The Shochet (Vol. 1)

<p dir=ltr><b>An impressively researched and surprisingly accessible portrait of Jewish life in the mid-19th century. - <i>Kirkus Reviews</i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>Set in Ukraine
and Crimea this unique autobiography offers a fascinating detailed picture of
life in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Tsarist Russia.
Goldenshteyn (1848-1930) a traditional Jew who was orphaned as a young boy and
became a shochet (kosher slaughter) as a young man is a master
storyteller. Folksy funny streetwise and self-confident he is a keen
observer of nineteenth-century Eastern Europe both Jewish and non-Jewish. His
accounts are vivid and readable sometimes stunning in their intensity. </span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>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 (including Muslims who formed the majority of Crimea’s
populace) epidemics poverty competition for resources migration war
modernity and secularization holy men and charlatans acts of kindness and
acts of treachery. 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.</span></p><p dir=ltr>



</p><p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN-US>Until
now only a small circle of Yiddish-speaking scholars had access to this
extremely significant primary source. This translation is a game-changer
making the treasure trove of information contained in these pages accessible to
academics and ordinary readers alike. 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.<font face=Times New Roman serif></font></span></p>