Description

Book Synopsis
The book, based on memories of a native son and the research of a scholar, is an amalgam of descriptions and discussions, peppered with conversations, personal observations and an acute observer's reflections, focused on the fabric of life in the city of Lodz and its vicinity. The author describes the "court" of the Hasidic Rabbis of Alexander, with which his family was affiliated, the rival camps of Hasidim and Zionists, industrialists and laborers, struggles with the Polish authorities, and more. Detailed chapters are dedicated to a description of studies at a modern Jewish-Zionist high school (Gymnasium) – its exhilarating goals, directors and teachers, to the Lodz poet Yitzhak Katzenelson before and during the Holocaust, and to life in a small Polish shtetl.

The concluding chapter "Return to Poland" examines the cities and towns described earlier in the book, as well as Breslau-Wroclaw, where the author had completed his rabbinic and university studies in 1933, as they appeared to him during his visit in 1982, nearly fifty years after his departure from Europe for Israel.

The author's aim was to produce a portrait, sympathetic, intimate, but also knowledgeable and critical, of a generation that did not have the time to take stock of itself before its obliteration. He has thus rendered palpable the experiences and quandaries of many of his contemporaries.

Table of Contents
  • Editor's Preface
  • Author's Preface
  • Chapter 1 – The World of Polish Jews
  • The World in which we are Born, the World we Create
  • About this Memoir
  • Jews and Poles—Perceptions
  • Chapter 2 – Pilgrimage to the Rebbe
  • Chapter 3 – Holiness and its HeirsThe Early Ẓaddikim of Aleksander
  • Acceptance or Rejection of a Ḥasidic Rebbe
  • A Young Person's Quandaries about Ḥasidism and High School
  • Chapter 4 – Inside Lodz
  • On the Tram through the Streets of Lodz
  • Great Orators of the Day
  • Chapter 5 – Lodz Economy and Politics
  • A Productive City, Energetic and Energizing
  • The Press
  • The Steiger Case
  • Bałuty—The Poor District
  • The City's Pauperization
  • Community Leaders and the Reincarnation of Religious Energy
  • The Ghetto
  • Chapter 6 –Sanctity and Sin
  • An Exemplary Ḥasid
  • Sorrow of Raising Daughters
  • Fathers and Sons
  • Chapter 7 – A Town and its Ẓaddik
  • The "Earthly Aleksander"
  • Ḥasidim Assemble; Beginnings of the Aleksander Dynasty
  • At the Cemetery
  • The Greatness of Reb Yeḥiel—Tears and Joy
  • The Old Rebbe's Innovation—Torah Study with Dveikut
  • Between the Living and the Dead
  • Chapter 8 – Portrait of a Ḥasidic Rebbe (ADMOR)The Wisdom of Yismaḥ Yisroel
  • A Ẓaddik in a Capitalistic World
  • No Reward in this World
  • Miracles and the Sphere of Wonders
  • Wonders and Doubts
  • Ẓaddikim and the Power of Healing
  • Chapter 9 – Farewell to Aleksander
  • Ḥasidim Throng to the Great Beit Midrash
  • In the Rebbe's Presence
  • The Tish, the Meal and the "Rebbe's Wisdom"
  • Four theological lessons
  • Chapter 10 – A Hebrew High School in its Heyday
  • Zionist Environment and Jewish Activism
  • Jewish Education and the Polish Authorities
  • Power of the Polish Language
  • Dr. Mordechai (Markus) Ze'ev Braude, Founder of the Hebrew High School
  • Chapter 11– My Teachers
  • First Period: Hebrew Literature—Dr. Nathan Eck
  • Physics and Scientific Faith—Dr. Emanuel Anisfeld
  • Jewish History—Dr. Philip (Filip) Friedman
  • The Ancient Classical World—Dr. Moshe Freilich (Mojżesz Frejlich)
  • Polish Romantic literature— Mrs. Strauch
  • Tragedy of Jewish Poets—on Julian Tuwim and Antoni Słonimski
  • Last Lesson of the Day: "Contemporary Poland"—Civics with Shaul Rieger
  • Extracurricular; The Actor Israel Schumacher
  • Modern Jewish Education—Legacy and Remnants
  • Chapter 12 – With Yiẓḥak Katzenelson
  • Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Katzenelson's Poetry
  • Ignored by the Critics
  • Poetry of Splendor and Love
  • Tales of Youth
  • Hebrew Literature in Katznelson's Youth
  • Love and Art Give Meaning to Life
  • Last Poetry before the Holocaust
  • Chapter 13 – The Holocaust Poet
  • Love and Art Come to his Aid
  • The Scroll of Lamentations of a Modern Zionist Jew
  • God and Man in the Holocaust
  • The Song of the Murdered Jewish People—Structure and Main Themes
  • A Message of Consolation
  • Chapter 14 – A Small Town in Poland
  • Dreams and fears
  • An Ordinary Town and its Extraordinary Feud
  • Germans and Poles—Business and Trade
  • Family Members; Discomfiture at not Knowing the Bible
  • Between the Two World Wars
  • Chapter 15 – Return to Poland
  • End of the Story and Prologue to a Journey Indecision and Resolution
  • First Impressions
  • "For This Now is Weeping" A New City
  • Jewish Cemeteries in Poland
  • Aleksander Empty of Ẓaddikim, Empty of Jews
  • Train Chat on Bribery and on Holiness
  • In the City of the Saint—and Saints
  • In Wroclaw, formerly Breslau
  • Joyless Festival of Joy; in front of the Jewish Theological Seminary
  • Martial Law
  • The Solidarity Movement and the Economic-Political Struggle
  • Return to Warsaw
  • In the Heart of the Warsaw Ghetto—the Heart of the Holocaust
  • Chapter 16 – Poland's Five Great Changes—and One Fixation
  • Notes
  • Sources
  • Glossary
  • Author's Bio
  • Photo credits
  • Index

