Immigration from Early history Jewish people

Immigration from

Early history Jewish people have been present in contemporary Armenia and Georgia since the Babylonian captivity (see also: Mountain Jews). Records exist from the 4 th century showing that there were Armenian cities possessing Jewish populations ranging from 10, 000 to 30, 000 along with substantial Jewish settlements in the Crimea. The presence of Jewish people in the territories corresponding to modern Belarus, Ukraine, and the European part of Russia can be traced back to the 7 th-14 th centuries CE. Under the influence of the Caucasian Jewish communities (see also: Mountain Jews), Bulan, the Khagan Bek of the Khazars, and the ruling classes of Khazaria (located in what is now. Ukraine, southern Russia and Kazakhstan), may have adopted Judaism at some point in the mid-to-late 8 th or early 9 th centuries. After the conquest of the Khazarian kingdom by Sviatoslav I of Kiev (969), the Khazar Jewish population may have assimilated or migrated in part.

Russian Empire Their situation changed radically, during the reign of Catherine II, when the Russian Empire acquired rule over large Lithuanian and Polish territories, which historically included a high proportion of Jewish residents, especially during the second (1793) and the third (1795)Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Under the Commonwealth's legal system, Jews endured economic restrictions euphemised as "disabilities", which also continued following the Russian occupation. Catherine established the Pale of Settlement, which included Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, and the Crimea (the latter was later excluded). Jewish people were restricted to residence within the Pale and were required to obtain special permission to immigrate into other parts of Russia. Within the Pale, the Jewish residents were given right of voting in municipal elections, but their vote was limited to one third of the total number of voters, even though their proportion in may areas was much higher, even a majority. This served to provide an aura of democracy, while institutionalizing conflict amongst ethnic groups on a local level. Map of the Pale of Settlement, showing percentage of Jewish populations

Jewish communities in Russia were governed internally by local, dominantly theocratic administrative bodies, called the Councils of Elders (Qahal, Kehilla), constituted in every town or hamlet possessing a Jewish population. The Councils of Elders had jurisdiction over Jews in matters of internal litigation, as well as fiscal transactions relating to the collection and payment of taxes (poll tax, land tax, etc. ). Later, this right of collecting taxes was much abused; in 1844 the civil authority of the Councils of Elders over its Jewish population was abolished. The beginning of the 19 th century was marked by intensive movement of Jews to Novorossiya, where towns, villages and agricultural colonies rapidly sprang up. Rebellions beginning with the Decembrist Revolt of 1825, followed by the struggle of Russia's intelligentsia, and the rise of nihilism, liberalism, socialism, syndical ism, and finally Marxism threatened the old tsarist order.

Prior to 1827 Jewish people were not permitted to serve in the Russian army, but they were subject to double taxation in lieu of military service. In 1827 Nicholas I decreed new recruitment regulations, which extended to the Jewish community as well. About 70, 000 Jews were conscripted between 1827 and 1854, a large percentage of them underage (see Cantonists). The cultural and habitual isolation of the Jews gradually began to be eroded. An ever -increasing number of Jewish people adopted Russian language and customs. Russian education was spread among the Jewish population. A number of Jewish. Russian periodicals appeared. Alexander II was known as the "Tsar liberator" for the 1861 abolition of serfdom in Russia. Under his rule Jewish people could not hire Christian servants, could not own land, and were restricted in travel. Alexander III was a staunch reactionary and an antisemite (influenced by Pobedonostsev) who strictly adhered to the old doctrine of Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality. His escalation of anti-Jewish policies sought to ignite "popular antisemitism", which portrayed the Jews as "Christ-killers" and the oppressors of the Slavic, Christian victims.

A large-scale wave of anti-Jewish pogroms swept Ukraine in 1881, after Jews were wrongly blamed for the assassination of Alexander II. In the 1881 outbreak, there were pogroms in 166 Ukrainian towns, thousands of Jewish homes were destroyed, many families reduced to extremes of poverty; large numbers of men, women, and children were injured and some killed. Disorders in the south once again recalled the government attention to the Jewish question. A conference was convened at the Ministry of Interior and on May 15, 1882, so-called Temporary Regulations were introduced that stayed in effect for more than thirty years and came to be known as the May Laws. Victims of a 1905 pogrom in. Yekaterinoslav Victim of fanaticism. Painting by Nikolay Pimonenko. 1899. The painting does not depict a pogrom, but actually documents an event in Ukraine, that the artist read about: a Jewish woman was attacked by members of her community for falling in love with a Christian convert. The townspeople are raising sticks and objects, and her parents are shown to the right, denouncing her.

Mass emigration Even though the persecutions provided the impetus for mass emigration there were other relevant factors that can account for the Jews' migration. After the first years of large emigration from Russia, positive feedback from the emigrants in the U. S. encouraged further emigration. Indeed more than two million Jews fled Russia between 1880 and 1920. While a large majority emigrated to the United States, some turned to Zionism. In 1882, members of Bilu and Hovevei Zion made what came to be known the First Aliyah to Israel, then a part of the Ottoman Empire. The Tsarist government sporadically encouraged Jewish emigration. In 1890, it approved the establishment of "The Society for the Support of Jewish Farmers and Artisans in Syria and Palestine " (known as the "Odessa Committee" headed by Leon Pinsker) dedicated to practical aspects in establishing agricultural Jewish settlements in Palestine. In this Rosh Hashana greeting card from the early 20 th century, Russian Jews, packs in hand, gaze at the American relatives beckoning them to the United States. Over two million Jews fled the pogroms of the Russian Empire to the safety of the U. S. from 1881 – 1924. Political Cartoon, Russian Tsar-Stop your cruel oppression of the Jews!(1904)

Jewish emigration from Russia, 1880– 1928 Destination [20] Number Australia 5, 000 Canada 70, 000 Europe 240, 000 Palestine 45, 000 South Africa 45, 000 South America United States 111, 000 1, 749, 000