The Biblists, also known as the Bibleitzy and the Spiritual-Bible Brotherhood () were a sect of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

religious reformers in late 19th-century

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The group advocated for radical reform of Jewish economic life, a rejection of the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

and other post-Biblical authorities, and the abolition of ritual observances in

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

History

The sect emerged around 1880 among the

working classes of

Yelisavetgrad Kropyvnytskyi ( uk, Кропивницький, Kropyvnytskyi ) is a city in central Ukraine on the Inhul river with a population of . It is an administrative center of the Kirovohrad Oblast. Over its history, Kropyvnytskyi has changed its name ...

, South Russia, under the leadership of

Jacob Gordin Jacob Michailovitch Gordin (Yiddish: יעקב מיכאַילאָװיטש גאָרדין; May 1, 1853 – June 11, 1909) was a Russian-born American playwright active in the early years of Yiddish theater. He is known for introducing realism and ...

, in response to a wave of

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...

s in the area. The founders of the Brotherhood believed that

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

was rooted in the historical role of the Jews in Poland and Ukraine and supported by their religious separateness. Influenced by both

Narodnik The Narodniks (russian: народники, ) were a politically conscious movement of the Russian intelligentsia in the 1860s and 1870s, some of whom became involved in revolutionary agitation against tsarism. Their ideology, known as Narodism, ...

and

Stundist The Shtundists (russian: Штундисты, ''Shtundisty''; uk, Штундисти, ''Shtundysty''; British: Stundists) are the predecessors of several Evangelical Protestant groups in Ukraine and across the former Soviet Union. History The move ...

ideals, Gordin and his adherents maintained that a resolution of the

Jewish question The Jewish question, also referred to as the Jewish problem, was a wide-ranging debate in 19th- and 20th-century European society that pertained to the appropriate status and treatment of Jews. The debate, which was similar to other "national ...

will be possible only when the Jews not only give up their religious exclusivity and national identity, but also their former occupations and engage exclusively in 'productive' work. To this end, the Biblists did way with

dogmatic Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Isla ...

theology and all fast days,

holidays A holiday is a day set aside by Norm (social), custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate ...

, and religious ceremonies, including ''

brit milah The ''brit milah'' ( he, בְּרִית מִילָה ''bərīṯ mīlā'', ; Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazi pronunciation: , "Covenant (religion), covenant of circumcision"; Yiddish pronunciation: ''bris'' ) is Religion and circumcision, the cerem ...

s'',

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

, and even

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

. Only the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. The group's activities aroused consternation in the local Jewish press and community; on 16 June 1884, a group of Jews, including parents of the young people who had been attracted to the sect, attacked the Bratstvo meeting place. Particular outrage was caused by inflammatory letters published by Gordin outlining the dissident group's views: After a long effort, Gordin succeeded in having the sect officially legalized on 12 January 1885; he was permitted to establish a

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

or a prayer school, and to elect his own

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

. (Other points of his petition, such as permission for the brotherhood to acquire land, and to establish Jewish agricultural communities, were not granted.) At this time, the Bratstvo numbered about fifty adherents in Yelisavetgrad, and a few smaller groups in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

, Nikolayev,

Uman Uman ( uk, Умань, ; pl, Humań; yi, אומאַן) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the historical region of the eastern Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River ...

, and elsewhere. On 8 December 1888 the Ministry of Justice agreed to the Brotherhood's request to establish its own

birth registry Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...

, separate from other Yelisavetgrad Jews. Nonetheless, the local government soon began to look upon the group with disfavour, and Gordin fled the country in July 1891. The police finally disbanded the Bratstvo on 30 September 1891.

References

{{authority control 1880s establishments in the Russian Empire 1890s disestablishments in the Russian Empire Defunct Jewish organizations Jewish agricultural colonies in the Russian Empire Jewish movements Rural community development Karaite Judaism 1880s in Judaism

History

See also

References