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Yihus: The Social Composition of Hasidic Leadership

Glenn Dynner

in Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society

The familial ties between zaddikim and the elite helps define the social profile of Hasidic leadership and discover the root of dynastic tendencies outside of Central Poland. The chapter begins with ... More

The familial ties between zaddikim and the elite helps define the social profile of Hasidic leadership and discover the root of dynastic tendencies outside of Central Poland. The chapter begins with a discussion ofyihus— familial and ancestral prestige based especially on scholarly attainment — in pre-Hasidic society. Hasidic homiletic sources are then mined for attitudes aboutyihus, revealing a palpable divide between the older, more meritocratic understanding of the concept among Polish zaddikim and the emergence of a more strictly hereditary understanding among certain other zaddikim. Yet a survey of genealogies and marriage strategies among fifty zaddikim demonstrates that, however moderate or radical their beliefs aboutyihus, most zaddikim still derived from the elite themselves and sustained their social status by marrying their children to otheryihuspossessors.Less

Introduction

Lavinia Stan and Lucian Turcescu

in Church, State, and Democracy in Expanding Europe

This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of church-state relations in the countries in the original European Union (EU). It then sets out the purpose of the book, which is to investigate ... More

This introductory chapter begins with a discussion of church-state relations in the countries in the original European Union (EU). It then sets out the purpose of the book, which is to investigate church-state relations in the enlarged EU resulting from the acceptance of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Slovenia in 2004, and of Bulgaria and Romania in 2007. The chapter addresses important questions such as: What are the broad patterns of church-state relations in these countries? How did these models grow historically, how were they reshaped by communist policies, and how have they evolved in the pre-accession stage? How significantly different are these models from church-state relations in established Western democracies? Will the new EU members' ability to consolidate democracy be hampered by their church-state relations? The religious make-up of these post-communist EU member states is also described.Less

Hasidism in Central Poland, 1754–1830

Glenn Dynner

in Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society

This chapter highlights the regional distinctiveness of Polish Hasidism and attempts to quantify its regional expansion. Polish Hasidism shared the broader theological and experiential features of ... More

This chapter highlights the regional distinctiveness of Polish Hasidism and attempts to quantify its regional expansion. Polish Hasidism shared the broader theological and experiential features of Hasidism in other regions. But the impact of the unique Central Polish context is reflected in its more urban, cosmopolitan, and economically adept leaders and adherents, as well as in its meritocratic tendencies during leadership succession. In estimating the size of the Hasidic community in Central Poland by the early 19th century, we must account for the considerable proportion of women and adolescent men whose participation seldom registered in official estimates. The chapter concludes with a mapping of Hasidism's geographical spread in the region during this period.Less

Warsaw and the Patrons of Polish Hasidism

Glenn Dynner

in Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society

The successful Hasidic ascendancy of the prior chapter is, in great part, attributable to Polish Hasidism's vast patronage network among the region's Jewish mercantile elite. The chapter commences ... More

The successful Hasidic ascendancy of the prior chapter is, in great part, attributable to Polish Hasidism's vast patronage network among the region's Jewish mercantile elite. The chapter commences with an account of the rise of the Jewish mercantile elite in Warsaw. This is followed by a reconstruction of the penetration of this elite group by Hasidic leaders, with a focus on the preeminent mercantile family, the Bergsons. This includes an in-depth look at the legendary patroness of Polish Hasidism, Temerel Sonenberg-Bergson. A fresh analysis of the 1824 anti-Hasidic investigation is presented, based on new archival sources, highlighting the pivotal role of the Jewish plutocracy. The chapter concludes with an explanation of the appeal that Hasidism held for these entrepreneurs.Less

Charlatans or “Lovers of Israel”?: Evaluating Hasidic Populism

Glenn Dynner

in Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society

This chapter evaluates the movement's grassroots appeal through its miracle working enterprises, arguing that Polish zaddikim were neither charlatans, nor were they, technically speaking, “popular” ... More

This chapter evaluates the movement's grassroots appeal through its miracle working enterprises, arguing that Polish zaddikim were neither charlatans, nor were they, technically speaking, “popular” leaders. In their embrace of folk religion, they were apparently sincere and differed little from traditional mystical practitioners,ba'alei shem, but differed markedly in their social status and concomitant influence among the Jewish masses and Polish officialdom. Women and youth obtained unprecedented access to zaddikim; yet followers from the Jewish elite granted special or lengthier audiences and were groomed for leadership succession. The chapter concludes with a look at the most ambivalent zaddik with respect to miracle working, R. Simha Bunem of Przysucha.Less

Sermons, Stories, and Songs: Marketing Hasidism

Glenn Dynner

in Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society

Hasidic marketing campaigns employed everything from printed sermons and tales to oral tales, songs, and dances. This chapter argues that that these methods were earmarked for specific social groups. ... More

