[Page 67]

The flourishing economic condition and the developed trade among Jews in Białystok during the Branicki era were the result of the liberal and favorable relations the Branickis maintained with the Jews. In stark contrast, the Prussian government–holding an opposing stance toward Jews–regarded this situation as harmful to the Christian population, whom it considered the foundational class and rightful landowners. Toward the Jews, however, the Prussian authorities viewed them as a foreign and undesirable element exploiting the “landowning class.”

In order to render the Jews harmless, Frederick William II issued, on April 17, 1797 in Berlin, a General Jewish Regulation for South and “New East Prussia,” printed in Breslau and also in Białystok^[1] – a guide for how to govern the “undesirable Jews” of the entire region.

In the introduction to this Jewish Regulation, it is stated:

“As we have observed that the number of Jews in these provinces exceeds that in our other provinces within Christian lands, and that they bring harm to our loyal Christian subjects through their usurious trade and commerce – which, without deceit and corruption, they cannot sustain – we have deemed it necessary and proper to eliminate this harmful condition and, at the same time, to improve their own situation.

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Therefore, we have found it appropriate to establish and ordain, through this present regulation, how one is to manage relations with them and impose necessary restraints (1).”

This Jewish Regulation contains the essence of the decree issued^[2] by Frederick II – the so-called “Great” and “Philosopher” – and what follows is a translation of selected articles from that regulation.

(1) All Jews residing in the country at the time of the annexation of South and New East Prussia, or those employed by others and able to earn an honest living in accordance with the provisions of this regulation, shall continue to be tolerated and protected in the land – not only they themselves, but also their children living with them.

(2) It is ordered that foreign Jews who have remained in the country for an extended period due to business dealings, or as beggars without a fixed residence, must leave the land by October 1 of this year. After that date, they shall be apprehended and expelled. Should they re-enter the country unlawfully, they shall be punished with six months of imprisonment and public labor, with the warning that upon a second offense, they will be imprisoned for life and assigned to forced public labor.

(3) Protected Jews are to be precisely registered. Every quarter, changes must be reported and recorded in the annual general Jewish register, so that the Jews may be regulated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Each Jew is to be provided with a shutsbrif [protection letter], and every child aged ten and above with an legitimatsye-tsetl [identification slip], which they must present when traveling.

(5) Foreign Jews must obtain permission from the tax office in the form of a bagleytsheyn [accompanying certificate]; even for begging, such a certificate is required. If a Jew is found in a location not specified in the certificate, he is to be regarded as if he had no certificate at all.

A foreign Jew may receive permission only for

• visiting relatives,
• recovering from illness,
• settling matters of inheritance or debt,
• resolving legal disputes,
• or buying and selling permitted goods.

During the four weeks leading up to October 1, public announcements must be made regularly in the shuln,

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instructing everyone to report themselves voluntarily. After October 1, those who have not done so shall be expelled from the country along with their dependents.

(12) Every protected Jew^[3] is required to adopt, in addition to his given name received at circumcision, his father's given name and a family name, as is customary among Christians. He may no longer be called by his profession or place of residence, as was previously the case – a practice that led to confusion.

(13) A Jew who seeks protection but

• does not live in his father's household,
• is not under his authority,
• and is not employed by an established Jew,

(15) Every Jew must possess:

• a certificate identifying who he is,
• as well as a marriage certificate.

• be at least 25 years old,
• have an occupation,
• and provide proof that he can support a family.

• change their place of residence or occupation without approval from the Chamber.
• Nor may they buy or sell land without such approval.

(7) In towns where Jews are permitted to reside only in designated quarters, this right shall not be revoked.

On vacant building plots outside the Jewish quarter, where no Christians reside, a Jew may build a house – but only with the agreement of the birgershaft [local citizenry].

It is also permitted - with the consent of the birgershaft - to dissolve the segregated quarters for Jews and to allow them to reside throughout the entire city.

(1) Every protected Jew may choose a specific occupation, but only with the approval of the Chamber,

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which reports this to the higher authority and informs the supreme tax council of the land. The Chamber grants approval by considering the qualifications of the protected Jew and the relevant circumstances.

(2) Any Jew who wishes to continue his trade must, by a specified deadline, relocate to the town; until then, he may remain in the countryside, but:

א) He is not permitted to hoyzirn (peddle). He may only purchase goods that the rural inhabitants bring to him, and he may not sell them directly in the markets across the river, but only in the local rural towns.

ב) Jews shall be permitted to sell only such goods as are necessary for agriculture, such as iron and iron-based farming tools, but not manufactured goods like silk, wool, or luxury items. These goods may be purchased by Jews only in the designated country towns and may be sold solely from their own residences – not through peddling.

ג) They are not permitted to sell beer or brandy on credit or in exchange for produce.

ד) The Jew must take care not to be accused of usury. Anyone found guilty of such an offense shall be fined 5 to 10 Reichsthaler, with the money from the penalty allocated to the municipal treasury (fiskus).

