Table Of Contentthe institute for polish‒jewish studies
The Institute for Polish–Jewish Studies in Oxford and its sister organization,
the American Association for Polish–Jewish Studies, which publish Polin,
were established after the International Conference on Polish–Jewish Studies
held in Oxford in September 1984. The scholars present on that occasion,
from Israel, Poland, western Europe, North America, and South Africa,
wished to establish a framework for the study of the Polish Jewish past on an
interdisciplinary basis and in a manner which transcended exclusive national,
religious, and ethnic perspectives. In addition to Polin, the Institute and
Association have sponsored the publication of over twenty books on Polish
Jewish topics, and have helped organize international conferences at the
Jagiellonian University in Cracow, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the
University of Łodz´, and the Institute for the Study of Human Sciences in
Vienna. They have also encouraged academic exchanges between Israel,
Poland, the United States, and western Europe and have sought to aid in the
training of a new generation of scholars of Polish Jewry.
The American Association for Polish–Jewish Studies is based in Boston,
Massachusetts, and is linked with the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic
Studies, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts.
This publication has been supported by
a donation in memory of
DR GEORGE WEBBER
(1899‒1982)
scholar, Hebraist, jurist
THE LITTMAN LIBRARY OF
JEWISH CIVILIZATION
Dedicated to the memory of
Louis Thomas Sidney Littman
who founded the Littman Library for the love of God
and as an act of charity in memory of his father
Joseph Aaron Littman
and to the memory of
Robert Joseph Littman
who continued what his father Louis had begun
‘Get wisdom, get understanding:
Forsake her not and she shall preserve thee’
PROV. 4: 5
The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization is a registered UK charity
Registered charity no.1000784
P O L I N
STUDIES IN POLISH JEWRY
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VOLUME TEN
Jews in Early Modern Poland
Edited by
GERSHON DAVID HUNDERT
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Published for
The Institute for Polish–Jewish Studies
London · Portland, Oregon
The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization
1997
The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization
Chief Executive Officer: Ludo Craddock
Managing Editor: Connie Webber
PO Box 645, Oxford ox2 0uj, uk
www.littman.co.uk
——
Published in the United States and Canada by
The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization
c/o ISBS, 920 NE 58th Avenue, Suite 300
Portland, Oregon 97213-3786
© Institute for Polish–Jewish Studies 1997
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by
any means, without the prior permission in writing of
The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not,
by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or
otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any
form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published
and without a similar condition including this condition
being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for
ISSN 0268 1056
ISBN 978-1-874774-31-0
Publishing co-ordinator: Janet Moth
Copy-editing: Laurien Berkeley
Proof-reading: Anna Zaranko
Design: Pete Russell, Faringdon, Oxon.
Typeset by Footnote Graphics, Warminster, Wilts.
Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by
The Alden Press, Oxford
Articles appearing in this publication are abstracted and indexed in
Historical Abstractsand America: History and Life
This tenth volume of polin is dedicated to
irene and richard pipes
on the occasion of their
fiftieth wedding anniversary
Editors and Advisers
editors
Israel Bartal, Jerusalem
Gershon Hundert, Montreal
Antony Polonsky (Chair), Waltham, Mass.
Jerzy Tomaszewski, Warsaw
editorial board
Chimen Abramsky, London Moshe Mishkinsky, Tel Aviv
Władysław T. Bartoszewski, London Elchanan Reiner, Tel Aviv
Stanislaus Blejwas, New Britain, Conn. Jehuda Reinharz, Waltham, Mass.
†Lucjan Dobroszycki, New York Moshe Rosman, Tel Aviv
David Engel, New York Henryk Samsonowicz, Warsaw
David Fishman, New York Rafael Scharf, London
Józef Gierowski, Cracow Robert Shapiro, New York
Alexander Gieysztor, Warsaw Chone Shmeruk, Jerusalem
Jacob Goldberg, Jerusalem Michael Steinlauf, Philadelphia
Israel Gutman, Jerusalem Piotr S. Wandycz, New Haven
John Klier, London Bernard Wasserstein, Oxford
Jerzy Kłoczowski, Lublin Jonathan Webber, Oxford
Ezra Mendelsohn, Jerusalem Steven Zipperstein, Stanford, Ca.
advisory board
Władysław Bartoszewski, Vienna Heinz-Dietrich Löwe, Heidelberg
Jan Błonski, Cracow Emanuel Meltzer, Tel Aviv
Abraham Brumberg, Washington Czesław Miłosz (Hon. Chair), Berkeley
Andrzej Chojnowski, Warsaw Shlomo Netzer, Tel Aviv
Tadeusz Chrzanowski, Cracow Dov Noy, Jerusalem
Andrzej Ciechanowiecki, London David Patterson, Oxford
Norman Davies, London Zbigniew Pełczynski, Oxford
Victor Erlich, New Haven Szymon Rudnicki, Warsaw
Frank Golczewski, Hamburg Alexander Schenker, New Haven
Olga Goldberg, Jerusalem David Sorkin, Madison
Feliks Gross, New York Edward Stankiewicz, New Haven
Czesław Hernas, Wrocław Norman Stone, Oxford
Maurycy Horn, Warsaw Daniel Tollet, Paris
Jerzy Jedlicki, Warsaw Jerzy Turowicz, Cracow
Andrzej Kaminski, Washington Adam Ulam, Cambridge, Mass.
