The epoch of reforms which began after the enthronement of the new Emperor and termination of the Crimean war had an effect on Russian Jewry as well. As early as 1856 the most cruel anti-Jewish laws of Nicholas I were repealed on the advice of the Jewish Committee and some governors-general. The conscription of underage Jews was abolished. A number of liberal statesmen put forward the idea of full or partial emancipation of the Jews. Prominent representatives of Russian Jewry (Evzel Gunzburg and others) also petitioned for revocation or, at least, mitigation of restrictive legislation.
The liberal reforms produced rather modest results for the Jews. Jewish merchants of the 1st guild, university graduates, craftsmen holding special certificates and retired soldiers were allowed to live in any part of the country. The law allowed Jews to elect and be elected to local elective offices as well as to enter local government service. As a result of judicial reform Jews were given the right to serve on a jury.
At this time, the number of Jewish communities beyond the Pale was growing, Jews were settling in new regions of Russia and taking up new occupations. Jews became noticeable in the legal, medical, and banking profession. A new type of Russian Jew - an educated, Russian-speaking man wearing European clothes - came into existence.
The 1860s saw an increase in the influence of the Jewish social movement Haskala. Maskilim headed the large Jewish community of Odessa which for some time remained the center of Haskala. In 1860, Osip Rabinovich began to publish in Odessa a Russian-language Jewish magazine, "Sunrise", arguing in favor of Jewish enlightenment and emancipation. In 1861-1862, the magazine "Zion" edited by Emmanuil Soloveitchik was published in Odessa as a continuation of "The Dawn". Hebrew periodicals ("Ha-melits", "Kol' Mevasser") were also published first in Odessa and then in Petersburg, which became a new center of Haskala.
The renowned Russian surgeon and educator Nikolay Pirogov, then supervisor of the Odessa educational district, made every effort to promote Jewish education. Thanks to his influence, after 1862 Jews were also appointed as supervisors of Jewish government schools, which made these institutions more popular and improved the quality of education. In the 1860s, it became quite common for Jews to study at high schools and universities. The number of Jews with secondary and higher secular education was growing rapidly.
Established in St. Petersburg in 1863, the Society for the Spread of Education among Jews (OPE) became a significant influence on the lives of Russian Jewry in the late 1860s. By agreement with public authorities, the best graduates of rabbinical schools, one from Vilnius and one from Zhitomir, continued their education at the OPE's expense at the Breslavl Rabbinical Seminary in Prussia on the condition that they would subsequently preach in Hebrew and Russian.