Upon a second offense, the fine is doubled; upon a third, the Jew loses his protection status.

(4) In the future, both Christians and Jews shall be permitted to engage in trade and commerce only in towns, but not in the open countryside.

(5) Jews who have received concessions shall be permitted to engage in trade on equal terms with Christians and under the same obligations.

However, since until now nearly every Jew – in addition to his regular occupation, either entirely or partially as a sideline – has also engaged in trade and in shakhern [swapping or cheating], going forward only a fixed number shall be admitted in each town, equal to the number of Christian petty shopkeepers and merchants who likewise earn their livelihood through trade.

Anyone who is not explicitly qualified and licensed as a merchant shall be prohibited from trading, under penalty of:

• loss of protected status,
• and expulsion from the country.

(7) Peddling for the purpose of buying and selling is prohibited, except at annual fairs. If a nobleman requests a Jew with merchandise for his own convenience, the Jew must obtain a written order from the nobleman, on the basis of which he will receive a transit permit from the tax and customs office. At the market fairs and annual fairs in other royal provinces,

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Jews in South and New East Prussia shall be permitted to trade under the same exceptions, restrictions, and regulations as previously mentioned and as will be further outlined below.

(10) In addition to trade, Jews shall be permitted to engage in all crafts, but only within towns, and only in the authorized professions within villages.

(11) Jews who wish to be recognized as masters must be examined by a Christian specialist. A Jewish master shall have the same rights as a Christian one to employ journeymen and to train apprentices; however, he may not engage in any other craft.

(13) Jews shall also be permitted to establish useful factories, and all necessary facilitations shall be granted to them, provided they employ Jewish workers and train them in these enterprises.

(14) Since only a small portion of Jews can make a living through trade, crafts, or manufacturing, they shall be permitted to engage in:

• brewing and distilling,
• dairy work,
• and agricultural labor – provided they cultivate, together with their own family, a plot of land leased from noble landowners.

(15) However, they may not purchase such land from Christian owners; rather, it may be allocated to them in the same manner as to Christian colonists, with all associated rights and privileges.

(6) For the first three years, Jews shall be permitted to work alongside Christian laborers; thereafter, they may work only with their own Jewish family, or else they shall lose the right to remain in the village.

(8) Since most taverns in towns and rural areas are currently in Jewish hands, they may remain so. However:

א) Jews shall not conduct trade there except with travelers, who may purchase goods only in the designated country towns and only with valid transit permits; they are strictly forbidden from selling to local residents for home use.

ב) They shall not lend or barter for goods; violation of this rule shall be punished as previously outlined.

Furthermore, they may not make use of Christian domestic servants.

(9) Those Jews who are unfit for urban trade or agriculture must earn their livelihood through wage labor or by serving Jews or Christians. However, such a Jew may not remain independent and support himself through:

• haggling,
• brokerage,
• usury,
• or other incidental occupations whose basis is largely deception and which cause harm to others.

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(20) All craftsmen, peasants, and domestic servants must be excluded from any form of trade or shakhern [swapping or cheating], since such activity not only distracts them from their proper occupation, but also causes harm to both Christian and Jewish merchants.

(21) In violation of this rule, the offender's goods shall be confiscated, and he shall be punished in the same manner as Jewish peddlers. Upon a third offense, he shall lose his protected status and be expelled from the country.

(22) A Jew living in the countryside may not lend money or agricultural produce to a Christian except through official legal channels. In such cases, the Jewish lender shall have the same rights as a Christian one. However:

• any debt incurred outside of formal legal procedure shall be confiscated by the fiskus (the royal treasury),
• and the creditor shall be punished.
• If he has charged interest in the process, he shall lose his protected status and be expelled from the country.
• The informer shall receive half of the confiscated amount.

Concerning Jewish Religious and Ritual Institution

(1) Jews shall be permitted to freely perform all their religious rituals. Until now, however, they have been subject to the coercion of their rabbis, who would purchase or lease institutions for large sums – calculating that through this they would secure a comfortable livelihood for themselves and their relatives, richly rewarded by their gloybns-genosn [fellow believers].

Therefore, the land barons, who possess synagogues in their towns and hold the right to appoint rabbis and collect lease payments from them, shall not set the price as high as they please, nor grant the position to whoever offers the most – as has happened many times until now.^[4]

However, in royal and ecclesiastical towns, the number of excessive synagogues shall gradually be reduced, and they shall be designated according to the location and number of inhabitants.

Likewise, the rabbis serving in them, and the other synagogue functionaries – those falling under the category of forzinger (khazn, cantor) and synagogue servant (shames) – shall be appointed not only without payment or lease to the chambe^[b], but shall be compensated from a public fund, as honest officials.

(2) It is self-evident that rabbis, in addition to their religious knowledge,

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must also be able to speak and write in the German and Polish languages.