Hasidic marketing campaigns employed everything from printed sermons and tales to oral tales, songs, and dances. This chapter argues that that these methods were earmarked for specific social groups. The importance of Hasidic printing as a vehicle for reaching the male intellectual elite has been underestimated, as demonstrated through a survey of the impressive number of printed works and an analysis of their endorsements (haskamot). Tale collections formed something of a bridge between literate, semi-literate, and illiterate populations. Oral tales were designed specifically for the latter two groups, which helps explain their propensity for fantasies about social inversion. Oral tales, in addition to songs and dances, borrowed heavily from non-Jewish culture.Less

Anatomy of a Hasidic Conquest

Glenn Dynner

in Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society

This chapter concerns the mechanics of Polish Hasidism's political ascendancy by reconstructing conquests of local institutions at various levels. In the nine case studies, the stages of Hasidic ... More

This chapter concerns the mechanics of Polish Hasidism's political ascendancy by reconstructing conquests of local institutions at various levels. In the nine case studies, the stages of Hasidic conquest range from the establishment of separate prayer houses, to domination of the communal study house (bet midrash) and/or synagogue, to control of rabbinical and other communal appointments. The chapter concludes with an assessment of governmental policy towards Hasidim that reveals, through a comparison with official treatment of Christian pilgrims and miracle sites, a surprising lack of overt discrimination against Hasidism on the part of Polish officialdom.Less

Raymond Pearson. National Minorities in Eastern Europe, 1848-1945. London: Macmillan Press. 1983. Pp. x, 249.: S. M. Horak et al. Eastern European National Minorities, 1919-1980. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited. Suppliers, Bowker Publishing Company. 1985. Pp. xv, 353.

Anthony Smith

in Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry Volume 1: Poles and Jews: Renewing the Dialogue

This chapter focuses on two books on Eastern European national minorities. The first is Stephen Horak's comprehensive handbook of national minorities in Eastern Europe between 1919 and 1980. Arranged ... More

This chapter focuses on two books on Eastern European national minorities. The first is Stephen Horak's comprehensive handbook of national minorities in Eastern Europe between 1919 and 1980. Arranged by ‘state-nation’, the studies contained in the handbook offer a brief historical survey of the overall position of minorities in each state, followed by sections on each minority, together with a valuable bibliography arranged by national minority within each state. In these respects, the handbook, by compiling and presenting so much scattered information in a single volume and indicating what is being done in Eastern Europe in the way of further research, performs an invaluable service. A similar demographic emphasis is apparent in the general account of Eastern European minorities by Raymond Pearson. Here the time-scale stops at 1945 but extends back to 1848, a date which by his own admission possesses symbolic rather than real significance in Eastern Europe. Pearson's account presents the effects of the World Wars, especially the Second, on political boundaries and demographic patterns — notably of ethnic Germans, Russians, Gypsies, and Jews — in a concise, but balanced, manner.Less

Eastern Christianity and Human Security in Postwar Europe

Lucian N. Leustean

in Religion and Human Security: A Global Perspective

This chapter reveals the complex and subtle relationship between Orthodox religion and communist regimes that sought either to destroy the church or to use it for their own purposes. The eventual ... More

This chapter reveals the complex and subtle relationship between Orthodox religion and communist regimes that sought either to destroy the church or to use it for their own purposes. The eventual failure of these regimes was due, at least in part, to their underestimation of the contributions made by Orthodoxy to the human security of its people. This chapter argues that religious communities form just one of the primary actors in securing the welfare, rights, and social desires of their constituents. It provides a broad background of the relationship of religion to the communist regimes, the ways in which the churches responded to these regimes, and a detailed account of how the Romanian church survived amid communist political powers. Indeed, the church's involvement in both domestic and foreign politics continues to create a primary source of human security in contemporary Eastern Europe more generally.Less

Book Reviews: Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization in the Mind of the Enlightenment

Daniel Stone

in Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry Volume 12: Focusing on Galicia: Jews, Poles and Ukrainians 1772-1918

This chapter presents a brief analysis of Larry Wolff's Inventing Eastern Europe. The book aims to deconstruct the term ‘eastern Europe’, arguing that the modern view of this region as exotic and ... More

This chapter presents a brief analysis of Larry Wolff's Inventing Eastern Europe. The book aims to deconstruct the term ‘eastern Europe’, arguing that the modern view of this region as exotic and backward took form in the eighteenth century — a point that provides much food for thought. Wolff argues his central point, that west Europeans had an exotic image of eastern Europe in the eighteenth century, convincingly, although his evidence suggests that the image took only preliminary form then. He observes in passing, however, that this image only became a full-blown ‘phantasmagoria’ in the nineteenth century. Despite the truly impressive amount of western European literature that Wolff has uncovered to support his thesis, some of his points seem forced. The chapter thus undertakes an analysis of the book's weaker points.Less

