Synopses & Reviews
Review
"This informative and well-written bookeasily accessible to those unskilled in the intricacies of Talmud study, for which Polish Jewry was famedis an important contribution to the field of Polish Jewish history."
Slavonic and East European Review
Synopsis
Jewish life in early modern Poland was characterized by an adherence to Jewish law (halakhah) that Polish Jewry had inherited from medieval Franco-German Jewry, and almost all aspects of Jewish activity fell within its purview. Jewish law remained constant throughout the ages in some areas, but in others rabbis were forced to reinterpret it in light of the complexities of contemporary life. Edward Fram shows how the Polish community, at times consciously and at times unconsciously, transformed some of its traditional values until they may have been unrecognizable to Jews from an earlier age.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-178) and indexes.
About the Author
Edward Fram is Associate Professor of Jewish History and holds the Solly Yellin Chair in Lithuanian and Eastern European Jewry at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.