The Light of Learning
Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust
- Publisher's listprice GBP 27.49
-
13 133 Ft (12 507 Ft + 5% VAT)
The price is estimated because at the time of ordering we do not know what conversion rates will apply to HUF / product currency when the book arrives. In case HUF is weaker, the price increases slightly, in case HUF is stronger, the price goes lower slightly.
- Discount 10% (cc. 1 313 Ft off)
- Discounted price 11 819 Ft (11 256 Ft + 5% VAT)
Subcribe now and take benefit of a favourable price.
Subscribe
13 133 Ft
Availability
Estimated delivery time: In stock at the publisher, but not at Prospero's office. Delivery time approx. 3-5 weeks.
Not in stock at Prospero.
Why don't you give exact delivery time?
Delivery time is estimated on our previous experiences. We give estimations only, because we order from outside Hungary, and the delivery time mainly depends on how quickly the publisher supplies the book. Faster or slower deliveries both happen, but we do our best to supply as quickly as possible.
Product details:
- Publisher OUP USA
- Date of Publication 20 November 2024
- ISBN 9780197670637
- Binding Hardback
- No. of pages320 pages
- Size 243x163x19 mm
- Weight 599 g
- Language English
- Illustrations 35 b/w photos; 1 map 564
Categories
Short description:
The Light of Learning is a pioneering study that belies notions of late Hasidic decadence and decline, and transforms our understanding of Polish Jewry during its final hour. In interwar Poland, Hasidism underwent a pedagogical revolution. By mobilizing Torah study, Hasidic leaders were able to subvert the "civilizing" projects of the Polish state, challenge the ascendancy of Zionism and Socialism, and create clandestine yeshiva bunkers in Nazi-era ghettos. Hasidic Torah study was thus not only a spiritual-intellectual endeavor but a political practice that fueled a formidable culture of resistance.
MoreLong description:
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.
During the ensuing pedagogical revolution, Hasidic yeshivas soon overshadowed courts, and Hasidic leaders became known more for scholarship than miracle-working. By mobilizing Torah study, Hasidic leaders were able to subvert the "civilizing" projects of the Polish state, successfully rival Zionists and Socialists, and create clandestine yeshiva bunkers in ghettos during the Holocaust. Torah study was thus not only a spiritual-intellectual endeavor but a political practice that fueled a formidable culture of resistance. The Light of Learning belies notions of late Hasidic decadence and decline and transforms our understanding of Polish Jewry during its final hour.
Glenn Dynner's book is an eye-opening account of Hasidic life in Poland
immediately before World War II. It expertly challenges regnant theories of Hasidic isolationism and exhibits the extent to which Hasidic circles and leaders were deeply engaged in educational reform, including women's education, as well as politics and the collapsing world around them. Drawing from published works, archival materials, and memoirs in numerous languages, Dynner changes the way we will look at Hasidic life in interwar Poland. A must-read for those interested in Eastern European Jewry's engagement with modernity.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
1. Weathering the Crisis: Polish Hasidism through the First World War
2. A Higher Education: The Hasidic Pedagogical Revival
3. Aguda: The Politicization of Hasidism
4. Against Aguda: Politics without Party Politics
5. Physical Pogroms and Spiritual Pogroms: Hasidism in Post-Piludski Poland
6. Hasidism during the Holocaust
Conclusion
