Židovke dobrotvorke – uloga ženskih članova židovskih obitelji za vrijeme Prvoga svjetskog rata u banskoj Hrvatskoj

Author(s): Ljiljana Dobrovšak,Vijoleta Herman Kaurić / Language(s): English,Croatian Issue: 3/2017

World War I was the greatest military conflict in the history of mankind to date. At first, it was conceived as a lightning war, but soon changed into a long war of attrition. Until recently, World War I has been viewed in Croatian historiography through traditional male eyes, but this is changing thanks to the younger generation of historians, who are focusing their research on the role of women during the war. Women offered not only unconditional and silent support to men, but their role also changed during the war since, after the men departed for the front, they were left in charge of estates and enterprises and, due to a lack of qualified manpower, became nurses, caretakers, public servants, or factory workers. In various ways, they were engaged in the collection of contributions and the organisation of various charities for assisting the families of those most adversely affected by the war. Since research on the role of women during World War I is still in its infancy, most of the works published thus far presented the wives of distinguished members of Croatian society (baronesses, countesses). Prompted by the desire to prevent the names of certain other women from being forgotten, this paper puts emphasis on the charity and humanitarian work of women who hailed from distinguished Jewish families in Croatia, and who devoted themselves to working in various confessional and other humanitarian organisations and associations. Women from Jewish families demonstrated solidarity with benefactors of all confessions and regardless of the confession of the persons who required assistance, since war-related suffering affected all the citizens of Austria-Hungary, regardless of sex, confession, or social status.

Морское приключение Синесия Киренского

Author(s): Maksim Vadimorich Griger / Language(s): Russian Issue: 6/2016

Synesius, a Greek philosopher of late antiquity, left a rich literary heritage, including many letters. In a letter to his brother, he described the voyage from Alexandria to Cyrene on a ship, a half of the crew members of which, including the captain, were Jews. His observations, thoughts, and opinions about the captain and his crew have helped to reveal some interesting aspects, professional occupations in particular, of Jews living in the Eastern Mediterranean, as well as the views of the Greek intelligent thinker on Jews during the period of transformation of the Roman Empire in the Christian state, etc. The following conclusions have been made: 1) sailing remained an important occupation of Jews in Alexandria; 2) on the one hand, the onomastic data prove that Jews of the Eastern Mediterranean were still under the Greek cultural influence; 3) on the other hand, numerous evidence suggest that Jews not only adhered to their religion, but already knew the rabbinic version of Judaism; 4) Synesius’s letter shows the process of development of a new image of the Jew, in which the ancient anti-Jewish Hellenistic tradition synthesized with the Christian knowledge of the Jewish history.

Paweł Podeszwa, Waldemar Szczerbiński, Co katolik powinien wiedzieć o judaizmie, UAM, Poznań 2016, ss. 231

Author(s): Karol Jasiński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 54/2017

Proces Jezusa w przekazie Talmudu

Author(s): Piotr Łabuda / Language(s): Polish Issue: 57/2014

The extracts treating of Jesus in the rabbinic literature included in the Babylonian Talmud describe the events from the life and public ministry of Master of Nazareth in a very peculiar way. The figure of Jesus is mentioned on the margin of other issues under discussion. Analyzing the report of Jesus’ death in the Babylonian Talmud it can be stated that the reference made to Jesus is of fragmentary character. Nevertheless it is not a literary fiction but a deliberate action of its authors. The text of the Babylonian Sanhedrin 43 a indicates the discrediting of Jesus of Nazareth and the community of his believers. According to the Babylonian Talmud Jesus was sentenced to death on suspicion of idolatry, magic and blasphemy.

