Table of Contents

Introduction

PART I HISTORIOGRAPHY
Introduction
1. A New Scholarly Foundation: The Historiography of Polish Jewry Since 1945
2. The Verdict of Israeli Historiography on Hasidism
3. POLIN: The Museum of the History of Polish Jews and the New Polish Jewish Metahistory

PART II JEWS AND OTHER POLES
Introduction
4. Jewish Perceptions of Persecution and Powerlessness in the Commonwealth
5. A Minority Views the Majority: Jewish Attitudes Towards the Commonwealth and Interaction with Poles
6. Dubno in the Wake of Khmelnytsky
7. The Question of the Jews in the Constitution of the Third of May


PART III THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
Introduction
8. Jewish Autonomy in Poland and the Polish Regime
9. The Authority of the Council of Four Lands Outside Poland--Lithuania
10. The Indebtedness of the Lublin Kahal in the Eighteenth Century
11. Everyday Violence in Jewish Communities of the Commonwealth
12. The Image of Poland as a Torah Centre after 1648

PART IV WOMEN
Introduction
13. History of Jewish Women in the Commonwealth I: An Assessment
14. History of Jewish Women in the Commonwealth II: From Facilitation to Participation
15. A Proto-Feminist Demand to Increase Jewish Women’s Religious Capital: Leah Horowitz’s Tkhine Imohos

PART V HASIDISM
Introduction
16. The Rise of Hasidism
17. Międzybóż and Rabbi Yisra’el Ba’al Shem Tov
18. Stories that Changed History: The Unique Career of Shivḥei habesht
19. Hasidism as a Modern Phenomenon

Conclusion: Theme Decoding

About the Author

Moshe Rosman is Professor Emeritus of Jewish History at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. He has taught and held fellowships at many universities in Europe and the United States, published several prize-winning books, and received an honorary doctorate and prestigious awards, most recently the Rothschild Prize in Jewish Studies (2020).

Reviews

Reviews'This is a book I myself would want!'
Antony Polonsky, author of the three-volume History of the Jews in Poland and Russia

'The pieces . . . are all of high quality, and bringing them together fills the need for a book that can supplement existing narrative histories, especially for graduate students who need to learn not only the history but the historiography of the subject. The inclusion of pieces that have not previously appeared in English is a real contribution.'
David Engel, New York University

‘In a rare and fascinating overview of his field, Rosman evaluates changes in the study of Polish Jewry and the perceptions altered by his own distinguished research as well as others’.’ Sara Jo Ben Zvi, Segula

'Categorically Jewish, Distinctly Polish should be compulsory reading for anyone involved professionally in the studies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth or just interested in this subject. The texts in the reviewed volume are both an overview of the current research and an inspiration for future historians.' Maria Cieśla, Acta Poloniae Historica