(3) As of June 1^st of this year, rabbis shall no longer be permitted, as they have been until now, to act as judges over their fellow believers – whether in civil matters or in issues of religious ritual and synagogue discipline. All such matters must henceforth be handled by Christian courts. However, rabbis in the provinces shall be consulted as experts in their own synagogue rituals and disciplinary questions, and shall be compensated accordingly.

(4) No Jew shall be punished by a rabbi for transgressing religious or ceremonial laws within his own home, unless such behavior publicly obstructs the performance of Jewish religious ceremonies or avodah [worship]. In such cases, punishment may be administered – but only by Christian courts.

(5) Rabbis and the va'ad harabanim [rabbinical council] who impose:

• major or minor kherem [ban or excommunication],
• prohibit access to kosher-for-Passover flour, kosher meat, or participation in the minyan [prayer quorum],
• or issue similar punishments,

(6) The land barons are obligated, to the extent possible and as soon as feasible, to release the synagogues from the mortgages they hold over them.

(7) The rabbis shall have a communal fee for all Jewish civil and ritual matters. Those who are appointed to royal and ecclesiastical posts within the synagogues shall receive a salary only for as long as they remain in office.

(8) No additional communal functionaries – such as:

• shokhtim [ritual slaughterers],
• menakrim [kosher meat trimmer],
• krankn-vekhter [attendants for the sick],
• or mikve-tukerins [female ritual bath attendants] –

• avoid excessive expenses
• and prevent the concealment of secret haggling figures, usurers, and the like.

For more than 35 families, there shall be two shokhtim and one menaker.

Communal functionaries:

• may not be appointed without permission from the chamber,
• may not be from foreign provinces
• and must not engage in trade or own any other business.

Instead, they shall have, as do the Christian inhabitants, representatives of the citizenry in the town, confirmed by the magistrate and the chamber, who shall:

• fulfill all duties assigned in relation to the town, and in addition, shall carry out all responsibilities pertaining to Jewish needs.

(13) Due to the poor instruction in the khadorim, which are oriented solely toward theological study contents, Jewish public schools shall be established:

א) The teachers shall be appointed and paid by the town;

ב) They must know German and Polish;

ג) If no such Jewish teachers are available, Christian teachers shall temporarily teach there;

ד) Jewish religious books in German shall be compiled, to be approved by Jewish experts;

ה) Wherever such schools exist, Jews shall be obligated to send their children there; where no schools exist, they shall employ private tutors or send their children to nearby towns.

(14) In a synagogue-town, the shuln shall be under the supervision of the rabbis and those appointed over the town. In a town where there is no synagogue, the shuln shall be under the supervision of the Jewish appointees over the town and one or two other important men, as is the case among the Christians.

(15) Daughters, who do not require as much theoretical instruction, shall be taught in their shuln by women: knitting, sewing, spinning, and the like – so that they may be able to support themselves or assist their parents and husbands.

(1) The Jews shall not pay any special dues or taxes beyond what the Christians pay – except for their inability to fulfill personal military service like the Christians, and for the particular expenses the government incurs on their behalf.

(2) Every male shuts-yid [protected Jew] between the ages of 14 and 60 shall pay annually five Prussian florins or one Reichsthaler and sixteen guilders as recruitment and shuts-gelt [protection money].

(4) Parents shall pay for their children, and householders for their servants. The first time someone fails to pay, they shall be charged double; the second time – fourfold; the third time, they shall lose their protected status and be expelled from the country.

(6) A Jew who enters military service shall be exempt from protection money for his person, even if he later becomes an invalid.

(7) In addition to the recruitment and protection money, every prominent Jew and householder shall contribute a designated sum toward the rent of the shamosim [synagogue caretaker] of the bate knesiyos [synagogues] and the school teachers .

Detailed accounts shall be kept of this money, and it shall not be used for any other purpose.

(8) These contributions and taxes shall be paid individually by each Jew; the less wealthy shall not pay on behalf of the wealthy.

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(9) For a marriage certificate, the fee shall be:

• for property valued between 100 and 300 Reichsthaler – 1 Reichsthaler;
• between 300 and 800 Reichsthaler – 3 Reichsthaler;
• above 800 Reichsthaler – 5 Reichsthaler.

(10) Whoever receives permission to marry before the age of 24 must pay 30 Reichsthaler.

Issued on the 17^th of April, 1797, Berlin.

We hereby present the full text of a Prussian protection letter. This document was made available by Dr. Chazanowicz, of blessed memory.

After His Royal Majesty of Prussia, our most gracious sovereign, saw fit to approve the petition submitted by the Jew Hirsch David – that he, as a protected Jewish householder, be permitted to reside in the province of New East Prussia, in Białystok and the Białystok district, and there to operate his establishment as an innkeeper –

– the requested protection letter is hereby issued to him and to his wife, named Nizke, granting him permission to reside in the aforementioned province and designated location.

