One of the most unusual episodes in the long history of anti-Semitic persecution is the Soviet anti-Jewish campaign of the 1920s. Utilizing formerly Jewish converts to the new secular messianism known as Communism, under the leadership of a former Rabbi, Shimon Dimanshteyn, the Soviets embarked on a bizarre yet creative program of anti-Jewish propaganda.
Cover of the fall edition of Der Apikoyres, Kiev 1923
Some of this was expressed in traditional media, such as the Jewish version of the Russian-language magazine Bezbozhnik (literally, “The Godless”), published in Yiddish under the appropriately Talmudic title Der Apikoyres (“The Heretic”). Communist youth were enlisted to organize lavishly catered Yom Kippur dances and stage anti-Jewish plays. Recognizing the powerful hold that religion had on Soviet Jews, the Jewish Section of the Communist Party (Yevsektsiia) also attempted to co-opt the population by capturing and transforming Jewish traditions and texts, including the Passover Haggadah. Called “Red Haggadahs,” several were published in the 1920s with the explicit goal of replacing belief in God with faith in the Soviet Union, and they have been the subject of recently published studies by Dr. Anna Shternsis of the University of Toronto.
“This year, we have revolution in this land – next year we will have a world revolution!”
The traditional text, read at Seder tables for generation after generation, reads “We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, but Hashem our God took us out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. If the Holy One, Blessed be He, did not take our ancestors out of Egypt, then we, our children, and our children’s children would remain slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt.”
Cover illustration of a Red Haggadah by Alexander Tyshler, Moscow 1927
The officially atheistic Soviet Union could not tolerate such a passage, so the text of a Red Haggadah read instead: “We were slaves to capitalism until October (Soviet shorthand for the Communist Revolution of 1917) led us out of the land of exploitation with a strong hand. Were it not for October, we and our children would still be slaves.” Instead of God’s destruction of Egyptian army, the Soviet Haggadah describes success of the Red Army; instead of washing hands for ritual purity, the Communist text eliminates “rabbinical laws and customs, Yeshivot and schools that becloud and enslave the people.”
At the Seder's conclusion, Jews famously proclaim “This year we are here – next year in Jerusalem!” Following the Red Haggadah, participants at the Seder are urged to pronounce, “This year, we have revolution in this land – next year we will have a world revolution!”
By 1930, the notoriously antisemitic Soviet leader Joseph Stalin lost patience with the quixotic and typically unsuccessful propaganda efforts of the Yevsektsiia. Under his influence, the attacks on Jews and Judaism grew far more vicious and deadly, and celebrating even Sovietized Passover Seders became dangerous, entering a phase of persecution that is unfortunately familiar to students of Jewish history.
The Communist Youth movement organized distribution of forbidden hametz on the first day of Passover.
The Red Haggadahs of the 1920s, however, testify to an unusual period when overt government discrimination was milder. In her research Dr. Shternsis transcribed the childhood memories of Samuil Gil, who recalled how the Komsomol (Communist Youth) movement organized distribution of forbidden hametz on the first day of Passover: “We were given the task of going to Jewish homes and throwing a piece [of bread] into the window of ten different houses. The one who was fastest would receive a prize. We enjoyed the game very much, especially when the old, angry women ran out of their houses and ran after us screaming ‘apikorsim![heretics]' We felt like heroes of the Revolution and were very proud. In the evening, though, we would all go home and celebrate the traditional Seder with all the necessary rituals.”
Gil’s experience, specific to the unusual conditions of 1920s Ukraine, is also illustrative of the eternal pattern of Jewish history: “In every generation, someone rises to destroy us – but the Holy One rescues us from their hands.” Just as this truism is affirmed, so too may the conclusion of the Haggadah become our collective reality – next year in Jerusalem!
(5) Dvirah, April 23, 2019 5:42 PM
Futile Action
The throwing of bread into Jewish houses on Pesach, while no doubt annoying, certainly does not make the house "unkosher" for Pesach, nor does it involve the owners/inhabitants in any sin - the bread is not the property of the owners/inhabitants and would be looked upon, in the words of the Bi'ur Hametz (Burning Hametz) prayer, as "dust of the earth" (ie, inedible). I suspect the Jewish throwers were aware of this and just took a childlike enjoyment in the prank, similar to that of knocking on the door and running away.
