Preface • Acknowledgments • Introduction: The Imperial Context • I. RELIGIOUS LIFE • THE DIVERSITY OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE • 1. The Cantor of Duvid Twersky’s Hasidic Court in Tal’noe: The Memoirs of Pinhas Minkovsky • 2. Secret State Reports on the Twersky Tsaddikim in Kiev and Volhynia Provinces (1861–68) • 3. The Vurke Hasidic Court in Otwock:The Memoirs of Ita Kalish • 4. Yehoshu’a Heschel Levine’s TheAscents of Eliyahu (Gaon of Vil’na) • 5. Memoirs of R. Elijah ben Benjamin Rabinowitz-Teomim, the Aderet (1845–1905) • 6. Tkhines [Supplicatory Prayers] for Women • 7. The Cantor of Poltava Choral Synagogue: The Memoirs of Genrikh Sliozberg • 8. The Cantor of Vil’na and Cantorial Competitions: The Memoirs of Avraam Uri Kovner RELIGIOUS DILEMMAS AND JEWISH LAW • 9. Yehudah Leib Gordon, “The Mouth That Forbade Was the Mouth That Allowed” • 10. Responsum of R. Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin of Volozhin: Oaths • 11. Responsum of R. Yitzhak Elhanan Spektor: Etrogim • 12. Responsum of R. Yitzhak Elhanan Spektor: Hametz • 13. Responsum of R. Yitzhak Elhanan Spektor: Share of Books in the Study Hall • 14. Responsum of R. Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin of Volozhin: Counting a Minor in a Minyan • 15. Responsum of R. Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin of Volozhin: A Separate Study Hall and Synagogue • CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY • 16. Petitions for Conversion • 17. Missionary Activities to Convert Jews in Lokhvits (1903) 18. Jewish-Peasant Conflicts in Stepashek Following the Conversion of Anastasiia Lerman (Shimanskaia) and Her Marriage to a Peasant (1901) • 19. Disorders Following the Secret Conversion of Gitlia Korn in Lublin (1904) • 20. Apostasy: Reconversion from Christianity to Judaism • 21. Responsum of R. Hayim Ozer Grodzinski: On Converts in America, a Comparative Perspective • JEWS AND THE STATE ON RELIGIOUS MATTERS • 22. State Rabbis • 23. Synagogues and Cemeteries • 24. Petitions to the Governor of Kiev Province about High Holiday Services (1907–13) • 25. Trial of Girsh Sagalevich for Insulting the Russian Orthodox Faith in Vil’na (1869) • II. FAMILY LIFE • PARENTS AND CHILDREN • 26. Kvitlakh Addressed to an Unknown Rabbi in Vil’na (1839) • 27. Metrical Book Registration of Births by the State Rabbi (1906) • 28. A Jewish Boyhood in Odessa: Memoirs of Lazar B. Gol’denberg (b. circa 1845) • 29. A Jewish Girlhood in Moscow in the 1870s and 1880s: The Memoirs of Roza Vinaver • 30. Petition of Khaia Saetovaia of Vil’na for Material Support from Children (1846) • 31. Trial of Mordukh Eliashberg of Vil’na for Rebellion against Parental Authority (1859) • MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE • 32. Tenaim (Engagement Contract) of Esther Machlevich and Aharon Rosenstein • 33. Responsum of R. Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin of Volozhin: An Ambiguous Betrothal • 34. Responsum of R. Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin of Volozhin: A Betrothal in Jest • 35. Responsum of R. Yitzhak Elhanan Spektor: Breaking Off an Engagement • 36. Loss of Residence Rights: Marriage to a Jew without the Right to Live outside the Pale of Settlement (1909) • 37. A Rebellious Wife? (c. 1904) • 38. Petition for a Separate Passport on Grounds of Spousal Abuse (1900) • 39. Questions to R. Yitzhak Elhanan Spektor on Marriage and Divorce • 40. Divorce by Mutual Agreement, Child Custody, and Support • 41. Prison Divorces • 42. Responsum of R. Yitzhak Elhanan Spektor: An Agunah Whose Husband Has Been Exiled • 43. Responsum of R. Yitzhak Elhanan Spektor: The Disappearance of a Husband • 44. Responsum of R. Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin of Volozhin: A Male Agun? • 45. Question to R. Yitzhak Elhanan Spektor: A Husband Killed in War • 46. The Unwilling Levir and Halitsah (1893) • 47. Emigration to America and Desertion of a Pregnant Wife • FAMILY LIFE AFTER CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY• 48. Divorce of Jewish Spouses • 49. Petition of Rosa Vil’ken of St. Petersburg for a Separate Passport from Her Lutheran Husband (1887) • 50. Petition of Sofi ia Zil’berman of Dvinsk to Change Jewish Surnames of Converted Children (1896) • DEATH—ORPHANHOOD, GUARDIANSHIP, AND PROPERTY • 51. Family Letters of the Rozenshteins and Machlevichs (Kiev Province, 1890s) • 52. Legalizing a “Homemade” Last Will and Testament (1842) • 53. Guardianship of a Grandchild in the Kiev Orphans’ Court (1899) • 54. Petition of Dveira Zelikman of St. Petersburg to Adopt an Orphaned Grandson (1912) • 55. Petition of Israel Nemen of Kiev for the Appointment of a Guardian (1900) • 56. Suit of Tauba Aizenshtadt of Kievagainst a Spendthrift Son (January 1910) • III. HEALTH AND SEXUALITY • TRADITIONAL HEALING AND FOLK MEDICINES • 57. R. Pinchas Katzenelbogen: Remedy for a Fever in Yesh Manhilin • 58. Moshe Shtudentski: A Pediatricianon Puberty in Adolescent Girls (1847) • 59. Moshe Shtudentski: A Pediatrician on Masturbation (1847) • 60. Birth Control Advertisement (1908) • 61. Dr. Nisse’s Medical Advice about Birth Control (1908) • 62. Trial of Feiga Noskin: Report of an Illegal Abortion in Vil’na (1886) • 63. Moshe Shtudentski: A Pediatrician on Breast-Feeding (1847) • 64. Circumcision of a Sixteen-Year-Old Jewish Boy with Hemophilia (1894–1908) • DIET, HYGIENE, AND EXERCISE • 65. Dr. Gottlieb’s Advice for Good Health (1911) • 66. Dr. Gottlieb’s Advice for a Healthy Diet (1908) • 67. Responsum of R. Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin of Volozhin: Polluted Water and Wells (1880) • MENTAL ILLNESS • 68. Moshe Shtudentski: A Pediatrician on Nervous Illnesses (1847) • 69. Petition to Hospitalize Dvoira Zlotoiabko of Vil’na for Mental Illness (1895) • 70. Petition to Hospitalize Rivka Khaimovna Arliuk of Oshmiany for Mental Illness (1902) • 71. Petition to Hospitalize Meer Mendelev Ginzburg of Bobruisk for Mental Illness (1902) • 72. Petition to Hospitalize Sholom Peisakhovich of Vil’na for Mental Illness (1902) • 73. Petition to Hospitalize Rivka Gefter of Vil’na for Mental Illness (1902) • 74. Petition to Hospitalize Leib Girshev Ioff e of Vil’na for Mental Illness (1902) • MODESTY • 75. Petition of Rabbi and Merchants of Zhitomir to Count Kiselev [Chairman of the Committee for the Organization of Jewish Life], against the Zhitomir Police (1853) • 76. On Crinoline: Memoirs of Avraham Paperna • 77. Secret State Report on Tsaddik Twersky’s Disciples and Crinoline (1863) • MARITAL SEX • 78. Early Marriage and Sexuality: The Memoirs of Mordechai Aaron Guenzburg • 79. Petition to Divorce an Impotent Husband (1910) • 80. Responsum of R. Yitzhak Elhanan Spektor: A Mikvah Near a Turpentine Factory • 81. Responsum of R. Hayim Ozer Grodzinski: Manicures and the Mikvah • 82. Responsum of R. Yitzhak Elhanan Spektor: Marriage of a Man Without a Right Testicle • 83. Responsum of R. Yosef Zekharyah Stern: Paternity Determination for the Child of a Raped Wife • 84. Responsum of R. Yosef Zekharyah Stern: On the Issue of Intercourse That Endangers the Wife’s Life • 85. A Husband with Syphilis (1872) EXTRAMARITAL SEX • 86. Responsum of R. Yosef Zekharyah Stern: On Concubines • 87. Questions to R. Yitzhak Elhanan Spektor about Adultery and Rape • 88. Trial of Sosha Lubshitz of Trokai Accused of Suffocating an Infant