FROM THE WEDDING, A BIOGRAPHY by JOSEPH LEVINE
Chapter 2
The small town Zlotupolia - An old synagogue, an old graveyard, every other week a market.
I was raised in the town of Zlotopolia, which is already known in this world. It is found in Kiev, Gebernia, by the border of Chesoner, Gabarnia, two miles from Novomergorod, inhabited by a lot of Christians and (l'havdil) Jews, who live together peacefully.
Actually, I was born someplace else. However, I cannot name the city where I was born nor the date - because in the old days- especially if one was born to frum (religious) Lutvak parents- one did not know of birthdates and from parties certainly not.
If I write of this little city Zlotopolia, it is because no other city in the world made such an impression in my memory as the blessed Zlotapolia. No other city found so much favor in my eyes, that I can never, ever forget it.
And truthfully, what other city in the world - be it the city of Adas or Charkow or Herson or even Petersburg, could pride itself with such a large, broad market place and with another market place not far away. By the brick gates were big tables and small tables and stands, with mountains of fresh, sweet-smelling apples and pears, and other sorts of fruits, where the goats and pigs want constantly to taste them and the market women carry on constant battles with them. The school boys certainly wish to enjoy all these good things and cannot, unfortunately, come near them. Where, I ask you, is there another such city?
Which city has such a tall shul, maybe five stories high, and such an ark with carved lions and birds with long tongues and horns which they have in their mouths and blow, that reach up to the roof without support, pictured like a starry sky? In the center on a long cord hangs a crystal chandelier and many more such chandeliers with lights are on all the walls. And the thick heavy door - the entrance to the shul - on which is carved in large silver words,
"Open for me the gates of the righteous "
and also the year 1756 is carved, the year when the shul was built.
And which city boasts two such baths-one at Reb Moshe Haral, in his yard where Reb Yankel the soldier is the manager by the womens baths, and the masseur by the men; and the other bath down by the river near the watermill, which was managed by Avram Kuperman, a nice Jew with a shtraimel (fur hat) and a long kapata (suit), with a wide gartel (string belt), a devout Rachmastrivker chasid. And then the outlets by the bath, where all the water carriers get the supply for the entire city, and it never empties?!?! However, comes before Pesach, when the puddles get big then the horses don't want to drag the barrels of water so willingly and sometimes they sit without water for 2-3 days a week.
Imagine, the watermill, which grinds the Pesachdike flour and the little plank? If one climbs over it in a puddle, he could plan on spending pesach there?!?!
Imagine, the lake! Where did you ever see such a lake In this world, where generations and generations of yeshiva boys and (l'havdil)shkatzlm bathe, splash, learn to swim, catch fish, and fool around? And where would you see, that not far off women and girls should be bathing too and it makes no difference?
Which city boasts such fine residents, who are it seems , all nothing more than small shopkeepers, liquor store owners who are patronized by the non-Jew and also patronize each other. Nevertheless, they all live quite decently. Everyone has his own home, his family, his place in shul--either at the mizrach wall (eastern wall) or at the fancier wall- what difference does it make? And if he himself isn't such a big shot, he has a relative who is either a man of status or a rich man, of whom he is constantly speaking, telling wonderous stories about him, that one's head breaks from hearing these wonders?
Imagine, such an old cemetery, so large it has been enlarged twice. In the length -by clearing away the fields- and once in the width, that the hanged and the shot, who were layed near the gates are now laying in the center and it is so overgrown that no one knows whether there are bones left there or not.
A small city this Zlotopolia, but a pretty and happy one, you can stroll through the city in the length and width in one half hour if you have the strength and good feet.
Without a wall, without a sea, and without a tumult, but Jews make a life and living there from the markets which they held every other week, not to mention the rich Brodskys, where Reb Yisroel, Reb Zalman and Reb Yitzchok and Reb Yosele, all the Brodskys gave employment to many of the Gabernia's Jews and to many non-Jews .
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The Pale of Settlement
From 1791 onward a "Pale of Settlement" is created after Catherine II restricts Jewish residence to either the territories annexed from Poland along the western border or to the territories taken from the Turks along the shores of the Black Sea. Later, other annexed territories were added to the Pale and Jews permitted to settle there as "colonizers." From the old Russia, Jews continue to be barred.
IN THE PROVINCES of the Pale of Settlement, Jews form approximately one-ninth of the population. As their number increases due to the high birth rate and better medical care, the confinement to the Pale causes growing poverty. Massive expulsions from the villages, and the restrictions on professions and trade, increases competition among a growing number of people.
Within the Pale, the number of artisans per 1000 persons is three times higher than elsewhere. Although the government encourages Jews to engage in agriculture, the special settlements allotted for this purpose in Southern Russia cannot absorb the tens of thousands who are driven out of the villages.
During the reign of Nicholas I, the position of the Jews deteriorates significantly. To alienate them from their religion, Jews are conscripted from 1827 onward into the army for a period of no less than 25 years.
The Jewish communities are made responsible for supplying a required number of recruits ("Cantonists") aged between 12 and 25. Kidnapping by so-called "khapers" is often necessary to fill the quota. The children are to be "re-educated," and compulsory instruction in Christian religion and physical pressure are used to induce them to convert. In 29 years between 30,000 and 40,000 Jewish children served as "Cantonists."
In 1843, the Jews are expelled from Kiev where they had lived for centuries. A new wave of expulsions follows when Jews are no longer allowed to live within 50 versts (1 verst = .6629 miles) of the western border.
Even government officials consider the conditions in the Pale untenable. The governor of Kiev province, where 600,000 Jews live, urges the government in 1861 to lift the residence restrictions in order to relieve the congestion in the Pale.
Outside the cities, the typical Jewish community in the Pale is the shtetl (mestechko), which usually has a few thousand inhabitants and is centered around the synagogue and marketplace. Jews earn their living as petty traders, middlemen, shopkeepers, peddlers and artisans, often working with woman and children as well.
Those who are no longer able to find any employment join the growing number of Luftmenshen - doing anything to earn a living. At the end of the century, the Jewish population has become so impoverished that approximately one-third depend to some degree on Jewish welfare organizations
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