The Williamsburg boundaries are well defined by the Williamsburg Bridge to Manhattan and the surrounding areas on the Brooklyn side. The neighborhood is roughly circumscribed by Newtown Creek to the north, Queens to the east, Flushing and Kent Avenues to the south, and the East River to the west. What a location. What a view. It’s like one of the wonders of the world. Is that where the Jews were meant to end up when leaving Egypt? So, they did; so, they did. North 7th Street segregates the two unique neighborhoods with Greenpoint to the north and Williamsburg to the south. One can get there even using public transportation like the subway or a bus. The subway stops in that area are The G train to Greenpoint, Nassau, or Metropolitan Avenues, or the L train to Bedford Avenue or Lorimer Street. And that’s the place where the Cohens as well as many other Jews from the Mogilev Gubernia of the Russian Empire and thus, from the rest of the world had settled down with the hopes for freedom and in anticipation of so much good. Good was in the air, well, most of the time, and not exactly everywhere, still in many places, and often.
God led Jews out of bondage once before, and it worked out for a while. This could be the second time or the third. Why argue with the authority? Maybe the Russian Tsar followed God’s will and kicked the Jews out so, they could come to America, and enjoy the good life for a little while? And what is next? Well, the Jews could stay wherever they were for much longer, or they could be kicked out again. Only God knew that and maybe for sure, but those were the options. Thus, do not take your hat off and don’t really unpack. You may have to go, and soon. But where? The Earth was not such a big place. Well, God knows. God was the one with the power of decision. But, he had the ability to apply force. If that decision was made, Jews could be kicked back to wherever they came from or to a new place, or to a place where they visited already centuries ago but did not finish what they had to finish. What was that place? Do you know? Do you remember? The Bible and the history books would keep you informed. That’s where the experts get their knowledge, the expertise. Who knows what that place and the unfinished business was, but maybe it was time to go back there, and find it out? Maybe. Do you think Israel, Jerusalem? Was it even possible? Every Jew from everywhere all over sudden would go to the same place called Israel, and then what. Are they ready, the Jews over there? Do they want it? Do they want us? Maybe. Do you? But, could they handle it? All of it… So many. Perhaps. What if the next year they would be in Jerusalem. Knock, knock — we are here. Ready or not. What a story. What a dream. We would all meet in one place. Baruch Hashem! (God bless). Baruch Hashem! Is not that what you say when you want something so much, and it keeps pulling away, but you still hope?
The Cohens came from the Mogilev Gubernia (province), Orsha Uyezd (region) of Belorussia. The Orsha Uyezd, back then, mainly consisted of a multitude of small and large towns, villages, and the Jewish shtetls (settlements) with the total population of about 14000 people, and nearly 8000 Jews. Remember “Fidler on the roof” and Tevye, the Jewish milkman? That’s it, that’s the people and the place. It was almost the Jewish haven on earth if not for the Gentiles and the Tsar, and the government-sponsored anti-Semitism. Some of the Jewish towns were: Alexandria, Babinovichi, Dobromysl, Gritsevo, Gusino, Kochanovo, Liozno, Lubavichi, Mikulino, Orsha, Rudnia, Smolyani, and Starosele. And then, there were the villages and the hamlets.
The family of Cohens for generations, since the seventeenth century, when they arrived from Poland, used to live in Lubavichi. Before Poland, they resided briefly in Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Bohemia, and none of it, but Poland, lasted for any considerable period. The Jews could never grow the roots in any of those places and always got uprooted well before they were ready. The Ukrainian Cossack’s revolutionary uprising in Poland in the mid-seventeenth century resulted in the death of over 100,000 Jews living there so, the surviving Jews hurriedly went to Russia where protection was guaranteed, for the time being, by the Tsar. At the time, there were five to six hundred thousand Jews in all of Poland. So, every fifth Jew was killed by the Ukrainians, but do we know all of it? Did anyone really count the living or the dead? Back then? Back there? Did they care? Yet, the numbers could be close to reality considering the information we have.
The Tsar was growing his empire, and the Jewish skills were quite welcome. Some of the Jews were well educated and talented and offered the skills not easily found in the stone age minded Russia. But Russia wanted it. Now, Jews had a protector. With time, the Cohen family settled down in the Mogilev Gubernia of Belorussia. Back then, Belorussia was the most significant part of the Lithuanian Duchy, and the Russian Tsar eventually became the Duke of these territories. The land was plenty there, and the Tsar wanted to populate it, building a human barrier with Western Europe. Good and reliable people always were needed, and the Polish Jews were welcomed for the money and the management skills accompanied by the outstanding craftsmanship. Also, Jews had a big problem with the Poles and the Ukrainians and would stay on the side of Russia no matter what. They were not very loyal to Russia but would not betray it to Poland or Ukraine. Although Jews were strange people, they were known for being friendly, quiet, polite, trustworthy, very accommodating, and not threatening to the ruling regime. In short, they were needed and could be tolerated. Perfect. That was the understanding most of the Russian nobility supported. The decision was made, the Jews were let in, and the rules with some rare exemptions were made.