Introduction: Jewish public culture
The Jews of this world
Libraries: from the study hall to the public library
Reading: from sacred duty to leisure time
Literary societies: the culture of language and the language of culture
Cultural performance: the people of the book and the spoken word
Theater: the professionalization of performance
Musical and dramatic societies: amateur performers and audiences
The Jewish historical and ethnographic society: collecting the Jewish past
Public history: imagining Russian Jews
Conclusion: this world and the next.