Early in the reign of Alexander II, one of the major suppliers of the Russian army, hereditary honorary citizen Evzel Gunzburg, requested to Tsar to ease restrictions for certain categories of Jews. As a result, the Jews - retired soldiers, merchants of the 1st guild holds degrees and then a diploma of higher education, as well as certain categories of artisans were allowed to reside outside the Pale, including in St. Petersburg including members of their families and a specified number of clerks and servants. The number of chapels increased. In 1868 among St. Petersburg Jews (men), 72% were literate (among the Orthodox population of the capital's literacy rate reached only 54%). This community needed a new, educated rabbis. The first St. Petersburg rabbi higher secular education with a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University Gendtsburgskogo Isaiah Abraham Neumann. He was confirmed in office in 1864 on the proposal of the St. Petersburg military governor.