"The Beginnings of Polish Jewry: Reevaluating the Evidence for the Eleventh to Fourteenth Centuries"

Author(s): Alexander Kulik,Judith Kalik / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2021

This article reexamines the evidence of Jewish presence in Poland from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries in connection with problems of origins, periodization, and localization of Jewish settlement in Poland. It deals inter alia with questions regarding the balance between Jewish and Christian evidence, as well as with reports of Jewish presence from neighboring areas of Eastern Europe such as Kievan Rus’. The reevaluation of evidence on medieval Polish Jews helps to illuminate the origins of eastern Ashkenazi Jewry, as well as to clarify diverse aspects of the history of early Eastern Europe. Thus, for example, among the most important general conclusions is the lack of continuity across three waves of Jewish migration and settlement in Poland. Since most Polish Jews were descendants of the third wave of Jewish migration into Poland, there is little doubt that the vast majority of them came from Germany and Bohemia, mostly via Silesia. We can also reliably conjecture that the Jewish population of southwestern Rus’—whatever its origins (possibly also at least partially Ashkenazi) and size (possibly reduced by the Mongol conquest)— came to be integrated with immigrants from the west due to the eastward expansion of Lithuania and Poland during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Thus, most modern Ashkenazi Jewry must go back to the melding of these two communities.

(Nie)pamięć zbiorowa Polaków jako skuteczna regulacja emocji

Author(s): Michał Bilewicz / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 6/2016

Bilewicz applies notions borrowed from the psychology of emotions to understand collective (im)memory in Poland, with a particular focus on defensive reactions to new historical data on Poles’ negative behaviour. Based on James Gross’ concept of emotion regulation, Bilewicz elaborates a model of downregulating collective moral emotions (such as guilt and shame). He then applies this model to the debate on the Jedwabne pogrom. He also outlines systematic social psychological studies that support his proposed emotion downregulation model. The article concludes with a discussion of alternative ways of presenting negative history – ways that overcome those defensive emotion regulatory processes.

(Od)czytywanie losów żydowskich

Author(s): Natalia Aleksiun / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 1/2020

This text introduces a collection of articles which seek to interpret Jewish ego documents and testimonies, broadly defined. Reading these documents facilitates a process of uncovering intimate threads and problematizing Jewish biographies.

20.YY YAHUDİ DÜŞÜNCESİNE BİR KATKI: LOUIS JACOBS (1920-2006)

Author(s): Ayşe Ambaroğlu / Language(s): Turkish / Issue: 4/2019

20th Century Modern Jewish Theology includes important discussions a large variety of subjects mainly about Institutional Judaism, Modernization and Religiousness. Following 17th century Early Modern Enlightenment Era and the 19th century Haskalah movement played an important role in 20th century Modern Jewish thought by supporting attention provoking discussions. Contrary to British Judaism which he got educated in, Louis Jacobs’s perspective is more compatible with Conservative Judaism which is more prevalent in USA and Canada. Important discussions of 20th century Reformist and Conservative Judaism such as development of Halaska, interpretation of Holy Book, individual against modernization and religiousness can be followed in his writings. In this work, a general look on Louis Jacobs’ thoughts is presented regarding British Judaism and problems about its era.

70 lat Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego – historia polityczna i badania. Jubileuszowy komentarz

Author(s): Andrzej Rykała / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 01/2019

The Jewish Historical Institute formally started its activities on 1 October 1947, pursuant to a resolution of the Presidium of the Central Committee of Jews in Poland (CKŻP) of 27 September of that year. However, it traces back its genesis to the Central Jewish Historical Commission established in 1944, which, after operating for three years, first in Lublin and subsequently in Łódź, was transformed into the Institute now transferred to Warsaw. Both institutions operated within the organizational structure of CKŻP, which was the biggest and a largely autonomous Jewish organization in Poland. Its dissolution in 1950, which came in the wake of the dismantling of Jewish ethnic and cultural autonomy, deprived the JHI of organizational support. In an attempt to cure that deficit, the Jewish Historical Institute Association was formed in that very year. Over the next seven decades, the Jewish Historical Institute, a successor to the Central Jewish Historical Commission, became the biggest and most important institution in Poland engaging in a systematic study of the history of Poland’s Jews. The article looks at selected aspects of the 70 years of JHI history in the form of glosses to papers (reports) by: Stephan Stach Political and social history of JHI – key moments and by Andrzej Żbikowski – Jewish Historical Institute, 70 years of research into the history of Poland’s Jews.

