Congregation Shir Tikvah and the Jewish Community Center
present from New York

Arthur Strimling

in

ALL THAT OUR EYES HAVE WITNESSED

turer and researcher at
Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, researcher at Tel
Aviv University and at
Jagiellonian University in
Cracow, Poland. He has writ-
ten several publications and
has been honored with many
fellowships and awards.
He is the associate editor of
Bar-Ilan Studies on Eastern
European Jewry and the
Israel coordinator for A Jour-
nal of Polish-Jewish History.
Rosman has taught courses in
modern Jewish history,
history of the Jews in Poland
and in Russia, Chasidism,
Jewish autonomy, Sabba-
tianism and the Chmielnick
Revolt. In addition to English,
Rosman reads Hebrew, Polish
and French speaks some
Yiddish.
Rosman says his most
significant research discovery
focuses on documents
relating to the Baal Shem
'Thy, the founder of Chasidism.
Although scholar Gershom
Scholem discovered the ex-
istence of the Baal Shem Tov,
Rosman uncovered more
. documents that give a little
insight into his life. "You
might say it's the discovery of
the address of the Baal Shem
Tov," he remarks.
"A few years ago in Poland,
I came across taxpayer lists
that listed the Baal Shem
called him Baal Shem, and in
one instance called him Baal
Shem Doctor, which reflected
his profession: he was a
healer," Rosman explains. "I
also was able to conclude on

Rosman likes to
teach about the
Baal Shem Toy and
birth of Chasidism.

the basis of what I found
about his living conditions —
he lived in a house that was
tax-free and rent-free — that
unlike what many people had
thought, he was not a rebel
against the community, but
he was supported by the com-
munity as were some of his
followers."
It is no surprise, then, that
Rosman's favorite teaching
subject is the Baal Shem Tov
and the birth of Chasidism. "I
like talking about the
emergence of Chasidism, the
generation of the Baal Shem
Tov, what the Baal Shem Tov
was like, what conditions
were like in his town."
At the same time, Rosman
has a wider agenda. "I like
talking about contrasts bet-
ween the status of the
medieval Jew and the modern
Jew in terms of legal status
and social status."
Rosman picked Polish
Jewry as an area of concen-
tration because he believes it

is the basis from which con-
temporary Jewry springs.
Studying Polish Jewish
history helps determine how
modern Jewry got to where it
is today, he says.
"I wanted to pick a field
that I thought was what one
might term a classic period in
Jewish history — that the
story of the Jews in Poland in
the 16th or 18th Centuries
lies at the root of much of the
development of what came
later in modern Jewry,"
Rosman says. "Most of the
JeWs in the world are
descended from these Polish
Jews . . . Much of the tradi-
tions of Ashkenazic Jewry
were formed in this period.
"So for me, it's a key period
to understand not only what
happened in the past but also
what has developed in
modern times."
Rosman's work on Polish
Jewry has significance both
for Jewish history researchers
and general history, accor-
ding to Dr. Todd Endelman.
"The strength of his work is
that he combines an intimate
knowledge of the traditional
Hebrew sources along with
familiarity with Polish
language archival sources,"
says the William. Haber Pro-
fessor of Modern Jewish
History at the University of
Michigan.
"There are not a lot of peo
ple who have that strength.
He was the first person to
really do it."
Rosman is working on a
book tentatively titled, Mied-
zyboz and the Generation of
the Baal Shem Tot). Following
the book's publication, he
plans to research on the
Council of Four Lands, a body
of Jewish autonomous rule in
Poland from the late 1500s to
1764. He'd also like to write
a history about Jews and
money.
The
Jerusalem-based
Rosman, who is on sabbatical,
hopes his audiences will gain
from his courses a feeling of
how the past influences the
present.
"I hope they will come away
with the knowledge of how
they were created, in a sense.
That the fact that they are sit-
ting here in metro Detroit in
1989, that they are involved
in a certain kind of Jewish
community, that they have
certain types of economic oc-
cupations, that all this is not
an accident, that this is part
of certain historical trends
that began a long time ago.
"I would like them to see
the continuity, that what hap-
pened in the 16th Century in
Poland or the 18th Century in
Germany or in France, that
these things have had an ef-
fect on us today."

by Arthur Strimling and Esther Broner

A one person play
created from the
stories recorded
by anthropologist
Barbara Myerhoff
(co-director of
Academy A ward-
winning NUMBER
OUR DAYS) after
her conversations
with Hasidim,
holocaust survivors,
the elderly, re-
fuseniks, social
workers and others
in the Fairfax neigh-
borhood of Los
Angeles.

PHOTO: KEN HOWARD

Directed by Diane Dowling

Music by Steve Browman

"A STORY TELLING PLAY THAT IS ITSELF A CELEBRATION OF STORY TELLING"

ONE NIGHT ONLY • FEBRUARY 8TH • 7:30 PM

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER

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FREE ADMISSION

For further information phone 661-1000 Extension 342 .

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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

47