International conference in Israel examines fate of Jews in 17th century Ukraine (08/16/98)

International conference in Israel examines fate of Jews in 17th century Ukraine

EDMONTON - An international conference titled "Gezeroit Tah-Tat/Eastern European Jewry in 1648-1649: Context and Consequences" was held on May 18-20 at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. Sponsored by the Historical Society of Israel and all five Jewish universities in Israel, the conference examined the fate of the Jews in Ukraine in 1648-1649 in terms of the context of the period, historical sources, the events and their aftermath, and contemporary and modern evaluations

Speakers at the academic conference included 13 scholars from Israel, three from Canada, two from the United States, two from Ukraine, one from Belarus and one from Poland.

According to Dr. Frank E. Sysyn, director of the Peter Jacyk Center for Ukrainian Historical Research at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies and a specialist in 17th century Ukrainian history, who opened the conference with a paper analyzing the Khmelnytsky uprising, the conference was held at a "very high academic level."

"Above all, it was clear that the scholars wanted to concentrate on the subject in all ways, including understanding Ukrainian perspectives on the Khmelnytsky revolt, its significance for Ukrainian history and Ukrainian development," he said.

Dr. Sysyn was approached by conference organizer, Prof. Moshe Rosman of Bar-Ilan University, to help identify scholars of Ukrainian history to participate in this conference. "Most of the Israeli scholars are specialists in Jewish studies and, because they aren't specialists in Eastern European or Ukrainian history, they were looking for specialists to provide this background and framework," said Dr. Sysyn. All five Jewish universities in Israel cooperated to make this an international conference, and to make this the single major academic event marking 350 years since the Khmelnytsky uprising and Jewish massacre, he added.

"In turn," continued Dr. Sysyn, " the conference was extremely beneficial for me and other scholars of Ukraine who learned a great deal about Jewish life and thought, since much of the original writing about this period is in Hebrew or Yiddish."

According to Dr. Zenon Kohut, director of the Canadian Institute for Ukrainian Studies, who presented the concluding paper at the conference on the topic "The Khmelnytsky Uprising, the Image of Jews, and the Shaping of Ukrainian Historical Memory," one of the elements that positively influenced the success of the conference was the ongoing relationship that has developed over the years between scholars.

Dr. Rosman, organizer of the conference, for example, worked with the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute as one of the co-publishers of his monograph, "The Lord's Jews." Furthermore, many of the scholars in the field of Hebrew and Jewish studies in Israel were trained at North American universities.

And even though the academic conference focused on events in the 17th century in Ukraine from all perspectives, as a side effect the information provided did improve Ukrainian-Jewish relations, he added. "A relationship of professionalism and trust has developed over the years," continued Dr. Kohut, "one of the benefits of ongoing relationships that can be cultivated over decades due to the stability offered by academic institutions and long-term programs."

The consensus of the discussion, noted Dr. Sysyn, was that the numbers of Jewish deaths that have been cited in much of the popular literature were greatly exaggerated. "There were some very important additions to discussions on a number of topics, such as the infamous controversy of Jews controlling access to the Orthodox Churches by the holding of the keys. Jewish scholars brought forth extremely interesting evidence on the manner of attacks on Jews and on their communities, and Jewish psychological reaction to these events," he added.

Other conference participants included Dr. Serhii Plokhy, director of the Church Studies Program at CIUS, who gave a paper titled "Legitimizing Revolt: The Jewish Factor in the Ideology of the Khmelnytsky Uprising." Scholars from Ukraine included Oleksij Tolotchko of the Institute of the History of Ukraine, Kyiv, who spoke on "The Ukrainian Image of the Jews on the Eve of the Khmelnytsky Uprising," while Dr. Natalia Jakovenko of the East European Research Institute, Kyiv, gave a paper titled "Contemporary Reports on the Events: The Problem of Verification."

In addition to the presenting papers and participating in discussions, the conference participants attended a commemorative concert featuring works by the Israeli composer Andre Hajdu and the opening of an exhibition, "Zaar Bat Rabim/350 Years of Documentation of the Events of 1648-1649," at the Florsheim Museum. The president of Bar-Ilan University, Prof. Moshe Kaveh, hosted a reception for the conference participants during which Dr. Sysyn presented the first volume of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's "History of Ukraine-Rus'" to the Bar-Ilan University Library.

In thanking the host of the conference, Prof. Rosman, for his exemplary organizational work, Dr. Sysyn commented on the importance of exchanges between scholars in Judaic and East European studies. He praised the high quality and scholarly objectivity of the proceedings, reflecting both Ukrainian and Jewish scholarship.

Prof. Rosman announced that the work of the conference would be made available to a wider public, since the Rockefeller Foundation has promised a publication subsidy.

The conference was greeted with substantial interest on the part of the Israeli media. Dr. Sysyn was interviewed by a number of Israeli newspapers, and Dr. Plokhy participated in a televised discussion dealing with the history of Ukrainian-Jewish relations. The CIUS scholars also visited Hebrew University in Jerusalem at the invitation of Prof. Israel Bartal and discussed with him the possibility of cooperation on future scholarly projects.

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