Talmud i „talmudyzm” w ujęciu „Roli”
The Talmud and 'Talmudism' in the Polish Periodical "Rola"

Summary/Abstract: Rola, the leading Polish anti-Semitic weekly (published in Warsaw in the years 1883–1913), referred to the Talmud quite often on its pages. In addition to the less numerous texts which attempted to provide the historical circumstances of the Talmud’s origins and its subsequent history, there appeared—more frequently—statements that argued the disastrous impact the Talmud had had on the mentality of the Jewish people till modern times. Relying on the Talmud interpretations authored by August Rohling, Rola carried the arguments of German anti-Semitism onto the Polish grounds. The most important issue for the periodical were the Talmudic references to the social life of the Jews, and especially to the relations with the non-Jewish world. Acknowledging that there were also noble and sublime passages in the Talmud, the former were indicated as being dominant, having provided an incentive for a fraudulent, hypocritical attitude towards non-Jews, especially Christians. In one article the hostile attitude of the Talmud towards women was pointed out. Both the Talmud itself and the adjectives “Talmudic” and “Talmudistic” constituted in Rola’s vocabulary the synonym of falsehood, deception, duplicity in the attitude and behavior of the Jews, or—more rarely—the backwardness or even absurdity of some of their beliefs.

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