A BAR KOCHBA-FELKELÉS - A KUTATÁS FÉL-ÉVSZÁZADÁNAK EREDMÉNYEI ÉS KIHÍVÁSAI

Author(s): Tibor Grüll / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 1/2008

According to a commonplace in scholarly literature it is unachievable to write the history of the Bar Kochba revolt. This paper does not attempt the impossible, it merely attempts to take into account the way in which our evidences, that came to light in the last half-century, repaint the traditional picture of the insurrection. The first five chapters discuss the antecedents of the revolt, i.e., the short and long-term consequences of the churban; the uprising under Trajan (the so-called “war of Quietus”); the administrative, economic and military situation of Judaea from 70 to 132 C.E., mainly on the basis of the Babatha-archive. The immediate cause of the Bar Kochba revolt is still debated, as both the foundation of Colonia Aelia Capitolina (ch. 5), and the ban on circumcision, introduced by Hadrian’s legislation (ch. 6), can be taken into account. It is not clear, however, whether these oppressive measures were taken before or after 132; in other words, whether they were causes or consequences of the war. The following chapter is dedicated to Bar Kochba’s messianic pretensions, which, among other things, can be verified with the strong halachic orientation of the papyri produced by the administration of the revolt (ch. 8). Ch. 9 examines the character and magnitude of the Roman military participation in the Bar Kochba revolt, as these are illuminated by the extant epigraphic material. The last chapter deals with the Jewish guerilla tactics and bases: the rebels’ hiding complexes that from the 1990’s have been explored in the territory of Judaea.

A Case Study of Radical Assimilation in Poland. The Family Markusfeld

Author(s): Paweł Jasnowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 14/2016

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of radical assimilation in the late 19th century. The author focuses on the Markusfeld family, who had lived in Kraków since at least the mid-18th century. The study is an attempt to show the history of family against the background of the history of Galicia, in the second half of the 19th century, when the idea of integration was finally abandoned, and integration ceased to be seen as solution of “the Jewish question.” The paper is based on Bauman’s analysis of the general sociological mechanisms of modern assimilatory processes, and refers to the category of radical assimilation (T. Endelman). It seeks to answer the question of why most family members chose to convert at the end of the 19th century. The author shows that the choice of “default” religion, “universal” values, and “right” idiom was not tantamount to their affirmation – but it was a way to look for happiness and fulfillment, which was (unlike in France), according to some Jews not accessible while staying Jewish. Baptism was also a form of protection – the Second World War would prove it effective.

A durai zsinagóga nyugati falképciklusának vallási és politikai üzenete

Author(s): Géza Xeravits / Language(s): Hungarian / Issue: 2/2012

The west wall of the Dura synagogue is a kind of political and religious manifesto. The first artist of the west wall accentuated the enduring covenant between God and his people and the continuity of the cult. The second artist picked up these overall Leitmotivs, and expanded them by adding the figurative paintings. The modifications to the central panel emphasise the idea that Israel is a people chosen by God, in whose history God’s promises and the forefathers’ blessings are fulfilled. This is complemented by the wing panels, where Moses, the pre-eminent figure of the past, is depicted. This Mosaic cycle shows religious/cultic orientation. This aspect is further emphasised by the middle register of the narrative panels. As we look at the narrative panels, we see that the middle register has a kind of central position—framed by the top and bottom registers—which assigns to it a basic or essential place within the composition. The message of this mural is to meditate upon the believer’s relationship with God. After articulating the religious message of the west wall, the artist turned to political issues. The paintings of the bottom and top registers recalling various events of the histoire sainte—affirm the pre-eminence of the Jewish people. Affirming this in a minority context and in an especially turbulent period of regional history, these panels carry a message of consolation.

A FI EVREU, A FI INTELECTUAL, A FI ROMÂN ȘI DUNĂREAN. SIONISM ȘI ASIMILARE

Author(s): Iulia Maria Deaconu (Ticărău) / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 2/2019

In this paper, I bring into discussion the concepts of Zionism and assimilation, as introduced in Mihail Sebastian’s novel For Two Thousand Years… Some critical points of view regarding these movements will be referred to in order to highlight the novelty of Sebastian’s approach and how he introduced these concepts within his fictional universe.

