The Pale of Settlement (Russian: Черта́ осе́длости, chertá osédlosti; Yiddish: דער תּחום-המושבֿ, der tchum-ha-moyshev; Hebrew: תְּחוּם הַמּוֹשָב, t'ẖum hammosháv) was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish residency, permanent or temporary, was mostly forbidden.
Who created the Pale of settlement in Russia?
Catherine the Great created the Pale of Settlement in Russia in 1791. This was the name given to the western border region of the country, in which Jews were allowed to live.
What is another name for the Pale of settlement?
Alternative Title: Cherta Osedlosti. In pale …came to be called the Pale of Settlement (Cherta Osedlosti) came into being as a result of the introduction of large numbers of Jews into the Russian sphere after the three partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, 1795).
What happened to the Jews of the Pale of settlement?
In some periods, special dispensations were given for Jews to live in the major imperial cities, but these were tenuous, and several thousand Jews were expelled to the Pale from Moscow as late as 1891. The extremely restrictive decrees and recurrent pogroms led to much emigration from the Pale, mainly to the United States and Western Europe.
What was the Pale of settlement in Poland?
The "Kingdom of Poland," incorporated into Russia in 1815, which included ten provinces that later became known as the "Vistula Region," was not officially included within the Pale of Settlement, and until 1868 the transit of Jews through it to the Lithuanian and Ukrainian provinces was prohibited by law.
Why was the pale called the Pale?
These four "obedient shires" were the only part of Ireland still under the control of the English crown. The king's perimeter was marked with wooden fence posts pounded into the Irish turf. These were called "pales," from the Latin palus, meaning "stake." A last "ditch" attempt to thwart cattle rustlers.
What does shtetl mean in Yiddish?
townBut according to Shandler, a professor in the Department of Jewish Studies at Rutgers: “In Yiddish, shtetl simply means 'town' – anywhere, at any time, inhabited by anyone. In popular usage, it has acquired all kinds of connotations, especially as the word moves into other languages.”
What's a Shadchan?
Definition of shadchan : a Jewish marriage broker or matchmaker.
What does Goyish mean?
A person who is not Jewish. [Yiddish, from Hebrew gôy, Jew ignorant of the Jewish religion, non-Jew; see gwy in Semitic roots.] goy′ish adj.
What did they eat in the shtetl?
The excellent nutrition naturally available in two dietary staples, rye bread and sauerkraut, served to ward off many a disease. The favorite accompaniment to baked or boiled potatoes was herring, which was also the preferred food to be eaten with bread. In Lithuania, herring was a national dish.
How do you pronounce shtetls?
noun, plural shtet·lach [shtet-lahkh, -luhkh, shteyt-], English shtetls.
What tribe is Ashkenazi from?
Like other Jewish ethnic groups, the Ashkenazi Jews originate from the Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah. Ashkenazi Jews share a significant amount of ancestry with other Jewish populations and derive their ancestry mostly from populations in the Middle East and Southern Europe.
Where is Kasrilevke?
Kasrilevka or Kasrilevke (Yiddish: קסרילבקה, קאסרילעװקא) is a fictional shtetl introduced by a Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem. Located "exactly in the middle of that blessed Pale", it is an idealized town of "little Jews" (die kleine mentsheleh), who met their misfortunes with humor and the ultimate belief in justice.
What law did not apply to the Vistula region?
However, they were disappointed when these alleviations came to a complete halt after 1881, as part of the general reaction in Russia at this period. The "Temporary ( *May ) Laws" of 1881 prohibited any new settlement by Jews outside towns and townlets in the Pale of Settlement (this law did not apply to the Vistula Region).
What was the Pale of Settlement?
Cherta [ postoyannoy yevreyskoy] osedlosti ) was a territory within the borders of czarist Russia wherein the residence of Jews was legally authorized. Limits for the area in which Jewish settlement was permissible in Russia came into being when Russia was confronted with the necessity of adjusting to a Jewish element within its borders, from which Jews had been excluded since the end of the 15 th century. These limitations were consonant with the general conception of freedom of movement of persons which then applied. At the time, most of the inhabitants of Russia, not only the serfs but also townsmen and merchants, were deprived of freedom of movement and confined to their places of residence.
