Topic summary
Shtetls
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Shtetl.
Culture
Shtetls provided a strong sense of community. The shtetl "at its heart, it was a community of faith built upon a deeply rooted religious culture". A Jewish education was most paramount in shtetls. Men and boys could spend up to 10 hours a day dedicated to studying at a yeshiva. Discouraged from Talmudic study, women would perform the necessary tasks of a household. In addition, shtetls offered communal institutions such as synagogues, ritual baths and ritual food processors.