Shochet (Vol. 2)

Michoel Rotenfeld is a historical researcher who has long been fascinated by Jewish memory in its myriad forms, especially the genre of Jewish autobiography. He is the director of Touro University Library’s Project Zikaron, a permanent collection of previously uncollated and undigitized historical material from Jewish communities across the world. He also coordinated the digitization of David Tidhar’s ninеtееn-volume Encyclopedia of the Founders and Builders of Israel (www.tidhar.tourolib.org), which has received over three million page views.

• Volume TwoPart III: My Forty Years as a Shoykhet, and Moving to Palestine, 1873–1929Chapter 22: As the Shoykhet of Slobodze, 1873–1875Chapter 23: The Nobleman’s Attack and Moving to the Crimea, 1876–1880Chapter 24: Corruption in Bakhchisaray and Ungrateful Relatives, 1880–1889Chapter 25: The Threat of Banishment from Tsarist Russia, 1881–1884Chapter 26: Persecution in Bakhchisaray, 1884–1889Chapter 27: Raising My Children and My Wife’s Death, 1884–1897Chapter 28: Remarrying and My Children’s Departure from Russia, 1896–1910Chapter 29: Preparing to Leave for Palestine, 1910–1914Part III—Addendum: My Life in Palestine, 1913–1928Chapter 30: The World War and the Death of My Second Wife, 1913–1916Chapter 31: Marrying Off My Niece and Writing a Torah Scroll, 1916–1917Chapter 32: Exile to Kfar-Saba, 1917–1918Chapter 33: Suffering in Exile and Returning to Petakh-Tikva, 1918Chapter 34: Completing the Torah Scroll, the Arab Attack, and My Children Join Me in Palestine, 1919–1929Appendices:Appendix A: The Author and His RelativesA1. The Author’s Final Years in Petakh-TikvaHis Houses, His Properties, and the Local SynagoguesMemories From Those Who Knew HimHis DemiseHis Chabad LegacyA2. The Author’s ChildrenHis son Isruel (aka Israel Goldenshtein in France, 1873–1946)His Daughter Nekhame Brakhtman (Noami "Nadya" Brockman, 1877–1955)His Son Itskhok–Yosef "Yosl" (Joseph Edward "Joe" Goldeen, 1880–1954)His Son Yankev :Yankl: (aka Jacon "James" Goldeen, 1882–1948)His Son Shloyme Goldenshteyn (Shlomo, 1889–1962)A3. His Nephew Itsl (Isaac Goldenshtein, 1862–1907)A4. His Second Wife Feyge (ca. 1854–1916)A5. Bashe's Tsores — The Story of the Author's Third WifeA6. Salomon (Shlomo) Bernstein, Relative and Portraitist of the AuthorA7. The Printing of the AutobiographyAppendix B: Translations of Documents Written by the AuthorB1. Hebrew Engagement Contract for His Daughter Nekhame (1897)B2. Hebrew Ethical Will (1920)B3. Family LettersJanuary 23, 1914 Postcard from the Author's Son IsruelJune 1926 Letter from the AuthorJuly 3, 1926 Letter from the AuthorOctober 10, 1926 Letter from the AuthorJanuary 27, 1927 Yiddish Letter from the AuthorMarch 14, 1929 Letter from the AuthorApril 1929 Letter from the AuthorNovember 21, 1929 Yiddish Letter from the AuthorJuly 15, 1930 Letter from the AuthorOctober 30, 1930 Letter from the AuthorAugust 28, 1939 Letter from the Author's Son Isruel in FranceAppendix C: Translations of Additional DocumentsC1. Hebrew Letter from Rabbi Medini (Sdei Khemed) Regarding the Author (1879)C2. Episodes Related by the Author about Rabbi Medini (Sdei Khemed)C3. Two Certificates in Sh’khita Obtained by the Author’s Son Refúel (1904 and 1906)Appendix D: Genealogical ChartsD1. The Author’s Ancestors and SiblingsD2. The Extended Family of Ershl Teplitsky, the Author’s Brother-in-LawD3. The Author’s Children and GrandchildrenD4. The Extended Hershkovitsh Family, the Family of the Author’s Wife Freyde BibliographyIntroduction to the Glossaries and the Romanization/Transliteration SchemesGlossary 1: Words and PhrasesGlossary 2: Jewish Personal NamesGlossary 3: Geographic Places in Eastern EuropeIndex

"This is one of those rare books that once you start, it is very difficult to put down. You know you should put it down and go to sleep or go to work or make supper... but you can't! And once you finish it, you want everyone you know and love to read it too... The Shochet is written, edited, and footnoted beautifully. I am in awe of Michoel Rotenfeld's translation, which is not only precise but also eloquent.... I keep The Shochet on my desk just to remember the inspiration I gleaned from reading the life story of this remarkable 'simple Jew.'" — Rishe Deitsch, N'shei Chabad Newsletter“The second volume of Goldenshteyn’s memoir continues to captivate, brimming with the same dazzling color and detail that defined the first. The author’s fluid writing style, combined with his knack for capturing nuance and subtlety, makes this volume difficult to put down…. Particularly worthy of celebration is the exceptional work of translator and presenter Michoel Rotenfeld…. This is yeoman’s work of the highest order and sets a gold standard for future presentations of memoir literature.” — Rabbi Moshe Maimon, SeforimChatter“Goldenshteyn, a traditional Jew who was orphaned as a young boy and became a shochet (kosher slaughterer) as a young man, is a master storyteller. His accounts are vivid and readable, sometimes stunning in their intensity. In chronicling his own life, Goldenshteyn inadvertently tells a bigger story—the story of how a small, oppressed people, among other minority groups, struggled for survival in the massive Russian Empire and in the Land of Israel. With great self-sacrifice and acumen, he overcomes tremendous adversity time after time by following his belief that justice will prevail if one acts with integrity.The translator, Michoel Rotenfeld, spent decades on the research and translation, traveling to Ukraine, Crimea, and Israel to explore archives and interview the last remaining individuals who knew Goldenshteyn. The results are self-evident: the footnotes are concise and illuminating, providing the reader with a thorough understanding of what Jewish life was like in his era.” — Jewish Link“Rabbi Goldenshteyn wrote his life story as a guide to his children. But in this fascinating work, he leaves us with a unique record of what life was like in Eastern Europe and Israel for all of us, and it’s not a pretty story by any stretch of the imagination. Goldenshteyn endured trials and travails sufficient for 50 people. Yet, in this work, we see him not just as a scholar but as a man of deep faith. Like Volume 1, Volume 2 is an exceptionally interesting first-hand account of life in Eastern Europe and Israel. Rotenfeld has done a remarkable translation and research to bring this most important volume to print.” — Ben Rothke, The Times of Israel“Writ­ing about his life, which was shaped by death, pover­ty, finan­cial dif­fi­cul­ties, and strug­gles against cor­rup­tion, Gold­en­shteyn does not present read­ers with easy top­ics. Yet his vivid, read­able prose is full of resilience, nuance, and humor. It invites us into the world of a crit­i­cal thinker, a pious Jew, and a thought­ful observ­er of Jew­ish life.” — Katha­ri­na Hadas­sah Wendl, Jewish Book Council