Issue 2 (56)

2025

Publication date: 24.03.2026

Description

Digitalizacja i druk czasopisma „Studia Judaica” Vol. 28 (2025) nr 2 (56) oraz redakcja językowa i korekta zostały dofinansowane przez Muzeum Getta Warszawskiego, Polskie Towarzystwo Studiów Żydowskich i Fundację na rzecz Wrocławskiej Judaistyki.

logo Muzeum Getta Warszawskiego

Cover design: Paweł Lisek

Licence: CC BY 4.0

Editorial team

Editor-in-Chief Stefan Gąsiorowski

Deputy Editor-in-Chief Magdalena Ruta

Secretary Krzysztof Niweliński

Issue Editor Stefan Gąsiorowski

Issue content

THE JEWISH BODY, PEREGRINATIONS, PRESS, AND TESTAMENTS IN THE EIGHTEENTH–TWENTIETH CENTURIES

Między Białą Podlaską a Berlinem – informacje o podróżach edukacyjno-zawodowych i zarobkowych w zeznaniach Żydów złożonych przed sądem marszałkowskim w Warszawie u schyłku XVIII wieku

Hanna Węgrzynek

Studia Judaica, Issue 2 (56), 2025, pp. 263-290

https://doi.org/10.4467/24500100STJ.25.016.23220

The testimonies given by Jews before the Marshal’s Court shed light on the role of travel both in acquiring a profession and in further professional activities. Traveling made it possible to acquire a profession and a source of income. Many young Jews decided to learn crafts outside their hometowns. Both close and distant cities were selected. The decisions were influenced by the availability of places at the master’s, the distance from the hometown, and the opinion of the master’s craftsmanship. The possibility of obtaining help from family members was also important.
Moreover, experience was gained, which allowed for other careers, such as merchant, carter, or distiller. Young Jews went into service to acquire knowledge and skills useful in further employment.
Learning a craft did not guarantee Jews the ability to practice it. Municipal legislation contributed to this as it imposed numerous restrictions and protected the interests of Christian craftsmen. Therefore, Jewish craftsmen often looked for work outside their hometown. Many made a living from several different activities, for example combining crafts with leasing an inn.
Sometimes the knowledge acquired during education in the cheder was used for profit. It made it possible to take up a job as a teacher or a scribe. This activity was common among both young and old people, although it did not bring much income and was associated with a transient life.

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Reforma ciała. Fizyczność Żydów polskich w oświeceniowych ocenach potencjału obywatelskiego

Anna Zabraniak

Studia Judaica, Issue 2 (56), 2025, pp. 291-315

https://doi.org/10.4467/24500100STJ.25.017.23221

The political thought of the Enlightenment, grounded in utilitarianism and populationism, along with advancements in medical science, sparked a growing interest in the human body, particularly regarding its role in benefiting society and the state. This focus extended to groups excluded from citizenship and social life, such as Jews. Evaluations of physicality, including health and sanitary conditions, helped identify aspects of traditional life in need of reform. Conversely, the Jewish body often evoked fear or disgust, creating a psychological barrier to imagining Polish-Jewish coexistence and hindering the realization of productivization goals.

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Elements of Jewish Ethical Wills in the Archival Documents of Warsaw Notaries from the First Half of the Nineteenth Century

Anna Dybała-Pacholak

Studia Judaica, Issue 2 (56), 2025, pp. 317-350

https://doi.org/10.4467/24500100STJ.25.018.23222

The article examines elements of the ethical will present in documents notarized for Warsaw Jews in the first half of the nineteenth century. Research shows that both Jews belonging to the wealthy upper class, as well as craftsmen and merchants, voluntarily included moral instruction in their wills. This type of content had a long tradition in Jewish culture. It took the form of dispositions regarding tzedakah, organization of the funeral, instructions on saying prayers for the deceased, and the guidelines for preserving memory of the deceased. The function of wills was not limited to disposing of one’s estate, but also comprised transmitting moral guidance. The article emphasizes that despite the formal notarial requirements in force, traditional forms of Jewish writing and customs were carried over and integrated into official documents which proves the resilience and universality of these values in Jewish life.

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Palestyńskie relacje korespondentów „Małego Przeglądu” w ujęciu pamięci środowiskowej

Maria Piekarska-Baronet

Studia Judaica, Issue 2 (56), 2025, pp. 351-382

https://doi.org/10.4467/24500100STJ.25.019.23223

The texts authored by Palestinian Jewish correspondents for Mały Przegląd constitute a compelling corpus from the perspective of environmental memory understood as the exploration of human recollections of the natural environment and their interactions with natural elements, particularly in the context of migration to locations with natural conditions differing from one’s original environment. The article employs environmental memory as a method to elucidate the evolving relationships between the Mały Przegląd correspondents and elements of the new Palestinian landscape, highlighting the functions they attributed to the natural environment. A typology highlighting their placement and displacement within the Zionist environmental imaginary was developed in the course of the study.

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Wokół latynizacji hebrajskiego na łamach „Mecudy” – język narodowy między Orientem a Okcydentem

Maciej Ratajczyk

Studia Judaica, Issue 2 (56), 2025, pp. 383-409

https://doi.org/10.4467/24500100STJ.25.020.23224

The aim of the article was to examine the discourse on the romanization (latinization) of Hebrew in the Betar magazine Mecuda, published in 1935– 1938 in Warsaw, London, and Paris by Ajzik Remba (1907–1969). The context of the study was the history of the idea of romanization of Hebrew, with particular emphasis on the activities of Itamar Ben Avi (1882–1943) and Zeev Jabotinsky (1880–1940). It was discovered that the discourse on romanization was strongly embedded in imaginations about the East (Orient) and the West (Occident), and this often played an important role in the arguments of the discussants.

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Powroty emigrantów marcowych do Polski w latach siedemdziesiątych i osiemdziesiątych XX wieku w świetle ich wspomnień

Monika Stępień

Studia Judaica, Issue 2 (56), 2025, pp. 411-435

https://doi.org/10.4467/24500100STJ.25.021.23225

As part of the “post-March emigration,” some 13,000 Jews left Poland, declaring Israel as their destination. However, less than thirty percent of the emigrants actually arrived there. The rest ended up in various European countries (especially Scandinavian) or in the US and Canada. Many emigrants tried to settle as close to Poland as possible with the hope that they would be able to return. Meanwhile, regardless of where they settled, travel to Poland was not possible for a long time. In the 1970s and 1980s, a small number of March emigrants visited Poland. The purpose of this article is to reconstruct their experience of return based on the interviews they gave.

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