Jewish heritage in St. Petersburg

By Alla Markova, founder and managing director of the Jewish Tourist and Research Center, Zekher Avoteinu

Millions of tourists from all over the world come to St. Petersburg, Russia, to admire its architecture and art masterpieces . Many of those visitors are Jewish, but they do no expect to find anything Jewish in the city. “What can be Jewish about St. Petersburg?” many ask those who know something about Russia. “it as prohibited for Jews to dwell there”. Well, that is true, but there is no rule without exceptions. Jews lived in Petersburg since the moment of its foundation. They were few, but they were the elite of the Russian Jewry and some of them became important in Russian history. As for the Jewish heritage, it is indeed difficult to overestimate it. St. Petersburg had something for every Jew from Ashkenazim toSephardim, Chasidim, Mitnagdim, Zionists, Hebraists, Yiddishists, for the followers of the Haskalah and for those who prefer the old tradition, for Israelis and Argentineans. Certainly the present-day revival of Jewish life in Russia is something that attracts and inspires any Jew of whatever origin. In this article I would to share with you the results of my research of Jewish history of the city and to acquaint you with its Jewish life today. In 2003, St. Petersburg is celebrated its 300th anniversary. It was founded in 1703 by Tsar Peter the Great. It is necessary to understand that in Tsar Peter’s time there were practically no Jews in Russia, and that Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and other regions, which had compact Jewish populations (later known as “the Pale of Settlement”), did not belong to Russia. Russian laws forbade practicing Jews from entering the country. However, several baptized Jews managed to attain high positions in the Russian court during this period. Among them were representatives of both Ashkenazim and Sephardim. During Peter’s reign the Vice-Chancellor of Russia was Piotr (Peter) Shafirov, a baptized Polish Jew. The name Shafirov comes from the same stem as Shapiro, Shafir, etc. Shafirov for many years defined Russian foreign policy. The position of the Vice-Chancellor corresponded to that of the Minister of Foreign Affairs or Secretary of State. Shafirov was the author of the first Russian book ever translated into English, Discourse concerning the Reasons of the War between Sweden and Russia, which justified Russian involvement in the Northern War. There were some other Polish Jews famous in the same sphere of diplomacy. Among them the best known were the brothers Veselovsky, distant relatives of Shafirov.

As for the Sephardic Jews, some of them were invited by TsarPeter himself The first chief of police of the city was Anton Divier (Antonio De Vieira), while others, having heard about opportunities in a new country, came on their own, for example Jan Dacosta who became one of the court jesters. Those Jews were formally baptized, so they could not enter Russia. The first Jews openly practicing Judaism appeared St Petersburg only after the death of the Tsar. Among them were the merchants brothers Hirsch who supplied silver to the mint and Levi Lippman, a confidant of Biron, a powerful favorite of the Empress Anna Ioannovna. Those Jews were tolerated only because they were needed. Others, who were less important were still not permitted to enter Russia and especially not into the capital. Those who violated the law were severely persecuted.

In 1738, two people were burned alive in the center of St. Petersburg. One was Baruch Leibov, a Jew of Smolensk, and the other was a Russian captain Alexander Voznitzyn converted by Leibov to Judaism.

By the end of the eighteenth century, after three annexations of Poland (1772, 1793, and 1795), the biggest Jewish community in Europe fell under the control of the Russian Empire. It was during the rule of Catherine II, who in order to protect Russian merchants from the competition of Jewish colleagues, instituted the so-called “Pale of Settlement”. This edict limited the regions where Jews could live and trade, mostly to the territory acquired from Poland. Thus the capital remained closed to them. However, it was during the reign of Catherine II that an organized Jewish colony appeared in St. Petersburg.

Several Jewish merchants from the town of Shklov were invited by the Empress to be the purveyors of the Russian army. They came as a minyan, with a rabbi and a shoihet. In order to conceal their presence in the city, Catherine who pretended to be both the head of the Russian Orthodox State and a liberal monarch, housed them with her own priest so that nobody would suspect the she herself was violating her own laws. This group was headed by Note Notkin of Shklov, who in 1802, started the Pinkas of the St. Petersburg Jewish community. It was this small colony that provided R. Shneur Zalman of Liady, the founder of Chabad Lubavitch, with kosher food when he was imprisoned into the Peter and Paul Fortress in the late eighteenth century. They also served as Russian language interpreters for the Alter Rebe.

In St. Petersburg there never was a Jewish quarter, certainly no ghetto. Jews were spread all over the city, in small numbers. They lived where they could afford to, buying or renting a house or an apartment and where the landlord would lease or sell it to them. Since legally there were no Jews living in the city, there were no Jews dying hence making it difficult to acquire a plot of land for a Jewish cemetery. The first cemetery was organized on the parcel of land Mr. Notkin and his group got from the Lutheran community.

Even more difficult was to get the permission to open a synagogue. Jews prayed in various prayer houses/rooms. The official prayer house was shabby and for ex-soldiers.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the Jewish population of St. Petersburg grew considerably, thanks to the development of capitalism and reforms of Alexander II who permitted the merchants of the first guild and people with university diplomas to live permanently outside of the Pale of Settlement. He also introduced a list of crafts needed in the big cities and those who practiced these crafts were allowed to live in the capital while they were practicing thrse professions. Many Jewish businessmen, craftsmen, and intellectuals sought and found their fortunes in St. Petersburg.

IThe notorious quota for Jews entering state educational centers was introduced only in 1887. Before that, Jews had been encouraged to study in the state universities, but they did not want to do it, as secular education was considered by families as a road to assimilation. However, the reforms of Alexander II changed that point of view, as a diploma now signified a possibility of future career.

