Glenn Dynner | Sarah Lawrence College (original) (raw)
Papers by Glenn Dynner
Discount code forThe Light of Learning: Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust, 2024
Use promotion code AUFLY30 to save 30% Order your discounted copy here Please note that the curre... more Use promotion code AUFLY30 to save 30% Order your discounted copy here Please note that the currency is in UK sterling (£) or US dollars ($) and the discount is only valid on orders placed on global.oup.com.
Shofar, 2023
Special issue: "Zionism and its Jewish Critics." Shofar publishes original, scholarly work and re... more Special issue: "Zionism and its Jewish Critics." Shofar publishes original, scholarly work and reviews a wide range of recent books focused on Jewish Studies. Founded in 1981, Shofar is a peer-reviewed journal that is published triannually by Purdue University Press on behalf of the University's Jewish Studies Program.
Includes forum on "Reading Zionism and its Jewish Critics" (special issue of Shofar) in light of ... more Includes forum on "Reading Zionism and its Jewish Critics" (special issue of Shofar) in light of Oct. 7. Shofar publishes original, scholarly work and reviews a wide range of recent books focused on Jewish Studies. Founded in 1981, Shofar is a peer-reviewed journal that is published triannually by Purdue University Press on behalf of the University's Jewish Studies Program.
New Paths in Jewish and Religious Studies: Essays in Honor of Professor Elliot R. Wolfson, 2024
TOC and Introduction to a Festschrift in honor of Elliot Wolfson, the doyen of the field of Jewis... more TOC and Introduction to a Festschrift in honor of Elliot Wolfson, the doyen of the field of Jewish Mysticism and a path-breaking philosopher in his own right. Over 30 contributors demonstrate Wolfson's influence on their own scholarship, continuing down the new paths his scholarship has opened. The volume also includes Wolfson's original poetry and paintings.
An overview of East European Jewish culture in the early modern period
Pogroms: A Documenatry History, 2021
High resolution pdf of our overview and analysis of Pogroms in Independent Poland.
This paper explores the options and choices of Jewish women who remained consciously "traditional... more This paper explores the options and choices of Jewish women who remained consciously "traditionalist" (Hasidic and non-Hasidic) during the Eastern European transition to modernity. Numerous petitions (kvitlekh) to the non-Hasidic miracle worker R. Elijah Guttmacher (d. 1874) by or about women shed light on their areas of exclusion and modes of empowerment in traditional Jewish society, suggest new avenues of inquiry into Jewish gender and sexuality, and give voice to a perspective that is currently underrepresented in the historiography.
The unexpected revitalization of Polish Jewish traditionalism—Hasidic and non-Hasidic—is particul... more The unexpected revitalization of Polish Jewish traditionalism—Hasidic and non-Hasidic—is particularly visible in the realm of education. During the interwar period, a combined influx of pious refugees from the Soviet Union and American Jewish funds bolstered traditionalist Jewish elementary schools and yeshivot. At the same time, traditionalists reformed those institutions in response to emergent secularist Jewish movements. Polish Jewish traditionalism was subtly transformed in the process, presenting a striking contrast with other more rigid “ultra-orthodox” Hungarian counterparts, while offering a viable alternative to secularist Jewish subcultures within Poland. This article highlights the surprising adaptability of Poland’s traditionalist Jewish communities during a period usually conceived as one of secularist Jewish growth and traditionalist decline.
This paper identifies the emergence of conscious Jewish "traditionalism" in the Kingdom of Poland... more This paper identifies the emergence of conscious Jewish "traditionalism" in the Kingdom of Poland by examining Jewish reactions to government attempts to ban traditional Jewish dress and female headshaving upon marriage. Such attempts, it is argued, raised the stakes on Jewish sartorial norms that had once been taken for granted and inadvertently helped bolster the influence of Hasidic leaders like R. Isaac Meir Alter of Ger.
Special Issue of Jewish History, 2020
Today it is difficult to imagine a rigorous social historical study of Eastern and East Central E... more Today it is difficult to imagine a rigorous social historical study of Eastern and East Central European Jewry that neglects the workings of gender. Nevertheless, it seems necessary to proceed yet further, acknowledging finally that crucial aspects of the region’s Jewish modernization process simply cannot be sufficiently understood without evaluating the functioning and constitution of gender. The articles in this special issue of Jewish History demonstrate how the experiences of women have shaped Jewish modernity.
New Directions in the History of the Jews in the Polish Lands, 2019
Contrary to popular belief, Polish Jewry was not confined to ghettos, at least not before the Naz... more Contrary to popular belief, Polish Jewry was not confined to ghettos, at least not before the Nazi era. Nevertheless, after the partitions of Poland, when an autonomous “Poland” was allowed to tentatively re-emerge under tsarist rule, Jews were officially barred from living and working on choice streets in many towns and cities. This paper seeks to understand why the Jews’ presence on select Polish streets was now deemed so threatening, how residential restrictions were justified, and how Jewish responses contribute to the debate over Jewish culture and economic behavior.
