Kindling Enlightenment: A Social History of the Jewish Candle Tax in Russia

This article offers an alternative social history of the candle tax, generally viewed as part of the failed experiment of state-run Jewish schools in the Russian Empire. Building on scholarship that suggests the schools actually had some influence and the Jewish minority in Russia actively engaged with the government in negotiating their own transformation, this article follows the diversion of candle tax funds into private schools for Jewish girls and Jewish religion courses in Russian state schools. I argue that, just as the framers of the original legislation could not have foreseen its secondary uses, so, too, the educators who repurposed the candle tax monies could not have imagined the enduring consequences.

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Work Title Kindling Enlightenment: A Social History of the Jewish Candle Tax in Russia
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Open Access
Creators
  1. Eliyana R. Adler
Keyword
  1. Enlightenment
  2. Russian Jewry
  3. Education
  4. Girls
  5. Taxation
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Jewish Social Studies: History, Culture, Society
Publication Date October 11, 2021
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.2979/jewisocistud.26.3.03
Deposited December 13, 2023

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Version 1
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  • Created
  • Updated
  • Added Creator Eliyana R. Adler
  • Added Kindling Enlightenment-JSS.pdf
  • Updated Publication Date, License Show Changes
    Publication Date
    • Fall 2021
    • 2021
    License
    • https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publisher, Publisher Identifier (DOI), and 1 more Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Enlightenment, Russian Jewry, Education, Girls, Taxation
    Publisher
    • Jewish Social Studies: History, Culture, Society
    Publisher Identifier (DOI)
    • https://doi.org/10.2979/jewisocistud.26.3.03
    Publication Date
    • 2021
    • 2021-10-11
  • Updated