The majority of these vilifiers agreed in one point, that the defects of the Jews could be cured only by "reforming" their life from above. An ancient historic nation, which had for centuries managed its own affairs, was represented as a kind of riffraff, whose life could be easily recut after a new pattern. To achieve this end, all that was necessary was to let the Polish language take the place of Yiddish, to substitute the official Polish school for the traditional Jewish school, the magistracy for the Kahal, handicrafts and agriculture for commerce. The authors of the various schemes disagreed merely as to the extent to which the radical and compulsory character of these reforms should be pursued. Some suggested abolishing altogether the communal autonomy of the Jews (Kollontay); others would merely confine it to definite functions, and place the Kahal under the supervision of the Government (Butrymovich and others). Still others proposed to shave off the Jews' beards and earlocks, to burn the Talmud, and reduce the number of Jewish religious festivals. Others again were content with prohibiting the traditional Jewish costume and shutting down the Jewish printing-presses, proposing at the same time "to encourage the translation of Jewish religious literature into the Polish language." The plan of limiting the number of Jewish marriages after the Austro-Prussian model, by requiring a special permit of the police and a certificate testifying to the ability of the candidate to provide for his family and to his compliance with certain standards of general education, appealed to all the reformers. Several writers injected into the discussion of the Jewish question the specific problem of the Neo-Christians, the converts from among the Frankist sect, who, having been merged with the Polish gentry and burgher class, were yet treated by them as strangers, and stood aloof equally from Christian and Jewish society. The majority of Polish writers endorsed the contemptuous attitude of Polish society towards these converts, who in point of fact fostered their old sectarian leanings, traveled abroad to do homage to Frank, and supplied him with money.
In the babel of voices condemning the entire Jewish population of the country and dooming it to a radical "refitting" by means of police measures, only one solitary Jewish voice made itself heard. Hirsch Yosefovich (son of Joseph), a rabbi of Khelm, published a pamphlet in Polish, under the title "Reflections Concerning the Plan of Transforming the Polish Jews into Useful Citizens of the Country." While giving Butrymovich full credit as an enlightened well-wisher of the Jews, the Rabbi expresses his amazement that even cultured men indulge in a wholesale condemnation of the Jewish people, and charge the misdeeds of certain individuals among them to the account of the whole nation, which is endowed with so many virtues, and is of benefit to the country in so many respects. The author emphatically protests against the proposed abolition of the Kahals and against outside interference in the religious affairs of the Jews, in a word, against the projects tending to assimilate the Jews with the Poles, which assimilation "was bound to result in the complete destruction of Judaism." As an Orthodox rabbi he refuses to budge an inch, even in the matter of a change in dress, slyly observing that once the Jews are put in the category of malefactors, it seems preferable to allow them to retain their traditional garb, so as to mark them off from the Christians.
At that time Warsaw evidently did not yet possess the type of cultured Mendelssohnians—they appeared in that city shortly thereafter, under the Prussian régime—who might have been in a position to engage in a literary discussion of the proposed reforms from the Jewish point of view. "Enlightenment" was then the exclusive privilege of a small number of Jews who, as agents or as purveyors of the Crown, came into contact with the Court or the Government. The project of one of these "advanced" Jews, the royal broker Abraham Hirschovich (son of Hirsch), has been preserved in the archives. In this project, which was submitted to King Stanislav Augustus during the sessions of the Great Diet, the author suggests some of the patent remedies of the Polish reformers: to induce the Jews to engage in handicrafts and agriculture "in the deserted steppes of the Ukraina" and to forbid early marriages. With regard to the change in dress, he advises beginning with the prohibition of luxurious articles of wear, such as silk, satin, velvet, pearls, and diamonds, the chase after finery having a ruinous effect on men of moderate means. Rabbis, in the opinion of Hirschovich, ought to be appointed only in the large cities, and not in the smaller towns, for the reason that in these towns, which are generally owned by the squires, the rabbis purchase their office from the latter, and then ruin their congregations by all kinds of assessments. The Kahals should be spared, except that the Government ought to maintain order in them, since the Jews themselves, on account of their differences of opinion, "cannot institute reasonable rules of conduct for themselves." The whole plan reflects the spirit of flunkeyism, ever obsequiously willing to yield to the powers that be in the matter "of eradicating the prejudices and misconceptions of an erring people."
