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Chapter 9 Integration and Its Discontents: Mikhail Morgulis and the Ideology of Jewish Integration in Russia Mikhail Morgulis (1837-1912), a Jewish civic leader, journalist, and lawyer in Odessa, came of age in the 1860s, but lived until 19121 -into the period dominated by Jewish nationalism. Holding firm to a faith in Jewish integration, in the last two decades of his life Morgulis shared the fate of many 1860s Jewish intellectuals, such as Emmanuel Levin, Avram Harkavy, and Mikhail Kulisher , who as progressives in an earlier era now found themselves treated as backward conservatives in a new environment. Because his evolution took him from the ideological limelight to the periphery, Morgulis's life and works can tell us a great deal about changes in the composition of the RussianJewish in telligentsia, its social conditions, and intellectual trends. Morgulis's orientation toward integration coincides with his generation's striving for a synthesis of Jewish and Russian cultures. Nevertheless, as opposed to radical Russifiers, who either predicted the end of Judaism or limited its role to that of a religion, Morgulis believed Russia's Jews had a right to independent political, cultural, and religious institutions. Because of his commitment to the self-determination of Russia's Jews, Morgulis can actually be seen as a kind of p roto-nationalist. Despite the fact that in 1902 such nationalist militants as Simon Dubnov and Ahad Ha'am condemned him, there is an undeniable genetic connection between civic activism as Morgulis practiced it and the grass-roots struggle of self-help as later nationalists understood it2 1 I would like to thank Antony Polonsky, Marc Raeff, and Michael Beizer for their suggestions. Responsibility for any errors of fact or judgment is my own. 2 There has not been much research on this very impressive civic activist. See principally Shaw, "Odessa Jewish Comm unity"; M. L. Polishchuk, Ev rei Odessy i Novorassii: Sotsial'no-politicheskaia istoriia evreev Odessy i drugikh gorodov v Novorassii. 1881- 1904 Oerusalem: Gesharim; Moscow: Mosty kul'tury, 2002); Eli Lederhendler, The Road to Modern Jewish Politics: Political Tradition and Political Reconstruction in the Jewish Community of Tsarist Russia (New York: Oxford University Press, 1989). In these books, Morgulis figures as a social activist and leader who helps create modem philanthropic and educational institutions and as an innovative organizer of Jewish politics in the decades before 1905. 154 EMPIRE JEWS Morgulis's name is inextricably linked to Odessa, and in many ways he reflects that city's vibrant personality. Odessa was ahead of other cities in offering the Russian-Jewish intelligentsia a leading role in providing creative solutions to social problems. By the late 1860s, intellectuals rather than notables were running the Odessa branch of the Society for the Promotion of Enlightenment among the Jews of Russia (OPE) 3 At the same time these intellectuals served as advisers to the government on issues related to Jews. The power of the intelligentsia was demonstrated by the dominance of this group in Odessa's Jewish parliament, known as "The Hundred Representatives," which was established in Odessa to regulate Jewish life in the city in the early 1860s.4 The goals of democratic-leaning intellectuals, such as Morgulis, reflect populist inclinations and trust in social modernization and secularization. For example, intellectuals in Odessa, such as Leon Pinsker, Emmanuel Soloveichik , Ilya Orshansky, and Morgulis, sought to replace traditional heders by creating modem schools for Jews, to transform traditional hevrot into democratically -run institutions of social welfare, and to educate modem rabbis to serve as community leaders. Because Morgulis discounted radical solutions and devoted himself to gradual amelioration, there was some controversy about his legacy at the end of his life. Certainly Jewish liberals gave him a huge tribute. In 1912, the chair of the St. Petersburg Society for the Promotion of Enlightenment, Jacob Hal'pern, listed Morgulis's achievements: As a civic activist, Mikhail Grigor'ev [Morgulis] harmonized his deeds with his word. Without a moment's rest, he struggled to organize the public at large, train artisans, while spreading enlightenment and developing Jewish knowledge. In Odessa, the site of his constant activity, there was almost no Jewish institution which did not owe him a debt either for its birth or energetic support. Many of those institutions [which were] created in Odessa had a large influence by serving as examples for other Jewish communitiess 3 For information about the Odessa branch of the OPE, see E. Cherikover, Istoriin Obshchesroa dlia Rasprostrnncniia Prosveshcheniia mezhdu Evreiami v Rossii; see...

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