Királytükör a Húsvéti krónikában

Author(s): Erika Juhász / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2013

Héliodóros és a Makkabeusok, avagy adalékok a Héliodóros-kronológiához

Author(s): Tibor Szepessy / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2012

There are two remarkable parallels between the Maccabees first two books and ¸ Heliodoros’ novel. Th e first one (1Mac 6, 43–47 ~ Hel. 9, 17–18) is of content character, it visualizes the seldom applied method used in the ancient world to frustrate the war elephants and the armoured cavalry (the kataphraktoi), and which other ancient sources also refer to (Plut. Crassus 25, 8). The second parallel is a double oxymoron: “to sail on the mainland, to go on foot on the sea” (2Mac 21 ~ Hel. 9, 5, 5), but versions of this phrase can be found in the works of a number of other ancient Greek and Latin authors (Isocr., Paneg. 89, 1, 8, Curtius Rufus, Hist. Alex Magni 9, 21, 4–6; Iamblichos, frg. dubia no. 101 Habrich, p. 73; Polemon, decl. 1, 8 and 28, decl. 2, 44; Achilleus Tat. 4, 14, 7–8; Lucian, Rhetorum praeceptor 18, 17–18; Iulianus, or. 1, 22, 10–16). Greek and Latin authors resort to oxymoron only if the obvious absurdity in it seems them still to be viable somewhere somehow. Iulianus and Heliodoros see and make us see the circumstances of storming towns an oxymoron that came true; Iulianus relate a historical event, the storming of Nisibis in 350 A.D., and because in Heliodoros’ novel the siege of Syene (9, 1, 1 sqq.) is in many respect similar to the emperor’s story, many researchers believe 350 A.D. to be a decisive date in regards of the chronology of Heliodoros, as well. However, the obvious popularity of the oxymoron leaves the possibility open namely that Heliodoros deduced a series of events from the oxymoron relying on his own invention, without a historical example, in other words that it could have worked in the first half of the 3rd century.

„Czego nie mogliśmy wykrzyczeć światu”… 70 lat Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego

Author(s): Andrzej Rykała / Language(s): Polish Issue: 06/2017

Remarks on Avraham Firkowicz and the Hebrew Mejelis “Document”

Author(s): Dan D. Y. Shapira / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2006

In the early 1840s several forgeries of Hebrew epigraphic material have been produced; these forgeries are associated with the name of Avraham Firkowicz/Firkovich, a Russian Jewish book collector and an amateur archaeologist. His discoveries were supposed to provide a revolutionising effect on the nascent Wissenschaft des Judenthums (Jewish Studies). On the margin of a re-edition of the Mejelis Document by the Finnish scholar Tapani Harviainen, this article makes justice to Firkowicz, analysing the cultural context in which the forgeries were made, such as the Haskalah movement, Orientalism, Christian missionary activity and Lost Tribes hunting.

Ofiara czy terrorysta? Przypadek Herschela Grynszpana w wybranych relacjach prasowych z listopada 1938 roku

Author(s): Katarzyna Christianus-Gileta / Language(s): Polish Issue: 5/2017

This paper is concerned with the “trans-localism” in Jewish press releases all over the world inNovember 1938, which appeared as a result of the assassination of Ernst vom Rath (the third secretaryof the German Embassy in France), carried out in Paris by the young Jewish immigrant from Germany – Herschel Grynszpan – in revenge for the mass displacement of Ostjuden from Germany to Poland, which also affected his family. This article also shows local differences in reactions to this crime in non-Jewish press; they were based not only on localization but also on the political bias of a certain publication. The press releases created after the Grynszpan’s assault are examples of constructing memory based on a written word – for some Herschel Grynszpan was a victim of Nazi repression sagainst Jews in Germany, for others he was a tool for “the conspiracy of the world Jewry”.

Tadeusz Bornstein (1919–1942). Losy i twórczość w czasie drugiej wojny światowej

Author(s): Magdalena Tarnowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 02/2017

Tadeusz Bornstein, a talented painter and poet, came from Tomaszów Mazowiecki, from a family of affluent assimilated Jews. He studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Kraków and was about to launch his artistic career when World War II began. In the years 1939-1941 he stayed in the lands annexed by the Soviet Union, in Lvov and Białystok. He took part in exhibitions arranged by the Soviet authorities.. In June 1941 he resolved to move, together with his parents, to the Warsaw ghetto. Once there he suffered from depression, lived in isolation, painting the landscapes of the ghetto streets along with still life. He wrote poetry, in 1942 he was working on the poem “Lord Byron’s Last Face”. Nearly all his paintings got destroyed during the war, all that was left were several pieces of verse and that major poem, which were added to the collections of the Jewish Historical Institute courtesy of the actress Bogdana Majda-Minc, Bornstein’s friend from those ghetto years. We are also grateful to her for her extremely valuable information about Bornstein’s life in the ghetto, his paintings and some scarce information about his unique personality.

