This study demonstrates how Jewish economic activity on the magnate estates in the eighteenth-cen... more This study demonstrates how Jewish economic activity on the magnate estates in the eighteenth-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth enriched, empowered, and reshaped Jewish—and Polish-Lithuanian—society. The analysis follows the New institutional economics (NIE) approach to detail Jews’ roles in the estates’ economic institutions—especially the markets, often overlooked in studying the feudal economy. It examines the economic roles played by Jews on the estates of the Radziwiłł magnate dynasty. This was a late feudal economy, so its study demonstrates how Jews formed part of a pre-capitalist system—a highly beneficial setting for them. Jewish businessmen formed the majority of merchants on the estates and also dominated the leasing of the monopoly on alcohol sales—a crucial way of marketing surplus grain. This economic niche became an ethnic economy, giving Jews market superiority. Their social status improved dramatically since they enjoyed Radziwiłł support and acted as their uno...
Pp. 212, plates. Cloth, $39.95. This book consists of five essays and 169 photographs taken on th... more Pp. 212, plates. Cloth, $39.95. This book consists of five essays and 169 photographs taken on the eve of World War One in what is now Ukraine. This combination forms a remarkable volume. The introduction, by Avrutin and Murav, describes the initiative of An-sky to document the ethnography of the Jews. Following chapters analyze the photographic approach of An-sky, the economics of the Jews' education and children, synagogues and other buildings, including the first Jewish museum. This is not a coffeetable book with pretty photographs; it is, rather, a very serious book that happens to be attractive. The chapters give a clear picture of the sophistication and originality of Jewish historiography being written today in St. Petersburg; the photographs not only add immediacy, but are part of the argument of the book. Readers may find themselves so entranced by these photographs that they will not even realize how much they are learning.
ABSTRACT: In this presentation, Adam Teller discusses the change of status of Jews in the Polish-... more ABSTRACT: In this presentation, Adam Teller discusses the change of status of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the subjects of the King in the late medieval period to subjects of lords, in private dominions during the early modern period. He contrasts two legal documents: a privilege granted to Jews by King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk (1453) and a privilege granted to Jews in the town of Jampol by the town's owner. This presentation is for the following text(s):
This chapter assesses the meetings of the Polish Jewish refugees with the German Jews on the grou... more This chapter assesses the meetings of the Polish Jewish refugees with the German Jews on the ground in the communities of the Holy Roman Empire. It begins by examining the chapbook Di bashraybung fun Ashkenaz un Polak (The Description of a German and a Polish Jew). Published in Prague sometime in the second half of the seventeenth century, it provides a satirical look at the interaction of the Polish Jewish refugees with the German Jews they met on their travels in the empire. The satirical poem presents this in two large blocks: the first gives the point of view of the Polish Jew and his complaints about his reception in the empire; the second brings the perspective of the German Jew and his opinions of the indigent refugees with whom he is faced. The chapter then determines the extent to which the chapbook was an accurate portrayal of the mid-seventeenth-century reality, considering the Jewish refugees in Frankfurt a.M. and Hamburg, as well as in Vienna.
Lithuania was home to the great yeshivot of Jewish learning, as well as nationalistic movements s... more Lithuania was home to the great yeshivot of Jewish learning, as well as nationalistic movements such as Hovevei Zion, the Bund, and the Mizrachi. The 20th century saw the establishment of a modern Hebrew Zionist educational system in the period between the two world wars. This volume includes special features such as a bibliography in seven languages, a lexicon of place names in both official modern transcription and the traditional spelling used by Jewish residents; statistical tables; facsimiles of documents, and unique photographs many of which appear in print for the first time.
This chapter focuses on the Jewish refugees in the Holy Roman Empire in 1648–1654. Though the vas... more This chapter focuses on the Jewish refugees in the Holy Roman Empire in 1648–1654. Though the vast majority of the Jews fleeing the Khmelnytsky uprising preferred to remain within the Commonwealth, there is evidence of Polish Jewish refugees in the empire from as early as 1649. There are no relevant data concerning Jewish refugees in Silesia before 1654, but it seems clear that Jewish refugees from Poland, together with displaced local Jews looking for a new home, were active in repopulating the towns in Bohemia and Moravia at that time. Since Jews had long been seen as important sources of income for their lords, there had often been power struggles for control over them between the monarch and the nobility. Thus, there was more going on than anti-Jewish legislation. In his orders of 1650, the king of Bohemia may have been continuing his efforts to put a brake on the nobility by depriving it of one of its sources of income: Jews. The chapter then considers the relationship between the Jewish refugee society and the local Jewish society. It also shows the limits of mercantilism, looking at the Polish Jews in Brandenburg.
This study demonstrates how Jewish economic activity on the magnate estates in the eighteenth-cen... more This study demonstrates how Jewish economic activity on the magnate estates in the eighteenth-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth enriched, empowered, and reshaped Jewish—and Polish-Lithuanian—society. The analysis follows the New institutional economics (NIE) approach to detail Jews’ roles in the estates’ economic institutions—especially the markets, often overlooked in studying the feudal economy. It examines the economic roles played by Jews on the estates of the Radziwiłł magnate dynasty. This was a late feudal economy, so its study demonstrates how Jews formed part of a pre-capitalist system—a highly beneficial setting for them. Jewish businessmen formed the majority of merchants on the estates and also dominated the leasing of the monopoly on alcohol sales—a crucial way of marketing surplus grain. This economic niche became an ethnic economy, giving Jews market superiority. Their social status improved dramatically since they enjoyed Radziwiłł support and acted as their uno...
