"Space" as a Category for the Research of the History of Jews in Poland-Lithuania 1500-1900

What do we mean by Jewish space? How does it come into being, what qualities does it possess, and how does one experience it? Does this specific space play a role in Jewish-Christian encounters? How are shared Jewish-Christian spaces created in small towns often understood as shtetls? The volume Space as a Category for the Research of the History of Jews in Poland-Lithuania 1500-1900 answers those questions using examples from early modern Poland-Lithuanian and its successor states. Eight different authors examine various issues that were substantial for the Jewish experience in the most significant Jewish community in the world. The range of contributions includes the authors' multiple methodological approaches in their research, both historical and sociological, and architectural practices. The compilation of the articles also breaks chronological boundaries by presenting texts from the early modern era and the early 19th century. Examples from medieval Jewish Cracow and early modern small towns in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Warsaw, Gdansk/Danzig, and Berlin analyzed in this volume are shedding new light on the Jewish experience in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its successor states. The book is exciting for anyone interested in Jewish history and Jewish-Christian relations. von Maria, Ciesla und Leiserowitz, Ruth