Zamieszkanie, instytucje oraz nauka Hebrajczyków jako mające wpływ na judaizm czynniki, opisane w obowiązującej w Cesarstwie Rosyjskim w „ustawie o Żydach” z 13/25 kwietnia 1835 roku

Abstract

In the mid-1930s, Tzar Nicholas I ordered the review of the legislation referring to the Russian Orthodox community. Pragmatic considerations were thought to be the basis for this work, and its main purpose was to point out to the need to develop a legal framework that would give the Hebrews new opportunities of being able to "decently" live of their own work. Another idea was to allow gradual broadening of the content of education for the Orthodox youth. Consequently, on April 13/25, 1835, after the ukase of Tzar Nicholas I, a new General Law on the Orthodox community was introduced in the Russian Empire. This way, above all, the geographic sphere of their permanent residence was redefined. The very question of organization of Hebrew institutions correlated substantially with the provisions of Chapter Four of the Law, which deals with "rural and urban clusters, or Jewish communities." The fifth chapter of this law discussed the Hebrew "faith and rites", whereas the sixth part of the April Act of 1835 addressed the issue of "teaching the Jews." As one can one notice in the content of the law being analyzed, both: a) the description of the community and the kehilla, including the analysis of the function of the religious assembly and the rabbinate, b) as well as the detailed legal description of the educational issue, allow one to suggest the rather positive intentions of the tzar, regarding precisely these aspects of the life of local Jewish communities. A different conclusion must, however, come from the assessment of the tsarist policy of the 1930s, related to the restriction of settlement possibilities for the Orthodox community in the Russian Empire.