"This is exactly what happened to our Russian Jews from 1860 to 1880.
For many long centuries they had endured an intellectual fast. The
Government had debarred them from the world's culture. They were closely
packed together in the narrow and dark ghettos. They knew of their
synagogues, yeshibot, and prayer-houses (Kloisen) on the one hand, and
of their little stores on the other. That there was a great world beyond
and without, a world of culture, education, and civilization, of this
they had only heard. A great many of them strove to break through the
bounds that confined them and step into the world of light and life; but
the Cossack, lead-laden whip in hand, stood there ready to drive them
back.
"The thirst for education and civilization became daily more intense,
and reached the utmost limits of endurance. Five million Russian Jews
raised their hands to the Government and pleaded for mercy: 'Release us
from this ghetto! We, too, are human beings! Give us breathing space!
Give us light! We are faint and starving!' And the Cossack promptly
answered 'Nazad ('Back!') Here you are and here you remain--not a step
further!'
"And all at once, lo! there came a light! Alexander II, as soon as he
ascended the throne, opened wide the doors of the ghetto, and the
Russian Jews, young and old, men and women, rushed to the new culture.
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