""A fitting conclusion to a well-researched and meticulously edited memoir translation.""- Kirkus Reviews
""You have to read this book... It's not like anything you read before."" -Tablet Magazine
Set in Ukraine,Crimea, and Israel, this unique two-volume autobiography offers a fascinating,detailed picture of life in Tsarist Russia and Israel during the late 19th andearly 20th centuries. Goldenshteyn (1848-1930), a traditional Jew who wasorphaned as a young boy and became a shochet (kosher slaughterer) as ayoung man, is a master storyteller.
Folksy, funny, streetwise, andself-confident, heis a keen observer of his surroundings. His accounts are vivid and readable, sometimes stunning in theirintensity.
The memoir is brimmingwith information. Goldenshteyn's adventures shed light on communal life,persecution, family relationships, religious practices and beliefs, socialclasses, local politics, interactions between Jews and other religiouscommunities, epidemics, poverty, competition for resources, migration, war,technology, modernity and secularization. In chronicling his own life,Goldenshteyn inadvertently tells a bigger story-the story of how a small,oppressed people, among other minority groups, struggled for survival in themassive Russian Empire and in the Land of Israel.
Volume two begins in1873, when Goldenshteyn obtains his first position as a shochet in Slobodze, and it follows him to the Crimea, where heendures 34 years of vicissitudes. In1913, he fulfills a dream of immigrating to the Land of Israel, hoping to findtranquility in his old age. Instead, he is met with the turbulence of the FirstWorld War, as battles rage between the retreating Ottoman Turks and theadvancing British forces.
Informed by research inUkrainian, Israeli and American archives and personal interviews with the fewsurviving individuals who knew Goldenshteyn personally, The Shochet is a magnificent new contribution to Jewish and EasternEuropean history.
By:
Pinkhes-Dov Goldenshteyn
Translated by:
Michoel Rotenfeld
Imprint: Academic Studies Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 233mm,
Width: 155mm,
Spine: 28mm
Weight: 916g
ISBN: 9798887196121
Pages: 500
Publication Date: 07 May 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
General/trade
,
Undergraduate
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Volume Two Part III: My Forty Years as a Shoykhet, and Moving to Palestine, 1873–1929 Chapter 22: As the Shoykhet of Slobodze, 1873–1875 Chapter 23: The Nobleman’s Attack and Moving to the Crimea, 1876–1880 Chapter 24: Corruption in Bakhchisaray and Ungrateful Relatives, 1880–1889 Chapter 25: The Threat of Banishment from Tsarist Russia, 1881–1884 Chapter 26: Persecution in Bakhchisaray, 1884–1889 Chapter 27: Raising My Children and My Wife’s Death, 1884–1897 Chapter 28: Remarrying and My Children’s Departure from Russia, 1896–1910 Chapter 29: Preparing to Leave for Palestine, 1910–1914 Part III—Addendum: My Life in Palestine, 1913–1928 Chapter 30: The World War and the Death of My Second Wife, 1913–1916 Chapter 31: Marrying Off My Niece and Writing a Torah Scroll, 1916–1917 Chapter 32: Exile to Kfar-Saba, 1917–1918 Chapter 33: Suffering in Exile and Returning to Petakh-Tikva, 1918 Chapter 34: Completing the Torah Scroll, the Arab Attack, and My Children Join Me in Palestine, 1919–1929 Appendices: Appendix A: The Author and His Relatives A1. The Author’s Final Years in Petakh-Tikva His Houses, His Properties, and the Local Synagogues Memories From Those Who Knew Him His Demise His Chabad Legacy A2. The Author’s Children His son Isruel (aka Israel Goldenshtein in France, 1873–1946) His Daughter Nekhame Brakhtman (Noami ""Nadya"" Brockman, 1877–1955) His Son Itskhok–Yosef ""Yosl"" (Joseph Edward ""Joe"" Goldeen, 1880–1954) His Son Yankev :Yankl: (aka Jacon ""James"" Goldeen, 1882–1948) His Son Shloyme Goldenshteyn (Shlomo, 1889–1962) A3. His Nephew Itsl (Isaac Goldenshtein, 1862–1907) A4. His Second Wife Feyge (ca. 1854–1916) A5. Bashe's Tsores — The Story of the Author's Third Wife A6. Salomon (Shlomo) Bernstein, Relative and Portraitist of the Author A7. The Printing of the Autobiography Appendix B: Translations of Documents Written by the Author B1. Hebrew Engagement Contract for His Daughter Nekhame (1897) B2. Hebrew Ethical Will (1920) B3. Family Letters January 23, 1914 Postcard from the Author's Son Isruel June 1926 Letter from the Author July 3, 1926 Letter from the Author October 10, 1926 Letter from the Author January 27, 1927 Yiddish Letter from the Author March 14, 1929 Letter from the Author April 1929 Letter from the Author November 21, 1929 Yiddish Letter from the Author July 15, 1930 Letter from the Author October 30, 1930 Letter from the Author August 28, 1939 Letter from the Author's Son Isruel in France Appendix C: Translations of Additional Documents C1. Hebrew Letter from Rabbi Medini (Sdei Khemed) Regarding the Author (1879) C2. Episodes Related by the Author about Rabbi Medini (Sdei Khemed) C3. Two Certificates in Sh’khita Obtained by the Author’s Son Refúel (1904 and 1906) Appendix D: Genealogical Charts D1. The Author’s Ancestors and Siblings D2. The Extended Family of Ershl Teplitsky, the Author’s Brother-in-Law D3. The Author’s Children and Grandchildren D4. The Extended Hershkovitsh Family, the Family of the Author’s Wife Freyde Bibliography Introduction to the Glossaries and the Romanization/Transliteration Schemes Glossary 1: Words and Phrases Glossary 2: Jewish Personal Names Glossary 3: Geographic Places in Eastern Europe Index
Michoel Rotenfeldis a historical researcher who has long been fascinated by Jewish memory in its myriad forms, especially the genre of Jewish autobiography. He is the director of Touro University Library'sProject Zikaron, a permanent collection of previously uncollated and undigitized historical material from Jewish communities across the world. He also coordinated the digitization of David Tidhar's nintn-volumeEncyclopedia of the Founders and Builders of Israel(www.tidhar.tourolib.org), which has received over two million page views.
Reviews for The Shochet (Vol. 2): A Memoir of Jewish Life in Ukraine and Crimea
“Rabbi Goldenshteyn wrote his life story as a guide to his children. But in this fascinating work, he leaves us with a unique record of what life was like in Eastern Europe and Israel for all of us, and it’s not a pretty story by any stretch of the imagination. Goldenshteyn endured trials and travails sufficient for 50 people. Yet, in this work, we see him not just as a scholar but as a man of deep faith. Like Volume 1, Volume 2 is an exceptionally interesting first-hand account of life in Eastern Europe and Israel. Rotenfeld has done a remarkable translation and research to bring this most important volume to print.” —Ben Rothke, The Times of Israel “Writing about his life, which was shaped by death, poverty, financial difficulties, and struggles against corruption, Goldenshteyn does not present readers with easy topics. Yet his vivid, readable prose is full of resilience, nuance, and humor. It invites us into the world of a critical thinker, a pious Jew, and a thoughtful observer of Jewish life.” —Katharina Hadassah Wendl, Jewish Book Council
