Żydzi wschodniej Polski. Seria X: Jerozolima: miasto i mit

Abstract

The monograph is the tenth volume in the “Studia żydowskie” (Jewish Studies) series that is published as part of the scientific project “Jews of Eastern Poland” realised in Białystok. In 2021, ten years passed since the inauguration of the series of international academic conferences “Jews of Eastern Poland”. They were initiated in 2011 by Professor Jarosław Ławski and Dr Barbara Olech. In the first years, the sessions took place at the Festival of Jewish Culture “Zachor – Colour and Sound”. Starting from the 6th edition, the second cycle began, with an expanded thematic scope. Since 2018, the sessions have been dedicated to “Jews of Central and Eastern Europe”. The author of the thematic format and the chairperson of the Organisational Committee is Professor Jarosław Ławski. During the years, the sessions were organised by: Książnica Podlaska of Łukasz Górnicki, the Centre for Civic Education “Poland – Israel” (until 2017) and the Scientific Association “Oikoumene”. Since 2017, the organisers of the Conference have not been using financial support from Poland or from abroad. The conferences are financed from entry fees, and the publication of the monograph is financed by the Department of Philology of the University of Białystok. From 2012 to 2021, the following editions of the Conference took place (each followed by the publication of a monograph): I. “Żydzi wschodniej Polski. Kultura – tradycja – literatura” (Jews of Eastern Poland. Culture – tradition – literary works), Białystok 19.06.2012, Patron: Józef Chazanowicz (1844–1915). Volume: Żydzi wschodniej Polski (Jews of Eastern Poland), Vol. 1: Świadectwa i interpretacje (Testimonies and Interpretations), Barbara Olech, Jarosław Ławski (ed.), Białystok 2013, 531 pages. II. “Żydzi wschodniej Polski. W blasku i cieniu historii” (Jews of Eastern Poland. The bright and dark parts of history), Białystok 17–18.06.2013, Patron: Dora Kacnelson (1921–2003). Volume: Żydzi wschodniej Polski (The Jews of Eastern Poland), Vol. 2: W blasku i w cieniu historii (The bright and dark parts of history), Jarosław Ławski, Barbara Olech (ed.), Białystok 2014, 684 pages. III. “Żydzi wschodniej Polski. Kobieta żydowska” (Jews of Eastern Poland. The Jewish Woman), Białystok 13–14.06.2014. Patron: Chasia Bornstein-Bielicka (1921–2012). Volume: Żydzi wschodniej Polski ( Jews of Eastern Poland), Vol. 3: Kobieta żydowska ( The Jewish Woman), Anna Janicka, Jarosław Ławski, Barbara Olech (ed.), Białystok 2015, 610 pages. IV. “Żydzi wschodniej Polski. Uczeni żydowscy” (Jews of Eastern Poland. Jewish Scholars), Białystok 15–16.06.2015, Patron: Leo Wiener (1862–1939). Volume: Żydzi wschodniej Polski ( Jews of Eastern Poland), Vol. 4: Uczeni żydowscy ( Jewish Scholars), Grzegorz Czerwiński, Jarosław Ławski (ed.), Białystok 2016, 408 pages. V. “Żydzi wschodniej Polski. Judaizm środkowo- i wschodnioeuropejski” (Jews of Eastern Poland. Central- and Eastern European Judaism), Białystok 20-21.06.2016. Patron: Samuel Mohilewer (1824–1898). Volume: Żydzi wschodniej Polski (Jews of Eastern Poland), Vol. 5: W kręgu judaizmu (In the Circle of Judaism), Jarosław Ławski, Iwona E. Rusek (ed.), Białystok 2017, 435 pages. VI. “Żydzi wschodniej Polski. Żydzi białostoccy: od początków do 1939 roku. Kontekst środkowoeuropejski (Jews of Eastern Poland. The Jews of Białystok: from the Beginning to 1939. The Central European Context”, Białystok 12–13.062017. Patron: Felicja Raszkin-Nowak (1924–2015). Volume: Żydzi wschodniej Polski (Jews of Eastern Poland), Vol. 6: Żydzi białostoccy: od początków do 1939 roku (The Jews of Białystok: From the Beginning to 1939), Jarosław Ławski, Kamil K. Pilichiewicz, Anna Wydrycka (ed.), Białystok 2018, 447 pages. VII. “Żydzi wschodniej Polski. Między Odessą, Kijowem a Wilnem. Idee syjonistyczne w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej. Twórcy – literackie echa – język”. (Jews of Eastern Poland. Between Odessa, Kiev, and Vilnius. Zionist Ideas in Central and Eastern Europe. Authors – Literary Echoes – Language), Białystok 7–8.05.2018. Patron: Zeev Żabotyński (1880–1940). Volume: Żydzi wschodniej Polski (Jews of Eastern Poland), Vol. 7: Między Odessą a Wilnem: wokół idei syjonizmu (From Odessa to Vilnius: around the Idea of Zionism), Jarosław Ławski, Ewelina Feldman-Kołodziejuk (ed.), Białystok 2019, 389 pages. VIII. “Żydzi wschodniej Polski. Świat żydowskich artystów z Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej” (Jews of Eastern Poland. The World of Jewish Artists from Central and Eastern Europe), Białystok 6–7.05.2019. Patron: Rosa Raisa (1893–1963). Volume: Żydzi