed a civilization contrasting strongly with that round about
them, and comparing favorably with some of the features of ours of
to-day. Slavonic Jewry was divided into four districts, consisting of
the more important communities (kahals), to which a number of smaller
ones (prikahalki) were subservient. These, known as the Jewish
Assemblies (zbori zhidovskiye), met at stated intervals. As in our
federal Government, the administrative, executive, and legislative
departments were kept distinct, and those who presided over them
(roshim) were elected annually by ballot. These roshim, or elders,
served by turns for periods of one month each. The rabbi of each
community was the chief judge, and was assisted by several inferior
judges (dayyanim). For matters of importance there were courts of appeal
established in Ostrog and Lemberg, the former having jurisdiction over
Volhynia and the Ukraine, the latter over the rest of Jewish
Russo-Poland. For inter-kahal litigation, there was a supreme court, the
Wa'ad Arba' ha-Arazot (the Synod of the Four Countries), which held its
sessions during the Lublin fair in winter and the Yaroslav fair in
summer. In cases affecting Jews and Gentiles, a decision was given by
the _judex Judaeorum_, who held his office by official appointment of
the grand duke.
So far their system of self-government appears almost a prototype of our
own. The same is true of their municipal administration. The rabbi, who
had the deciding vote in case of a dead-lock, stood in the same relation
to them as the mayor holds to us, only that his term of office,
nominally limited to three years, was actually for life or during good
behavior. Yet the power vested in him was only delegated power. A number
of selectmen, or aldermen, guarded the rights of the community with the
utmost jealousy, and tolerated no innovation, unless previously
sanctioned by them. There were also several honorary offices, with a
one-year tenure, which none could fill who had not had experience in an
inferior position. The chief duties attached to these offices were to
appraise the amount of taxation, pay the salaries of the rabbi, his
dayyanim, and the teachers of the public schools, provide for the poor,
and, above all, intercede with the Government.[38]
Still more interesting and, for our purpose, more important were their
public and private institutions of learning. Jews have always been noted
for the solicitous care they exercise in the education of the young. The
Slavonic Jews surpassed their brethren of other countries in this
respect. At times they wrenched the tender bond of parental love in
their ardor for knowledge. With a republican form of government they
created an aristocracy, not of wealth or of blood, but of intellect. The
education of girls was, indeed, neglected. To be able to read her
prayers in Hebrew and to write Yiddish was all that was expected of a
mother in Israel. It was otherwise with the boys. Every Jew deemed
himself in duty bound to educate his son. "Learning is the best
merchandise"--_Torah iz die beste sehorah_--was the lesson inculcated
from cradle to manhood, the precept followed from manhood to old age.
All the lullabies transmitted to us from earliest times indicate the
pursuit of knowledge as the highest ambition cherished by mothers for
their sons:
Patsch�, patsch�, little tootsies,
We shall buy us little bootsies;
Little bootsies we shall buy,
To run to heder we shall try;
Torah we'll learn and all good ma'alot (qualities),
On our wedding eve we shall solve sha'alot (ritual problems).[39]
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|