The Jewish enlightenment movement known as the Haskala, endeavored to implement changes within the Jewish communal structure in the modern era. Though the haskala in its many manifestations existed in many countries in the modern era, this episode will

Though never large in number, the Karaite communities of Russia are an interesting side chapter in Russian Jewish history. Residing primarily in the Crimean Peninsula, with communities in Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania, the Czarist government recognized th

Rav Shabsai Hakohen (1621-1663) was the author of one of the most important halachic works ever written, the Shach (Sifsei Kohen). His last rabbinical position and burial place in Holesov, Czechia, is a popular stop on Jewish history tours of Europe, alon

The recent passing of Rav Meir Wunder (1934-2024) is an opportunity to pay tribute to this great man and his vast accomplishments as a historian, scholar and pioneer tour guide to Europe. Having attended Ponovezh Yeshiva in its early years, and gained a c

Far from the Pale of Settlement, the Jews of Georgia, Bukhara, the Caucasus (Mountain) Jews, and other Jewish communities of Central Asia, found themselves under the jurisdiction of the Russian Empire over the course of the 19th century. These ancient Jew

The Industrial Revolution brought the mechanization of manual labor, and this reached the matzah baking industry in the mid-19th century. Although it was initially accepted in Western Europe, when it

The Russian Czarist government restricted Russian Jewry to the western provinces of the empire through a series of legislative acts, which came to be known as the Pale of Settlement. Starting in the 1

A dominant feature of religious life of the 20th century has been the centrality of the Yeshiva institution for intensive Torah study. The modern yeshiva is a direct byproduct of its antecedents in th

The Czarist government implemented a policy of censorship of all published material in the empire, whether it was imported or printed locally. Though this was a general policy, there were unique parti

In 1827 Czar Nicholas I implemented the military draft on the Jewish community of Russia as a means of integrating Jews into Russian society. The Jewish kahal was required to supply the young recruits