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Let's not pretend that there wasn't serious, and at times deadly, anti-semitic overtones to the requirement to shave beards, and the financial penalties that ca
by rexreed 5y ago
Let's not pretend that there wasn't serious, and at times deadly, anti-semitic overtones to the requirement to shave beards, and the financial penalties that came from seeking exemption.
The Beard Tax was notoriously leveraged against religious jews, forbidden by law to shave their beards. The "civilized" authorities took much advantage of this.
- trhway 5y agosorry, man, you did misfire here. There is of course no question about antisemitism in Russia, it is just that the Russia of Peter the Great didn't have a number of Jews, especially not converted ("religious jews, forbidden by law to shave their beards"), to speak about. The beard tax was really a symbol of breaking the conservative Russian opposition (like that top nobility - "boayre" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyar#/media/File:Bojaren.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyar#/media/File:Bojaren.jpg). FYI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_the_Russian_Empire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_in_the_Russian_Em... "Before the 18th century Russia maintained an exclusionary policy towards Jews, in accordance with the anti-Jewish precepts of the Russian Orthodox Church. When asked about admitting Jews into the Empire, Peter the Great stated "I prefer to see in our midst nations professing Mohammedanism and paganism rather than Jews. They are rogues and cheats. It is my endeavor to eradicate evil, not to multiply it.""
- etc-hosts 5y agoMy understanding is the beard tax was in part a dig at the authority of the Orthodox Church. Jews in Russian Empire at that time would mostly be in Pale Of Settlement area, not Petersburg.