During the year 1789 and the first half of 1790 the Jewish question did not come up at the sessions of the Quadrennial Diet. In the midst of the passionate debates raging around the supremely important bills involving the whole future of the body politic, the Diet remained deaf to the repeated reminders of Butrymovich, who demanded the same urgency for the proposed Jewish reform. Neither did the heated literary discussions centering on the Jewish question prompt the popular representatives to take it up more speedily. But at this juncture ominous shouts from the street began to penetrate into the Chamber of Deputies, and the Diet had to bestir itself.
The metropolitan mob had made up its mind to solve the Jewish question after its own fashion. To the Christian tradesmen and artisans of Warsaw the Jewish question was primarily a matter of professional competition. During the first two years of the Great Diet the old law which confined the Jewish right of residence in Warsaw to temporary visits during the brief sittings of the Diets, had automatically fallen into disuse. The Diet having prolonged its powers for a number of years, the Jews thought that they too had the right to prolong their term of residence. Accordingly an ever-growing wave of Jewish tradesmen and artisans in search of a livelihood began to flow from the provinces into the busy commercial emporium, and this new influx could not fail to affect the Christian middle class, inasmuch as the new-comers diverted purchasers and customers from the native tradesmen and artisans, who were affiliated with the guilds and trade-unions.
The privileged burghers, who by that time were on the point of being equalized with the Shlakhta in their rights, raised a cry of indignation. In March, 1790, a crowd of incorporated artisans, among them a particularly large number of tailors and furriers, surrounded the town hall, and vowed to murder all Jews, should the magistracy refuse to expel them from Warsaw. John Dekert, a well-known champion of the burgher class, who was mayor at the time, immediately brought this demonstration to the notice of the Diet, and the latter dispatched two of its members to pacify the crowd. When asked by the deputies about the motive of the gathering, the artisans declared that the newly-arrived Jews made life intolerable by wresting the last earnings from the Christian tailors and furriers. The deputies promised to look into the matter. Accordingly, on the following day, the Jewish artisans and street venders were ordered out of the city, and only the merchants who had stores or warehouses were permitted to remain.
Penniless and homeless, the exiled Jews could do nothing but return surreptitiously to Warsaw soon afterwards. The agitation among the Christian population commenced anew, and on May 16, 1790, it vented itself in a riot. A certain Fox, a member of the tailors' union, happened that day to meet a Jewish tailor on the street who was carrying a piece of work in his hand. He suddenly attacked him, and began to pull the parcel out of his hands. The Jew tore himself away, and managed to escape. The shouts of Fox attracted a crowd of Christian artisans. Some one spread the rumor that the Jews had killed a Christian tailor. At once the cry for vengeance went up, and a riot began. The mob rushed into Tlomatzkie Street, but was beaten off by the Jews, who had taken shelter behind a fence. In the adjacent streets, however, "victory" perched on the banner of the mob. They looted private residences as well as stores and warehouses belonging to Jews, carrying off whatever was valuable, and throwing the rest into wells. The municipal guards, which came rushing along, were met by a hail of stones and bricks. Only when a detachment of soldiers on foot and on horse appeared was the crowd dispersed and order restored.
Stirred by these events, the Diet gave orders to investigate the matter and bring the guilty to justice. Justice in the case of the Christian malefactors amounted to the arrest of Fox and the imprisonment of some of his accomplices. As for the Jews, severe administrative measures were adopted: any peddler or artisan found on the street with goods or orders was to be conveyed to the marshal's guard-chamber, punished with rods, and expelled. In such manner were Jewish artisans dealt with at a time when the projects for reform were full of eloquent phrases about the necessity of attracting the Jews to handicrafts in particular and productive forms of labor in general.