From Solidarity to Freedom: The Mixed Fortunes of Churches in Postcommunist Eastern Europe

Jonathan Luxmoore

in The Future of Religious Freedom: Global Challenges

This chapter examines the issues and challenges still facing churches and religious associations in Eastern and Central Europe more than two decades after the overthrow of communist rule, and it ... More

This chapter examines the issues and challenges still facing churches and religious associations in Eastern and Central Europe more than two decades after the overthrow of communist rule, and it looks at the lessons learned in the intervening period for the protection of religious freedom in emerging democracies. While some problems were inherited from the communist era and are common throughout the region, others have emerged under the impact of post-communist democratisation and pluralisation, and are specific to particular countries. The creation of stable institutions, backed by the rule of law and freedom of speech, gave a great boost to religious rights in this era. But the quest remains for an appropriate and dependable balance between the sacred and secular spheres, and between the often competing interests of state and individual, as illustrated by the chapter's comparative case studies in areas from church property rights and fiscal privileges to education and abortion.Less

Pius XII: Communism and the Cold War

John Pollard

in The Papacy in the Age of Totalitarianism, 1914-1958

This chapter is primarily concerned with the evolution of Vatican policies in response to the systematic persecution of the Catholic Church in Eastern Europe, China, and parts of South-East Asia, ... More

This chapter is primarily concerned with the evolution of Vatican policies in response to the systematic persecution of the Catholic Church in Eastern Europe, China, and parts of South-East Asia, culminating in the excommunication of Communists in 1949, against the background of the development of the Cold War between East and West after 1945. It also examines the papacy’s relationships in this period with the countries of Western Europe, especially the reviving democracies in France, Germany, and Italy, but also the Iberian dictatorships, and explores the attitude of Pius XII towards the Atlantic Alliance and the emerging processes of European integration. It focuses attention upon the Americas, North and South, and upon the Vatican’s response to the processes of decolonization, especially in Palestine. It concludes with an examination of claims that the later years of Pius XII’s pontificate constituted a sort of preparation for the Ostpolitik of his successors.Less

Super-Reality

Bruce Zuckerman

in Job the Silent: A Study in Historical Counterpoint

The chapter reveals that the view of “Bontsye Shvayg” presented in the previous chapters is not the popular view of the story after all. A big factor in the popular misreading of Bontsye Shvayg is ... More

The chapter reveals that the view of “Bontsye Shvayg” presented in the previous chapters is not the popular view of the story after all. A big factor in the popular misreading of Bontsye Shvayg is the “Ozymandias effect” from the well-known sonnet, “Ozymandias” by Percy Shelley. The sonnet portrays a king in a manner that surpasses reality, showing the king’s features in colossal, superhuman terms similar to what Perets did in portraying Bontsye as Super-Job. The “Ozymandias effect” aids in the transformation of a story in an exemplary tale of piety akin to what the original legend of Job was. The chapter also explains how the historical circumstance of Perets’ time and the 19th century until the early 20th century in Eastern Europe have lead Perets’ audience to misread willfully the intent of the author. By filtering reality through the super-reality of Bontsye, Jews see themselves as people singled out to suffer silently and piously in the model of Abraham. A couple of absurdities in the interpretation of Bontsye are also presented in this chapter. It points out that one should not endure punishment without protest, one should not greedily seize the smallest favor offered by an authority but rather insist on the essential rights of all humanity.Less

Steven E. Aschheim. Brothers and Strangers. The East European Jew in German and German Jewish Consciousness, 1800-1923. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. 1983. Pp. 331.

Sergiusz Michalski

in Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry Volume 1: Poles and Jews: Renewing the Dialogue

This chapter investigates Steven E. Aschheim's Brothers and Strangers (1983). In the 19th century, German Jews made their great social, political, and cultural bid for a sort of assimilation. In ... More

This chapter investigates Steven E. Aschheim's Brothers and Strangers (1983). In the 19th century, German Jews made their great social, political, and cultural bid for a sort of assimilation. In becoming Prussian and German citizens and diehard patriots, they desperately tried to minimize or totally break off the already limited relations with the neighbouring Jewish world of Eastern Europe. Around 1850 and later, the term ‘Ostjude’ stood for an image of an uncivilized, superstitious Easterner totally alien to the German Jew. Only when the assimilationist process suffered its first serious setbacks did some doubts, affecting the validity of the stereotype, creep in. For certain Jewish circles, especially Jewish intellectuals drafted into the German eastern front armies during World War I, the Ostjude became the very image of a Jewish cultural hero. Aschheim's book discusses both the stereotypes and the ideological discourse which manifested itself in the relations between these two great Jewish populations.Less

The Influence of the Philokalia in the Orthodox World

Andrew Louth

in The Philokalia: A Classic Text of Orthodox Spirituality

This chapter traces the history of the influence of the Philokalia in Greece, Russia, Romania, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the western world.