(4) Anonymous, April 25, 2016 4:43 AM
Nowadays the left in all the world is attacking Israel, I really hope that the left loose its pour, specially in Brazil that because of that government we dont have even an Israel embassador. The left is a problem now.
(3) Hessel meilech, April 15, 2016 9:52 AM
Pesach
We must remember that since Norwich 1170 Pesach was the most dangerous time of the year. Over 100,000 Jews were killed over the years in Russia. A different answer why this night is different to all other nights.
(2) Anonymous, April 13, 2016 5:57 PM
Really fascinating article! Thanks for posting!
Henry Abramson, April 13, 2016 9:03 PM
Glad you enjoyed it!
Really happy to share this article with you.
(1) Mike, April 12, 2016 8:13 PM
unfortunately reminds me of some things that I heard
I was told that in Israel in the 70s, there were immigrants from Romania who made it a point to buy bread (baguettes) before Pessach, carry a large quantity to their apartments and on Passover sat on their balconies and ate their bread in a way that got the attention of passer-bys.
I also remember from my childhood a Hagada that was given out by an American food manufacturer (I don't remember which company). In that Hagada it connected the Pessach story to the coming of immigrants to the United States and it also suggests to think about people that we know who have immigrated from a country that was not free.
Of course there is a truth to it that it might be said that Jews survived by emigrating to the US, and also were not forced to be subject to forced assimilation as in the Soviet Union, on the other hand that comment in that Hagada could also be understood as attempting to replace the religious and spiritual meaning of freedom, such as serving on Hashem,not following our desires,to achieve our lofty goals,to serve only Hashem,ect. with a view that is only concerned with the physical and the base and sees no deeper meaning in life, and possibly equates Judaism with American patriotism, making Judaism obsolete, and also equating a supernatural force that took us out of Egypt with a very physical force of human labor, and thereby ignoring the message and meaning and consequences of Hashem's taking us out of Egypt.
It also reminds me of the saying "Berlin is our Jerusalem".
I wonder if the authorship of the Soviet "Hagada" was perhaps influenced by the same ideas as those that gave rise to "Berlin is our Jerusalem" and if those same sources also influenced the authors of that American manufacturer's Hagada
Henry Abramson, April 13, 2016 4:33 PM
Fascinating observation!
Thanks for that interesting observation! You're absolutely correct in noting that Passover has a message that is universal, and can be adapted to different cultural norms. The Red Haggadas were perhaps the most egregious attempt to hijack the message to a political cause, but they were neither the first nor the last.
Norman, April 13, 2016 8:16 PM
Secularism, assimilation and integration.
Mike, I think you made several valid and lucid observation, but you may be looking at the past through the lens of 21st century glasses.
We need to keep in mind that after the American and especially the French Revolutions individuals could function in society without the necessity for religious affiliation.
From before the turn of the 20th century an onward into the 1930's great swaths of Jewish citizens and immigrants around the globe were experiencing the great awakening and falling away from older, more established religious life. The Kibutz system was for the most part Socialist, atheistic and militantly secular. They avoided work on Shabbat if possible, but instead of prayer they ate and danced as they did on most of the religious holidays. In other parts of the world like New York, Berlin, London and Paris there was a shift towards intermarriage with Gentiles. My own maternal grandmother left home, joined a traveling company of performers, had a daughter with a Christian gentile by 1918 and left them to go back on the road again. In Berlin there was so great of a movement toward assimilation to the secular world that the very existence of Judaism as a religion was in doubt by many sociologists and historians of the time. Of course the rise of the Nazi Party brought a sudden halt to that.
It is clear that throughout history religious affiliation grows or is strengthened by persecution, either real or imagined, for it is through common suffering that religious communities draw closer together and put aside minor cultural or theological differences.
The major difference with the former USSR and it's religious/political syncretism was that they wanted the State to be your religion. There was no room for G-d or gods in their system, only the State. This went beyond any Cult of the Emperor, patriotism or idol worship has ever done. They tried to eliminate G-d altogether.
May you always seek His truths and live by them.