Штетл. Золота доба єврейського містечка

by Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, Йоханан Петровський-Штерн, Ярослава Стріха (Translator)

Дослідження відомого американського та українського історика й культуролога Йоханана Петровського-Штерна про соціальний та культурний феномен єврейського штетла.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Jewish, Judaism, Judaica, Russia, Poland

394 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Roksolana Sviato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Дуже цікава книжка. Таки важко втриматися від спокуси й не навести її як показовий приклад тих західних монографій, які завдяки захопливому викладу будуть цікаві не тільки спеціалістам у певній вузькій темі.
Автор виходить із мікроісторії (бо йдеться про штетли трьох губерній Російської імперії до другої половини ХІХ століття), але з постійними виходами на значно ширші узагальнення. Тому, крім того, що дізнаєшся про всі найважливіші аспекти функціонування містечок у період "золотої доби" (від їх будови, організації торгівлі, того, як виглядало житло, як розважалися, як співіснували з сусідами, як домовлялися з владою, з ким і як конфліктували, як налагоджували контрабанду в умовах заборони імпорту, хто, що і коли крав, які існували стереотипи, як створювали сім"ї, як і де молилися, що видавали, що читали тощо-тощо), "бонусом" отримуєш купу додаткової інформації про те, що ще відбувалося на теренах України в той час, а також із євреями в інших частинах світу.

Вкінці ж автор пропонує цікаву й досить несподівану, як на мене (не аж так заглиблену в цю тему філологиню), версію того, чому ж штетли врешті занепали. І ні, мова не про антисемітизм (хоча якраз у другій половині ХІХ століття, коли закінчується "золота доба" й період, досліджуваний у монографії, починаються перші погроми), як про економічні чинники. На думку Петровського-Штерна, індустріалізація (розбудова великих міст, переміщення туди торгівлі, будівництво залізниці, численні пожежі в дерев"яних містечках тощо) значно більше спричинилися до занепаду штетлів, аніж усі ідеологічні чинники разом узяті. І автор таки переконливий у своїй аргументації. Врешті не даремно він є економічним істориком.
п.с. ну, і так: дуже смачний переклад. Ясі Стрісі ще одна подяка й комплімент))

[Ярослава]

Вийшла "Золота доба штетла" в моєму перекладі! (мої враження від оригіналу тут).) Не зважайте, що датою виходу поставили 2019 рік - книжка вже існує і продається, скажімо, на сайті "Критики".

Отут можна подивитися відеозапис із київської презентації, де пан Йоханан Петровський-Штерн дуже цікаво розповідає про штетли і цю книжку зокрема.

[Ярослава · Rating 5 out of 5]

Жила-була і переклала :)

Штетлу у розквіті вже не існувало. Ця східноєвропейська Атлантида відійшла у минуле і забрала з собою своїх своєрідних мешканців, їхні ремесла, матеріальну культуру та мрії.
Ми, звісно, можемо оплакувати її занепад, забуття й остаточне знищення у пожарищі Голокосту. Багато хто так і робить. Цінуймо уламки спогадів нечисленних зацілілих, але й не забуваймо історії штетлівської величі, його строкате життя й нестримне завзяття. Ми можемо – й мусимо – вивчати, яким був штетл на піку слави, і саме цьому присвячено дану книжку.

Головний аргумент Петровського-Штерна такий: коли ми чуємо "штетл", ми уявляємо злиденне містечко, яким налякано порхають субтильні побожні юдеї. Образ поширений, але редуктивний: заснований на гіркій ностальгії після Голокосту й далеко не найкращій сторінці в історії штетлів (і почасти на ресентименті молодої держави Ізраїль до діаспорної спадщини, nawiasem mówiąc), він не враховує золотої доби - це перша половина ХІХ століття - коли штетл був великою економічною і культурною силою, із якою потрібно було рахуватися. ЙПШ реконструює життя штетлу золотої доби (від того, які книжки стояли на полицях, до того, як влаштовували особисте життя) на основі, значною мірою, поліцейських документів. Отже, читач зустрінеться із величезним каталогом яскравих образів - контрабандистів, купців, дрібномістечкових зухів, рішучих і підприємливих жінок і кого тільки не.

