Welcome!
About Glenn Dynner
A brief introduction.
Glenn holds a B.A. from Brandeis University, M.A. from McGill University and Ph.D. from Brandeis University. He is a scholar of East European Jewry with a focus on the social history of Hasidism and the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment). He is the author of Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society. Some of his additional interests include Polish-Jewish relations, Jewish economic history, and popular religion. Glenn has been a member of the Sarah Lawrence College faculty since 2004.
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Curriculum Vitae
Glenn Dynner's Curriculum Vitae can be downloaded in either Adobe Portable Document or Microsoft Word Document format. Select the format you wish to use to download the file:
- Microsoft Word Document (glenn_dynner_cv.doc - 56KB)
- Adobe PDF (glenn_dynner_cv.pdf - 161KB)
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Men of Silk: The Hasidic Conquest of Polish Jewish Society 
Oxford University Press, April 2006
Purchase this book from the Oxford University Press. (Opens in a new window.)
Hasidism, a kabbalah-inspired movement founded by Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (c1700-1760), transformed Jewish communities across Eastern and East Central Europe. In Men of Silk, Glenn Dynner draws upon newly discovered Polish archival material and neglected Hebrew testimonies to illuminate Hasidism's dramatic ascendancy in the region of Central Poland during the early nineteenth century. Dynner presents Hasidism as a socioreligious phenomenon that was shaped in crucial ways by its Polish context. His social historical analysis dispels prevailing romantic notions about Hasidism. Despite their folksy image, the movement's charismatic leaders are revealed as astute populists who proved remarkably adept at securing elite patronage, neutralizing powerful opponents, and methodically co-opting Jewish institutions. The book also reveals the full spectrum of Hasidic devotees, from humble shtetl dwellers to influential Warsaw entrepreneurs.
Dynner locates the Hasidic concept of "worship through corporeality" (avodah be-gashmiyut) as the nexus between the movement's theology and social realization. This notion that holiness may be derived from even mundane endeavors enabled Hasidic leaders to immerse themselves in politics, business, and popular culture, and yet effectively remain mystics. Dynner also mines the Hasidic texts for valuable historical and biographical data. Men of Silk integrates a rich variety of external and internal perspectives on Hasidism's transformation into a mass movement and exhibits its revolutionary impact on Polish Jewish culture during the transition to modernity.
Read Reviews of Men of Silk at the Oxford University Press Website. (Opens in a new window.)
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Courses
Courses offered at Sarah Lawrence College and taught by Glenn Dynner.
For a course description, click on the title of the course. (Please note: the following links open in a new window.)
- First-Year Studies: Jewish Spirituality and Culture
- Kabbalah, Hasidism, and Jewish Enlightenment
- Modern Jewish History
- The Holocaust
- Jewish Life in Eastern Europe
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Contact
At SLC
- Mailing Address
- Glenn Dynner
Sarah Lawrence College
1 Mead Way
Bronxville, NY 10708
- Telephone
- On Campus (office): (914) 395-2414
- gdynner@slc.edu
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