Conceived before Marriage (1879) • 89. Trial of of Rivka Khaet for Infanticide in Vil’na (1897) • 90. A Russian Orthodox Couple’s Aid Request for an Illegitimate Baptized Jewish Child (1903) • 91. Petition of Rafail Veisman about His Illegitimate Russian Orthodox Children (1902) • 92. Petition to Legitimize a Child Born out of Wedlock (1916) • 93. Alleged Rape of the Domestic Servant Rakhil Krupen by Her Employer in Moscow (1885) • PROSTITUTION • 94. Inspection Report of Sixteen Brothels in Vil’na (1871) • 95. Petition of Homeowners to Close the Jewish Madam Mil’shtenova’s Brothel in Kiev (1871) • 96. Khanne Gershator’s Application for a Prostitute’s “Yellow Ticket” (20 December 1877) • 97. Residents’ Denunciation of Guta Mekler for Prostitution in Vil’na (1882) • 98. Prostitutes in Antokol’ Accused of Infecting Soldiers with Syphilis (1882) • 99. Report of the Vil’na City Doctor on Two Prostitutes (1893) • 100. Denunciation of Sheina Zlata Accused of Infecting Men with a Venereal Disease (1894) • 101. Physical Examination of Jewish Prostitutes • 102. Denunciation of Jewish “Prostitutes” in Stoklishki (1899) •103. The Russian Society for the Protection of Women: The Jewish Section (1900–1901) • IV. EDUCATION AND CULTURE • INSTITUTIONS OF JEWISH LEARNING • 104. Moshe Leib Lilienblum, The Sins of My Youth (1873) • 105. State Inspection of Jewish Schools in Vil’na (1870) • 106. Certification of Melamedim (1869) • 107. Trial of Girsh Korobochko for Teaching without a Melamed’s Certificate (1888–89) • 108. Apprenticeship of Buki Ben Yagli to a Scribe in Slonim • 109. Ben Zion Dinur’s Yeshiva Memoirs • JEWISH PRIVATE SCHOOLS • 110. The Berman School for Jewish Children in St. Petersburg (1865–84) • 111. Complaint of the Jews of Tel’she against Yehudah Leib Gordon’s Treatment of Students (1867) • 112. Petition of Eidlia Liubich of Grodno for Permission to Teach Hebrew Calligraphy to Jewish Girls in Grodno (1892) • 113. A Private School for Jewish Boys in Siberia (1896) • 114. Elite Home Education and Culture: The Diaries of Zinaida Poliakova SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION • 115. A Girl’s Gymnasium Education: The Memoirs of Mariia Rashkovich • 116. A Boy’s Gymnasium Life: The Memoirs of Genrikh Sliozberg • STATE RABBINICAL SCHOOLS IN VIL’NA AND ZHITOMIR • 117. Avraam Uri Kovner: The Vil’na Rabbinical School • 118. The Curriculum of the State Rabbinical Schools in Zhitomir and Vil’na • 119. Graduates of State Rabbinical Schools Who Had Received State Stipends • UNIVERSITY LIFE • 120. On University Life: The Memoirs of Vladimir Osipovich Garkavy • 121. The Impact of Women’s Higher Education on Marriage • 122. Letters of a Female Medical Student in St. Petersburg to Her Admirer (1903) • 123. Complaints about Overrepresentation of Jews in Education • 124. Numerus Clausus during World War I • V. WORK • COMMERCE AND TRADE • 125. Jewish Commerce and Trade in Moscow (1790) • 126. Jewish Contraband in Moscow • 127. Petition of a Jewish Merchant to Reside in Siberia (1855) • 128. Aharon Rozenshtein’s Correspondence on the Brick Business (1901) • 129. Theft and Violence at Jewish Storesin Warsaw Province (1883) • 130. Anti-Jewish Disorder at a Jewish Store in Chenstokhov (1902) • 131. Theft and Violence at a Jewish Store in Smela (1904) • 132. Inaccurate Scales in a Small Jewish Shop (1909) • 133. Petition of Belorussian Jews about the Liquor Trade (1784) • 134. A Violent Night in the Tavern (1878) • 135. A Secret Distillery in Briansk (1885) • 136. Trial of Nokhim and Khaia Gurvich of Vil’komir for the Illicit Production of Alcohol (1901) • DOMESTIC SERVICE • 137. Avraham Izrailevich Paperno’s Nanny Roiza • 138. A Russian Cook