Переклад вийде - стукаю по дерев'яній голові - десь наступного року, з тієї нагоди переказуватиму анекдотки детальніше :)

[Steve Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those books that changes everything you think you know. The author makes these points:
1) In 1790, Russia started taking over Poland
2) Polish magnate-owned towns had all kinds of people and lots of Jews who ran businesses and fairs
3) Russian nationalism set in around 1840, effectively destroying the towns, which then became the dirt-poor shtetls that modern Jews think are beloved
Lots of new archival material. Very interesting if you like Eastern European history.

[Iryna Chernyshova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Не відмовилася б подивитися якийсь серіал за мотивами історій, цілком реальних.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review at http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic...

[Helyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this a week or two ago. I recall generally liking it. However, I can't really remember much about it? It was interesting to learn about Eastern European Jewry and the mythology of the shtetl a bit more, but I guess this didn't make a huge impact for me and there weren't enough English sources to make the bibliography useful for me (not the author's fault, but still affects my experience).

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knew the shtetl had a golden age? Now that I know this fact, I have to ask how has it added to my understanding of Jewish life in eastern Europe? Well, I now know the primary features of a shtetl in late 17th and early 18th century post partition Poland. What I did not learn was why should I know this and related information? Perhaps for the same reason that I should know about classical Mycenean civilization or the Song dynasty? I am not a professional historian. I read history to learn something about the past that has some relevance to contemporary life; or as an entertainment. I admit that I am slow to reach an understanding the relevance of a lot of the past for today's world, so perhaps Petrovsky-Shtern's book is not intended for me bur for those who are quicker to understand and appreciate the subtle ways the past influences the present. But Goodreads, as I understand it is a site for the average reader, the dilletante. So, you have here the evaluation of a book by an interested reader of average ingtelligence. I found it lacking in relevance, exposition and structure. Too much repetition, too many paragraphs that should have been replaced by a few tables and charts and too little argument about why the historical period the book examines is more than a nice museum piece.

[Carolyn Kost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Petrovsky-Shtern has conducted prodigious research and shares with the reader newly discovered information about life in the shtetl, "the unique habitat of...two-thirds of world Jewry at the time," while it flourished from 1790-1840, how they lived, their sense of order and propensity for entrepreneurship, why the Russians chose to dissolve this engine of prosperity, and how it came to decline. The reader is rewarded with a deep sense of life in the shtetl, the centrality of the family, the roles of sex and alcohol, and many, many anecdotes. Therein lies the weakness of this book: there is far and away too much of a good thing. This book could and should have been edited and cut, cut, cut. The minutiae detract from the narrative. Telling us the names of folks to whom some minor event occurred is very Jewish, but maddening. To add their ages and hometowns is just absurd. And there are 355 pages full of this. I defy anyone to read this without skimming certain parts, which is how I would suggest tackling it. It is worth the effort.

[The Jewish Book Council]

Review by Jack Fischel for Jewish Book Council

[Hallie Cantor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book marvelously debunks the FIDDLER ON THE ROOF-style romanticism of the shtetl, which by the time the musical took place was already in decline. The shtetl, the rural or semi-rural East European town with a significant Jewish population, was for about 50 years a fount of cultural, religious, and spiritual creativity. It was the stuff of the Ba'al Shem Tov and other Hassidic Rebbe stories -- innkeepers, pious farmers, tavern owners, miracle-workers, butchers, scribes, paupers, cruel aristocrats -- and in its environment the numerous powerhouse yeshivoth and Hassidic courts flourished.

It's the yeshivoth and Hassidic courts, in fact, that come to mind when describing the mystical appeal of the shtetl. The intense piety and scholarship gave the shtetl its flavor, and the reason it is remembered most fondly nowadays among the Torah-observant. Judaism permeated village life; it was in the denizens' guts. The shtetl had its rogues and "Jewish trash," but even they seemed to have walked with G-d.

Jews from all classes or intellectual levels were strongly committed to faith, family, and charity. Lives centered around the Sabbath, holidays, study, prayer, and lifecycle events. The women were sturdy, "liberated" housewives who enjoyed wearing finery; the homes varied in size and appearance, according to rank and wealth, from storefront/townhouses to hovels which also housed both humans and livestock. The Torah encouraged marriage, many children, and literacy. In their passion for religious literature, particularly the latest Hassidic discourses, printing presses abounded, right under the noses of Russian authorities. Even the poorest families owned a prayer book and a Bible.

