Confessions of the Shtetl: Converts from Judaism in Imperial Russia, 1817–1906 by Ellie Schainkar

Abstract

Reviewed by: Confessions of the Shtetl: Converts from Judaism in Imperial Russia, 1817–1906 by Ellie Schainkar Glenn Dynner Confessions of the Shtetl: Converts from Judaism in Imperial Russia, 1817–1906 By Ellie Schainkar. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2017. 327 Pp. The popular image of the East European shtetl as an insular, authentic Jewish space is now frequently contested by historians, who tend to regard these heavily Jewish small market towns as scenes of inter-ethnic economic symbiosis and modest social interaction. While this multiconfessional dynamic usually occurred within heavily prescribed roles, boundary transgressions did occur and could result in conversion. In fact, as Ellie Schainker shows in her well-crafted study, conversions occurred a lot more often in the nineteenth-century imperial Russian shtetl than we might expect. These drastic acts were less a result of state pressure or missionary activity, she argues, than of positive dayto-day Jewish-Christian encounters. The Russian Jewish conversion phenomenon, which approached 85,000 by the end of that century, reveals the shtetl as more of an "interreligious zone" than a space of "imagined Jewish exclusivity and social insularity." The older, lachrymose reading of Jewish history tends to treat conversion as a product of state compulsion (military conscription, state-sponsored missionary schemes) and Jewish desperation (poverty, discrimination, anti-Jewish violence). While these could be factors, Schainkar allows, it is time to move beyond solely negative explanations. For one thing, nineteenth-century Russian state conversionist aspirations always existed in tension with the state's legally affirmed toleration of Judaism—officials were much more alarmed by Jewish Christianizing sects and Christian Judaizing sects that defied classification and regulation than by Judaism itself. This contradictory official desire for Jewish conversion alongside official toleration resulted in a relatively passive state missionary project that was, for the most part, kept alive by former Jews. In Russia, proselytizing was largely a "Jewish affair," Schainkar observes. If conversion did not usually emanate from above, it is better examined at the grassroots level. Schainkar presents numerous conversion cases preserved in Russian church and state archives, paying close attention to the "space in which Jews and Christians met and interconfessional relationships were nurtured," [End Page 133] that is, the Jewish-run tavern. Jewish-Christian interactions in Russian taverns were, at base, economic—Jews leased the taverns from nobles and primarily sold vodka to the peasants. Yet Schainkar's sources also suggest interconfessional socializing and occasional theological discussions in taverns, which led some Jews to have a change of heart. Conversion was thus more often an outgrowth of friendship and romance ("shtetl interfaith sociability") than hostile state compulsion. Nor were female conversions frequently a result of male Christian "abductions," as converts' family members often claimed. When abductions did occur they were, in fact, usually at the hands of Jewish families attempting to return converted children to the Jewish community. Images of those abductions, portrayed as fanatical Jewish responses to conversion, proliferated in the Russian press during the late nineteenth century. Schainkar's colorful archival journey represents the kind of work that is transforming historians' understanding of East European Jewry. She unearths myriad cases in a complex interreligious zone while helping us to see larger patterns and tendencies. However, a few areas seem to require further exploration. The profound impact of state-imposed initiatives like Jewish conscription and peasant emancipation on traditional societal constraints seems often missed here. In addition, the main sources selected for analysis—conversion narratives—tend to evince empathy for the converts, who claimed to be only following their hearts, but not for their families, who could be hurt in unseen ways (e.g., damaged marriage prospects for a convert's siblings and cousins). A related issue is the rather generous interpretations of these tendentious sources. Could not many conversion narratives in fact entail exaggerated or fabricated responses designed to please the church and state officials conducting the interviews? Jews who really converted as a result of impoverishment, indebtedness, greed, or careerism would not have been so forthcoming. Nevertheless, Schainkar's book offers fascinating details, new dimensions, and refreshing perspectives on daily Jewish life in imperial Russia. Her approach to the phenomenon of Jewish conversion humanizes individuals who are usually depicted...