On 10/8/24, Hunter hosted this program as part of the Robert Seltzer Lunch Lecture Series.
The Light of Learning: Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust
The Light of Learning, by Glenn Dynner, tells the story of an unexpected Hasidic revival in Poland on the eve of the Holocaust. Hasidic leaders reinvented themselves through an ensuing pedagogical revolution. Hasidic yeshivas soon overshadowed courts and Hasidic leaders became known more for scholarship than miracle-working. By mobilizing Torah study, Hasidic leaders were able to subvert the “civilizing” projects of the Polish state, successfully rival Zionists and Socialists, and create clandestine yeshiva bunkers in ghettos during the Holocaust. Torah study was thus not only a spiritual-intellectual endeavor but a political practice that fueled a culture of resistance. The Light of Learning belies notions of late Hasidic decadence and decline and transforms our understanding of Polish Jewry during its final hour.
Presented by: Dr. Glenn Dynner, Carl and Dorothy Bennett Professor of Judaic Studies at Fairfield University, editor of the journal Shofar: an Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, and a recent Guggenheim Fellow. He is the author of Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society (OUP, 2006), and Yankel’s Tavern: Jews, Liquor, and Life in the Kingdom of Poland (OUP, 2013).
Watch the program below.
