JEWS, LIQUOR, AND LIFE

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We’ll take a deep dive into shtetl taverns as centers for Polish-Jewish relations and discuss how alcohol brought communities together. We’ll also investigate attitudes to drinking in XIX century Jewish and Polish cultures.

The inspiration for this broadcast comes from a captivating 2014 book by Glenn Dynner, “Yankel's Tavern: Jews, Liquor, and Life in the Kingdom of Poland,” which explores nineteenth-century Jewish-run taverns in Eastern Europe.

The author (who already spoke at one of our webinars) will be here to discuss his book and its broader cultural context. Glenn Dynner will be joined by Professor of History and Judaic Studies at Brown University, Adam Teller and the CEO of Workers Circle, Ann Toback.

Glenn Dynner, a 2019-20 Guggenheim Fellow, serves as Chair of the Religion Department at Sarah Lawrence College, New York. He is the author of “Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society”, and “Yankel’s Tavern: Jews, Liquor & Life in the Kingdom of Poland”. Professor Dynner recently co-edited a special issue of Jewish History on Jewish women in modern Eastern Europe, and is Co-Editor of "Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies".

Adam Teller is Professor of History and Judaic Studies at Brown University, Rhode Island. His research focuses on the economic, social, and cultural history of Jews in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. His most recent book, Rescue the Surviving Souls: The Great Jewish Refugee Crisis of the Seventeenth Century, published last year by Princeton University Press, investigates the waves of Polish Jewish refugees that spread out across Europe, Asia, and North Africa following the Khmelnytsky uprising of 1648. The book was nominated for the 2020 National Jewish Book Award in history. Professor Teller is a member of the Academic Advisory Council at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw and was part of the academic team that created the museum’s Core Exhibition.

Ann Toback is the CEO of the Workers Circle, a nonprofit organization that powers progressive Jewish identity through cultural engagement, education, and social justice. A lifelong progressive activist and trained attorney, Ann previously served as the Assistant Executive Director at the Writers Guild of America, East from 1999-2008. Under Ann’s leadership, the Workers Circle reengaged around its progressive roots and launched a new activist agenda prioritizing immigrant rights and economic justice. Today, the Workers Circle is committed to honoring its Yiddish and Bundist roots and has become the largest Yiddish language program in the world, teaching over 1000 students and connecting many more to their Yiddishkayt roots. Ann makes her own liqueurs and has spoken widely about Jews and liquor.

[michaelgoodman]

Unfortunately wasn't able to tune in live, but caught the presentation this afternoon and found it to be fascinating. Thank you.

[louisej.passick]

My grandparents also owned a “little hotel”, read tavern.