A New American Jewish World

Sefton D. Temkin

in Creating American Reform Judaism: Life and Times of Isaac Mayer Wise

This chapter shows how the battles over the Pittsburgh Platform were being fought over a terrain which other factors were already transforming. Large-scale migration from Eastern Europe had begun. ... More

This chapter shows how the battles over the Pittsburgh Platform were being fought over a terrain which other factors were already transforming. Large-scale migration from Eastern Europe had begun. The number of Jews in the United States, estimated at 250,000 in 1880, reached the million mark in 1900, the year of Wise’s death. The acculturated community, speaking English albeit with a German accent, largely middle class, reformed in religion, was outnumbered by one that spoke Yiddish, belonged to the proletariat, and was untouched by Reform Judaism. The processes which Wise saw at work when he arrived in 1846 had to begin over again; but although many of the factors were similar, the answers were not necessarily the same. Incidentally, the presence of a second and larger Jewish community enhanced the importance of New York in American Jewish life and diminished the significance of Cincinnati and other Midwest communities where Wise had held sway.Less

Introduction

Detlef Pollack and Gergely Rosta

in Religion and Modernity: An International Comparison

The introductory chapter to Part III, which focuses on religious change in Eastern Europe, discusses general trends of religiosity in the region. Changes to the religious landscape in the ... More

The introductory chapter to Part III, which focuses on religious change in Eastern Europe, discusses general trends of religiosity in the region. Changes to the religious landscape in the post-communist countries of Eastern and Central Europe have been marked in recent years by processes not only of revival, but also of decline. The introduction identifies three different trajectories in Eastern and Central Europe that will be dealt with: religious renaissance, religious decline, and slight decline against the background of widespread stability. This explains the choice of the three case studies to be analysed in the following chapters: Russia, East Germany, and Poland.Less

The Secular Appropriation of Hasidism by an East European Jewish Intellectual: Dubnow, Renan, and the Besht

Robert M. Seltzer

in Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry Volume 1: Poles and Jews: Renewing the Dialogue

This chapter studies the role that Hasidism played in the thought of the modernized Jewish intelligentsia of Eastern Europe toward the end of the 19th century. Simon Dubnow played a pivotal role in ... More

This chapter studies the role that Hasidism played in the thought of the modernized Jewish intelligentsia of Eastern Europe toward the end of the 19th century. Simon Dubnow played a pivotal role in the emergence of this new image of Hasidism. In his autobiography, Dubnow describes in some detail the influence on him at that time of Leo Tolstoy and Ernest Renan. The influence of Renan's History of Christianity is quite evident in the structure of Dubnow's History of Hasidism as well as in some of Dubnow's solutions to problems of interpretation. Like Renan, Dubnow opened with a discussion of the social and intellectual background of a movement that can be traced to a founder known only for a long time through oral sources which retained the character of legend or saga. Applying Renan's statement that such pious biographies have a historical core, Dubnow stripped the life of the Baal Shem Tov, as recorded in the Shivhei ha-Besht, of its supernatural elements to reveal a simple, humble man who loved nature, especially the forests of the Carpathian mountains; a man who had immense affection for the common people and disdain for the proud, aloof scholars of his time and who preached a lofty doctrine of religious pantheism and universal brotherhood.Less

Communism

Joshua M. Zeitz

in White Ethnic New York: Jews, Catholics, and the Shaping of Postwar Politics

In 1949, the small town of Peekskill in New York drew national attention when a predominantly Catholic mob twice ambushed a benefit concert intended to raise money for members of the Communist Party ... More

In 1949, the small town of Peekskill in New York drew national attention when a predominantly Catholic mob twice ambushed a benefit concert intended to raise money for members of the Communist Party who were awaiting trial on charges of violating the Smith Act. The concert featured Paul Robeson, a renowned left-wing political activist and virtuoso. Due to the chaos, the event was canceled but finally went off without a hitch a week later. This chapter examines the fallout from the Peekskill riot, which pitted New York City's Jews against Catholics. Although both groups opposed communism, they differed in levels of intensity. Many local Jews, including committed anticommunists, viewed the riots as a threat to free thought and expression, but leading Catholics strongly disagreed. The chapter discusses four general phenomena feeding Catholic anticommunism in the 1940s and 1950s: Catholic social theology, international conflicts, antiestablishment resentment, and the repression of Christianity in Eastern Europe.Less