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The Essence of Education

JL;DR SUMMARY Glenn Dynner's book, "The Light of Learning: Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust," as reviewed by Jon Kelsen, explores the pivotal role of Hasidic yeshivot in Poland before the Holocaust as bastions of cultural and religious resilience. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

HolocaustJewish EducationCultural IdentityPolish JewryHasidismBais YaakovYeshivotCommunity ResilienceInterwar PolandGlenn Dynner

Places mentioned

Warsaw, Mazovia, Poland
"In one particularly evocative image from a Shabbat Passover day in Warsaw, Hasidic youth, some draped in tallitot, were seen smoking and kibitzing around a table set with a sliced loaf of rye."
Bnei Brak, Tel Aviv District, Israel
"So contends Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, head of the prestigious Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, articulating his opposition to the Haredi draft in Israel."
Poland
"In The Light of Learning: Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust, Glenn Dynner demonstrates how early- to mid-twentieth century Polish Hasidic yeshivot and comparable educational structures functioned as powerful cultural interventions."

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