Shochet (Vol. 2) A Memoir of Jewish Life in Ukraine and Crimea
Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
Michael Rotenfeld is a historical researcher who has long been fascinated by Jewish memory in its myriad forms, especially the genre of Jewish autobiography. He is the director of Touro University Library’s Project Zikaron, a permanent collection of previously uncollated and undigitized historical material from Jewish communities across the world. He also coordinated the digitization of David Tidhar’s ninеtееn-volume Encyclopedia of the Founders and Builders of Israel (www.tidhar.tourolib.org), which has received over three million page views.<p>“A fitting conclusion to a well-researched and meticulously edited memoir translation.” — Kirkus Reviews</p>
<p>“You have to read this book… It’s not like anything you read before.” — Tablet Magazine</p>
<p>“The second volume of Goldenshteyn’s memoir continues to captivate, brimming with the same dazzling color and detail that defined the first. The author’s fluid writing style, combined with his knack for capturing nuance and subtlety, makes this volume difficult to put down…. Particularly worthy of celebration is the exceptional work of translator and presenter Michoel Rotenfeld…. This is yeoman’s work of the highest order and sets a gold standard for future presentations of memoir literature.” — Rabbi Moshe Maimon, SeforimChatter</p>
<p>“Goldenshteyn, a traditional Jew who was orphaned as a young boy and became a shochet (kosher slaughterer) as a young man, is a master storyteller. His accounts are vivid and readable, sometimes stunning in their intensity. In chronicling his own life, Goldenshteyn inadvertently tells a bigger story—the story of how a small, oppressed people, among other minority groups, struggled for survival in the massive Russian Empire and in the Land of Israel. With great self-sacrifice and acumen, he overcomes tremendous adversity time after time by following his belief that justice will prevail if one acts with integrity. The translator, Michoel Rotenfeld, spent decades on the research and translation, traveling to Ukraine, Crimea, and Israel to explore archives and interview the last remaining individuals who knew Goldenshteyn. The results are self-evident: the footnotes are concise and illuminating, providing the reader with a thorough understanding of what Jewish life was like in his era.” -- Jewish Link</p>
<p>“Rabbi Goldenshteyn wrote his life story as a guide to his children. But in this fascinating work, he leaves us with a unique record of what life was like in Eastern Europe and Israel for all of us, and it’s not a pretty story by any stretch of the imagination. Goldenshteyn endured trials and travails sufficient for 50 people. Yet, in this work, we see him not just as a scholar but as a man of deep faith. Like Volume 1, Volume 2 is an exceptionally interesting first-hand account of life in Eastern Europe and Israel. Rotenfeld has done a remarkable translation and research to bring this most important volume to print.” — Ben Rothke, <em>The Times of Israel</em><br />
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<p>“Writing about his life, which was shaped by death, poverty, financial difficulties, and struggles against corruption, Goldenshteyn does not present readers with easy topics. Yet his vivid, readable prose is full of resilience, nuance, and humor. It invites us into the world of a critical thinker, a pious Jew, and a thoughtful observer of Jewish life.” — Katharina Hadassah Wendl, <em>Jewish Book Council</em></p>
Set in Ukraine, Crimea, and Israel, this unique two-volume autobiography offers a fascinating, detailed picture of life in Tsarist Russia and Israel during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Goldenshteyn (1848-1930), a traditional Jew who was orphaned as a young boy and became a shochet (kosher slaughterer) as a young man, is a master storyteller. Folksy, funny, streetwise, and self-confident, he is a keen observer of his surroundings. His accounts are vivid and readable, sometimes stunning in their intensity.
The memoir is brimming with information. Goldenshteyn’s adventures shed light on communal life, persecution, family relationships, religious practices and beliefs, social classes, local politics, interactions between Jews and other religious communities, epidemics, poverty, competition for resources, migration, war, technology, modernity and secularization. In chronicling his own life, Goldenshteyn inadvertently tells a bigger story—the story of how a small, oppressed people, among other minority groups, struggled for survival in the massive Russian Empire and in the Land of Israel.
Volume two begins in 1873, when Goldenshteyn obtains his first position as a shochet in Slobodze, and it follows him to the Crimea, where he endures 34 years of vicissitudes. In 1913, he fulfills a dream of immigrating to the Land of Israel, hoping to find tranquility in his old age. Instead, he is met with the turbulence of the First World War, as battles rage between the retreating Ottoman Turks and the advancing British forces.
