Society for the Promotion of Culture among the Jews of Russia

The Society for the Promotion of Culture among the Jews of Russia (Hebrew: Hevra Mefitsei Haskalah; Russian: Obshchestva dlia Rasprostraneniia Prosveshcheniia Mezhdu Evreiami v Rossii, or OPE; sometimes translated into English as "Society for the Spread of Enlightenment among the Jews of Russia") was an educational and civic association that promoted the acculturation of Russian Jews and their integration in the wider Russian society; founded in 1863, it remained active until 1926 or 1929.

It was founded as a learned society in December 1863, in Saint Petersburg, at that time the capital city of the Russian Empire, by prominent Russian Jews, including Joseph Yozel Günzburg, who became president; his son Horace Günzburg, first vice-president; Rabbi A. Neumann, second vice-president; Leon Rosenthal, treasurer; Abraham Brodski; and I. Brodski.

The aim of the society as set forth in its constitution was as follows:

The idea of establishing such a society in Russia may have been suggested by the Alliance Israélite Universelle, which was founded in 1860. The time was ripe for such an organization in Russia, inasmuch as the awakening of the Jews of that country to their cultural needs was in progress. There were, however, some drawbacks, on account of which the society was unable to carry out its program in its entirety. Its scope of activity was necessarily limited by the disabilities of the Russian Jews and there was, moreover, a lack of interest on the part of the intellectual Jews themselves, the greater number of whom strove to shake themselves free from everything Jewish. The society thus had to struggle on for some time and to satisfy its ambition with minor achievements. For several years the number of members was less than 250, and in 1880 it was not quite 350; the annual income was less than 12,000 rubles. From that year onward, however, interest in the society increased. The anti-Jewish riots, on the one hand, and the restrictions imposed by the government, on the other, impelled Russian Jews to trust to self-help and to take thenceforth more interest in their own institutions. In the next year (1880) the society inaugurated a branch, with a special fund, for the promotion of agriculture and industry among Russian Jews. The number of members increased to 552 and its yearly income was more than doubled (28,246 rubles). But here, again, the attitude of the Russian government toward the Jews checked the society's operations, the prohibition against Jews engaging in agriculture having become more stringent with the accession of Alexander III, thus defeating the object of the new agricultural section. In the other branches, however, the activity of the society was considerable, the report of its twentieth anniversary (1884) showing an expenditure from the foundation of the society of 78,788 rubles for the support of students at universities, academies, and industrial institutions, and for the maintenance of private and public schools; in addition 35,556 rubles were expended in connection with useful publications issued by the society itself or on its initiative. At the same time, a greater interest in Hebrew literature began to manifest itself among the members, and a special fund for its promotion was voted in 1884.

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