He must conduct himself in accordance with the provisions of the General Jewish Regulation of April 17, 1797, and observe all other ordinances concerning Jews, avoiding the penalties and loss of protection foreseen in case of violation.

Accordingly, the local and provincial officials of New East Prussia are to acknowledge and safeguard the arrival of the aforementioned householder.

Stamped in Berlin, June 25, 1799.

By special order of His Royal Majesty.

(Schrötter)

Author's footnotes:

1. Only the Breslau edition from 1797, in German and Polish, is generally known. Detailed information on this can be found in L. Lewin, “Judentag in Süd- und Neuostpreussen,” in Monatsschrift für Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums, No. 59, pp. 180–192.
   I myself had access to the Białystok edition from the same year, which was located in the archive of the local Kościół [Polish church]. I received it thanks to the last school inspector of the German occupation authorities, Rinkovski. It seems to me that the Białystok edition contains several regulations that are not found in the Breslau version. Return
2. Compare: Simon Dubnow, Nayste geshikhte fun yidishn folk [Latest History of the Jewish People], Berlin 1923, Vol. II, Chapter 6, p. 10 and onward. Return
3. From the regulation, I include only those points that may be of interest to us and to our research. Return
4. As in the best article on this subject – namely, how the land barons in their private estate towns used to sell the rabbinic office to wealthy, ordinary Jews (as occurred in the 17^th and 18^th centuries in Poland, especially following the decrees of 1648–49 [Tach veTat]) – reference must be made to the article by Sh. Assaf, LeKorot HaRabanut [“On the History of the Rabbinate”], in Reshumot, vol. III, pp. 266–277. Return
5. See a version of a protection letter in Еврейская Старина [Jewish Antiquity], 1911, pages 587-588, in the Białystoker Almanakh, 1931, page 12 – there is a photostat [facsimile reproduction] of a protection letter for a Jew named Leyb-Natan and his wife Kayle. Return

1. Contents in [ ] are from the translator. Return
2. chamber – i.e., the administrative or fiscal authority responsible for communal appointments and leases Return

Between Branicki's instruction and his general administrative ordinances, insofar as they pertain to Jews, and especially between the codification of all internal regulations within the Jewish communal organization – which held the force of royal law – on the one hand, and the Prussian Jewish Regulation on the other, there lies a deep chasm.

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There are no points of contact whatsoever; they are as far apart from one another as east is from west. They differ in their very essence – like a bright, sunlit day compared to the pitch-darkness of night.

The first breathe tolerance, liberalism, and humanity. They make no distinction between Jew and Catholic, between religion and nationality; they grant the Jew, just like the Catholic, free movement within the land and in commerce – the possibility of free development, full autonomy in their communal and religious organization.

But the second are saturated with the poison of hatred and contempt toward the Jew and his national and religious institutions.

Under the first, all residents of Białystok are equal citizens, with equal duties and equal rights to partake in the country's sources of sustenance and livelihood. The second recognize the Christian population^[1] as the sole rightful owners and masters of the land, while Jews are regarded as foreign, harmful, and exploitative elements whose every movement in the land and in commerce must be restricted.

They drive the Jew out of the village and into the town; they forbid him even to hoyzirn (to peddle) in the village, to purchase land from a peasant, or to trade with him through the exchange of goods.

Above all, this Prussian Jewish Regulation severed the central nerve of Jewish life in exile, destroying in one stroke the entire Jewish kehile organization that had developed and been firmly established in Poland over the course of hundreds of years.

The Jewish kehile organization in Poland had enabled Jews to endure even there the most terrifying persecutions, massacres, and decrees – [the tragedies] of 1648–49 and beyond. The kehile was their ancient fortress, shielding them from destruction and assimilation. It preserved the Jew's distinct right to stand guard over his national and religious treasures and inheritances, to live a uniquely Jewish cultural life.

But from this point on, the Prussian Jewish Regulation completely dismantled the autonomous kehile, subjecting even its religious and judicial functions – as well as its schools – to the oversight of Christian magistrates and church authorities.

The publication of this Jewish regulation provoked deep sorrow and alarm among all Jews of South and New East Prussia^[2].

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They recognized it as a compilation of all the old, evil decrees from the entire medieval period, whose aim was to bring about khurbn - the destruction of Jewish economic and religious life.

The Jews felt it deeply: the pillars of their Judaism had been shaken. Yet all the great rabbis and communal leaders of that time – like children of a people accustomed to miracles – did not falter. They immediately convened an assembly on the 8th of Elul, 5557 [August 30, 1797], in Kleshtsheve [Kleszczewo?], which later belonged to the Kalisz governorate.

