Alexander Alexander
I.,
Pavlovich Alexandrovich
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
III.,
tlic k-itteU (shmiids) worn on the Day of Atonement mill Passover Kvc (S. J. Ftlnn." ^iryah Neemanali," ISOO, )i. 34. mill noU'. p. 47). That AlcxamiiT was at this time much in earnest
endeavors to anielionite the Jews is shown liy liis remark: "If. ill
his
iiositii>ii
throiii.'h
of
tlie
my
ef-
sliould succeed in Virinj;in,s forth only one Jlendelssoliii fromamoni; tlie Russian Jews. I shall he aliuiidaiitly rewarded." At that time the Russian ;;iiveniment did not know forts to
imiuove
condition.
tlieir
I
much about the habits and who were subjected to the
the needs of the Jews, iiitluence of the conditions ]irevalent under the old Polish rule (liilck and Bninn."Istoriya Yevreyev," Russian translation with supplement and addition by S. M. Diibnov. ii. 444. Ode.s.S!». 1S97. While Jewish airriiiilturisls received
some privilejres, Jews were proliibited from innkcepiiig and from renting country property, for which reason they were even forbidden to dwell in villages. Pale, or territory assigneil to the Jews, was limited, as before, to the provinces taken over from Poland, where the Jewish ])opulation was much crowded in cities; the kdhal, or board of administr.itinn of the community, retained its old ])ower, although it was l>laced under the control of the local authorities. The "Regulations" of lt*04 present a system of reform, which, however, was afterward counteracted by reactionary tendencies. "At the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle (1818) Alexander brought forward the question of the condition of the Jews: being perha]is influenced Congress of in this by the enthusiastic and proAix-la|)hetic appeal of the English pliilanChapelle. thropist I/Ewis W.y, ^vill) had traveled in Poland to stud}' the condition of the Jews there, and who was convinced that the Jewish nation would once more be restored to the land of its fathers. After the Congress Alexander altogether abandoneil his former liberal ideas and adopted a reacOwing to this, the following retionary policy. strictive measures characterized the closing years of the czar's reign The rescript of Jlay 4, 1820, forbidding Jews to keep Christian servants; that of Aug. 10, 1824. prohibiting foreign Jews from settling permanently in Rus.sia; and the edict of Jan. 13, 1825, removing the Jews from villages to towns and cities in the governments of Mohilev and Vitebsk.
The
BiBLIOGRAPnv M. BofTdanovich. htm-iyn Imprratnra Alexandra I. St. ivtersliiirt', 1S69-71 A. I'ypin, (ilishclteKtveu:
nojc Dvizhcuii' ]>ri AUs. /.St. IVlfn-biirir. IsTl Itai-k and Brann, Istitrtiftt Yfrntii:i Russian tninslatiiui wiih sueplement and aspecjal additlnn of the Rii.ssian-Jt'Wish history by S. M. Dubnov. II. 444 et sfi/.. Odessa, l.si»T Graetz. llistorti of Die Jews, y. .562, Ijondon, ISIK I. Orshanski. Iz Xi>veu<ht:i h'tnrii
Yevrcyrv v
IV rr.
BiIiUnti:ka. yol. ii., St. Petersburg. 1S72: v. O. I.pvanda, I'oUnt Klirotinhxiirhiski SItornik Zakintow eti-. (Complete riin.'notoLni'al Coiu-ctinn of Laws and Repulations concerning: the Jews. Jt>411-lsT;ti, pp. 10:3-126. St. Petersburg, 1S74 : Lituvskic Ycvrci i Volituc Lvuili, in /?(».v*ii,
in
Btisski Vycatnik, 1889, vol.
ALEXANDER
II.,
NIKOLAIEVICH, Emat St.
service, introduced some humane n-forms into the army discipline, and enjoined universal conscription. Under his reign the press and public opinion devel-
oped loan extent previously iinUnown in Russia, by reason of the liiuitatioiis pl.ieeil upon the censorship; and every form of industry and commerce, art, science, and literature received a new impulse. Nicholas I. had tried in his own harsh, autocratic to Rus.siaiiize the Jews. Among other austere measures he introduced the cantonists' school for the mililaiy education of Jewish minors, who were forcibly lorn froin their parents. They had to pass through a rough discipline and were often compelled to join the Greek t)rllioilox Church. Aware of the mistakes his father had made in his despotic policy toward the Jews, Alexander endeavored to correct them, and early manifested a friendly disposition toward his Jewish subjects. He abolished the cantonists' school, admitted Jews to the high schools and universities,and by the laws of March 16, 18,59, and of Nov. 27, IHtil, lie granted Favorable to Jewish scholars, university graduTreatates, wholesde merchants, maniifacment of turers, and (lMtJ5)arlisanstlie jirivilege Jews. of settling, under certain conditions,
way
outside of the Pale, in the interior provinces of Russia (Demidov San-Donato, "The Jewish Question in Russia," p. 30, St. Petersburg, It should not be overlooked, however, that 1883). the emancipation of the Jews had at that time been completed in most of the countries of western Europe and that these privileges were granted only to certain classes of Jews in Russia for political and economic reasons, the object of the government being to promote the commercial and industrial interests of the interior provinces. For the masses of the Jewish poiiulation these reform laws accomplished little, since the 2. .500,1100 Jews within the Pale, not belonging to the privileged class, were still debarred from the right of setllenient and could not emigrate from the overcrowded provinces of Poland and Lithuania. These half-hearted measures, together with the numerous ambiguities in the new laws, left to corrupt ollicials plenty of room for abuse, and as a conseiiuencc Jewish artisjins were always exposed to
annoyances from them, and even liable to expulsion from their newly founded homes. Nevertheless, the I{iissian Jews fully appreciated the good intentions of the czar and have iihvays regarded him as tlieir liberator. It is remarkable how quickly they availed themselves of the opportunity to become Russianized, especially in St. Petersburg and JIoscow, in the centers of Jewish leamEffect of ing as Wilua. Kiev, and Odessji. and Milder throughout southern Russia. Forthe Legisla- first time there were published Jewish periodicals in the Kussian language: tion. "Razsvyet" and "Sion," and later " Den," " Yevreiskaya Biblioteka," and " Voskhod " and Russians were greatly surprised at the superior style of Osip Rabinovich, Pinsker, Soloveichick, Levanda. and many others who in the vernticular endeavored toaeqiiaint the intelligent Russian public with the condition of the Jews, and to defend their rights. From among the orthodox Jews also there sprang up a number of liberal-minded men, young and old, who tried to enlighten the orthodox nias.ses and to awaken in them patriotic sentiments and a love for liberal education and European culture by
xli.
n. R.
peror of Russia: Horn
346
Peterslmrg. April 29,
1818; assassinated there ^larcli 13. 1881' He succeeded his father, Nicholas I., March 2, 185.1, before the end of the Crimean war, and when peace was concluded reforms of all kinds were initiated by him. the mo.st important being the enuinciHis Repation of the serfs in 1801. He also forms. abolished capital punishment and the hereditary rights of the clergy, reorganized the administralion of justice, gave an impetus to autonomy in various districts, cities, and provinces of the empire, abridged the term of military
means of Hebrew periodicals. "Ha-JIeliz." "HaKarmel." and "Ha Zelirah." the first journals pubIt was lished in the Hebrew language in Russia. certainly not the fault of the .lewisli masses that some of the quickly Russianized Jewish students
