History of the Jews in the Russian Empire (1772-1918)

Undergraduate / Graduate

Following the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1772, 1793, 1795), the Russian Empire transformed from a country with almost no Jewish population to the home of the largest Jewish community in the world. This transformation, as well as additional territorial expansions of the Empire, left its imprint on modern Jewish culture globally and participated in the shaping of multiple modernities in areas that today belong to Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus, and the Russian Federation (all of which possess territories formerly belonging to the Commonwealth), but also in the Republic of Moldova (annexed from the Ottoman Empire), Caucasus areas annexed from Persia, and the Republic of Georgia. During the course, we will review major landmarks in the tempestuous history of the Jewish community in the Russian Empire. The discussions will unfold along two interconnected trajectories: the relationships between Jewish traditional patterns of organization and the innovations induced by Russian conditions, as well as the influence of various aspects of those conditions (legal, social, political, cultural) on Jewish life. In addition to historical and theoretical literature, we will read multiple primary sources, including belle-lettres, autobiographies, archival documents, and more.