Zsidó székelyek. A bözödújfalusi szombatos közösség emlékezete, s. a. r., bev., jegyz. Újlaki-Nagy Réka (Balassi Kiadó, Budapest, 2019), 303 pp
A Memoir of the Sabbatarian Community of Bözödújfalu (Bezidu Nou), ed. Réka Újlaki-Nagy (Balassi, Budapest, 2019), 303 pp

Summary/Abstract: Réka Újlaki-Nagy’s 2019 volume can be classified both as a text collection and a source publication in terms of genre. This concise and objective statement is certainly valid from a scholarly perspective. However, the Foreword and the way the texts are handled soften this otherwise highly specific genre, infusing it with a subjective dimension. What do I mean by this? The author/editor is not indifferent to her subject; she approaches her research subjects with empathy and understanding. A testament to this is the 26-page Foreword, in which she provides only the most essential historical contextualization. Instead, she seeks to answer a deeper question: what motivated the followers of the Sabbatarian movement, which emerged in the late 16th century, to remain steadfast in their chosen faith despite later persecution, their marginal existence, societal incomprehension, and—on the part of the Jewish community—only partial acceptance?

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