Accused of Observing Judaism in Moscow (1896) • 139. Lawsuits in Zhitomir for Unpaid Labor • 140. “Fictitious” Jewish Servants outside the Pale of Settlement (1890–91) • JEWISH AGRICULTURAL COLONIES AND FARMS • 141. Exclusion of Jewish Colonists from Colonies in Kherson Province (1874) • 142. State Loans to Jewish Farmers during a Drought in Ekaterinoslav Province (1885–86) • 143. Request for Land in a Jewish Colony in Kherson Province (1887–88) • 144. Life on a Jewish Farm in Borovoi-Mlyn: Memoir of Mariia Shkol’nik (1890s) • ARTISANS AND FACTORY WORK • 145. Residence Rights of Children of Skilled Artisans • 146. Expulsion of a Skilled Artisan from St. Petersburg (1890) • 147. The Hemp Scutching Trade and Expulsion from Kursk Province (1890–91) • 148. Prohibition on Jews in Mining Factories in Siberia • 149. Female Workers’ Strike at the Gal’pern Matchbox Factory in Pinsk (1901–2) • PROFESSIONALS • 150. Permission to Open a Medical Clinic for Women in Vil’na (1907) • 151. Permission to Open a Dental Clinic in Kursk Province (1908-9) • 152. The Law Profession in Russia: Memoirs of Genrikh Sliozberg • 153. Jewish Law Graduates from the Imperial University of St. Vladimir, Kiev (1912) • VI. JEWS, NEIGHBORS, AND THE RUSSIAN STATE • CONSCRIPTION • 154. Complaint about the Illegal Conscription of an Only Son (1836) • 155. Complaint about the Illegal Conscription of a Jewish Surgeon (1837) • 156. Observance of Judaism in the Russian Army (1844) •157. Observance of Judaism in the Russian Army (1851) • 158. Self-Mutilation to Evade Military Service • 159. Appeal against a Vil’na Court Decision on Draft Evasion (1893) • 160. Letter from Jewish Students to P. N. Miliukov [Kadet Leader in the State Duma] on Admitting Jews into the Officer Corps of the Russian Army (27 October 1916) • 161. Appeal by the Jewish Students of Petrograd University to Serve as Officers (c. 1916) • THE POLISH UPRISING OF 1863 • 162. Tsirla Adelsonovaia’s Petition on Behalf of Her Husband in the Trial of an Insurgent (1863–64) • 163. Investigation of Litka Abramovicheva for Supplying Gun Powder to Rebels (1864) • 164. Investigation of Movshe Shur for Supplying Provisions to Polish Rebels (1864) • Antisemitism and Pogroms • 165. Pogroms in Nezhin District, Chernigov Province (1881) • 166. Pogroms in Pereiaslavl, Poltava Province (1881) • 167. Anti-Jewish Violence after Accusations of Ritual Murder in Dubossary, Kherson Province (1903) • 168. Eyewitness Accounts of the Kishinev Pogrom Recorded by Haim Nachman Bialik (1903) • 169. Violence in Bessarabia Province in the Aftermath of Kishinev (1903) • 170. Reports of Armed Jewish Self-Defense Groups in Rostov-na-Donu (1903) • JEWS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT • 171. Narodnaia Volia: Gesia Gel’fman’s Trial in the Assassination of Alexander II (1881) • 172. The Social Democratic Workers’ Party (Bund): Police Files on Mariia (Manya) Vul’fovna Vil’bushevich • 173. The Jewish Independent Workers’ Party and Police Unionism (1901–2) • 174. A Female Socialist Revolutionary Terrorist: The Memoirs of Mariia (Mania) Shkol’nik • ZIONISM • 175. Hibbat Tsiyyon: Letters between Leon Pinsker and Naftali Berlin • 176. Secret Police Reports on Zionist Activities in Synagogues • EMIGRATION • 177. The Case of Mordukh Itskovich Berezovskii (1907) • 178. Problems with Exit Certificates and Foreign Passports • 179. Tema Lysianskaia of Kiev and Her Children • 180. The Rights of Wives and Children Left behind after the Secret Emigration of Husbands • 181. A Fine of Three Hundred Rubles for Emigrants Whose Relatives Evaded Military Service • 182. R. Israel Meir Kagan, The Outcasts of Israel (1893) • Select Bibliography • Index