To this gathering, they invited all the major Talmudic authorities, sages, and communal activists. Except for the delegates from Sokhatshov [Sochaczew?], all participants came from South Prussia, mostly from the Posen administrative district^[3]. They came together to seek ways to defend themselves against the new restrictive laws, which affected the fate of a Jewish population of over 160,000 souls – a population that, in the towns of New East Prussia, comprised nearly a third, and in South Prussia nearly a fifth to a sixth of the general population^[4].

The trade decrees primarily affected the Jews of East Prussia, especially in the Bialystoker department, where commerce and craftsmanship lay in Jewish hands.

In the entire Bialystok chamber district, there were six Christian shopkeepers to sixty-six Jewish^[5] ones, and the same held true in southeastern East Prussia: every seventh craftsman was a Jew, and there were 1,100–1,200 Jewish merchants compared to 1,700–1,800 Christian^[6] ones. There were various types of Jewish businesses:

1. the purchase of raw products;
2. hoyzireray (peddling);
3. concessions for trade monopolies and leases;
4. [sic] leaseholding and brokerage.

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along with the Jewish village tailor, latutnik [flick-shoemaker], and barber, would bring their work directly into the peasant's home. Their wages were typically paid in kind – with natural products rather than money.

They were well received by the peasants. The pakhter was at once the leaseholder of the landowner and a commercial intermediary. The Jewish Regulation, which cut the Jew off from the village, blocked the primary source of Jewish livelihood.

The Kleshtshever [Kleszczewo?] Assembly concluded that the regulation would destroy Jewish economic and religious existence in both provinces. The regulation casts false and grave accusations upon the Jews and their rabbis, tarnishing their reputation among the general population; it dismantles the traditional communal organization, strips Jews of the right to legal recourse, sets itself the goal of abolishing the limed haTalmud [study of the Talmud], and on top of all this, imposes heavy taxes on trade.

Complaints against the Jewish Regulation came not only from the Jewish side, but also from the Christian population. The Bialystok Chamber Commission found that the Jews were in the right, and feared that the new consumption taxes would bring ruin to the towns and drive the petty bourgeoisie into betlshtand^[7] - destitution.

The Kleshtsheve Assembly resolved to submit a petition to the king, requesting that his advisors conduct an investigation into the conditions of the Jews. It expressed hope “that the crown's advisors would spread their wings of mercy, so that the pillars of Jewish religion might remain standing upon their foundations, and that the sources of livelihood would not be obstructed.”

The Jewish demand to the German [Prussian] government to repeal the decrees against the Jews found understanding among German officials and citizens – despite the will of King Friedrich Wilhelm III^[8].

A Jewish delegation, composed of prominent rabbis, public activists, and individuals fluent in the German language, was selected to represent the community before the government.

The assembly also imposed a voluntary head tax upon all kehiles to cover the necessary expenses, primarily in support of the lo yikharatz^[b]. It was further resolved that during the Frankfurt Oder Fair in the month of Kheshvan, the delegates would reconvene to deliberate on what measures should be taken next.

As early as October 2, 1797, the Jewish deputation turned to the Berlin General Directory – that is, to the Ministry – with its objections to the Jewish Regulation.

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The Ministry's response – signed by “Hoims” – was favorable. Various concessions were granted to Jews in South and New East Prussia, easing and softening the severity of the regulation, especially regarding hoyzirn-handl^[9] [house-to-house peddling]. However, the possibility of maintaining an independent legal system was not restored. The harsh laws were gradually repealed. The decree requiring rabbis and shamosim to speak and write Polish was also lifted.

Yet the Pharaoh-like fear of pen yirbeh^[c] proved ineffective: the Jewish population grew significantly between 1804 and 1897^[10].

The authors of the General Jewish Regulation recognized, in many cases, its impracticability and its frequent false premises. Moreover, already in the first year of its issuance, a new king came to power, and a few years later, in 1806–1807, great upheavals occurred. But even from the very beginning, certain government bodies related critically to the regulation. This was further reinforced thanks to the substantive accusations and the considered measures of the Kleshtsheve Assembly.

The Jewish Regulation came to be fulfilled as in Nebuchadnezzar's dream: Hitgazrat even di-lo be-yadin u-mekhat le-tzalma al raglohei di-parzala ve-khaspa ve-daqat hamon (Daniel 2:34). “A stone tore itself loose and shattered the image at its feet of iron and clay, and crushed it.”^[d]

Even after the reunification of the Province of Posen with Prussia in the year 1815, the regulation was not renewed.^[11]

The Prussian authorities did not easily succeed in enforcing their decrees. It became necessary to issue reminders about them, as can be seen from a publication dated January 19, 1805, from the Chamber Commission, printed by Johann Jakub Daniel Kaunter, Royal New East Prussian Book Printer in Białystok.

The publication states: “It has until now been frequently observed that in towns, as well as in villages, Jews reside and conduct their own businesses without having obtained a protection letter, and without being registered as Jewish householders. This shall no longer be permitted, and ordinances and penalties have been issued regarding this.”