The Community Which “Sat on the Suitcases” (Dzierżoniów)

Author(s): Bezalel Lavi / Language(s): Polish Issue: 02/2017

At the end of World War II tens of thousands of Jews who either survived in Poland or in the Soviet Union, traveled to Lower Silesia, the southern south part of the "regained territories" from Germany, and settled in Dzierżoniów (then Rychbach). Left intact by the war, it offered the basic conditions for opening a new life and from the beginning it was exceptional in being the only town in post-war Poland that was inhabited by a high percentage of Jews. In the town were founded the Jewish institutions which demonstrated the lives of those who returned from the hell: the Jewish Provincial Committee, which led a sort of a national self-autonomy - the daily social, economic, political and cultural lives of the newcomers. The first theatre in post-war Poland was organized in the town and performed across Lower Silesia and would be the precursor of the Central Jewish Theatre of the province. But the old rooted forces of anti-Semitism and the Communist Government policy cut short the possible realization of the early hopes and dreams. The very hard ordeal of the Kielce pogrom, in July 1946, resulted in the migration of thousands of Jews. The birth of the State of Israel, in May 1948, was the turning point in the history of the Jews in the post-war Poland, not just because of the realization of a long living dream, but because it was to affect directly their lives. Before long the Stalinist Soviet Union initiated an extreme anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli policy, which Poland had to follow, and signaled the end of the rather short-lived Jewish accomplishments.The central hallmark of the irreversible change was the dismantling of all Jewish organizations, parties and institutions and replacing them, at the end of 1950, by one central organization, Towarzystwo Społeczno-Kulturalne Żydów w Polsce (the Socio-Cultural Society of Jews in Poland'). Despite its official name, the real mission of the organization in the years to come was to represent the interests of the only party, the Communists, and ideologically oversee the Jewish population in order to strengthen its loyalty to the state. The other side of the turnover of the Jews life was the first sponsored and organized government decision to allow the Jews to leave the country. During the campaign that lasted for a year, between 1949 and 1950, thousands of Jews availed themselves of the opportunity and went away. Both this exodus and the elimination of the Jewish institutions, brought to an end a remarkable period the Jews in Dzierżoniów experienced. One historian stated that, "in the post-war history of the Jews in Poland, Dzierżoniów was a special place. Only that place earned the nickname 'Poland's Jerusalem'". It was the formal end of the institutional settlement in the town but not the end of the Jewish presence. Several thousand continued to manage a vivid life which represented their national identity, particular in the social and cultural spheres. Among them were those who were denied the emigration request, others who did not seek the option of going to the unknown and were those who believed in the communist utopia. When the Polish Government decided, in late 1956, to grant again the Jews the option to emigrate it turned out that the "sitting on the suitcases syndrome" was a very dominant factor in their lives. A great majority of the Jews grasped the opportunity and left behind almost everything to travel, mostly for Israel. The massive exodus of 1956-1957 brought virtually to an end the Jewish presence in Dzierżoniów after just a decade. A few hundred remained to face their fate a decade later, during the anti-Jewish campaigns in 1967-1968.