It was during this time period that the Jews of St. Petersburg began to differ from their brethren, quickly accepting Russian and European culture. The first features that disappeared were Yiddish and the traditional clothes, the most visual ways of traditional Jewish identity. During the life of one generation the Petersburg Jews changed their language and began speaking Russian. However, they did not become reformed, as Reformed Judaism did not exist in Russia in those days. The Jewish traditions remained the backbone of the community for emancipated Jews, but these were only exhibited r inside their homes and shul.

The St. Peterburg Jews became the cultural and financial elite of the Russian Jewry. They took upon themselves the responsibilities of the defending the interests of the Jews elsewhere in the Empire. During many years the Petersburg community was headed by the representatives of the three generations of the well-known family of bankers and philanthropists – the Gunzburg. The founder of the dynasty was Joseph Yevzel Gunzburg who in 1859 created the first modern bank in Russia. The bank was run by his eldest son, Horace (Naftali Hertz) who got the title of Baron from the Duke of Hesse Darmstadt and entered history as the Baron Gunzburg. Horace’s eldest son, David, was the founder and rector of the first higher educational center for Jewish studies in Russia. The Gunzburg family donated a major part of money for the construction of the St. Petersburg synagogue. They managed to construct a synagogue, but at what a price! The rich Jews who came to the city after 1855 did not want to pray together with poor ex-soldiers. At first they organized their own prayer house. Then they started a real fight with the authorities requesting permission to construct a synagogue. They expected that the construction of a synagogue would indicate Jewish legal presence in the capital and would eventually change the situation with the status of Russian Jewry in general. Therefore, in 1859 a group of wealthy Russian Jews (some of them, including the Gunzburgs, even got noble titles from Alexander II, mostly for their philanthropic activity) filed a petition to the Tsar to permit the construction of the synagogue. It took them ten years to get an approval. However, that approval was done in such form that in St. Petersburg, despite all the jokes about two Jews and three synagogues, there was (and still is) only one shul.

Alexander II was a very liberal and educated monarch, but he was not aware of the Jewish tradition, or of the realities of Jewish life. He did not know that on Shabbat ,Jews have to walk to the prayer house, nor that Jews sometimes didn’t other Jews and would never pray together. That is why when he permited the construction of a synagogue as an institution, he wrote: “As soon as the synagogue is constructed, all existing Jewish prayer houses should be closed.” That decision created a lot of problems within the community, as many poor people wanted to keep they places of worship and did not want to move in order to be able to walk to a service, nor had they money for the duties that the wealthy people could pay. Nevertheless, the decision was taken on the highest level and Jews had to obey.

The construction committee was formed and a plot of land was purchased. For those who know the Hebrew poetry it may of interest – the parcel of land was bought in the name of Yehuda Leib Gordon, who besides being a famous poet, was the secretary of Petersburg Jewish community. Y.L. Gordon, as a representative of the Haskalah, declared that the synagogue should be constructed in the architectural style of other buildings in the city, so that from the façade nobody could know what it was – “You should be a Jew at home and a citizen in the street”.

The discussion took place in the art salon at Baron Gunzburg’s house. Another opinion was suggested by Vladimir Stasov, a man who had nothing to do with Jews, but who the most influential Russian art and music critic and a close friend of Gunzburg. Stasov suggested that the synagogue should be built in the Moorish style as in the Muslim Spain, Jews reached the peak of their culture. The community opened a contest. Three project were presented, and all were in the Moorish style. Thus, an Ashkenazic community has a synagogue built in the Sephardic Moorish style. The construction of the synagogue was coming to the end when in 1881 Alexander II was killed by terrorists. Though no Jews took part in the bombing itself, his son, Alexander III, blamed the Jews and the wave of the anti-Jewish looting and killing spread over the whole Pale of Settlement. It was at that time that the Russian word pogrom entered many foreign languages. Still, there were direct consequences for the local community, too. The synagogue was finished but it could not be inaugurated in the atmosphere of chauvinism and reaction. In 1885, they managed to open the Small Synagogue – a tiny hall located in the left wing of the main building. Only in 1893 did the community manage to inaugurate the Big Choral synagogue. The main hall seats 1200. It is richly decorated with carved wood and laces of cast iron. The light comes from two rows of big window with stained glass, located on both side of the hall.The synagogue is Orthodox; the place for the women is upstairs. However, as the community that built it, was the most emancipated in Russia, there was a German-made organ, though they do not use it during the service.

It may be a surprise, but the synagogue was not closed by the Soviet Power when they began closing churches and mosques. The authorities had to leave several churches of each denomination as showcases to demonstrate the freedom of conscience. Since it was the only synagogue in the city, it could not be shut down. It became a showcase and was shown to foreign Jews as an example of the Soviet solution of the Jewish question. It has been recently restored and is a must for any Jew- religious or secular.

The building which is next to the synagogue and which today houses a children’s hospital, was erected together with the shul and was the community center. It housed the library (the curator of the library was Dr. Abraham Harkavy), and two comprehensive schools – eight-year school for girls and nine-year school for boys. Besides general and Jewish education those schools provided the kids with vocational training. The graduates got licenses in the crafts that permitted them to live outside of the Pale of Settlement.

When you leave the synagogue premises, across the street in the ugly Soviet-style is a building constructed in the sixties. It was the dry-cleaning and laundry center. However, it had one more purpose. KGB installed cameras in its window and filmed the people who attended the services.

In the sixties and seventies many Jewish students came to the synagogue yard, especially on Simhat Torah (simhas toire) holiday. Then their photos were sent to the city universities, and in case they were recognized by the university administration and susbsequently were expelled.

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