The shochet

"This unique autobiography is set in Ukraine and Crimea and provides context for the current war in Ukraine, shedding light on the problems that exist between Ukrainians, Crimeans, and Russians. For the first time, a Jewish functionary, Pinkhes-Dov Goldenshteyn, who served not only as a kosher slaughterer but who also performed circumcisions, provides detailed descriptions of Jewish communal life and of the interactions between the Jewish and non-Jewish communities, including Muslims who made up the majority of Crimea's populace. The book shows without telling, giving the reader a fascinating glimpse into the ways that a small, oppressed people-among other minority groups-struggled for survival in the massive Russian Empire. In telling his own story, Goldenshteyn tells the larger story of the Jews of Ukraine during the last century of Tsarist rule--how they dealt with persecution and epidemics, modernity and secularization, local politics and religious practice and belief"-- Provided by publisher.