Men of Silk

Men of Silk
Author: Glenn Dynner
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 397
Release: 2008-12-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 019538265X

Hasidism, a kabbalah-inspired movement founded by Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (c1700-1760), transformed Jewish communities across Eastern and East Central Europe. In Men of Silk, Glenn Dynner draws upon newly discovered Polish archival material and neglected Hebrew testimonies to illuminate Hasidism's dramatic ascendancy in the region of Central Poland during the early nineteenth century. Dynner presents Hasidism as a socioreligious phenomenon that was shaped in crucial ways by its Polish context. His social historical analysis dispels prevailing romantic notions about Hasidism. Despite their folksy image, the movement's charismatic leaders are revealed as astute populists who proved remarkably adept at securing elite patronage, neutralizing powerful opponents, and methodically co-opting Jewish institutions. The book also reveals the full spectrum of Hasidic devotees, from humble shtetl dwellers to influential Warsaw entrepreneurs.

The History of the Jews in the Netherlands

The History of the Jews in the Netherlands
Author: J.C.H. Blom
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Total Pages: 579
Release: 2001-12-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1909821233

This acclaimed history of the Jewish role in Dutch society through the ages, now available in English, considers the internal evolution of the Jewish community as well as the social, cultural, and economic interaction with the wider population. 'This general survey should appeal to a wide public interested in the history of the Jews of the Netherlands.' Het Parool

The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 7, The Early Modern World, 1500–1815

The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 7, The Early Modern World, 1500–1815
Author: Jonathan Karp
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 1154
Release: 2017-11-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 110813906X

This seventh volume of The Cambridge History of Judaism provides an authoritative and detailed overview of early modern Jewish history, from 1500 to 1815. The essays, written by an international team of scholars, situate the Jewish experience in relation to the multiple political, intellectual and cultural currents of the period. They also explore and problematize the 'modernization' of world Jewry over this period from a global perspective, covering Jews in the Islamic world and in the Americas, as well as in Europe, with many chapters straddling the conventional lines of division between Sephardic, Ashkenazic, and Mizrahi history. The most up-to-date, comprehensive, and authoritative work in this field currently available, this volume will serve as an essential reference tool and ideal point of entry for advanced students and scholars of early modern Jewish history.

Irish Questions and Jewish Questions

Irish Questions and Jewish Questions
Author: Aidan Beatty
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Total Pages: 279
Release: 2018-08-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 081565426X

The Irish and the Jews are two of the classic outliers of modern Europe. Both struggled with their lack of formal political sovereignty in the nineteenth-century. Simultaneously European and not European, both endured a bifurcated status, perceived as racially inferior and yet also seen as a natural part of the European landscape. Both sought to deal with their subaltern status through nationalism; both had a tangled, ambiguous, and sometimes violent relationship with Britain and the British Empire; and both sought to revive ancient languages as part of their drive to create a new identity. The career of Irish politician Robert Briscoe and the travails of Leopold Bloom are just two examples of the delicate balancing of Irish and Jewish identities in the first half of the twentieth century. Irish Questions and Jewish Questions explores these shared histories, covering several centuries of the Jewish experience in Ireland, as well as events in Israel–Palestine and North America. The authors examine the leading figures of both national movements to reveal how each had an active interest in the successes, and failures, of the other. Bringing together leading and emerging scholars from the fields of Irish studies and Jewish studies, this volume captures the most recent scholarship on their comparative history with nuance and remarkable insight.