Many factors contributed to the shtetl's development and sustainability, although the author focuses more on the secular -- i.e. economic -- rather than religious. In fact, rabbis and holy men (tzaddikim) are given relatively little mention. Jews, considered here an ethnic group, had lived in Poland since the Middle Ages. They dominated certain trades, acting often as middlemen between the Polish gentry and the peasantry. When Poland was divided up by European powers at the end of the 18th century, the northeastern half was handed over to Catherine the Great, who along with her successors sought to eliminate economic competition by enacting nationalist laws and anti-trade policies. There crippled the Jews' livelihoods. Industrialization eliminated the need for Jewish artisans. The Jews were eventually forced to either emigrate or move to the larger cities and towns.

The Enlightenment (Haskalah), delivered the final blow, along with the overt Russification agendas. Under Nicholas I, Jews were conscripted into the army for 25 years. Rabbis were forced to undergo state supervision. (Lubavitcher Rebbes protested.) Beginning in the late nineteenth century, with secularization well under way, increasing numbers of young Jews flocking to the cities like Warsaw or Odessa and wider opportunities traded their heritage for assimilation or left-wing movements like Zionism or Communism. Some even converted to Christianity for social and economic advancement. Gradually the shtetl sank into poverty. Eventually, as increasing numbers of Jews departed, the villages were reclaimed by the Slavic population, with few vestiges of the former residents. Photographs show traces of Jewish influence -- shacks or former synagogues -- ghosts in a haunted landscape.

Urbanization, combined with secularization, further eroded much of traditional life, and the cities became filled with masses of Jewish underclass, many of whom faced chaos and cultural alienation. Jewish society underwent a massive and disorienting upheaval. World War Two put a sad end to a dazzling firmament in East European history.

The author's style is humorous, and the book, though academic in nature, is far from dry. Each chapter addresses a particular person and aspect of shtetl life, and the reader is aware of the classes or professions within that society. Through these people we realize the shtetl's proclivity for schemes, squabbles, legal matters, and simply the struggles to survive. Far from saccharine and cerebral, daily life in the shtetl was hard, and it produced hard and mean people who often fought each other both verbally and physically. While traditional mutual aid was ubiquitous, so too were backbiting, ruthlessness, and chicanery. It makes me realize how so many of the tribe -- at least the Ashkenazim -- seemed to be born with acerbic wit, and a toughness naturally transferred to other countries later.

Anyone wanting nostalgia will have to look elsewhere. This book would service anyone needing to be disabused of the notion that life in pre-Holocaust Europe was all holy and serene, and that everyone simply floated around the room lighting Shabbos candles. Life there was definitely not serene, although it often appeared simple and sweet and G-d's presence was nearly palpable. The "otherness," the separateness felt toward Gentile neighbors, maintained Jewish identity and shaped the East European, and possibly later the Israeli, character. While great rabbis and communal leaders existed, they lived under the same thatched-roofs with many common folk who left behind a colorful but vanished world.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better titled, The Shtetl in Three Central Ukrainian Provinces 1790-1840. But that wouldn't grab one's attention. Petrovsky-Shtern provides a necessary corrective to the Teyve Fiddler on the Roof endemic stereotype, created at the end of the 19thc and peddled to those raised on a romanticized conception. In reality, at least under the sponsorship of the Tsar, Polish administrators, and mercantile powers both Jew and Gentile, the truth is most of these settlements were bigger than a hamlet, smaller than a city. They averaged about half and half as to Jewish-Christian residents, rather than muddy slums.

They thrived, until the pressures of antisemitism, Polish Catholic nationalism, envy, Eastern Orthodox prejudice, and Jewish emancipation clashed. In Polonia, Kiev, and Going is regions, their lush soil, stable economies, and advantageous location away from the restive frontiers ensured, if only for half a century, conditions which accelerated prosperity. This study sifts archives, to reveal a brighter vista.

