Czarist Russia

In the Beilis trial of 1913 false accusations of ritual murder were leveled against the entire corpus of Torah teaching, the Jewish people generally, and the chassidic movement specifically. Ultimately, Beilis's acquittal was a bittersweet victory; the ce...

The guard was stupefied: few were the cabinet-level ministers granted such a privilege, and here stood a young chassid with a beard, sidelocks, chassidic garb and a Yiddish accent, at a time when to even reside in Petersburg was forbidden to Jews . . .

Reb Shmuel reputedly said to the Rebbe: “If you are a true Rebbe, you have nothing to fear by being arrested. If you are not, you deserve whatever they will do to you”

The Parable On the Shabbat just before the Jewish month of Elul 5557 See marei mekomot to the source below. (August 22, 1797), Rabbi Schneur Zalman told a parable of a king in the field—what we would call today “the countryside.” The parable rings a littl...

From Tsarist times through Communism to the modern era, Russia’s Jews have seen it all and not only survived but thrived.

The Cantonist Decree, reformation of Jewish education & pogroms.

The Pale of Settlement and life in the shtetl.

What do you know about the Chabad Movement?

Like every eligible male in Czarist Russia, Peretz Chein eventually received a letter stating that he was required to show up at a conscription office.

Besides his day job, he had another duty, one that he carried out secretly and with great devotion . . .