What Life in the Jewish Shtetl Was Like | The Jewish Story | Unpacked

If you’ve ever watched Fiddler on the Roof or Yentl, you may already have an idea of what the shtetls—small Jewish market towns in pre-WWII central and Eastern Europe—were like.

From 1791 to 1917, Russian Jews were confined to shtetls in an area called the Pale of Settlement. Their communities suffered from antisemitic attacks, pogroms, and rampant poverty. Despite this, spirituality flourished in the shtetls and they became the birthplaces of both the Hasidic and Mussar movements as well as the Volozhin yeshiva, the model for the modern yeshiva."

After the failed first Russian Revolution of 1905, over 50,000 Jews were murdered in pogroms in only four years. Fearing their safety and looking for new opportunities away from the shtetls, around two and a half million Jews emigrated from Russia signaling the end of an era for Russian Jewry.

Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:32 The Pale of Settlement
01:14 Shtetl life and communal welfare
02:04 Hasidic Dynasties
02:28 Nicholas I and military conscription
03:34 Alexander I, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, and the modern yeshiva
04:13 The Mussar Movement and Talmud
04:36 Alexander III and waves of pogroms
05:22 The First Russian Revolution
05:49 Emigration from Russia to the US, Western Europe, and Palestine
06:17 Abolishment of the Pale of Settlement
06:59 Outro

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Co-Executive Producers:
- Melinda Goldrich
- Shmuel Katz

Gold Level:
- Goldrich Family Foundation
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Image and footage credits:
-Yad VaShem
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About The Jewish Story: Understand three thousand years of Jewish history in these short videos based on the book Letters to Auntie Fori: The 5,000-Year History of the Jewish People and Their Faith by the renowned historian Sir Martin Gilbert. Learn the Jewish story from the ancient Israelites of the Bible to Hellenization, the Jews of the Middle Ages to modern day, and more.

About Unpacked: We provide nuanced insights by unpacking all things Jewish. People are complex and complicated — yet we’re constantly being pushed to oversimplify our world. At Unpacked we know that being complex makes us more interesting. Because of this, we break the world down with nuance and insight to drive your curiosity and challenge your thinking.

#Paleofsettlement #RussianJews #Shtetl

[Donn]

I am continually amazed at your (Unpacked) ability to condense and make sense without sugar coating anything, a most complex period of history. It would be fascinating to hear people's reaction to viewing this video. For some, it is review of information they may have heard growing up or in school. Some are surely unaware of this period...but everyone's reaction will be varied as will be their takeaways. Another outstanding job!

[matthewbrotman]

The one upside of the conscription: anyone who completed the 25 years was exempt from the restriction to the Pale, they could live anywhere in the empire. The Jewish community of Helsinki was founded by these men.

[robertafierro]

You learn alot from these little videos! I just love them. They're quick and informative.

[NaProbablyNot]

Great video. Learning about my own family history.

[tzviweiss]

Amazing! Thanks!!! I love the shtetl period, so this video was amazing! And being a Jew this meant alot to me!!

[robertafierro]

I grew up in the 60's here in the USA. As a child I read books that focused on Fairy Tales..I was taught if you work hard and treat people well, you would be greatly rewarded. I was always intrigued by little forest villages called Shtetles. They looked to me, a child at the time, to be so pure, honest and loving..smiles everywhere..then I grew up. I realized how jealous and mean people really are. I noticed it in my family, first. I pointed it out and was thrown out into the street. 15 yrs old. The rest of my views were formed after that major rejection. I dedicated my life to finding and procuring love. I made myself attractive along with the attractive personality. I never found the love I was searching for. Only when I turned 60, did I realize that I needed to love myself. I still see selfish people all around me. There are more and more popping up around me. How I wish I had the love and respect of the people in a long ago Shtetles, hugs, love and kisses from wise older people who KNOW how the world really works.. gone are the tiny shtetles that were built with love, blood and tears..gone forever like the people who built them..

[insaanietihad-MSB]

Thank you for sharing this unpacked was much needed now....

[Markus_Blewish]

Todah Unpacked for bringing our history into light. May HaShem bless you.

[negationf]

Very fascinating. My own ancestors lived in the Pale of the Settlement. I think what in what is nowadays Volhynia.

[evaguzman]

Hashem Elohim blessed Our Jewish people!!!!🤗

[marshwoodvale]

Exactly my family's story. Caught in the pogroms in 1880-1904 and fled to USA UK, Israel (then Palestine).

[barrontrump]

The most beautiful thing about America is some communities that were forced out of their home and came to America and remained true to their way of life Hasidics, Amish, Swissers etc

[bogdanify]

Thanks so much for your content . But what was before the shtetle?

[cherylinchrist]

Shlomie, That's was nice. If you go back there I would: much like to see how a woman lives with her family. More insight into a woman's life with her duties and her family.

[MikeRuben]

Wow the Arabic word for sadikah is pronounced exactly the same and is a core pillar of Islam ☪️

[tinahirsch]

As I understand it, my Great Grandfather, Zechariah Joseph Rosenfeld, had to leave the Ukraine after switching boys being conscribed...so families with only one child vould keep their


child, while sending children from families with many children. Glad to learn a bit more about the conscription system.
Question.. As Zionism developed, were there historic efforts to limit/reform Anti-Semitic oppression in such countries, before a path of relocation was deemed necessary?

[janellek]

My mum's side of the family is Jewish, and her ancestors immigrated to the UK from the Pale of Settlement. Some of my great-great grandparents came from what's now Belarus and others from what's now eastern Poland. If conditions for Jews in imperial Russia were better than they were, then many Jews (including my ancestors) would have stayed put in Russia, Poland, Galicia and Romania and been wiped out by the Nazis a generation or two later.

[larryjones-emery]

Thank you. I never knew this information.

[JM-hfbl]

Anyone knows the name of the song starting at 4:00? Thanks

[jackhazardous]

It's interesting to finally hear about jewish history outside of a 20 year period in the 20th century.