What language did the Jews speak in the Pale of Settlement?
The language spoken by the Jews in the Pale of Settlement was Yiddish (according to the census of 1897 by 99% of the Jews). Most Jewish children received a Jewish education in the ḥeder and the yeshivah. Jewish literature and newspapers in Yiddish , Hebrew, Russian, and Polish circulated in many thousands of copies.
What was the purpose of the partition of Poland?
After the first partition of Poland in 1772, when masses of Jews living within the former country came under Russian rule, it was decided (1791) to permit the presence of the Jews not only in their former regions of residence, but also in the new areas which had then been annexed from Turkey on the Black Sea shore, in whose rapid colonization the Russian government was interested. On the other hand, Jewish merchants were prohibited from trading in the provinces of inner Russia. These decrees were intended to serve the national and economic interests of the state by preventing competition of the Jewish with Russian merchants and encouraging settlement in the desolate steppes of southern Russia; after a time these formed the provinces of *Kherson , *Dnepropetrovsk (Yekaterinoslav), and Taurida ( *Crimea ). The Russian government also sought thus to reduce the excess of Jews in the branches of commerce and innkeeping within the territory annexed from Poland. In 1794 the earlier decree was ratified and applied to the regions which had been annexed with the second partition of Poland (1793) also – the provinces of *Minsk , *Volhynia, and *Podolia – as well as to the region to the east of the River Dnieper (the provinces of *Chernigov and *Poltava ).
What was the original motion to expel Jews from Russia?
The extreme Right retorted with a counter-motion "to expel the Jews from Russia"; the original motion was voted upon in February 1911 and transferred to the commission for personal freedom, where it fell into oblivion and was no longer mentioned in plenary session of the Duma.
What rights did the peasants have?
The peasants were granted the right of demanding the expulsion of the Jews who lived among them. These decrees were bound up with intensified administrative pressure, brutality by local authorities, and the systematic acceptance of bribery on the part of the lower administrative ranks.
How many Jews were there in Russia in 1897?
According to the census of 1897, 4,899,300 Jews lived there, forming 94% of the total Jewish population of Russia and c. 11.6% of the general population of this area. The largest of the other nations living within the area of the Pale were the Ukrainian, Polish, Belorussian, Russian, Lithuanian, Moldavian (mostly in Bessarabia), and German.
What is the meaning of "if there is a pale, decent people stay inside it"?
The message is clear - 'if there is a pale, decent people stay inside it', which conveys exactly the figurative meaning of the phrase as it is used today. As a corresspondent has helpfully pointed out, although Harington's poem was published in 1657, he died in 1612.
Where did the phrase "pale" originate?
The phrase itself originated later than that. The first printed reference comes from 1657 in John Harington's lyric poem The History ...
What is the meaning of the paling fence?
The paling fence is significant as the term 'pale' came to mean the area enclosed by such a fence and later just figuratively 'the area that is enclosed and safe'. So to be 'beyond the pale' was to be outside the area accepted as 'home'. Catherine the Great created the Pale of Settlement in Russia in 1791. This was the name given ...
Why did Catherine the Great create the Pale of Settlement?
The motivation behind this was to restrict trade between Jews and native Russians.
What does "pale" mean in art?
The everyday use of the word 'pale' is as an adjective meaning whitish and light in colour (used to that effect by Procol Harum and in countless paint adverts). However, there is another meaning of 'pale' - 'a stake or pointed piece of wood'. This meaning is now virtually obsolete except as used in this phrase.
Where did the phrase "Dove-like roved forth beyond the pale to planted Myrtle-?
The first printed reference comes from 1657 in John Harington's lyric poem The History of Polindor and Flostella. In that work, the character Ortheris withdraws with his beloved to a country lodge for 'quiet, calm and ease', but they later venture further: "Both Dove-like roved forth beyond the pale to planted Myrtle-walk".
