Mountain Jewish Community of Kabardino-Balkaria from 1944 to 1965
https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-7-505-521
Abstract
This article addresses the issue of state-religious relations through the lens of the registered religious community of Mountain Jews in the city of Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. The selected period from 1944 to 1965 encompasses the operations of the Council for Religious Affairs and its regional representation. The aim of this study is to identify state policies regarding the Mountain Jewish believers based on archival documents and thematic analysis. The research reveals that from the early 1950s, bureaucratic pressure on the religious community intensified within a multi-tiered system of control. Protocols, cash receipts, and reports obtained from the Mountain Jewish community served as an informational basis for the regional representative of the Council for Religious Affairs when preparing documents for the central authority. The closure of the synagogue, restrictions on cooperation in preparing believers for holidays, and various bureaucratic maneuvers did not yield the desired results for the authorities. Despite the official closure of the synagogue in 1951, religious holidays resonated widely among believers beyond the registered group and official mandates. In the context of financial flows and material concerns, Mountain Jewish believers found ways to circumvent the constraints imposed by the state.
Keywords
Mountain Jewish community,
KabardinoBalkaria,
synagogue,
Council for Religious Affairs,
religious holidays,
scientific atheism
Supporting agencies: The study is supported by Russian Science Foundation, project number 23-28-00106 “Cultural area of the mountain Jews of the Western Caucasus: history, identities, communal structures”, implemented by the Southern Federal University
About the Author
A. A. Tatarov
Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H. M. Berbekov
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Azamat A. Tatarov - PhD of History, Associate Professor, Department of General History
Nalchik
References
1. Altshuler, M. (2012). Religion and Jewish Identity in the Soviet Union, 1941—1964. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press. 324 p. ISBN 9781611682731.
2. Charny, S. A. (2008). State policy towards Jewish religious communities during the “thaw”: 1953—1964. PhD Diss. Moscow. 215 p. (In Russ.).
3. Charny, S. (2003). Bloody slander in the USSR. In: Tyrosh. Works on Judaism, Slavistics, Orientalism, 6. Moscow: Sefer. 207—217. (In Russ.).
4. Danilova, S. A. (1997). Mountain Jews in Kabardino-Balkaria. Nalchik: Elbrus. 168 p. ISBN 5-7680-1242-7. (In Russ.).
5. Dymshits, V. (2018). Soviet modernization. In: The history and culture of the mountain Jews. Moscow: World Congress of Mountain Jews. 160—207. ISBN 978-5-7164-0767-1. (In Russ.).
6. Gerasimova, V. A. (2019). Jewish communities of Western Siberia and the commissioners of the Council for Religious Cults (1944—1953): control and communication. In: Confessional policy of the Soviet state in the 1920s—1950s: proceedings of the XI International Scientific Conference. Veliky Novgorod, October 11—13, 2018. Moscow: ROSSPAN. 212—220. ISBN 978-5-8243-2337-5. (In Russ.).
7. Karpekin, K. G. (2022). History of Jewish communities of the Belarusian SSR in the 1950s — the first half of the 1960s through the prism of documents of funds of authorized councils for religious cults. Belarusian Historical Review, 2 (7): 41—59. (In Russ.).
8. Karpekin, K. G. (2017). Jewish communities of the Belarusian SSR in the first years after the Great Patriotic War. In: Works on Jewish history and culture: Materials of the XXIII International Annual Conference on Judaism. Moscow: Blank Space-2000. 159—176. ISBN 978-5-7576-0367-4. (In Russ.).
9. Koroleva, L. A., Molkin, A. N. (2015). The Jewish opposition in the USSR. 1950—1970-ies. Modern problems of science and education, 1—1. Available at: https://science-education.ru/ru/article/view?id=18743 (accessed 22.05.2024). (In Russ.).
10. Members, M. A. (2000). Between the Scylla of de-judalization and the Charybdis of Zionism: Mountain Jews in the XX century. Diasporas, 3: 174—197. (In Russ.).
11. Mikdash-Shamailova, L. (2018). Religious holidays of mountain Jews. In: The history and culture of the mountain Jews. Moscow: World Congress of Mountain Jews. 405— 415. ISBN 978-5-7164-0767-1. (In Russ.).
12. Mountain Jews: History, ethnography, culture. (1999). Moscow: Znanie. 462 p. ISBN 5-86993-003-0. (In Russ.).
13. Murzakhanov, Yu. I. (1994). Modern family among the mountain Jews of Kabardino-Balkaria. Moscow: Choro. 101 p. ISBN 5-8497-0013-7. (In Russ.).
14. Perelgut, V. M. (2001). Mountain Jews — from the past to the present (on the example of Kabardino-Balkaria). Eurasian Necklace, 2: 64—74. ISBN 5-85859-129-9. (In Russ.).
15. Senj, D. V. (2023). Gorsko-Jewish colony of Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Region in the second half of the 1920s — early 1930s. In: The North Caucasian city as a space of socio-economic development and intercultural dialogue (to the 300th anniversary of the year of Nalchik): materials of the International Scientific and Practical Conference (Nalchik, September 28—30, 2023): in 2 parts, 1. Nalchik: KabardinoBalkarian State University. 57—68. ISBN 978-5-7558-0676-3. (In Russ.).
16. Snopov, Yu. A. (2021). Attendance of Moscow synagogues in 1945—1950 according to the data of the Commissioner for Religious cults in Moscow and the Moscow region. In: Tirosh. Works on Judaism, Slavistics, Orientalism, 21. Moscow: Sefer. 170—195. ISBN 978-5-7576-0460-2. (In Russ.).
Review
For citations:
Tatarov A.A. Mountain Jewish Community of Kabardino-Balkaria from 1944 to 1965. Nauchnyi dialog. 2024;13(7):505-521. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-7-505-521
Views:
127
Email this article 