Jan Karski, Washington Shmuel Werses, Jerusalem
.
Hillel Levine, Boston Jacek Wozniakowski, Lublin
Lucjan Lewitter, Cambridge, Mass. Piotr Wróbel, Toronto
Stanisław Litak, Lublin
Preface
This is the tenth volume of Polin, and the first to appear in paperback—a sign of
our confidence in the growing interest in the area, particularly among the new
generation, and of the changes taking place in Polish–Jewish relations. This is
clear too from the lecture given by KrzysztofSliwinski, Polish Ambassador to the
Jewish Diaspora, under the auspices of the Institute for Polish–Jewish Studies,
which is reproduced in this volume.
Plans for future volumes of Polinare well advanced. This will be the last to be
devoted principally to a single theme. The editors have come to the conclusion
that to devote such a large proportion of each volume to one theme has meant that
very few other articles could be published, and that the length of time between the
submission of articles on other topics and their publication had become inordi-
nately long. In addition, the rapid development of scholarship in the field of
Polish–Jewish studies has meant that, even if the bulk of an issue was devoted to a
single theme, it was impossible to provide a comprehensive overview of the sub-
ject. We will still retain clusters of articles on topics we regard as central to our
subject, however. Volume 11will have such a cluster on aspects and experiences
of Judaism in Poland; volume 12 will highlight the triangular relationship of
Poles, Jews, and Ukrainians in Galicia between 1772and 1914; and volume 13will
feature a cluster of articles on the Holocaust on the Polish lands. We should wel-
come articles on these topics, as well as on all other relevant issues. We should also
welcome any criticisms or suggestions for improvement. In particular, we should
be very grateful for assista nce in extending our coverage to the areas of Ukraine,
Belarus, and Lithuania, both in the period in which these countries were part of
the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and subsequently.
As with previous issues, this present volume could not have appeared without
the untiring assistance of many individuals. In particular, we should like to
express our gratitude to Dr Jonathan Webber, Treasurer of the Institute for
Polish–Jewish Studies, to Professor Jehuda Reinharz, President of Brandeis
University, and to Mrs Irene Pipes, President of the American Association for
Polish–Jewish Studies. Anna Zaranko and Jolanta Kisler-Goldstein have kept
mistakes in the Polish language to a minimum.
Finally we should like to express our sadness at the passing of Professor Lucjan
Dobroszycki, a member of our editorial board and one of the great Polish Jewish
scholars of our time; of Professor Szyja Bronsztejn, who did so much to create the
study of the Jewish past in Lower Silesia; and of Julian Stryjkowski, one of the
greatest Jewish writers of the post-war period.
a.p.
POLIN
Gentle Polin (Poland), ancient land of Torah and learning
From the day Ephraim first departed from Judah
From a selihahby Rabbi Moshe Katz Geral
of the exiles of Poland, head of the Beth Din of the
Holy Congregation of Metz
We did not know, but our fathers told us, how the exiles of Israel came to the land of
Polin (Poland).
When Israel saw how its sufferings were constantly renewed, oppression
increased, persecutions multiplied, and how the evil authorities piled decree on
decree and followed expulsion with expulsion, so that there was no way to escape
the enemies of Israel, they went out on the road and sought an answer from the
paths of the wide world: which is the correct road to traverse to find rest for the
soul. Then a piece of paper fell from heaven, and on it the words:
Go to Polaniya (Poland).
So they came to the land of Polin and they gave a mountain of gold to the king,
and he received them with great honour. And God had mercy on them, so that
they found favour with the king and the nobles. And the king gave them permis-
sion to reside in all the lands of his kingdom, to trade over its length and breadth,
and to serve God according to the precepts of their religion. And the king pro-
tected them against every foe and enemy.
And Israel lived in Polin in tranquillity for a long time. They devoted them-
selves to trade and handicrafts. And God sent a blessing on them so that they were
blessed in the land, and their name was exalted among the peoples. And they
traded with the surrounding countries and they also struck coins with inscriptions
in the holy language and the language of the country. These are the coins which
have on them a lion rampant towards the right. And on the coins are the words
‘Mieszko, King of Poland’ or ‘Mieszko, Król of Poland’. The Poles call their king
‘Król’.
When they came from the land of the Franks, they found a wood in the land,
and on every tree one tractate of the Talmud was incised. This is the forest of
