Jews in Early Modern Poland: Polin: 10

Description

Jewish society in Poland-Lithuania in the second half of the eighteenth century was by no means insular: Jews numbered about 750,000, and comprised about half the urban population of the country. The contact between Jews and the wider Polish society found expression in the languages Jews knew, in their marriage patterns, even in their synagogue architecture and decoration, but also in Polish accusations of Jewish ritual murder. All these aspects are here systematically reviewed. Internal factors influencing developments within Jewish society are discussed: treatments of the medieval rabbinic ban on polygamy, as well as various influences of the growing interest in kabbalah-its impact on synagogue structure, on prayer, and on the spiritual world of women. The growth of hasidism is considered through critical analysis of the legends about its founder, Israel Ba'al Shem Tov. This wealth of topics helps to fill the gaps in our understanding of Jewish life in this important period. The New Views section of the volume incorporates valuable studies on other topics. Articles include a revisionist view of the beginnings of Polish Jewry, based on analysis of medieval manuscripts; a thought-provoking review of the depiction of Polish-Jewish relations in recent Polish cinema; a study of the NKVD's treatment of Henryk Erlich and Wiktor Alter; and an erudite study of mayufes as a window on Polish-Jewish relations. The Book Reviews section includes a debate between Tomasz Gasowski and Artur Eisenbach on the latter's book on Jewish emancipation in Poland; review essays of books on Auschwitz and on I. B. Singer; and twenty-seven individual book reviews, followed by a bibliography of Polish-Jewish studies for 1994. The contemporary state of Polish-Jewish relations is covered, along with additional aspects of Jewish life in today's Poland, in an article by Poland's Ambassador to the Jewish Diaspora, Krzysztof Sliwinski. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Dedication Editors and Advisers Preface Polin Contents Towards a Polish—Jewish Dialogue: The Way Forward Note on Transliteration, Names, and Place–Names List of Figures List of Abbreviations Introduction Part I: Jews in Early Modern Poland Jewish Marriage in Eighteenth–Century Poland ‘For the Human Soul is the Lamp of the Lord’: The Tkhine for ‘Laying Wicks’ by Sarah bas Tovim The Ban on Polygamy in Polish Rabbinic Thought The Ashkenazi Élite at the Beginning of the Modern Era: Manuscript versus Printed Book The Accusation of Ritual Murder in Poland, 1500—1800 Jewish Art and Architecture in the East European Context: The Gwoździec–Chodorów Group of Wooden Synagogues In Praise of the Ba’al Shem Tov: A User’s Guide to the Editions of Shivhei ha Besht Knowledge of Foreign Languages among Eighteenth–Century Polish Jews Part II: New Views Walls and Frontiers: Polish Cinema’s Portrayal of Polish—Jewish Relations ‘That Incredible History of the Polish Bund Written in a Soviet Prison’: The NKVD Files on Henryk Erlich and Wiktor Alter Mayufes: A Window on Polish—Jewish Relations On the History of the Jews in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century Poland Part III: Reviews Review Essays On Eisenbach on Emancipation A Reply to Tomasz Gąsowski Two Books on Isaac Bashevis Singer On Auschwitz Book Reviews Israel Bartal, Rachel Elior, and Chone Shmeruk (eds.), Tsadikim ve’anshei ma’aseh: Mehkarim behasidut Polin S. Bronsztejn, Z dziejów ludności żydowskiej na Dolnym Śląsku po II wojnie światowej Abraham David (ed.), A Hebrew Chronicle from Prague, c.1615 Norman Davies and Antony Polonsky (eds.), Jews in Eastern Poland and the USSR, 1939–1946 Artur Eisenbach, The Emancipation of the Jews in Poland, 1780—1870 Barbara Engelking, Na lące popiołów: Ocaleni z Holocaustu Barbara Engelking, Zaglada i pamięć Peter Faessler, Thomas Held, and Dirk Sawitzki (eds.), Lemberg—Lwow—Lviv: Eine Stadt im Schnittpunkt europäischer Kulturen Darrel J. Fasching, The Ethical Challenge of Auschwitz and Hiroshima: Apocalypse or Utopia? P. Fijalkowski (ed.), Dzieje Żydów w Polsce: Wybór tekstów źródlowych XI—XVIII wieku David E. Fishman, Russia’s First Modern Jews: The Jews of Shklov Joseph Held (ed.), The Columbia History of Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century Edward H. Judge, Easter in Kishinev: Anatomy of a Pogrom Edward Kossoy and Abraham Ohry, The Feldshers: Medical, Sociological, and Historical Aspects of Practitioners of Medicine with below University Level Education Mark Levene, War, Jews, and the New Europe: The Diplomacy of Lucien Wolf, 1914—1919 Steven M. Lowenstein, The Berlin Jewish Community: Enlightenment, Family and Crisis, 1770—1830 Paul Robert Magocsi, Historical Atlas of East Central Europe Jerzy Michalski (ed.), Lud żydowski w narodzie polskim: Materiały sesji naukowej w Warszawie, 15—16 Wrzesien 1992 Clare Moore (ed.), The Visual Dimension: Aspects of Jewish Art Gedalyah Nigal, Magic, Mysticism, and Hasidism Magdalena Opalski and Israel Bartal, Poles and Jews: A Failed Brotherhood Eugenia Prokóp–Janiec, Międzywojenna literatura polsko-żydowska jako zjawisko kulturowe i artystyczne Joel Raba, Bein zikaron lehakhehashah: Gezerot tah vetat bereshimot benei hazeman ubere’i haketivah hahistorit Marek Rostworowski (ed.), Żydzi w Polsce: Obraz i slowo Jean W. Sedlar, East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000—1500 Jerzy Topolski, Polska w czasach nowożytnych: Od środkowoeuropejskiej potęgi do utraty niepodleglości, 1501—1795 Lawrence Weinbaum, A Marriage of Convenience: The New Zionist Organization and the Polish Government E. Thomas Wood and Stanislaw M. Jankowski, Karski: How One Man Tried to Stop the Holocaust Steven J. Zipperstein, Elusive Prophet: Ahad Ha’am and the Origins of Zionism Bibliography of Polish—Jewish Studies 1994 Notes on the Contributors Glossary Index