by Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com Although there are a number of dissimilarities, Vladimir Putin’s draft of soldiers reminds us of a difficult period in our own history with Russian and the draft. Last Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will mobilize 300,000 men in an effort to make good its losses in Ukraine and expand the army.  What follows is a firsthand account printed over a century ago. Yechezkel Kotik was the misnaged son of a Slonimer Chossid who lived in Kamenetz during the period of the Cantonist Decrees.  [He was raised Chassidish, however.]  Kotik’s grandfather, Reb Aharon Leizer, was the parnes of Kamenetz at the time.  He was very wealthy, and wielded political power.  Yechezkel Kotik’s memoirs remain one of the most fascinating glimpses of life in the shtetl and were first published in 1913.  His memoirs include a very vivid description of the horrors of the Cantonist decrees – where children and young men were kidnapped by our own people to serve in the army of Tsar Nicholas I.  It was a horrible time – an eery precursor to the Kapos of the Nazi era. ***** A REQUEST FROM RABBI YAIR HOFFMAN:  IF YOU CAN, PLEASE TRY TO DONATE TO THE HACHNASSAS KALLAH GENERAL FUND THAT RABBI HOFFMAN IS INVOLVED WITH WHICH HELPS NEEDY KALLAHS AT THE LINK BELOW**** ******Please donate to the Hachnassas Kallah general fund  The memoirs were an instant hit and were praised by many of the famous Yiddish writers at the time.  They were translated from the Yiddish into Hebrew in 1998 by Professor David Assaf, and into English in a work entitled, “Journey to a 19th Century Shtetl.”  What follows below is Kotik’s own words from his chapter on the Chappers. The headings and re-paragraphing were added to facilitate greater understanding.  What is contained in brackets are my [Rabbi Hoffman’s] notes. Kotik’s firsthand account is truly heart-wrenching. *** When I turned eight years old, the infamous decree [of Tzar Nicholas I] was issued, where all eight year old boys were to be taken by force in the [Russian] army, where they wanted to convert them to be Christians. The kidnapping of such little boys lasted just one year, when they realized that it was a mistake. Only 1 out of a 100 boys converted – and even that was just barely. Even though they suffered so much, only 1 in a 100 converted.  The mothers of these boys had enormous mesiras nefesh in preparing their sons if something like that were to happen. They warned their sons not to convert for any amount of money. They gave each of their children little tefillin [to use after their eventual Bar Mitzvah].  The faces of their mother’s, so filled with grief, stuck deeply inside the hearts of these little soldiers so much that they refused to abandon Yiddishkeit. At that time in Kamenetz, there were three [professional] chappers – kidnappers [who were hired to steal the children].   One of them – Aharon Leibeleh was as cruel as a murderer and had zero rachmanus in his heart.   The other two were Chatzkel and Moishky. [These three were originally the bodyguards of Kotik’s alter-zeideh] Their job was to kidnap eight year old boys and give them to the army as recruits. In the cheider of […]

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