wschodniej Polski (Jews of Eastern Poland), Vol. 8, Artyści żydowscy (Jewish Artists), Jarosław Ławski, Joanna Wildowicz, (ed.) Białystok 2020, 481 pages. IX. “Żydzi wschodniej Polski. Dziecko żydowskie” (Jews of Eastern Poland. The Jewish Child), Białystok 18.05.2020. Patron: The Children of the Białystok Ghetto (1941–1943). Volume: Żydzi wschodniej Polski (Jews of Eastern Poland), Vol. 9: Dziecko żydowskie (The Jewish Child), Grażyna Dawidowicz, Jarosław Ławski (ed.), 458 pages. X. “Żydzi wschodniej Polski. Jerozolima w kulturze Żydów Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej. Miasto – mit – literatura” (Jews of Eastern Poland. Jerusalem in the Culture of Jews from Central and Eastern Europe. The City – The Myth – Literature), Białystok, 23.09.2021 Patrons: Eliezer Lipman Silberman (1819–1882) and David Gordon (1831–1886). Volume: Żydzi wschodniej Polski (Jews of Eastern Poland), Vol. 10: Jerozolima: miasto i mit (Jerusalem: the City and the Myth), Białystok 2022. The monographs published in the Academic Series of Publications “Colloquia Orientalia Bialostocensia” are available online at the Repository of the University of Białystok. The 10 th Anniversary International Scientific Conference in the series “The Jews of Eastern Poland”, Series 2: The Jews of Central and Eastern Europe” was dedicated to the topic: “Jerusalem in the Culture of Central and Eastern European Jews. The Myth – the City – Literature”. It took place on the 23.09.2021 (Thursday) in Książnica Podlaska. The tenth anniversary of the project fell in the difficult year of pandemic restrictions and the growing fourth wave of the epidemic. The scientists addressed the following issues: – Literary, cultural, and artistic images of Jerusalem. – Journeys to Jerusalem and their accounts. – “Jerusalems” outside Jerusalem: Vilnius, Białystok, and other towns. – The iconographic images of Jerusalem. – Biblical contexts of the narration about Jerusalem. – Artistic metamorphoses of the images of Jerusalem. – Images of Jerusalem and the testimonies of Holocaust. – Contemporary Jerusalem in the artistic approach. The patrons of the 10th Conference were Eliezer Lipman Silberman (1819–1882) and David Gordon (1831–1886), who are described in the Programme: “The editors of the world’s first weekly magazine published in the Hebrew language in Lyck: „Hamagid” (Hebrew. דיגמה, since 1893: HaMaggid LeIsrael). The magazine was founded by Eliezer Lipman Silberman, and David Gordon, who was the co-manager (with the founder, Silberman, and his son Dove Gordon) of the weekly magazine in the years 1856–1890, had a great influence on its development and programme. In 1891, the magazine was moved to Berlin, and then to Krakow and Vienna. The last issue was published in 1903. The magazine was a pioneering paper of the Zionist movement that promoted settling in Palestine and wrote about the status of Jewish settlement. Since 1893, the magazine was banned in the Russian Empire”. Altogether 26 scientists from Poland and Ukraine took part in the Conference. The session took place in a hybrid format: most of the scientists connected to the participants who gathered in the Auditorium of Książnica Podlaska and delivered their speeches live. During a moving moment the participants honoured the memory of Professor Rachel Feldhay Brenner (1956, Zabrze – 2021, Madison), who was the guest of the 2018 session, and also visited Tykocin. Volume 10 contains texts that discuss the cultural, literary, and historical images of Jerusalem, divided into 4 chapters: Prolegomena, II. Different Jerusalems, III. Towards Erec Israel, IV. Jerusalem seen from a journey. Additionally, an alphabetical Index of the authors of all 10 volumes of the series “Jews of Eastern Poland” along with the titles of their articles was published at the end of the volume. The monograph was edited by: Professor Anna Janicka (University of Białystok), who specialises in literature of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, who has co-organised the sessions since the beginning, Professor Dariusz K. Sikorski (University of Gdansk), an expert in the subject of Jews in Polish press, who has participated in the sessions since the first session, and Professor Jarosław Ławski from the Department of Philological Studies “East – West” of the University of Białystok, Manager of the Project. The next Conference addressed the following subject: “Jews of Eastern Europe and politics. Biographies – Texts of Culture – Literary Image – Ideas” (May 16 2022). The session started the third five-year period of the Conference, entitled: “The Jews of Eastern Europe: Reinterpretation of the Heritage”.