The German Jewish Regulation of that time, although it did not fulfill its intended purpose, nevertheless had an even greater and more powerful impact. Its consequences were even more dangerous and terrifying for Jews – over a span of more than 100 years and affecting millions of Jews – because it became, as it appears, the guiding model for the Russian government in how to deal with its millions of Jews across its vast and mighty empire.

And when the Russian Tsar took over the Białystok Department from the Prussian King in 1807, he simultaneously took from him the Jewish Regulation, which from that point on served the Russian government – especially from the reign of Nicholas I onward – as a template for exceptional laws and restrictions applied to its millions of Jews in all its provinces.

If one compares all Russian exceptional laws concerning Jews with the Prussian Jewish Regulation, one finds that they were copied from it. Through this, a major problem in the history of Jews in Russia becomes clarified: Where did the Tsarist government derive its decrees from? Here – in the Prussian Jewish Regulation – lay the primary source of all Jewish suffering, restrictions, and exceptional laws in Russia^[12]. Derzhavin^[e] used the Prussian Jewish Regulations as the basis for his own Jewish reform project^[13].

As [Alexander] Herzen^[14] already noted some sixty years ago,

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the entire structure of Russian governance bore the Prussian stamp: Even the names of military and police ranks, and the uniforms themselves, were adopted from the Prussians. Accordingly, the Russian government also took the Jewish Regulation of April 17, 1797 – originally issued for Białystok and its surroundings – as the foundation for regulating the Jewish question in Russia.

Author's footnotes:

1. This becomes especially clear according to the regulation in the version as it was printed in Białystok. Return
2. P. Bloch, Das Jahr 1793, “Judenwesen,” page 606. Return
3. We do not find Jewish representatives, rabbis, intellectuals, or prominent merchants from East Prussia at the assembly, even though the matter concerned them more directly. This can be explained only by the fact that they stood far from the centers of German governmental power and were therefore unable to take measures to oppose it. The danger for them was also greater, had the German authorities discovered that they were resisting – especially in the Białystok department, which was the personal property of the Prussian king. Return
4. A.C. von Holsche, Geographie u. Statistik von West-Sued-u. NeuOstpreussen, Berlin, 1804, volume 2, page 266. Return
5. Robert Schmidt, Handel u. Handwerk in Neuostpreussen, Goettingen, 1910, page 14, P. Bloch, Das Jahr 1793, page 592 Return
6. Altpreussische Monatsschrift, Koenigsberg, No. 48, 1911, page 440, Zeitschrift fuer Geschichte u. Landskenntnis der Pr. Posen, 3, page 19 Return
7. Mitteilungen des Gesamtarchivs d. Deutschen Juden, 4, Leipzig, 1914, page 65. See also Kohn, History of the Jewish Community of Ravitsh, vol. 7, p. 142. Return
8. Zeitschrift fuer Geschichte der Pr. Posen, vol. 7, p. 82; vol. 11, p. 71. Return
9. Already in early 1790, the Jewish representatives from Berlin and other communities – led by David Friedländer – made efforts to abolish the harsh decrees of Frederick's Jewish Regulation. (See also S. Dubnow, ibid., p. 142.) Return
10. See Holsche, ibid., volume II, p. 319; also Bergmann, on the history of the Development of the German People and the Jewish Population of the Province of Posen, Tübingen, 1883, p. 26. Return
11. In the work by L. Lewin - cited in note 1 - there are numerous details about the Kleshtsheve Assembly. In the same number of this Monatsschrift [monthly journal], pp. 278–300, there is an interesting Hebrew report from the assembly, including the names of its participants and an account of the fundraising – one third of a head tax, one Polish gold coin.
    I wonder why Simon Dubnow (ibid.., vol. I, part 6, p. 146) suggests that Frederick Wilhelm II's Jewish Regulation was considered “liberal”. He does not mention the Kleshtsheve Assembly, nor the fact that through intercessors, efforts were made to bury that Jewish Regulation. Return
12. It appears that the Jewish Regulation was originally composed specifically for the Białystok Department and was therefore printed in Białystok in the royal press, since Białystok was private property of the Prussian King, who, as its owner, had the right to issue special administrative ordinances for its governance. However, within Prussia itself and in Royal Poland, he was bound by the Polish land laws concerning Jews, which remained valid both under Prussian rule and later under Russian rule. In southeastern Prussia, he also seems to have held broader authority to do so [to issue such ordinances]. The Jewish Regulation applied only to those two provinces. Return
13. Compare S. Dubnow's opinion, ibid.., vol. I, p. 239. Return
14. Колокол [Kolokol, The Bell] no. 53, October 1853. Return