The Last Generation of Jews in Poland

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A Paperback / softback by Efraim Shmueli, Gila Shmueli

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    View other formats and editions of The Last Generation of Jews in Poland by Efraim Shmueli

    Publisher: Academic Studies Press
    Publication Date: 09/12/2021
    ISBN13: 9781644695982, 978-1644695982
    ISBN10: 1644695987
    Also in:
    Violence, intolerance and persecution in history Social groups: religious groups and communities

    Description

    Book Synopsis
    The book, based on memories of a native son and the research of a scholar, is an amalgam of descriptions and discussions, peppered with conversations, personal observations and an acute observer's reflections, focused on the fabric of life in the city of Lodz and its vicinity. The author describes the "court" of the Hasidic Rabbis of Alexander, with which his family was affiliated, the rival camps of Hasidim and Zionists, industrialists and laborers, struggles with the Polish authorities, and more. Detailed chapters are dedicated to a description of studies at a modern Jewish-Zionist high school (Gymnasium) – its exhilarating goals, directors and teachers, to the Lodz poet Yitzhak Katzenelson before and during the Holocaust, and to life in a small Polish shtetl.

    The concluding chapter "Return to Poland" examines the cities and towns described earlier in the book, as well as Breslau-Wroclaw, where the author had completed his rabbinic and university studies in 1933, as they appeared to him during his visit in 1982, nearly fifty years after his departure from Europe for Israel.

    The author's aim was to produce a portrait, sympathetic, intimate, but also knowledgeable and critical, of a generation that did not have the time to take stock of itself before its obliteration. He has thus rendered palpable the experiences and quandaries of many of his contemporaries.