This paper introduces the vast collection of petitions (kvitlekh) to Rabbi Elijah Guttmacher, the... more This paper introduces the vast collection of petitions (kvitlekh) to Rabbi Elijah Guttmacher, the Tzaddik of Gratz (Grodzisk Wielkopolski), whose miracle working enterprise flourished in the early 1870s. These thousands of petitions form windows onto the lives of East European Jews who seemed to be shifting from a passive attachment to tradition to a more conscious and defiant “traditionalism”—a product of friction with certain manifestations of secularization.
A review of "Hasidic Art and the Kabbalah", by Batsheva Goldman-Ida; and "Historical Atlas of Ha... more A review of "Hasidic Art and the Kabbalah", by Batsheva Goldman-Ida; and "Historical Atlas of Hasidism", by Marcin Wodzinski; Cartography by Waldemar Spallek.
Introduction to a vivid novelistic account of a Polish Hasidism by Menashe Unger, translated from... more Introduction to a vivid novelistic account of a Polish Hasidism by Menashe Unger, translated from Yiddish by Jonathan Boyarin.
An overview of the history of Warsaw Jewry, and summary of the contributions to this volume in ho... more An overview of the history of Warsaw Jewry, and summary of the contributions to this volume in honor of Professor Antony Polonsky.
Discount code forThe Light of Learning: Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust, 2024
Use promotion code AUFLY30 to save 30% Order your discounted copy here Please note that the curre... more Use promotion code AUFLY30 to save 30% Order your discounted copy here Please note that the currency is in UK sterling (£) or US dollars ($) and the discount is only valid on orders placed on global.oup.com.
Shofar, 2023
Special issue: "Zionism and its Jewish Critics." Shofar publishes original, scholarly work and re... more Special issue: "Zionism and its Jewish Critics." Shofar publishes original, scholarly work and reviews a wide range of recent books focused on Jewish Studies. Founded in 1981, Shofar is a peer-reviewed journal that is published triannually by Purdue University Press on behalf of the University's Jewish Studies Program.
Includes forum on "Reading Zionism and its Jewish Critics" (special issue of Shofar) in light of ... more Includes forum on "Reading Zionism and its Jewish Critics" (special issue of Shofar) in light of Oct. 7. Shofar publishes original, scholarly work and reviews a wide range of recent books focused on Jewish Studies. Founded in 1981, Shofar is a peer-reviewed journal that is published triannually by Purdue University Press on behalf of the University's Jewish Studies Program.
New Paths in Jewish and Religious Studies: Essays in Honor of Professor Elliot R. Wolfson, 2024
TOC and Introduction to a Festschrift in honor of Elliot Wolfson, the doyen of the field of Jewis... more TOC and Introduction to a Festschrift in honor of Elliot Wolfson, the doyen of the field of Jewish Mysticism and a path-breaking philosopher in his own right. Over 30 contributors demonstrate Wolfson's influence on their own scholarship, continuing down the new paths his scholarship has opened. The volume also includes Wolfson's original poetry and paintings.
An overview of East European Jewish culture in the early modern period
Pogroms: A Documenatry History, 2021
High resolution pdf of our overview and analysis of Pogroms in Independent Poland.
This paper explores the options and choices of Jewish women who remained consciously "traditional... more This paper explores the options and choices of Jewish women who remained consciously "traditionalist" (Hasidic and non-Hasidic) during the Eastern European transition to modernity. Numerous petitions (kvitlekh) to the non-Hasidic miracle worker R. Elijah Guttmacher (d. 1874) by or about women shed light on their areas of exclusion and modes of empowerment in traditional Jewish society, suggest new avenues of inquiry into Jewish gender and sexuality, and give voice to a perspective that is currently underrepresented in the historiography.
The unexpected revitalization of Polish Jewish traditionalism—Hasidic and non-Hasidic—is particul... more The unexpected revitalization of Polish Jewish traditionalism—Hasidic and non-Hasidic—is particularly visible in the realm of education. During the interwar period, a combined influx of pious refugees from the Soviet Union and American Jewish funds bolstered traditionalist Jewish elementary schools and yeshivot. At the same time, traditionalists reformed those institutions in response to emergent secularist Jewish movements. Polish Jewish traditionalism was subtly transformed in the process, presenting a striking contrast with other more rigid “ultra-orthodox” Hungarian counterparts, while offering a viable alternative to secularist Jewish subcultures within Poland. This article highlights the surprising adaptability of Poland’s traditionalist Jewish communities during a period usually conceived as one of secularist Jewish growth and traditionalist decline.
