Education and Culture (1881–1914)

Pinsk, situated on the border between Lithuania and western and southwestern Russia, witnessed the spread of the Hebrew Haskalah with the development of commerce in the city. The rabbis of Pinsk and Karlin, Rabbi Elazar Moshe Horowitz and Rabbi David Friedman, respectively, may have contributed to the spread of the Haskalah in Pinsk. This chapter focuses on education and culture in Pinsk, Belarus during the period 1881–1914. It first looks at the melamdim and hadarim in Karlin and Pinsk, the Talmud Torah as a communal educational institution in the two cities, and the Hadarim Metukanim. It then turns to an 1899 essay published by Yitzhak Epstein entitled “Ivrit Be-Ivrit” (“Hebrew in Hebrew”). The chapter also examines public schools and Russian Jewish schools, the education of girls, secondary education, and the creation of kindergartens in Pinsk during the period.