Tarpininkas ir konkurentas : Judahas Opatowas ir naujosios žydų oligarchijos iškilimas Vilniuje XIX amžiaus viduryje

LTStraipsnyje nagrinėjama I. Cohen knygą – Vilna (Philadelphia, 1943 m.), kurioje Vilnius vaizduojamas spalvinga scena su visais įmanomais žmoniškaisiais personažas. Parodoma dominavusių ekonominių veiksnių vieta XIX a. Vilniuje. Detaliai aptariant Yehudo Apatowo biografija, jo pasiekimai ekonomikos sityje, pademonstruojant personalijos karjeros kelią bei vietą tiek Vilniaus, tiek užsienio žydų bendruomenių kontekste.Reikšminiai žodžiai: Judahas Opatowas; Žydai Lietuvoje; Vietinis elitas; Biografijos; Jews in Lithuania in the 19th c.; The local elite; Biography.

ENBeginning in the early nineteenth century, the social structure of many east European Jewish communities underwent a steady and continuous process of transformation. This transformation was apparent mainly in the upper social stratum, the local elite. The ‘old’ traditional elite families, who had governed the communities for generations, were gradually replaced by a new group of ‘newcomers’. These young and ambitious entrepreneurs, many of them born to poor and underprivileged families, paved their way to the upper stratum mainly by taking advantage of the new political and economic conditions. By following the ‘self-made-man’ model and not concentrating on the one or two traditional ‘Jewish’ professional areas, they made use of every possible economic and commercial opportunity and managed within a relatively short period of time to acquire enough wealth to be able to live in a very high style and buy a great deal of property. Simultaneously, they tried to ‘translate’ their economic strength into corresponding social and political status. Thus they became members of the ‘Kahal’, the governing body of the local Jewish community, and also began playing the roll of mediators between the community and the local authorities. This essay sheds light on this process by focusing on a typical, though quiet colourful, member of this new elite, Judah Opatow, who dominated economic and public Jewish affairs in mid-nineteenth-century Vilnius. [From the publication]