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The Light of Learning: Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust
Dr. Dynner will introduce his newest study followed by a response from Dr. Cichopek-Gajraj. We invite people to ask questions of the author at the end of the webinar.
The Light of Learning tells the story of an unexpected Hasidic revival in Poland on the eve of the Holocaust. In the aftermath of World War I, the Jewish mystical movement appeared to be in shambles. Hasidic leaders had dispersed, Hasidic courts lay in ruins, and the youth seemed swept up in secularist trends as a result of mandatory public schooling and new Jewish movements like Zionism and Socialism. Author Glenn Dynner shows that in response to this, Hasidic leaders reinvented themselves as educators devoted to rescuing the youth by means of thriving networks of heders (primary schools), Bais Yaakov schools for girls and women, and world-renowned yeshivas.[…]
Turning Points in Jewish History: A Polish Translation
A Roundtable Discussion
The Polish translation of Rabbi Marc Rosenstein’s Turning Points in Jewish History will give the Polish reading public a greater understanding of Jewish history. The historical volume makes accessible over thirty pivotal moments from biblical times to the near present to provide the reader with “the big picture.” Its teachers will augment and embellish the Polish version using text and online sources as a core. This is similar to the process developed by the Jewish Publication Society, which has licensed this effort.[…]
Cursed: A Social Portrait of the Kielce Pogrom
In Cursed: A Social Portrait of the Kielce Pogrom, Joanna Tokarska-Bakir investigates the July 4, 1946, Kielce pogrom, a milestone in the immediate post-Holocaust events impacting Jewish life in Poland and the Jewish diaspora. This massacre compelled thousands of Polish Jews who survived the Holocaust to flee postwar Poland. It remains a negative reference point in the Polish historical narrative and represents a lack of reckoning with the role of antisemitism in postwar Polish society and identity politics.[…]
The Concerns of Polish Progressive Judaism’s Foremost Leader Rabbi Ozjasz Thon (1870-1936)
A Suddenly Familiar Voice
Professor Shoshana Ronen’s presentation based on her book, A Prophet of Consolation on the Threshold of Destruction will introduce us to the remarkable Polish Progressive Rabbi Ozjasz (Joshua) Thon. Until recently the legacy of Rabbi Thon’s intellectual and lived experience was shrouded by the Holocaust and subsequent events, most importantly the establishment of the state of Israel. Now, Rabbi Thon’s significance emerges for Diaspora communities committed to their national identity and to Jewish cultural and political Zionism. Today’s Jewish world may be astounded to learn that[…]
The Significant Legacy of Memory Among the Second Generation
When Memory Comes, Are We Returned to Poland or New Ground?
Recent writing of children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors is creating a new literary community genre. Transcending national boundaries, Second and Third Generation children of survivors are encountering each other. Dr. David Kader will lead us in his own exploration that is both literary and personal. He has recently written[…]