The Shochet (Vol. 2): A Memoir of Jewish Life in Ukraine and Crimea

This unique memoir of a kosher slaughterer offers a rare glimpse into Jewish life in Ukraine and Crimea from the mid-1800s to WWI, seen through the eyes of a community functionary. It reflects on Tsarist rule, antisemitism, minority life, and the enduring struggles of Jews in the region.

“You have to read this book… It’s not like anything you read before.” — Tablet Magazine

“A fitting conclusion to a well-researched and meticulously edited memoir translation.” — Kirkus Reviews

“The second volume of Goldenshteyn’s memoir continues to captivate, brimming with the same dazzling color and detail that defined the first. The author’s fluid writing style, combined with his knack for capturing nuance and subtlety, makes this volume difficult to put down…. Particularly worthy of celebration is the exceptional work of translator and presenter Michoel Rotenfeld…. This is yeoman’s work of the highest order and sets a gold standard for future presentations of memoir literature.” — Rabbi Moshe Maimon, SeforimChatter

“Goldenshteyn, a traditional Jew who was orphaned as a young boy and became a shochet (kosher slaughterer) as a young man, is a master storyteller. His accounts are vivid and readable, sometimes stunning in their intensity. In chronicling his own life, Goldenshteyn inadvertently tells a bigger story—the story of how a small, oppressed people, among other minority groups, struggled for survival in the massive Russian Empire and in the Land of Israel. With great self-sacrifice and acumen, he overcomes tremendous adversity time after time by following his belief that justice will prevail if one acts with integrity. The translator, Michoel Rotenfeld, spent decades on the research and translation, traveling to Ukraine, Crimea, and Israel to explore archives and interview the last remaining individuals who knew Goldenshteyn. The results are self-evident: the footnotes are concise and illuminating, providing the reader with a thorough understanding of what Jewish life was like in his era.” -- Jewish Link

“Rabbi Goldenshteyn wrote his life story as a guide to his children. But in this fascinating work, he leaves us with a unique record of what life was like in Eastern Europe and Israel for all of us, and it’s not a pretty story by any stretch of the imagination. Goldenshteyn endured trials and travails sufficient for 50 people. Yet, in this work, we see him not just as a scholar but as a man of deep faith. Like Volume 1, Volume 2 is an exceptionally interesting first-hand account of life in Eastern Europe and Israel. Rotenfeld has done a remarkable translation and research to bring this most important volume to print.” — Ben Rothke, The Times of Israel

“Writ­ing about his life, which was shaped by death, pover­ty, finan­cial dif­fi­cul­ties, and strug­gles against cor­rup­tion, Gold­en­shteyn does not present read­ers with easy top­ics. Yet his vivid, read­able prose is full of resilience, nuance, and humor. It invites us into the world of a crit­i­cal thinker, a pious Jew, and a thought­ful observ­er of Jew­ish life.” — Katha­ri­na Hadas­sah Wendl, Jewish Book Council

“A fitting conclusion to a well-researched and meticulously edited memoir translation.” — Kirkus Reviews

“You have to read this book… It’s not like anything you read before.” — Tablet Magazine

Set in Ukraine, Crimea, and Israel, this unique two-volume autobiography offers a fascinating, detailed picture of life in Tsarist Russia and Israel during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Goldenshteyn (1848-1930), a traditional Jew who was orphaned as a young boy and became a shochet (kosher slaughterer) as a young man, is a master storyteller. Folksy, funny, streetwise, and self-confident, he is a keen observer of his surroundings. His accounts are vivid and readable, sometimes stunning in their intensity. 

The memoir is brimming with information. Goldenshteyn’s adventures shed light on communal life, persecution, family relationships, religious practices and beliefs, social classes, local politics, interactions between Jews and other religious communities, epidemics, poverty, competition for resources, migration, war, technology, modernity and secularization. In chronicling his own life, Goldenshteyn inadvertently tells a bigger story—the story of how a small, oppressed people, among other minority groups, struggled for survival in the massive Russian Empire and in the Land of Israel.

Volume two begins in 1873, when Goldenshteyn obtains his first position as a shochet in Slobodze, and it follows him to the Crimea, where he endures 34 years  of vicissitudes. In 1913, he fulfills a dream of immigrating to the Land of Israel, hoping to find tranquility in his old age. Instead, he is met with the turbulence of the First World War, as battles rage between the retreating Ottoman Turks and the advancing British forces.

 

Informed by research in Ukrainian, Israeli and American archives and personal interviews with the few surviving individuals who knew Goldenshteyn personally, The Shochet is a magnificent new contribution to Jewish and Eastern European history.

• | Author: Pinkhes-Dov Goldenshteyn, Michoel Rotenfeld
• | Publisher: Academic Studies Press
• | Publication Date: Feb 13, 2025
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9798887196138
• | ISBN-10: 888719613Y