BEDRÄNGNISVOLLE VERGANGENHEIT IM HAFEN DER NACHTRÄGLICHEN REDAKTION

Author(s): Péter Dávidházi / Language(s): German Issue: 1/2004

Der auf Ungarisch 1993 erschienene Aufsatz analysiert das Galeerentagebuch von Imre Kertész als eine Art Tagebuchroman, was als eine moderne Neufassung der literarischen Tradition des Bildungsromans aufzufassen ist. Die Interpretation zeichnet den im Werk dargelegten Weg von der Existentialphilosophie der Selbstschaffung und dem verdrängten Anspruch auf Religiosität bis zur Erschaffung einer apokrifen Liturgie und Ritual der Selbsterlösung nach. Es wird Kertész’ Verhältnis zum eigenen Judentum erläutert und schließlich ein Vergleich mit dem Weltbild und Stil Sándor Márais durchgeführt.

TIME IN JEWISH CULTURE

Author(s): Miklós RÉKAI / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2003

The basic structure in the Jewish awareness of time – just as in other cultures – is the succession of weekdays and the various cycles formed on the basis of natural phenomena. This dimension of time is embodied in the contents of the Jewish feast. Only traces of the Jewish view of time can be found in their awareness. “Man’s time” is, in fact, his fate which is at the same time also the subject and aim of the theological interpretation of time. The nature of Jewish time and its practice of handling time in different periods faithfully reflect the processes of change in the different Jewish societies.

“ROLLS OF BREAD” INTERPRETATION OF A CONVERSATION IN A SYNAGOGUE

Author(s): Richard Papp / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2003

The world of this study is the religious-ritual sphere of Hungarian Jewish culture. The different Jewish rituals carry certain basic meanings for the members of the given community through the tradition of Jewish culture. These rituals have basic importance for the members of the community as a means of experiencing their culture. This phenomenon becomes a part of a more general process, the cultural change of the present Hungarian Jewish community. The strengthening position of the synagogue in Jewish ritual life has numerous effects on the cultural changes of the Jewish community.

Anan ben Dawid jako archetyp religijnego wichrzyciela: jak raw Natronaj Gaon przyczynił się do wykreowania przywódcy ananitów na ojca założyciela karaizmu

Author(s): Marzena Zawanowska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 03/2017

The paper analyzes in detail the oldest known gaonic report on the alleged founder of the Karaite movement, Anan ben David (VIII c.). It is ascribed to rav Natronai (bar Hilai) Gaon (d. 865) and has been preserved in a prayer book authored by Rav Amram ben Sheshna (d. 875), Sidur rav Amram ha-ssalem. The ensuing conclusions is that if not for this and other Babylonian geonim (such as Rav Saadia Gaon), who made use of Anan’s name as a convenient label for religious instigators and heretics (that is any opponents of Babylonian tradition, including supporters of the Palestinian one), it is not unlikely that he would not have been recognized by the Karaites as the founding father of their movement. By employing his name as an emblem of rebellious freethinker, they made this – otherwise marginal for the development of Karaism – figure more important than it really was. Thanks to that, he could later on be appropriated by the Karaite movement – which at the time of its emergence and coalescence (9th-10th century) was in desperate need of unifying myths – and become its symbolic originator. In this sense, it can be said that the Babylonian representatives of medieval Judaism wishing to define the limits of their own religious authority through the unification of Jewish doctrines and practices, as well as centralization and concentration of the (political) power in their own hands, created the founding myth of Karaism.

Midrashic Tales in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Illustrated Esther Scrolls

Author(s): Dagmara Budzioch / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2017

At least since the mid-16th century there was a tradition of decorating the Esther Scrolls. One version of such adornments were episodes referring to midrashic tales, used to complement the Biblical narrative,. Taking into account the number of surviving scrolls, such episodes are present in just a small proportion of them,. The purpose of the article is to discuss the preliminary findings of research into the presence of midrashic tales in scrolls from the 17th and 18th centuries in various Jewish communities. It is accompanied by a selection of graphic representations of the most popular of them. As can be seen, the most frequent ones are those referring to the story of Haman’s daughter who disgraced her father; in some scrolls this is the only scene referring to midrashim. In addition to her, in the illustrated megillot the reader can come across various presentations of the execution of Queen Vashti, references to stories of Jewish girls forces to work on a Sabbath, the angels’ interference with the course of the Purim narrative and about Haman’s sons felling trees in the palace gardens

