The Economy of an Interwar Yeshivah - Dr. Wojciech Tworek
Location: Leacock 738
This talk examines the financial operations of rabbinical academies (yeshivas) in Poland during the interwar years (1918鈥�1939), a period marked by a revival of Orthodox Judaism. Focusing on the Warsaw-based yeshiva聽Tomkhe Temimim, affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, it explores the strategies these yeshivas employed to navigate the economic challenges of the time. These strategies included rigorous debt management, innovative fundraising methods, and the development of transnational support networks. Drawing on rarely studied sources, such as balance sheets, student records, and correspondence with donors, this talk offers new insights into the economic history of Hasidism. Emerging in 18th-century Eastern Europe, Hasidism became a cornerstone of Jewish Orthodoxy by the 20th century. The talk reconsiders the movement's interwar revival and examines how financial strategies helped transform Hasidism from a collection of localized groups into a modern, transnational movement.
Dr. Wojciech Tworek is an Assistant Professor and Acting Chair of the Taube Department of Jewish Studies at the University of Wroclaw. His research focuses on Hasidism and Jewish Orthodoxy. After completing his doctoral studies at University College London, he served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Anne Tanenbaum Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto.
Coffee, tea, and pastries will be served.
搁厂痴笔:听