Yet the style plods along, and the immersion of detail, while pleasing for specialists, doesn't sustain a broader appeal over hundreds of pages of fine-grained minutiae amidst stolid historiography. These sober depictions, however necessary for scholars, especially after the fall of the USSR, bely the first impression of a.livelier anthology. Still, to restore this period at least in one region, fixed at a pivotal era before mass pogroms, tsarist repression, scapegoating, and European wars thundered back into this breadbasket of the continent, makes this compendium a commendable resource for academics.

[Mariana Semenyshyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! It gives a great overview of the life across towns of XIX century Ukraine from the perspective of mostly Jewish population. The books raises lots of important issues: economic and ethnic policies of Russian empire, inter-ethnic relations of common people, life and traditions of Jews of Ukraine. One of the key features I noticed is that the centers of Jewish life are currently becoming the centers of new territorial units now in making. Hope the reforms would be able to revive all the vibes of these places.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first half of the book and ended up skimming the second half. The author's research is heavily oriented toward southern Poland and it was not clear to what degree his conclusions could be generalized to the shtetls in Norhtern Poland/Lithuania. Still he makes some interesting points on the prospering of the shtetl during the first hald of the 19th Century and its propserity being undermined in the struggle between Russian authorities and Polish nobility.

[David Margolis · Rating 5 out of 5]

If your looking for information on shtetl life in the 19th century, this is the book. Not only did I find this book fascinating, but I was able to identify where my grandparents lived by combining tidbits of family lore and comparing that with the shtetl descriptions in the book. I realized that my mental impression of a bunch of poor Jews reading the Torah was completely wrong. This was a vibrant community full of business men, tavern owners, bootleggers as well as religious Jews.

[Ben Vos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really good on the texture and character of shtetlach during their period of economic centrality. But I was not remotely convinced that this period constituted a "golden age" in any other sense than the economic. Politically, Jews were marginalised, and arguably, in many places, Jewish society was not one where talent and virtue could rise to prominence without hindrance. Survival was too precarious for that.

[Inna Mamchyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ця книга немов клаптикова ковдра, мистецьки виплетена з життєвих історій населення єврейських містечок, щоб показати читачу не брудний обдертий штетл, а процвітаюче місто зі своїми радостями і бідами. Через влучну подачу фактів, ця печворк-композиція дозволяє зануритися у світ єврейського населення, відчути "на смак" соціально-політичні обставини та його побутові реалії.

[Yitz Dubovick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, Petrovsky-Shtern is a serious researcher and reports how it was backed up by documentation

[Arly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and interesting for those looking beyond the myths and impressions surrounding the shtetls of the “old country.”

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really maybe 2.5. Only for ppl doing very specific research. Wished he had just shared the source material.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good deal of new information for me. A little dense and hard to concentrate on everything, but o really I found it very interesting,

[Hannah Bristow]

So many books of Jewish History focus on sadness and trauma. This focuses on the bustle and boom and positivity of life in the Shtetl as a Golden Age.

[Zeb Kantrowitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the beginning (for me) the problem with this book was the original premise, that the shtetl did not exist. There surely were Jewish villages in the Pale of Russia and in Eastern Poland and Eastern Ukraine, but the archetypical ‘Anatevka’ of Sholem Aleichim never truly existed. What you do have is memories that have been mutated into a belief that this is the way things were in the ‘old country’ whereas they never were.

The times we are speaking of range from the partition of the Kingdom of Poland between 1772-1796 and the beginning of the twentieth century. What is fondly remembered as the shtetl was in reality an economic collusion between Jewish traders and the Polish nobles who owned the land. Under the laws of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, landowners could designate a part of their properties as “fair grounds”. It was at these fair grounds that ‘stalls’ could be set-up at designated times of the year where goods could be traded or sold.

Most of the people who ended up living in these ‘trade’ areas were artisans and peddlers, and most of these were Jews. Polish peasants were still tied to the land as they were in Russia so only the Jews had the ability to migrate from town to town. Also under Commonwealth law, the Polish noble could designate a ‘distiller’ for their property. Where the distiller sold his goods would usually be a tavern or inn. Jews therefore became distillers and tavern keepers. Around the Tavern grew up all the industries necessary for village life.

