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An amalgam of personal reminiscences of a bright young man with later observations of a mature scholar bring to life the mighty pulsation of Jewish life in Poland in its last two decades of existence, 1919-1939-an extraordinary, perhaps unique, mode of Jewish life in the diaspora.
List 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 Heirs
The 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
About the author
Professor Efraim Shmueli (1908-1988), an Israeli philosopher and historian, lectured and taught for over 50 years in Israel and the U.S. Wrote on the Renaissance, on faith and heresy, topics in philosophy, history, sociology and literature. His interpretation of Jewish history and thought Seven Jewish Cultures appeared in English (Cambridge University Press, 1990).
Summary
Based on memories of a native son and the research of a scholar, this book 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.
