Jerozolima: miasto, religia, wyobraźnia, media („Dostrzegacz Nadwiślański”, „Safrus”, „Nowe Życie”)

Abstract

A well-known researcher of the Polish-Jewish press of the 19th and 20th centuries, Prof. Dariusz K. Sikorski, analyzes depictions of Jerusalem in three Polish-Jewish periodicals: Dostrzegacz Nadwiślański, Safrus, and Nowe Życie. The author distinguishes between two images of Jerusalem: symbolic and “urban,” emphasizing the strong dominance of the representational image: “Jerusalem – the symbol of Jewishness, depicted in newspapers, prayers, poetry, art, journalism, historical research, presented in testimonies in letters or diaries, is a constant object of fascination, but also a figure in ideological discourses seeking to control the Jewish public imagination. I pointed out that there is an anchoring of symbolism associated with Jerusalem in the domestic sphere, the least known because it is private but exists in everyday life. Signs and patterns acquired in the “culture of the home” become part of the collective culture, interacting with various ideological messages. Urban Jerusalem, on the other hand, shaped from the late 19th century to 1917, is a city with ideas of self-government, of coexistence between different religions and ethnic groups. However, Jerusalem as an urban community, that is, as an open space for living in peace in a world of conflict, did not have a good press, was not presented in the Zionist press and historiography, and is undoubtedly worth recalling.”