Sparks amidst the ashes

by Byron L. Sherwin

In Sparks Amidst the Ashes, Byron Sherwin demonstrates how the unprecedented works of intellect and spirit produced during the Jewish "Golden Age" in Poland can provide contemporary Jews with the spiritual and intellectual resources required to ensure Jewish continuity in the present and future. Sherwin introduces us to the vast range of mystical speculation, evocative stories, talmudic dialectics, theological ideas, and social realities that were muted by the destruction of Polish Jewry during the Holocaust. Sherwin critiques the tendency among contemporary Jews to disregard the precious legacy bequeathed by Polish Jewry, and presents a plan for re-creating contemporary Jewish life that draws from the wisdom of the spiritual maestros and from the rich communal experience characteristic of Jewish life in pre-World War II Poland. Sherwin concludes with a controversial proposal for the future of Polish-Jewish relations.