1. Contents in [ ] are from the translator. Return
2. Lo Yikharatz (לא יחרץ): A biblical phrase from Exodus 11:7, meaning “shall not sharpen [its tongue]” – traditionally interpreted as “shall not bark” or “shall remain silent.” In Jewish communal usage, lo yikharatz came to symbolize protection, dignity, or the hope that no voice would rise in hostility. In some contexts, it referred metaphorically to funds or efforts aimed at shielding the Jewish community from slander or harm. Return
3. Pen yirbeh (פן ירבה): A biblical phrase from Exodus 1:10 meaning “lest he multiply.” Spoken by Pharaoh in reference to the Israelites, it expresses a fear of their demographic growth and potential influence. In Jewish historical writing, the term is often used ironically to describe oppressive policies rooted in anxiety over Jewish expansion or visibility. Return
4. The author first presents the quote in Hebrew, and later again in Yiddish – with slightly modified content. Return
5. Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin (1743–1816) was a prominent Russian poet and statesman who served under Catherine the Great and held high administrative offices, including Minister of Justice. In addition to his literary achievements, Derzhavin developed a reform proposal concerning the Jewish population of the Russian Empire. His project drew heavily on the Prussian Jewish Regulation, which he used as a model for exceptional laws and restrictions. This influence shaped Russian Jewish policy from the early 19^th century onward. Return

[Page 81]

It must be acknowledged that this very Jewish Regulation attempted to wash itself clean of its draconian laws concerning Jews, and it fulfilled its promise in the preface to the regulation – namely, that it simultaneously intended to improve the condition of the Jews. As mentioned above, in his “premium plan”^[1] for the province of New East Prussia, he issued on October 24, 1801, an ordinance that designated special monetary premiums for the men and women of New East Prussia who would learn weaving, and for those who would weave a certain quantity of linen, or who had learned spinning and delivered spun flax products, etc.

Paragraph 39 also stipulates that the three Christian masters in each chamber department who, between June 1, 1802 and 1808, each year accepted the highest number of Jewish lern-yinglekh - apprentice boys - and taught them weaving, shall be eligible to receive up to 50 Reichsthaler according to the number of Jewish apprentices.

Half of this amount is to be paid at the end of the first year, and the other half is to be paid once the apprentice has fully completed his training in weaving.

However, anyone wishing to receive 50 Reichsthaler must have at least two Jewish boys under instruction;

anyone wishing to receive 100 Reichsthaler must have at least three;

and anyone seeking 150 Reichsthaler must have at least four.

Paragraph 32 reads: For three adult Jewish young men in each chamber department who, between 1802 and 1808, each year will initially engage in agriculture or in a craft under Christian householders and masters, each individual shall be paid 20 Reichsthaler.

[Page 82]

Paragraph 33 states: Three adult Jewish men in each chamber department who, over the course of six years, engage in the craft of masonry, carpentry, or blacksmithing, shall each be paid up to 20 Reichsthaler.

Paragraph 34 establishes the following reward: Ten Jews in each chamber department who, over six years – beginning as laborers under Christians in rural areas and continuing with three years of local agricultural work – shall each be paid up to 30 Reichsthaler by their employers.

The following paragraph adds: Three Jewish instructors in each chamber department who contribute to encouraging Jews to engage in agricultural work, shall receive up to 30 Reichsthaler.

Further, we read in Paragraph 36: Three Jewish families who will clear, cultivate, and work four Hufen (a designated plot of land) shall, in addition to the prescribed support, receive a premium of 200 Reichsthaler each.

Paragraph 37: The first five officials and five landowners in each department who were the first to employ at least three Jews as servants for three consecutive years shall each receive up to 50 Reichsthaler. In addition, public notice shall be given that they will receive a certificate of commendation.

Paragraph 38: Six Jewish residents of the Białystok chamber department who, during the course of the “premium plan,” are the first to provide proof each winter that they worked the preceding summer on canal construction and other tasks – such as field clearing, water drainage, and roadwork – and whose work was deemed satisfactory, shall each receive 10 Reichsthaler. Each of them must have worked for at least three months, or 90 days, beginning in June 1802.

We may infer from this that the Prussian government assumed that, after restricting freedom of movement and trade, and closing off many sources of livelihood for Jews, they would become impoverished – and therefore must be taught manual trades. But its primary aim was to degrade the Jewish masses through the lowest forms of day labor – such as canal digging, servitude to peasants, and domestic service in the households of Christian officials and landowners – thereby simultaneously proletarianizing and assimilating them. Accordingly, it designated a special premium for five officials and five landowners who would employ Jewish domestic workers for three consecutive years and treat them well, as a means of enticing Jews to adopt the lifestyle of non-Jews and thus assimilate. The intention was to tear away large segments of the Jewish people. But the Prussian efforts failed, and the exertion – along with the money spent on premiums – was in vain…

Jews in the Białystok department did not become farmhands for Christian peasants,

[Page 83]

nor did they become domestic servants for Christian landowners and officials. They did not engage in peasant-style linen weaving. On the contrary, Jews developed Białystok early on as a major export center for all kinds of goods from abroad to all of Russia, and later turned Białystok into a major hub of a significant textile industry, which played an important role in the global industrial economy up until the First World War – and in part, still does today.

