Note on the Emancipation of the Jews of Russia

For the purposes of preparing for this emancipation, four measures are proposed: 1) the establishment of a Jewish newspaper in Russian; 2) the establishment of a scholarly literary journal in Yiddish; 3) a reform of public Jewish schools; and 4) reform of the system of tax collection from Jews.

Sent to Evzel Gabrielovich Gintsburg in Petersburg, 13 July 1859

The goal, toward which all reasonable Jews in Russia at this time must strive, is undoubtedly to achieve emancipation, i.e., complete equality with Russians in terms of civic and political rights. In the rest of Europe, with the exclusion of France, Holland, and Belgium, emancipation of the Jews was achieved only through a long struggle in which famous writers and the most enlightened minds took a lively and active part. In spite of this, however, Jews in Western Europe are not everywhere emancipated. In our opinion, the reason for this lies, on the one hand, in centuries-old prejudice, constantly supported in the nations by hostile Christian writers who, consciously distorting Jewish religious teachings, strive to prove that the Jewish people are incapable of development and therefore are unworthy of regaining civic rights, which were taken away from them by the grim fanaticism of the Middle Ages. On the other hand, the reason lies in the constitutional form of government in many European states, where the passions and mentalities of parties have a freer playing field, and where the will of the monarch alone is not powerful enough to rein them in.

All this does not exist in Russia. Literature in our fatherland has up to this point, with few exceptions, touched on Jews minimally or not at all: Judaism was not considered important enough to be dealt with seriously. Some individual writers who were hostile to Jews fortunately did not exercise their authority. The newest journalism is currently saturated with a humanist spirit and relates positively to us. In this regard, our coreligionists throughout Germany can envy us. On the other hand, public opinion here in Russia is still in its infancy and is only beginning to form, while the autocratic government is not limited by any parliamentary politics. It is true that for the simple Russian folk, there is a certain antipathy toward Jews that is connected to some kind of ridiculous fear. But this antipathy is far removed from German hatred; it is irrational, not based on a firm understanding, and therefore it is easy to disturb it and transform it in due time into a brotherly agreement, if only we are able to take on the task in the proper way.

To achieve Jewish emancipation in Russia, it is necessary to influence the emerging public opinion, preempting the false judgment that our detractors, at the awakening of our civic life, will not hesitate to spread about us; we need to try to familiarize the Russian public with our three-thousand-year history, rich literature, true religious teachings, manners, customs, and qualities of the Jewish people. Do we have to prove that in Russia absolutely no one, not even the educated classes and the government itself, knows Jews? In a nation where there isn’t even a Bible in the country’s language, it is not surprising that no one has any knowledge of Jewish literature and religion, about their God-given holy mission to humankind. Everyone knows the kinds of murky sources from which those few are drawn, extremely fragmented and meager pieces of information about Judaism that force our government to descend from one mistake to the next. However, it is also necessary to act internally, i.e., toward educating the Jewish masses. It is necessary to prepare our coreligionists little by little for a great era and make them worthy and able to comprehend a higher good. Especially with the new spirit of the current government, we have reason to hope for the beginnings of such an era.

For the fulfilment of the two needs mentioned above, in our opinion three things are necessary: 1) a public organ in the Russian language, for the defense of Judaism from the outside; 2) a scholarly literary journal in the Yiddish language, for influencing the Jews themselves; and 3) a radical transformation of Jewish schools.