But, this idyllic time was short lived (hardly fifty years) and varied as to when and where it existed. As soon as the Russians took over their parts of the former Polish territory, the began to make inroads as to how things were done. Not wanting to help the Polish gentry, they quickly began to buy and confiscate towns, and then take away the right to have fairs and takeover the monopoly of distillery.

With the coming of the railroads and the shifting of commerce to water born craft, these towns had little or no travelers passing through. Without travelers there was no trade and without trade no commerce and without commerce no town. Quickly in the late nineteenth century, with the coming of the ‘Pograms’ and the enforcement of conscription, Jews began flooding out of these areas. The shtetl was gone. This book is the tale of that evolution which passed in the historic blink of an eye and was wiped out during WW2. It is only remembered in the stories that Bubbies tell their grandchildren.

In all honesty, the book can be tedious and is not made for the casual reader.
Zeb Kantrowitz

[Dobiasz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ta książka to w zasadzie kompendium wiedzy na temat tego, czym był sztetl — począwszy od samej definicji i genezy, poprzez (tematycznie, nie chronologicznie) poprowadzoną historię rozwoju i upadku tej formy miejscowości/społeczności, aż po nieubłaganie smutną refleksję historyczną. Pomaga zobaczyć coś więcej niż stereotypową Anatewkę z mitu czy zapyziałą, brudną i ciasną, ni to wioskę ni miasteczko chylące się ku upadkowi. Bo okres rozkwitu sztetlu to czasy, którymi polska historia zajmuje się przez pryzmat zaborów, walki o niepodległość, definiowaniem polskości w opozycji do wynaradawiania. Tymczasem dla sztetlu ten czas — pomiędzy rozbiorami Polski a industrializacją — to właśnie złoty wiek. To równoległa historia, dziejąca się na polskich kresach wschodnich, ale kompletnie przez nas nieznana. A szkoda, bo całkiem sporo ze skomplikowanych polsko-żydowskich splątań i konfliktów, pozornie niezrozumiałych, wyjaśnia.

Petrovsky-Shtern opiera się na solidnej literaturze, podaje mnóstwo udokumentowanych faktów, ale przeplata to sporą dawką soczystych anegdot, dzięki czemu czyta się to niczym reportaż a nie pracę naukową. Polecam mocno.

[Nataliya Borys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, captivating and highly colorful book about Jewish shtetls.

The shtetl as we have seen it at its height was no longer there. It vanished, like an East European Atlantis, together with its unique dwellers, their pursuits, their material culture, and their dreams.

We can, and perhaps will mourn its demise, its descent into oblivion, its complete destruction in the fires of the Holocaust. We will cherish the precious fragments of memories retained by the few survivors, but we can also tell stories of the shtetl’s greatness, of its vibrant life and fascinating verve. We can, and should, explore what the shtetl was in its moment of glory, which is exactly what this book is all about.

[Leora Wenger · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like history books, especially Jewish history, this one is a treat. The author's main premise is that the shtetl was not this run down place in the late 18th, early 19th century - it was economically vibrant and had a great marketplace. The shtetl met its fall with the xenophobia of the Russian government in the late 19th century and the move to urbanization and industrialization.

Maybe at some point I will write a longer review.

[Lgordo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not your Bais Yaakov teacher's alte heim. It's full of smuggling Jews, violent Jews, Jews collaborating with Gentiles, and otherwise impious, business-oriented Jews. It's a great subject, if not a great read. The writing is repetitive and errs on the side of telling not showing. Still, if you want a view of Eastern European Jewry that you won't get elsewhere, this is the book to read.

[Teri L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scholarly book, well researched, at times encyclopedic coverage of mundane details: for example, lists of printing presses and numbers of book published; population statistics; numbers of merchants, male and female. Through the detail, you can almost get a sense of how life was lived in the mid-1800's in the Pale. In this telling, it is not what we see in The Fiddler on the Roof.

[Brady · Rating 4 out of 5]

The popular view of Shtetl living is the dirty, poor, Fiddler on the Roof vision. This book is a well-researched, well-written exploration of the depth of Jewish life and culture in the Eastern European Shtetl.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting update of the traditional idea of the stetl. Much more involved in the surrounding area and more diverse than the view we get in Fiddler, for example. Nice illustrations.