Hasidic Warsaw
Reb Zalmen and the Aleksander Shtibl
Will be published approx. on 20. August 2026
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-350-51740-0 (ISBN)
Description
This book provides the first English translation of Yechiel Hofer's book, Reb Zalmen. Centering on a particular denizen of the Aleksander Hasidim's shtibl (prayer house), it offers a unique and intimate portrait of the lives of those who went inside to pray, eat, study, and argue there in the early 20th century. It is hard to imagine that Reb Zalmen was not an actual figure - someone the young Yechiel Hofer actually knew and loved - although finding any trace of him today would be a daunting task. Reb Zalmen was that rare thing, a traditional Jew without a family. His last name is never given; all we are told is that he had originally come to Warsaw from the town of Siedlec.
Regardless of Reb Zalmen's historical existence, Hasidic Warsaw provides rich material for the ethnography of Polish Hasidism in the early 20th century. It reveals what it was like to experience 'Gentile' Warsaw for someone who spends all his time in the Jewish quarter; to confront the new waves of doubt and fashion that threatened the folkways followed there; the rivalries and alliances between different Hasidic courts and their followers; the bitterness of poverty and the struggle to transcend hunger.
Jonathan Boyarin's introduction orients the reader toward the changing demographic and political situation of Polish Hasidim in the early 20th century. It points to the distinct facets of Warsaw Hasidic life and law that structure the chapters of Hasidic Warsaw, guiding the reader towards their own contemplation of the interplay between fiction and memory.
Regardless of Reb Zalmen's historical existence, Hasidic Warsaw provides rich material for the ethnography of Polish Hasidism in the early 20th century. It reveals what it was like to experience 'Gentile' Warsaw for someone who spends all his time in the Jewish quarter; to confront the new waves of doubt and fashion that threatened the folkways followed there; the rivalries and alliances between different Hasidic courts and their followers; the bitterness of poverty and the struggle to transcend hunger.
Jonathan Boyarin's introduction orients the reader toward the changing demographic and political situation of Polish Hasidim in the early 20th century. It points to the distinct facets of Warsaw Hasidic life and law that structure the chapters of Hasidic Warsaw, guiding the reader towards their own contemplation of the interplay between fiction and memory.
Reviews / Votes
'Boyarin's translation-zesty, entertaining, and eloquent in equal measures-introducesEnglish readers to a remarkable tale by the noted author Yechiel Hofer. This text, a
must-read for anyone interested in the religious cultures of Jewish Eastern Europe, invites
us to step out of the present and into the thriving, complicated worlds of early twentieth-
century Hasidism.' * Ariel Evan Mayse, author of Laws of the Spirit: Ritual, Mysticism, and the Commandments in Early Hasidism (2024) * 'Hofer's Hasidic Warsaw is both a fascinating read and a rich historical source. Jonathan
Boyarin brings to us a captivating example of Yiddish literature in his masterful English
translation and a rich historical source on a little-known aspect of the religious life of
Eastern European Jews. Beware! Once you start reading, you might not be able to put it
down!' * Marcin Wodzinski, author of Hasidism: Key Questions (2018) *
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-350-51740-0 (9781350517400)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Yechiel Hofer (1906-1972) was born in Warsaw to a Hasidic family, and was a close childhood friend of A.J. Heschel. He trained as a medical doctor, but devoted himself to writing stories, poetry and essays - first in Polish, and then in Yiddish. He was exiled to Siberia during World War II, and emigrated to Israel in 1951. Yitzhok Yanasovitsh praised Hofer's 'abundance of descriptions of ways of life and...wealth of types and images which populated the Jewish street in Warsaw in the past'. Melech Ravitch described him as an 'exceptionally vivid author of novels, whose background was the Warsaw courtyard'. Hofer received the Itsik Manger Prize for outstanding contributions to Yiddish literature in 1971, the year before his death in Yafo, Israel.
Jonathan Boyarin's work centers on Jewish communities and on the dynamics of Jewish culture, memory, and identity. He has investigated these fields in a range of ethnographic projects set in Paris, Jerusalem, and the Lower East Side of New York City. Much of his work is in interdisciplinary critical theory, almost always from the perspective of modern Jewish politics and experience. He has extended these interests into comparative work on diaspora, the politics of time and space, and the ethnography of reading. His books include From a Ruined Garden: The Memorial Books of Polish Jewry (with Jack Kugelmass, 1998, 2nd edition), Mornings at the Stanton Street Shul: A Lower East Side Summer (2011), Jewish Families (2013), and Yeshiva Days: Learning on the Lower East Side (2020). Previous translations from Yiddish include A Fire Burns in Kotsk by Menashe Unger (2013).
Jonathan Boyarin's work centers on Jewish communities and on the dynamics of Jewish culture, memory, and identity. He has investigated these fields in a range of ethnographic projects set in Paris, Jerusalem, and the Lower East Side of New York City. Much of his work is in interdisciplinary critical theory, almost always from the perspective of modern Jewish politics and experience. He has extended these interests into comparative work on diaspora, the politics of time and space, and the ethnography of reading. His books include From a Ruined Garden: The Memorial Books of Polish Jewry (with Jack Kugelmass, 1998, 2nd edition), Mornings at the Stanton Street Shul: A Lower East Side Summer (2011), Jewish Families (2013), and Yeshiva Days: Learning on the Lower East Side (2020). Previous translations from Yiddish include A Fire Burns in Kotsk by Menashe Unger (2013).
Content
Introduction - Jonathan Boyarin, Cornell University, USA
Reb Zalmen by Yechiel Hofer (1960), Translated into English by Jonathan Boyarin
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Reb Zalmen by Yechiel Hofer (1960), Translated into English by Jonathan Boyarin
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography