Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust

Lecture & Performance Co-sponsored by the Center for Jewish History In Person: Admission: Free Zoom Livestream: Admission: Free Watch the video

The Light of Learning tells the story of an unexpected Hasidic revival in Poland on the eve of the Holocaust. In the aftermath of World War I, as secularism spread, Hasidic leaders rapidly reinvented themselves as educators devoted to rescuing the youth by means of world-renowned yeshivas, Bais Yaakov schools for girls and women, and eventually underground yeshiva bunkers during the Holocaust. The Light of Learning belies notions of late Hasidic decadence and decline and transforms our understanding of Polish Jewry during its final hour.

Join YIVO for a presentation on this book with author Glenn Dynner along with performances of Hasidic nigunim by Lorin Sklamberg of the Klezmatics.

Buy the book.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. 

About the Participants

Glenn Dynner is the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Professor of Judaic Studies at Fairfield University, editor of the journal Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, and a recent Guggenheim Fellow. He is author of Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society (OUP, 2006) and Yankel's Tavern: Jews, Liquor, and Life in the Kingdom of Poland (OUP, 2013).

Lorin Sklamberg has served as YIVO’s Sound Archivist since 2000. He previously worked at YIVO from 1987-1994, as the aide to the then-Assistant Director Adrienne Cooper, and as YIVO’s in-house Yiddish typesetter, graphic designer and coordinator of KlezKamp: the Yiddish Folk Arts Program, which he administered for 14 years. Lorin is a founding member of the Grammy Award-winning Yiddish-American roots band the Klezmatics and has been heard on innumerable recordings and live shows, solo and in collaboration with such diverse artists as Itzhak Perlman, Jane Siberry, Chava Alberstein, Ehud Banai, Yoni Rechter, Emmylou Harris, Tracy Grammer, Neil Sedaka, Natalie Merchant, Tony Kushner and Theodore Bikel. He has composed and performed for film, dance, stage and circus and has produced a number of recordings of world and theater music. He also teaches Yiddish song from São Paulo to St. Petersburg. Lorin’s work in the field of Yiddish music draws extensively on the unsurpassed wealth of materials held in YIVO’s library and archives.