Informed by research in Ukrainian, Israeli and American archives and personal interviews with the few surviving individuals who knew Goldenshteyn personally, The Shochet is a magnificent new contribution to Jewish and Eastern European history.
Volume Two
Part III: My Forty Years as a Shoykhet, and Moving to Palestine, 1873–1929
Chapter 22: As the Shoykhet of Slobodze, 1873–1875
Chapter 23: The Nobleman’s Attack and Moving to the Crimea, 1876–1880
Chapter 24: Corruption in Bakhchisaray and Ungrateful Relatives, 1880–1889
Chapter 25: The Threat of Banishment from Tsarist Russia, 1881–1884
Chapter 26: Persecution in Bakhchisaray, 1884–1889
Chapter 27: Raising My Children and My Wife’s Death, 1884–1897
Chapter 28: Remarrying and My Children’s Departure from Russia, 1896–1910
Chapter 29: Preparing to Leave for Palestine, 1910–1914
Part III—Addendum: My Life in Palestine, 1913–1928
Chapter 30: The World War and the Death of My Second Wife, 1913–1916
Chapter 31: Marrying Off My Niece and Writing a Torah Scroll, 1916–1917
Chapter 32: Exile to Kfar-Saba, 1917–1918
Chapter 33: Suffering in Exile and Returning to Petakh-Tikva, 1918
Chapter 34: Completing the Torah Scroll, the Arab Attack, and My Children Join Me in Palestine, 1919–1929
Appendices:
Appendix A: The Author and His Relatives
A1. The Author’s Final Years in Petakh-Tikva
His Houses, His Properties, and the Local Synagogues
Memories From Those Who Knew Him
His Demise
His Chabad Legacy
A2. The Author’s Children
His son Isruel (aka Israel Goldenshtein in France, 1873–1946)
His Daughter Nekhame Brakhtman (Noami "Nadya" Brockman, 1877–1955)
His Son Itskhok–Yosef "Yosl" (Joseph Edward "Joe" Goldeen, 1880–1954)
His Son Yankev :Yankl: (aka Jacon "James" Goldeen, 1882–1948)
His Son Shloyme Goldenshteyn (Shlomo, 1889–1962)
A3. His Nephew Itsl (Isaac Goldenshtein, 1862–1907)
A4. His Second Wife Feyge (ca. 1854–1916)
A5. Bashe's Tsores — The Story of the Author's Third Wife
A6. Salomon (Shlomo) Bernstein, Relative and Portraitist of the Author
A7. The Printing of the Autobiography
Appendix B: Translations of Documents Written by the Author
B1. Hebrew Engagement Contract for His Daughter Nekhame (1897)
B2. Hebrew Ethical Will (1920)
B3. Family Letters
January 23, 1914 Postcard from the Author's Son Isruel
June 1926 Letter from the Author
July 3, 1926 Letter from the Author
October 10, 1926 Letter from the Author
January 27, 1927 Yiddish Letter from the Author
March 14, 1929 Letter from the Author
April 1929 Letter from the Author
November 21, 1929 Yiddish Letter from the Author
July 15, 1930 Letter from the Author
October 30, 1930 Letter from the Author
August 28, 1939 Letter from the Author's Son Isruel in France
Appendix C: Translations of Additional Documents
C1. Hebrew Letter from Rabbi Medini (Sdei Khemed) Regarding the Author (1879)
C2. Episodes Related by the Author about Rabbi Medini (Sdei Khemed)
C3. Two Certificates in Sh’khita Obtained by the Author’s Son Refúel (1904 and 1906)
Appendix D: Genealogical Charts
D1. The Author’s Ancestors and Siblings
D2. The Extended Family of Ershl Teplitsky, the Author’s Brother-in-Law
D3. The Author’s Children and Grandchildren
D4. The Extended Hershkovitsh Family, the Family of the Author’s Wife Freyde
Bibliography
Introduction to the Glossaries and the Romanization/Transliteration Schemes
Glossary 1: Words and Phrases
Glossary 2: Jewish Personal Names
Glossary 3: Geographic Places in Eastern Europe
Index