„Wiara naiwna” a wypowiedzi o aniołach w pismach rabinów Davida, Hermanna i Manuela Joëlów

Author(s): Agata Rybińska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 03/2017

The aim of the article was to present ideas, e.g. on the angelology and demonology and superstitious practices, in the teaching of nineteenth-century’s rabbis, representatives of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement. The analysed works: sermons, scientific publications and press releases, especially those written by the brothers David, Hermann and Manuel Joël, as well as examples of statements by other rabbis, scientists of the period, allowed to bring their spirituality and teaching concerning spiritual beings and magical practices associated with them. In teaching this unquestionably the most attention, however, they devoted to God and man, their mutual relationship based on Covenant and religion, and no angels or demons.

Między ortodoksją a umiarkowaną reformą – rabin i kaznodzieja Moritz Duschak (1815-1890) i jego poglądy na judaizm

Author(s): Alicja Maślak-Maciejewska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 03/2017

The article deals with the activities of the rabbi and preacher Moritz Duschak (1815-1890) and his views of the Judaic faith. Duschak spent all his life in the Habsburg lands, at first he worked in Moravia (in Habern, Aussee, Gaya communes) and later in Kraków, where for more than a decade (1877-1888) he worked as a preacher of the progressive synagogue, the so-called Tempel. Duschak was a modern religious leader. He combined religious education, obtained in a purely orthodox spirit (he was Khatam Sofer’s disciple) with lay academic pursuits (he had a doctor’s degree from Prague University). He was famous for his numerous publications, primarily on the Halakha and Talmud.Duschak was firmly opposed to a radical reform of Judaism, and articulated his opposition first of all in the pamphlet entitled Peria, Sabbath und Doppelfeier, published in response to the discussions taken up during the conference of rabbis in Breslau in 1846. In his views of Judaism he came quite close to Zacharias Frankel. Just like him,, he objected to radical reform while advocating limited changes, ensuing from the recognition of the historic nature of Judaism (the so-called positive-historical Judaism). Therefore Duschak backed the introduction of moderate reforms to the synagogue, largely limited to the external aspects of the services and to decorum; we also supported the introduction of modern sermons delivered in German. This article analyses Duschak’s activity, from his youth and education, to work in the Moravian communities, to his activity in Kraków. In that town he not only worked as a progressive teacher but also engaged in religious education of youth, charitable work and the extension of the operations of the Israelitische Allianz zu Wien to Kraków.

Emanuel Ringelblum o handlu drukami hebrajskimi i księgozbiorach żydowskich w Warszawie za czasów Stanisława Augusta Poniatowskiego.

Author(s): Paweł Fijałkowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 03/2017

Emanuel Ringelblum’s research focused on the history of the Jewish community of Warsaw. His doctoral dissertation about “Jews in Warsaw from the oldest times to 1527” appeared in print in 1932. However, part II of that monograph, dealing with the history of Warsaw’s Jews in the 16th to 18th century remained unfinished and remains in the form of manuscript to this day. It contains plenty of information on the cultural life of Judaic believers in Warsaw during the times of King Stanisław August Poniatowski. The two chapters selected by us, presenting the role of the Polish capital city in trade in old Hebrew prints and the significance of Jewish book collections, are largely based on sources that got destroyed during World War II.

Abraham Firkowicz: introduction to Sep̄er Massa u-Mriḇa

Author(s): Veronika Klimova / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2017

The article is a contribution to studies of Karaite literature in Eastern Europe. It presents an introduction to Massa u-Mriḇa written by the best known Karaite scholar Abraham Firkowicz (1786–1874). The author is engaged in a prolonged polemic against the Rabbanites who claimed Talmud to be an oral explanation of the laws God gave to Moses. He refers to the history of the Karaites and emphasizes a frequent misunderstanding of their origin as they are incorrectly identified with Sadducees. Firkowicz does not hesitate to level harsh criticism and utilizes his Biblical lexicon in defending the purity of Karaite faith.