The enlightened
czar, who, in striking a medal commemorating the emancipation of the
Jews of his empire, had anticipated Napoleon by a year, suddenly became
a bigoted tyrant, whose efforts were devoted to converting the same Jews
to Christianity. He who had claimed that his greatest reward would be to
produce a Mendelssohn, now resorted to various expedients, to render
education unpalatable to the Jews. The Jewish assemblymen, who, in 1816,
soon after the Franco-Russian war, had been convoked to St. Petersburg,
were not allowed to meet; and when, two years later, they did meet,
their every attempt was baffled by the Government. Jews were expelled
systematically from St. Petersburg (1818). They were forbidden to employ
Christians as servants (May 4, 1820), to immigrate into Russia from
abroad (August 10, 1824), and reside in the towns and villages of
Mohilev and Vitebsk (January 13, 1825). Several years after the double
poll and guild tax had been abolished in Courland (November 8, 1807), it
was restored with an additional impost on meat from cattle slaughtered
according to the Jewish rite (korobka). All this impoverished the Jews
to such an extent that they were forced to sell the cravats of their
praying shawls (taletim), in order to defray the expense of a second
deputation to St.
Pages:
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134