This paper identifies the emergence of conscious Jewish "traditionalism" in the Kingdom of Poland... more This paper identifies the emergence of conscious Jewish "traditionalism" in the Kingdom of Poland by examining Jewish reactions to government attempts to ban traditional Jewish dress and female headshaving upon marriage. Such attempts, it is argued, raised the stakes on Jewish sartorial norms that had once been taken for granted and inadvertently helped bolster the influence of Hasidic leaders like R. Isaac Meir Alter of Ger.
Special Issue of Jewish History, 2020
Today it is difficult to imagine a rigorous social historical study of Eastern and East Central E... more Today it is difficult to imagine a rigorous social historical study of Eastern and East Central European Jewry that neglects the workings of gender. Nevertheless, it seems necessary to proceed yet further, acknowledging finally that crucial aspects of the region’s Jewish modernization process simply cannot be sufficiently understood without evaluating the functioning and constitution of gender. The articles in this special issue of Jewish History demonstrate how the experiences of women have shaped Jewish modernity.
New Directions in the History of the Jews in the Polish Lands, 2019
Contrary to popular belief, Polish Jewry was not confined to ghettos, at least not before the Naz... more Contrary to popular belief, Polish Jewry was not confined to ghettos, at least not before the Nazi era. Nevertheless, after the partitions of Poland, when an autonomous “Poland” was allowed to tentatively re-emerge under tsarist rule, Jews were officially barred from living and working on choice streets in many towns and cities. This paper seeks to understand why the Jews’ presence on select Polish streets was now deemed so threatening, how residential restrictions were justified, and how Jewish responses contribute to the debate over Jewish culture and economic behavior.
This paper introduces the vast collection of petitions (kvitlekh) to Rabbi Elijah Guttmacher, the... more This paper introduces the vast collection of petitions (kvitlekh) to Rabbi Elijah Guttmacher, the Tzaddik of Gratz (Grodzisk Wielkopolski), whose miracle working enterprise flourished in the early 1870s. These thousands of petitions form windows onto the lives of East European Jews who seemed to be shifting from a passive attachment to tradition to a more conscious and defiant “traditionalism”—a product of friction with certain manifestations of secularization.
A review of "Hasidic Art and the Kabbalah", by Batsheva Goldman-Ida; and "Historical Atlas of Ha... more A review of "Hasidic Art and the Kabbalah", by Batsheva Goldman-Ida; and "Historical Atlas of Hasidism", by Marcin Wodzinski; Cartography by Waldemar Spallek.
Introduction to a vivid novelistic account of a Polish Hasidism by Menashe Unger, translated from... more Introduction to a vivid novelistic account of a Polish Hasidism by Menashe Unger, translated from Yiddish by Jonathan Boyarin.
An overview of the history of Warsaw Jewry, and summary of the contributions to this volume in ho... more An overview of the history of Warsaw Jewry, and summary of the contributions to this volume in honor of Professor Antony Polonsky.
This rich collection of essays on the history of Jewish culture in Warsaw, from the Middle Ages t... more This rich collection of essays on the history of Jewish culture in Warsaw, from the Middle Ages to the post-WWII period, is now available in paperback.
TRANSLATION: “On the Borders of Haskalah” [Published in Kwartalnik Historii Żydów 222:2, in Polis... more TRANSLATION: “On the Borders of Haskalah” [Published in Kwartalnik Historii Żydów 222:2, in Polish]. Review Essay: Hasidism and Haskalah in the Kingdom of Poland (London: Littman, 2005), by Marcin Wodziński; and Ba’a lot Ha-Shahar, by Mordecai Zalkin (Jerusalem: Magnes, 2000).
Jewish Review of Books
Review of Hasidic Art and the Kabbalah (Leiden-Boston, Brill, 2018) by Batsheva Goldman-Ida and H... more Review of Hasidic Art and the Kabbalah (Leiden-Boston, Brill, 2018) by Batsheva Goldman-Ida and Historical Atlas of Hasidism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018) by Marcin Wodziński, introducing a new way of looking at Hasidism through objects and cartography, to better understand its approach to the sacred.
An international gathering of scholars of Hasidism at Fairfield University on April 24-5 to discu... more An international gathering of scholars of Hasidism at Fairfield University on April 24-5 to discuss Hasidic homiletic literature. Papers will be published in a special issue of the journal Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies. Co-Sponsored by Michlalah College, Jerusalem. Co-Organized with Professor Ora Wiskind.
CFP: Bridging Divides, 2022
Conference for emerging scholars in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Jewish Historical Instit... more Conference for emerging scholars in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Jewish Historical Institute, to be held in Warsaw this May