A New Hebrew Literary Diaspora? Israeli Literature Abroad

Author(s): Yaron Peleg / Language(s): English / Issue: 36/2015

Although the modern stage in the development of Hebrew began in Europe about two hundred years ago, after 1948 the language and its literature became confined for the most part to the state of Israel. The tumultuous course of Jewish history in the past two centuries has by and large emptied the Jewish Diaspora of Hebrew. And yet in the past few decades we are witnessing a growing number of Hebrew writers who are no longer confined by geography. Although they still publish their works in Israel, they write them elsewhere, mainly in the United States and Europe. Increasingly, too, their works reflect their habitat as well as the peoples and cultures of their countries of residence. Are we witnessing the birth of what can perhaps be termed a “post-national Hebrew” era, an era in which Israel remains an inspiring cultural center, but no longer the only location for the creation of original works in Hebrew? This article looks at various Hebrew novels that were written outside of Israel in the last few decades and examines the contours of what may perhaps be a new chapter in the history of modern Hebrew.

A People’s Biography: Ada El’evna Raichonak and Her Hermanavichy

Author(s): Anika Walke / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2020

The article advances an approach to studying 20th century Jewish experience in the former Pale of Jewish Settlement that foregrounds individual biographies and places them in a larger cultural and historical context. Drawing on interviews and various other sources, this approach reveals, among others, how individuals challenge familiar categories of identification and thereby appeal to flexible research agendas.

A privi, a vedea: Timișoara evreiască și nu numai

Author(s): Smaranda Vultur / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 08/2019

Abecadlniki karaimskie

Author(s): Małgorzata Machcińska / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 04/2015

The article contains introductory information about the printing of Karaite primers to teach children to read Hebrew, which first appeared in the early 19th century. These primers are an important source of information about the teaching of Hebrew among the Karaite community in Eastern Europe and also about the specific pronunciation of Karaite Hebrew.

ABRAHAM – PRAOTAC VJERE - U BIBLIJSKIM PREDAJAMA. POVIJESNO-KRITIČKE PRETPOSTAVKE ZA PROUČAVANJE ABRAHAMOVA LIKA U POST 12-25

Author(s): Marko Tomić / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 1/2004

Abraham is, without doubt, one of the most famous and most significant biblical characters. His significance depended on the conditions in which Jewish people was found. The article elaborates the character of Abraham – patriarch, the way it was presented in the Holy Scriptures, always bearing in mind the circumstances which were historically conditioned. After the etymological interpretation of Abraham’s name, the emphasis was put on the so called cycle about Abraham, included in Gen 12-25. The cycle was divided into three different traditions: Jahvistic, Elohistic and Priest tradition. The review on their specific characteristics highlights the character of “the ancestor of our faith” within given historical conditions and understandings. Facts and emphasis from different traditions are compared to the facts which are results of historical and archaeological researches. Abraham can be situated into appropriate historical and geographical context on the basis of scarce historical facts and indications.

Abraham bar Jacob and His Copperplate Engravings in 17th and 18th Century Amsterdam Prints

Author(s): Magdalena Bendowska / Language(s): English / Issue: 01/2017

In 1695, the printing shop of Asher Anshel ben Eliezer Kutner and Issachar Ber ben Eliezer of Minden issued a new edition of the Passover Haggadah, for the first time illustrated with copperplate engravings. The name of the engraver, Abraham bar Jacob, was present both on the title page and on the foldable Palestine map with a legend in Hebrew attached to the book. This book drew its inspiration from Christian sources. The artist already had collaborated earlier with Amsterdam printing offices. He produced the frontispiece of the Yiddish Bible published by Uri Phoebus (1679) and later copied in successive books printed by Uri Phoebus in Amsterdam, by Johannes Wust in Frankfort on the Main and by Shabbatai Bass in Dyhernfurth. Another frontispiece by Abraham bar Jacob was inserted by Immanuel Athias in the books Shnei Luhot ha-berit (1698) and Yad Yosef (1700), also by Shlomo Proops in Eshlei ravrevei (1711) and Maginei eretz (1732). Later, this template was used by printers Hertz Levi Rofe and his son-in-law Kosman. Both Haggadah title pages were copied by other printing offices. At first, the inclusion of Abraham bar Jacob’s illustrations in Jewish books and the author’s name did not provoke any reaction. However, as time passed by, the authorship was increasingly concealed. Athias obliterated the artist’s signature on the copperplate used in Yad Yosef, and Proops removed Abraham bar Jacob’s name from the title page of the second edition of the Haggadah. The reason for this probably was that the engraver was a convert, a pastor originating from the Rhine region who converted to Judaism in Amsterdam. This fact was mentioned for the first time by the Christian Hebraist Johann Christoph Wolf in the Bibliotheca Hebraea bibliography. Notwithstanding the artist’s origins, his illustration achieved popularity and gained numerous followers.