    Table of Contents
    • Editor's Preface
    • Author's Preface
    • Chapter 1 – The World of Polish Jews
    • The World in which we are Born, the World we Create
    • About this Memoir
    • Jews and Poles—Perceptions
    • Chapter 2 – Pilgrimage to the Rebbe
    • Chapter 3 – Holiness and its HeirsThe Early Ẓaddikim of Aleksander
    • Acceptance or Rejection of a Ḥasidic Rebbe
    • A Young Person's Quandaries about Ḥasidism and High School
    • Chapter 4 – Inside Lodz
    • On the Tram through the Streets of Lodz
    • Great Orators of the Day
    • Chapter 5 – Lodz Economy and Politics
    • A Productive City, Energetic and Energizing
    • The Press
    • The Steiger Case
    • Bałuty—The Poor District
    • The City's Pauperization
    • Community Leaders and the Reincarnation of Religious Energy
    • The Ghetto
    • Chapter 6 –Sanctity and Sin
    • An Exemplary Ḥasid
    • Sorrow of Raising Daughters
    • Fathers and Sons
    • Chapter 7 – A Town and its Ẓaddik
    • The "Earthly Aleksander"
    • Ḥasidim Assemble; Beginnings of the Aleksander Dynasty
    • At the Cemetery
    • The Greatness of Reb Yeḥiel—Tears and Joy
    • The Old Rebbe's Innovation—Torah Study with Dveikut
    • Between the Living and the Dead
    • Chapter 8 – Portrait of a Ḥasidic Rebbe (ADMOR)The Wisdom of Yismaḥ Yisroel
    • A Ẓaddik in a Capitalistic World
    • No Reward in this World
    • Miracles and the Sphere of Wonders
    • Wonders and Doubts
    • Ẓaddikim and the Power of Healing
    • Chapter 9 – Farewell to Aleksander
    • Ḥasidim Throng to the Great Beit Midrash
    • In the Rebbe's Presence
    • The Tish, the Meal and the "Rebbe's Wisdom"
    • Four theological lessons
    • Chapter 10 – A Hebrew High School in its Heyday
    • Zionist Environment and Jewish Activism
    • Jewish Education and the Polish Authorities
    • Power of the Polish Language
    • Dr. Mordechai (Markus) Ze'ev Braude, Founder of the Hebrew High School
    • Chapter 11– My Teachers
    • First Period: Hebrew Literature—Dr. Nathan Eck
    • Physics and Scientific Faith—Dr. Emanuel Anisfeld
    • Jewish History—Dr. Philip (Filip) Friedman
    • The Ancient Classical World—Dr. Moshe Freilich (Mojżesz Frejlich)
    • Polish Romantic literature— Mrs. Strauch
    • Tragedy of Jewish Poets—on Julian Tuwim and Antoni Słonimski
    • Last Lesson of the Day: "Contemporary Poland"—Civics with Shaul Rieger
    • Extracurricular; The Actor Israel Schumacher
    • Modern Jewish Education—Legacy and Remnants
    • Chapter 12 – With Yiẓḥak Katzenelson
    • Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Katzenelson's Poetry
    • Ignored by the Critics
    • Poetry of Splendor and Love
    • Tales of Youth
    • Hebrew Literature in Katznelson's Youth
    • Love and Art Give Meaning to Life
    • Last Poetry before the Holocaust
    • Chapter 13 – The Holocaust Poet
    • Love and Art Come to his Aid
    • The Scroll of Lamentations of a Modern Zionist Jew
    • God and Man in the Holocaust
    • The Song of the Murdered Jewish People—Structure and Main Themes
    • A Message of Consolation
    • Chapter 14 – A Small Town in Poland
    • Dreams and fears
    • An Ordinary Town and its Extraordinary Feud
    • Germans and Poles—Business and Trade
    • Family Members; Discomfiture at not Knowing the Bible
    • Between the Two World Wars
    • Chapter 15 – Return to Poland
    • End of the Story and Prologue to a Journey Indecision and Resolution
    • First Impressions
    • "For This Now is Weeping" A New City
    • Jewish Cemeteries in Poland
    • Aleksander Empty of Ẓaddikim, Empty of Jews
    • Train Chat on Bribery and on Holiness
    • In the City of the Saint—and Saints
    • In Wroclaw, formerly Breslau
    • Joyless Festival of Joy; in front of the Jewish Theological Seminary
    • Martial Law
    • The Solidarity Movement and the Economic-Political Struggle
    • Return to Warsaw
    • In the Heart of the Warsaw Ghetto—the Heart of the Holocaust
    • Chapter 16 – Poland's Five Great Changes—and One Fixation
    • Notes
    • Sources
    • Glossary
    • Author's Bio
    • Photo credits
    • Index

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