Author's footnote:

1. The printed “premium plan” is found together with the Jewish Regulation in Białystok. It appears that it was compiled solely for the Białystok department. I do not have the Breslau edition at hand, so I cannot speak about this with certainty. Return

1. Contents in [ ] are from the translator. Return

Regarding Jewish education in the Prussian era, Holsche recounts:^[1]

“The Jews put the Christians to shame with their learning. There is no Jewish community that does not have an educational institution, and even the poorest Jew knows more about his religion than the lowest Christian classes know about Christianity.

The flaw in Jewish schools and educational institutions lies only–just as in Christian instruction– in the fact that children are engaged exclusively in religious study: the Bible, the Torah, and the Talmud, and not with morality [?]b and other useful sciences.

The Jews are enlightened enough to acknowledge this, and they strongly wish for the establishment of general schools where religion is not taught, but rather morality [?]^[b] and general useful sciences, so that they can allow their children to participate in such learning.

In doing so, they express the intelligent idea that their children should learn the religion of their parents through their own teachers.”

Author's footnote:

1. Holsche, ibid., p. 561 Return

1. Contents in [ ] are from the translator. Return
2. The [?] behind the Yiddish word “moral” [morality] is written by the author. Return

R' Aharon HaLevi Horowitz opened the first printing press in Białystok to publish large Hebrew and Yiddish books in the year 5564 (1804), during the period of Prussian rule, when the government had also established its own official press.

The following books are known to have been printed in his press:

• Khamesh Megillot – “The Five Scrolls” (with Yiddish translation);
• Lehat HaKherev – 5564 (1804) – “Flame of the Sword,” [a mystical or ethical work]
• Shaagat Aryeh, al Masekhet Makkot – 5565 (1805) – [“The Roar of the Lion,” commentary on Tractate Makkot]
• Sefer Khamesh Megillot, shelo nidpas kazeh me'olam… shehidpasnu oto bein kol shura v'shura ha-pirush me-ha-shura shenatativ b'lashon Ashkenaz – 5566 (1806) [“Book of the Five Scrolls, never before printed in this way… we printed it with commentary between every line, the explanation of each line given in the Ashkenazic tongue”]
• Igeret HaTzafah – ( 1806) – [“Letter of the Watchtower,” by haRav Rabbi Avraham Likhtenshteyn]
• Asfat Geonim (Khidushim u-She'elot u-Teshuvot Khemer) – [“Gathering of the Sages,” Novellae with Responsa Khemer^[b]]

• Haggadah shel Pesach, im perushim gedolim mi-shnei amudei ha-olam, he-hen Maharam Alsheikh u-Mahari Ba'al HaShulchan… ( in the year of 5566 - 1806) – [“Passover Haggadah with major commentaries from two pillars of the world: Our teacher, Rabbi Moshe Alsheikh and our teacher, Rabbi Yosef, author of the Shulkhan…”]
• Sha'arei Zimrah, Toldot Yaakov (5566 - 1806) – [“Gates of Song,” “The Generations of Jacob”]
• She'elot u-Teshuvot ha-Rav Bezalel mi-Orla (5566 1806) – [“Responsa of haRav Rabbi Bezalel of Orla”]

• Davar Shmuel
• Amud ha-Tavekh (5574/ 1814)
• Sefer Khazon, Mi Niftuach (5576/ 1816)
• Mayim Tehorim (5577 /1817)
• Agudat Ezov with the omissions (5584/ 1824)
• Misped Tamrurim, by our teacher, Rabbi Khenokh Zundel, son of Yosef (author of Anafim al Midrashim, a native of Bialystok), on the death of the woman Peshe, wife of Itshe Zabludovski, who died on Tuesday, the 28^th of MarKheshvan, 5592 [1831]

The censor in Bialystok was Mordekhay Zeyberling from Vilna. There was also a censor in Bialystok who was either the city's rabbi or Ra'avad [Head of the Rabbinical Court], Rabbi Elikum Getzel.

The printing house was closed when the Russian government shut down all Jewish presses, leaving only those in Vilna and Slavita [Slavuta].

The fact that as early as 1804 there existed a large and distinguished printing house, which produced important books, points to a high cultural level of the Jews of Bialystok during that period.^[1]

Author's footnote:

1. Regarding the printing in Bialystok, see: Ḥ.D. Fridberg, Toldot ha-defus ha-ivri be-Polnya [The History of Hebrew Printing in Poland], Antwerp, (5692 / 1932); Kiryat Sefer, volume 9, page 434 ] Return

1. Contents in [ ] are from the translator. Return
2. (אספת גאונים חדושים) ושו”ת חמר= The last word, “khemer” [clay], could be a proper name or an acronym. Return

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