Rebetsn Surka: the Role of the Tzaddik’s Wife

The article examines the reflection in oral stories and written hagiographic collections of the image of Sarah Abramovich (Rebetsn Surka) (1895(?)– 1979), the first wife of the Rybnitser rebbe, Chaim Zanvl Abramovich (1902(?)–1995). The image of the tzaddik's companion differs in the memories of people who knew her in everyday life from the idealized figure of a righteous woman from the collections of stories about her great husband. Particular attention is paid to the atypical functions of the rebbe’s assistant, the gabay, which the rebetsn Surka had to perform for Chaim Zanvl when she lived with him in the Soviet city of Rybnitsa in the years 1941–1973. Rebetsn Surka remained an intermediary, a mediator between the visitors and the tzaddik himself, even after her death, since the followers of her husband still come to her grave in Jerusalem to convey their request through her.

A Jewish Family in 19th Century Memoirs: New Russian Christians of Jewish Descent

In the article, I juxtapose the memoirs written at the turn of 20th century by new Russian Christians of Jewish descent, Alexander Alexeev (Wulf Nakhlas) and Arkadii Kovner. At the heart of these texts are memories of childhood, youth and family. Concentrated around personal experiences of the Jewish past, the memoirs differ significantly in their tone. Alexander Alexeev, a devoted Christian and missionary, tailors his plot as a straight road towards the Orthodox Christian faith and Russia. Arkadii Kovner, a formal Christian and strong atheist, is making a claim for the Russian Jewish community as well as for himself as a Jew. Differently tuned, both narratives create a vision of the Jewish families as a world filled with deep sentiment and love. The Jewish families are a true cradle for personal virtue and intellectual growth, even for a Christian or ultra-progressive freethinker.

“We Didn’t Oppress Anyone”: Peculiarities of Cross-Cultural Contacts in Mixed Families (Based on the Field Material from the Expeditions to Transnistria)

The article is devoted to the study of mixed marriages based on materials collected in expeditions to Transnistria in 2017–2019. Mixed families are common practice in the Soviet period they act as a source for transformation classical definition of Jewish identity, that in turn have an impact on the partner self-identification. The authors collected and analyzed 29 interviews with mixed married partners (Jews and non-Jews) and their children. Three zones of tension were identified (outwardly attitude towards marriage; name-giving; funeral traditions) and three strategies of conflict resolution (choosing a neutral and civil zone; compromise; integration of one partner into the culture of the other). The cross-cultural interaction zone was represented by holiday cycle that gave an opportunity to mix traditions (Passover / Easter, for example). The authors note that described synthesis of cultures leads to an identity drift and to a transformation of the concept of a “real Jew” where the knowledge of tradition or practical skills become more important than Halakhic principles.

Sebezh “Idol” Pestun: Family Values and Museum Mythology

The Sebezh History museum’s collection contains two stones that resemble anthropomorphic figures. Unfortunately, their origin is known only from the words of K.M. Gromov, the museum director in the 1953–1970s. According to K.M. Gromov, one stone was found in a swamp near the village of Tekhomichi, 6 km from Sebezh. The only testimony of the idol veneration is the note by peasant of this village E.E. Glushakov, dating back to 1906. It describes the veneration of the stone by the villagers as giving healing, in particular from infertility. Unfortunately, its source is not known. Having already become a museum piece, the statue acquired the name Sebezhsky idol and the name Pestun (Fosterer), grammatically male, despite the fact that, according to the remarks of the museum staff, it is a female figure. Museum staff since the 1960s–1970s support the idea that the idol heals infertility and gives children. In the 1990s–2000s rites with the idol acquire some new details and prescriptions. So, now we have not only a formed ritual of worshiping a museum exhibit, but also the structure of his cult and a program of ritual practices, persistently proposed by the museum staff.

Children’s and Family Games in the Memories of Jews in Latvia

This article analyzes children's and family games that were typical in Jewish families both before and after the Second World War. The article is based on field work with the Jews of Riga and Eastern Latvia (Latgale). In the 20th century in Latvia, as in the world more generally, the traditional Jewish way of life underwent changes that also affected children and their free time. The article describes traditional games preserved in Jewish families until the second half of the 20th century, as well as new types of leisure and game practices that have arisen as a result of the transformation of traditional Jewish life. Particular attention is paid to local features in Latvia.

Preserving and Adapting Non-Traditional Practices: Family Stories of the Healer’s Descendants

The publication presents the materials of field research conducted by the author in 2000 in the Yaroslavl region (town Poshekhonye). The author investigates the folk medicine treatment methods of representatives of several generations of the same family, whose members are descendants of a famous local healer of the 19th century. In the published texts, we are talking about a variety of practices used in everyday life by members of this family: psychological assistance (hypnosis, extrasensory methods); non-contact massage; accompanying practices (fortune-telling, collecting herbs for magical actions); magic rituals (transfer of “knowledge”, love spells, magic with water).

“On the Performance of a Rite of Marriage under Threat of Execution by a Gazzan...”: The Problem of Interethnic and Interfaith Marriages in the Karaite Communities of Crimea in the Late 19th – early 20th Centuries

The aim of the offered article is an analysis of legal and religious aspects of marriage-domestic relations, and demographic statistics in the Karaite’s communities of the Russian Empire in the end of the 19th and Early 20th century. In particular, in the article author has describes the activity of confessional self-government bodies and the organizational problems of the religious life of Karaite communities. This institution was the main authority for resolving issues related to the observance of the doctrines of the Karaite religion; spiritual government made judgments on the regulation of family and marriage relations in Karaite society, including the issue of interfaith and interethnic marriages.

The Family with Children at the Festive Table: an Original Iconography in Jewish Manuscripts of the 14th–15th Centuries

Philippe Ariès, one of the first researchers of the medieval family (1960), believed that childhood was not a separate cultural period and was not recognized as such by adults until the 16th–17th centuries. Since that time, there have been many studies devoted to medieval childhood, in which the ideas of Ariès were questioned, but they were all based on texts. Images were used only as illustrations. Therefore, no one questioned Ariès assertion that images of children in the family, except the scenes of the Holy Family, had not existed in the Middle Ages. In this article, I argue that the images of families with children appeared in the 14th century among the Ashkenazi, that is, the Jews of Germany and Northern France, and later – among the Sephardim, that is, the Jews of Spain, Portugal and Southern France. Although the appearance of these scenes can be explained by ritual reasons, but not solely them, and the study of such images can serve to further deepen our knowledge of the medieval family in general and the medieval Jewish family in particular.

Slepoy. The New Sulamith: The Song of Songs in the Commentaries of Raphael Breuer and Joseph Carlebach

The present paper analyses two commentaries on the Song of Songs, written by two representatives of the Jewish Neoorthodox movement in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century, Raphael Breuer (1881–1932) and Joseph Carlebach (1883–1942). Remaining on the positions of Orthodox Judaism, the authors, however, leaved the traditional interpretation of the Song of Songs as an allegory for the love between God and the People of Israel. But while Joseph Carlebach understands the Song of Songs as a hymn to traditional Jewish family values, Raphael Breuer interprets it rather as a warning of the pre- and extramarital sexual relations. Raphael Breuer’s provocative interpretation was strongly opposed even by numerous representatives of the Neo-orthodox Judaism. Due to this severe reaction, Breuer was forced to publish another commentary on Song of Songs, in which he committed himself to the traditional understanding of it as an allegory. In the present paper is shown to what extent the commentaries of Breuer and Carlebach can be understood as a reaction of the Jewish Orthodoxy to challenging the traditional Jewish family values by Reform Judaism and “Modern world”.