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 dir=ltr>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 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. </p><p dir=ltr>The memoir is brimming with information; his 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.</p><p dir=ltr>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 this treasure trove of information 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 <i>The Shochet</i> is a magnificent new contribution to Jewish and Eastern European history.</p>