Abraham Firkowicz: introduction to Sep̄er Massa u-Mriḇa

Author(s): Veronika Klimova / Language(s): English / Issue: 03/2017

The article is a contribution to studies of Karaite literature in Eastern Europe. It presents an introduction to Massa u-Mriḇa written by the best known Karaite scholar Abraham Firkowicz (1786–1874). The author is engaged in a prolonged polemic against the Rabbanites who claimed Talmud to be an oral explanation of the laws God gave to Moses. He refers to the history of the Karaites and emphasizes a frequent misunderstanding of their origin as they are incorrectly identified with Sadducees. Firkowicz does not hesitate to level harsh criticism and utilizes his Biblical lexicon in defending the purity of Karaite faith.

Admiration and Fear: New Perspectives on the Personality of the Maharal

Author(s): Pavel Sládek / Language(s): English,Hebrew / Issue: 2/2017

Rabbi Judah Leva ben Betzalel – the Maharal (ca. 1525–1609) is regarded as one of the key figures of the sixteenth-century rabbinic culture. Yet, given the fragmentary nature of the existing sources, his biography and intellectual profile manifest several unfortunate lacunae. Based on unknown or neglected manuscript and printed sources, this study formulates tentative hypotheses about some of the gaps in our understanding of the Maharal’s attitudes and the reception of his person by his contemporaries. It shows that the Maharal felt very close to his brother Hayyim and suggests that he spent his formative years in the Lublin yeshivah of rabbi Shalom Shakhnah. The renown and respect that the Maharal enjoyed from contemporary scholars does not seem to be the result of the reception of his voluminous writings but rather of his radical views of rabbinic authority and the ruthlessness with which he was ready to carry his ideas through.Aban that the Maharal intended to impose on the rabbinic ordination of candidates of Moravian origin indicates that his move to Prague was perhaps involuntary and explains the reluctance of the lay leaders to elect him as a communal rabbi. Other sources discussed for the first time with regard to the Maharal document that he was both respected and feared even outside the region, for example in Italy. The Hebrew originals of the most important unpublished sources discussed in this study are appended.

Adversus Iudaeos in the Sermon Written by Theodore Syncellus on the Avar Siege of AD 626

Author(s): Martin Hurbanič / Language(s): English / Issue: 6/2016

A sermon attributed to Theodore Syncellus (Theodoros Synkellos) is considered as one of the basic sources for the study of the Avar siege of Constantinople in AD 626. Therefore, the most historians paid more attention to the analysis of its historical background than to its ideological content. From the ideological point of view, the document serves as an evidence that a fear for the future of the Empire and its capital Constantinople began to rise within emerging Byzantine society. The Avar siege served its author mainly as a model for developing his polemics with imaginary Jewish opponents and their religion. It deserves to be included in a long succession of similar polemical treatises, which have existed in Christianity from its earliest times.

Alte und neue jüdische Musiker

Author(s): Paul Nettl / Language(s): German / Publication Year: 0

An Annotated Translation of Pinchas Szerman’s Poilishe Khazones in Fargangenheitun Tzukunft, [The Polish Cantorate in the Past and the Future,] 1924

Author(s): Benjamin Matis / Language(s): English / Issue: 14/2016

A translation of a Polemic essay by Cantor Pinchas Szerman, second cantor at the Great synagogue of Warsaw. The essay discusses the many difficulties experienced by cantors in his time, especially the ones who had not be educated. In Szerman’s opinion, the only way to ease the burden – especially the financial burden – was to create a class of educated and professional cantors. The many customs of Polish Jewry that are forgotten today have been annotated as well as basic biographical data on highly influential earlier cantorial masters