The Jews of Crimea
From Their Beginnings Until the Holocaust

Translation of
Yahadut Krim me-kadmuta ve-ad ha-shoa

Edited by Yehezkel Keren

Published by Reuben Mass, Jerusalem, 1981



Acknowledgments

Project Coordinator

Steven Weiss z”l


This is a translation from: Yahadut Krim me-kadmuta ve-ad ha-shoa
(The Jews of Crimea from their beginnings until the Holocaust),
Ed. Yehezkel Keren. Jerusalem: Reuben Mass, 1981, 337 pages, H

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TOC translated by Mira Eckhaus

    Page
1 Theodosia (Kaffa) = My homeland 9
2 Hellenistic Jewish communities 11
3 In the days of the Khazar kingdom and its rule in the Crimea 16
4 The Tatar conquest and the Genoese settlement 21
5 Reb Avraham Karimi and his article “Sfat Emet”. The literary archiving in Krasovzar 22
6 Formation of the Krymchak group 24
7 The takeover of the Turks and the kingdoms of the Tatar khans under their protection. The greatness of Kaffa community. Reb Moshe the exile and the cycle of the Kaffa practice 26
8 Jews sponsored by Yarlik owners. Agriculture and mutual aid in the community 32
9 Reb David Lechano and his books 36
10 Krymchaks in everyday life 36
11 The common surnames among Krymchaks and Karaites 36
12 Reb Chaim Hezekiah Medini of Jerusalem, the sage of the Krymchaks 44
13 Typical elements in the Krymchak religious tradition 46
14 The conquest of the Crimean Peninsula and its annexation to Russia (1783). The discovery of the oldest synagogue in Kaffa 48
15 Kaffa in 1799 53
16 Karaites and pilgrims to Jerusalem 53
17 After the Crimean War - the Jews take root, the communities develop, immigration from within Russia 56
18 Manifestations of anti-Semitism 58
19 In the seventies of the last century 61
20 Sevastopol community from its beginning 66
21 In the 1980s, the storms in the Negev and the increase in immigration to the Crimea 68
22 In the last decade of the last century - the establishment of the port in Theodosia and its influence on Jewish activity 77
23 Hovevei Zion, come to settle in the Land of Israel, organized Zionism 91
24 In the twentieth century: the growth of the revolution and disturbances, the war, the reaction and the fall of tsarism 101
25 With the fall of tsarism, Crimea became a hotbed of fruitful mass activity. Here, the ideas of the Labor Battalion and the Palmach sprouted 174
26 The Zionist Council in Balaclava (1919) - by Aryeh Knev 186
27 In the grip of the civil war in Ukraine. Immigrate to Israel by circuitous means. The Crimean immigration 188
28 The Zionist Center in Simferopol - by Zeev Zagorodsky 192
29 Relations with the world Zionist movement and with the Land of Israel. “Messianic Movement” 197
30 In the Crimean communities - between the times and with the establishment of the Soviet government 199
    Theodosia: “Onzar and Yankel”, memoirs by M. Peles, Z. Ginzburg, G. Berman; The community according to the diary of the Rabbi Mata'am of behalf of the community. HaShomer HaTzair.  
    Simferopol: Maccabi, HaTzofim and HaShomer HaTzair, memories
S. Epstein, Reb Ilnea.		  
    Kartesh: Memoirs of G. Rozhansky.  
    Yalta: Memories of Al. Lemberg.  
31 The silent conversos 261
32 In productivity circles; War in religion; And again, the hatred of Israel. The Crimea plot 263
33 The chick puts on his feathers and blossoms from his nest (personal chapters). My homeland – by Andrei Sedich (Zweibek) 271
34 The destruction 295
35 Index 325

 

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