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An Advantage to Peculiarity? The Case of the Polish Commonwealth
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 October 2009
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The investigation of the history of the Jews in the Polish Commonwealth requires not only research on specific topics but broader reflection as well. The special place and role of the Jews in Polish society and the distinguishing characteristics of the Jewish experience in Poland need to be rescued from unwarranted generalizations which may result in misrepresentation. 1 On the broadest level, this essay is an initial step in the direction of the development of a conceptual framework for the study of this subject. The particular concern will be to compare some aspects of the experience of the Jews with that of some of the other non-Polish nonautochthonous groups in Poland from around 1500 to the beginning of the eighteenth century.
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References
1. A remarkable piece of work of this type is Eitzen, Stanley, “Two Minorities: The Jews of Poland and the Chinese of the Philippines,” Majority and Minority: The Dynamics of Racial and Ethnic Relations, ed. Yetman, Norman and Steele, C. Hoy (Boston, 1971), pp. 117–138. Mr. Eitzen treats the situation of the Jews in Poland from the tenth century to 1963 as if the conditions in which the Jews lived did not change. Reading his article set me to writing mine.Google Scholar
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69. The absence of Polish messianic movements ought to be the subject of a special study. If Sabbatianism had had a significant impact on the largest community in the diaspora, there would almost certainly be more evidence than the few sources cited and disputed by Weinryb, The Jews, pp. 220–35. Jacob Frank's inspiration came in Salonica. In any case there is serious doubt as to whether Frankism ought to be seen as a messianic movement or as a group of “anarchist” cells with charismatic leadership born in the social and religious turmoil of the period of transition between medieval and modern times. If messianic movements are an index of “sojourning,” the absence of such movements among the Jews of the Polish Commonwealth is still another indication that they did not see themselves as sojourners. For now, see the remarks of Gerson Cohen on Ashkenazic Jews in general in his “Messianic Postures of Ashkenazim and Sephardim,” Leo Baeck Memorial Lecture 9 (New York, 1967).Google Scholar
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