Pp. 212, plates. Cloth, $39.95. This book consists of five essays and 169 photographs taken on th... more Pp. 212, plates. Cloth, $39.95. This book consists of five essays and 169 photographs taken on the eve of World War One in what is now Ukraine. This combination forms a remarkable volume. The introduction, by Avrutin and Murav, describes the initiative of An-sky to document the ethnography of the Jews. Following chapters analyze the photographic approach of An-sky, the economics of the Jews' education and children, synagogues and other buildings, including the first Jewish museum. This is not a coffeetable book with pretty photographs; it is, rather, a very serious book that happens to be attractive. The chapters give a clear picture of the sophistication and originality of Jewish historiography being written today in St. Petersburg; the photographs not only add immediacy, but are part of the argument of the book. Readers may find themselves so entranced by these photographs that they will not even realize how much they are learning.
ABSTRACT: In this presentation, Adam Teller discusses the change of status of Jews in the Polish-... more ABSTRACT: In this presentation, Adam Teller discusses the change of status of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the subjects of the King in the late medieval period to subjects of lords, in private dominions during the early modern period. He contrasts two legal documents: a privilege granted to Jews by King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk (1453) and a privilege granted to Jews in the town of Jampol by the town's owner. This presentation is for the following text(s):
This chapter assesses the meetings of the Polish Jewish refugees with the German Jews on the grou... more This chapter assesses the meetings of the Polish Jewish refugees with the German Jews on the ground in the communities of the Holy Roman Empire. It begins by examining the chapbook Di bashraybung fun Ashkenaz un Polak (The Description of a German and a Polish Jew). Published in Prague sometime in the second half of the seventeenth century, it provides a satirical look at the interaction of the Polish Jewish refugees with the German Jews they met on their travels in the empire. The satirical poem presents this in two large blocks: the first gives the point of view of the Polish Jew and his complaints about his reception in the empire; the second brings the perspective of the German Jew and his opinions of the indigent refugees with whom he is faced. The chapter then determines the extent to which the chapbook was an accurate portrayal of the mid-seventeenth-century reality, considering the Jewish refugees in Frankfurt a.M. and Hamburg, as well as in Vienna.
Lithuania was home to the great yeshivot of Jewish learning, as well as nationalistic movements s... more Lithuania was home to the great yeshivot of Jewish learning, as well as nationalistic movements such as Hovevei Zion, the Bund, and the Mizrachi. The 20th century saw the establishment of a modern Hebrew Zionist educational system in the period between the two world wars. This volume includes special features such as a bibliography in seven languages, a lexicon of place names in both official modern transcription and the traditional spelling used by Jewish residents; statistical tables; facsimiles of documents, and unique photographs many of which appear in print for the first time.
This chapter focuses on the Jewish refugees in the Holy Roman Empire in 1648–1654. Though the vas... more This chapter focuses on the Jewish refugees in the Holy Roman Empire in 1648–1654. Though the vast majority of the Jews fleeing the Khmelnytsky uprising preferred to remain within the Commonwealth, there is evidence of Polish Jewish refugees in the empire from as early as 1649. There are no relevant data concerning Jewish refugees in Silesia before 1654, but it seems clear that Jewish refugees from Poland, together with displaced local Jews looking for a new home, were active in repopulating the towns in Bohemia and Moravia at that time. Since Jews had long been seen as important sources of income for their lords, there had often been power struggles for control over them between the monarch and the nobility. Thus, there was more going on than anti-Jewish legislation. In his orders of 1650, the king of Bohemia may have been continuing his efforts to put a brake on the nobility by depriving it of one of its sources of income: Jews. The chapter then considers the relationship between the Jewish refugee society and the local Jewish society. It also shows the limits of mercantilism, looking at the Polish Jews in Brandenburg.
In the middle of the seventeenth century, Bohdan Khmelnytsky was the legendary Cossack general wh... more In the middle of the seventeenth century, Bohdan Khmelnytsky was the legendary Cossack general who organized a rebellion that liberated the Eastern Ukraine from Polish rule. Consequently, he has been memorialized in the Ukraine as a God-given nation builder, cut in the model of George Washington. But in this campaign, the massacre of thousands of Jews perceived as Polish intermediaries was the collateral damage, and in order to secure the tentative independence, Khmelnytsky signed a treaty with Moscow, ultimately ceding the territory to the Russian tsar. So, was he a liberator or a villain? This volume examines drastically different narratives, from Ukrainian, Jewish, Russian, and Polish literature, that have sought to animate, deify, and vilify the seventeenth-century Cossack. Khmelnytsky's legacy, either as nation builder or as antagonist, has inhibited inter-ethnic and political rapprochement at key moments throughout history and, as we see in recent conflicts, continues to affect Ukrainian, Jewish, Polish, and Russian national identity.
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