Kiev, Jewish Metropolis: A History, 1859-1914 (The Modern Jewish Experience) [Paperback]

Natan M. Meir (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Modern Jewish Experience | Publication Date: June 30, 2010

Populated by urbane Jewish merchants and professionals as well as new arrivals from the shtetl, imperial Kiev was acclaimed for its opportunities for education, culture, employment, and entrepreneurship but cursed for the often pitiless persecution of its Jews. Kiev, Jewish Metropolis limns the history of Kiev Jewry from the official readmission of Jews to the city in 1859 to the outbreak of World War I. It explores the Jewish community's politics, its leadership struggles, socioeconomic and demographic shifts, religious and cultural sensibilities, and relations with the city's Christian population. Drawing on archival documents, the local press, memoirs, and belles lettres, Natan M. Meir shows Kiev's Jews at work, at leisure, in the synagogue, and engaged in the activities of myriad Jewish organizations and philanthropies.

(2011)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Populated by wealthy Jewish merchants and professionals as well as artisans, petty traders, and numerous other former shtetl dwellers barely able to make a living, Kiev was known for its opportunities for education, employment, and entrepreneurship, but notorious for frequent persecution of its Jews. Meir (Judaic studies, Portland State Univ.) documents and analyzes a complex history of Kiev Jewry. Part 1 explores the first decades of the mass Jewish migration to the city, while the second (major) part covers the crucial years 1881-1914, when Jewish Kiev was consolidated. The author explores the Jewish community's politics, leadership struggles, socioeconomic and demographic changes, religious and cultural sensibilities, and relations with the city's Christian population. Drawing on archival documents, the local press, and memoirs, Meir shows Kiev's Jews at work, at leisure, in the synagogue, and engaged in the activities of various Jewish organizations and philanthropies. The author attempted to and succeeded in doing two things: producing 'a history of late-imperial Kiev Jewry and an evaluation of the development of Jewish life in a Russian city under the last three tsars.' Summing Up: Recommended. All levels except two-year technical program students. -- ChoiceS. Kan, Dartmouth College, April 2011

(S. Kan, Dartmouth College 2011)

"The author attempted to and succeeded in doing two things: producing 'a history of late-imperial Kiev Jewry and an evaluation of the developent of Jewish life in a Russian city under the last three tsars'.... Recommended." —Choice, April 2011

(Choice 2011)

"Natan Meir's meticulous new history of Kiev Jewry in the modern period, is an assiduous work of conventional scholarship. Meir provides a thorough, lucid and ultimately heartrending account of the noble successes of Kiev's Jews in building a solid Jewish community." —Forward, May 25, 2011

(Forward )

"A multidimensional and panoramic picture of Jewish communal life in late Tsarist Kiev. The book is meticulously researched, eminently readable, and rich in detail." —Jeffrey Veidlinger, author of Jewish Public Culture in the Late Russian Empire

(Jeffrey Veidlinger author of Jewish Public Culture in the Late Russian Empire )

"Kiev, Jewish Metropolis is a welcome addition to our knowledge of an important city that, [Meir] correctly points out, has remained surprisingly underresearched." —Slavic Review, Vol. 70.3, Fall 2011

(Slavic Review )

"Without any doubt this is a very important first monograph on the history of Jews in Kiev, which reveals many new aspects of Jewish life in the city and in the Tsarist Empire and brings one of the largest Jewish communities in Russia into the scholarly orbit." —Shofar

(Shofar )

About the Author

Natan M. Meir is the Lorry I. Lokey Professor of Judaic Studies at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

(2011)

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (June 30, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253222079
• ISBN-13: 978-0253222077
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,145,911 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Natan M. Meir is the Lorry I. Lokey Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies at Portland State University. His research interest is modern Jewish history, focusing on the social and cultural history of East European Jewry in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. His first book, "Kiev, Jewish Metropolis: A History, 1859-1914," was published by Indiana University Press, and his articles have appeared in Jewish Quarterly Review and Slavic Review. Meir coedited a forthcoming edited volume entitled "Anti-Jewish Violence: Rethinking the Pogrom in East European History." Currently working on a study of vulnerable and marginalized groups among East European Jews in the nineteenth century, Meir is also a consultant for the Russian Jewish Museum of Moscow, currently in development stages. Prior to coming to PSU, Meir taught at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom, during which he spent a sabbatical year as a Yad Hanadiv postdoctoral fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Meir received his Ph.D. in Jewish history from Columbia University in 2003.

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully historical book, May 9, 2011

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brian scott (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Kiev, Jewish Metropolis: A History, 1859-1914 (The Modern Jewish Experience) (Paperback)

This is a great book for anyone interested in the specific history of the Jewish experience or anyone who enjoys learning the incredible ebb and flow of a peoples (both Jewish and other) options and actions.