Professor Gershon C. Bacon held the Marcell and Maria Roth Chair in the History and Culture of Polish Jewry at Bar-Ilan University's Israel and Golda Koschitzky Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry in Ramat Gan, Israel. He has authored numerous books and articles on Polish Jewish history and currently serves as editor-in-chief of the journal Gal-Ed: On the History and Culture of Polish Jewry, while continuing his research and writing.

Creativity and Conflict succeeds on several levels at once: as homage, as historiographical reflection, and as a resource for future scholarship and teaching. Bacon's essays do not simply endure as canonical statements in the historiography of Polish Jewry; they continue to challenge readers and invite new research.  — Magdalena Kozłowska, Contemporary Jewry“Fascinating product of a nearly millennia‑old civilization and the ‘warp and woof of Polish society, separate threads woven in and around each other,’ their society diverged in outcomes. The essays, well researched and written, offer refreshing insight into a highly transformative era.”—Hallie Cantor, AJL“Kenneth Levin’s timely, incisive, and thought-provoking study of this profoundly perilous psychological phenomenon should be read by every Jew in America. Alas, it won’t be.”—Bruce Bawer, The FrontPage Magazine

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsNotes on CommentatorsNotes on Transliterations, Place-Names, and PublishersMapsIntroduction: Interwar Polish Jewish History: A ReevaluationMoshe RosmanPart OneLooking Back: Society and Religion in Pre-World War I PolandJewish Society in the Polish Congress Kingdom, 1860-1914Antony Polonsky commentsProlonged Erosion, Organization, and Reinforcement: Reflections on Orthodox Jewry in Congress Poland., c. 1850 to 1914Shaul Stampfer comments3. Religious Coercion, Freedom of Expression, and Modern Jewish Identity in Poland:I. L. Peretz, Sholem Asch, and the "Circumcision Scandal" in Warsaw, 1908Adam Ferziger commentsPart TwoSociety, Youth, Women, and Politics: Aspects of Jewish Life in Interwar Poland4. Partial Success, Great Achievements: On Jewish Autonomy in Interwar PolandMarcin Wodzinski comments5. National Revival, Ongoing Acculturation: Jewish Education in Interwar PolandNatalia Aleksiun comments6. To Enlist the Enthusiasm of the Young: Orthodox Jewish Non-Political Responses to the Challenges of Interwar PolandUriel Gellman comments7. The Missing 52%: The State of Research on Jewish Women in Interwar Poland and Its Implications for Holocaust StudiesDalia Ofer comments8. Woman? Youth? Jew?: The Search for the Identity of Jewish Young Women in Interwar PolandEliyana Adler comments9. Reluctant Partners, Ideological Rivals: Reflections on the Relations between Agudath Israel and the Zionist and Religious Zionist Movements in Interwar PolandAda Gebel commentsPart ThreeStruggles and Scandals: The Politicization of the Polish Rabbinate in Interwar Poland10. Ideology of Agudath Israel: "Da'at Torah" and "Birthpangs of the Messiah"Aryeh Edrei comments11. Enduring Prestige, Eroded Authority: The Warsaw Rabbinate in the Interwar PeriodAsaf Yedidya comments12. The New Jewish Politics and the Rabbinate in Poland: New Directions in the Interwar PeriodMordecai (Motti) Zalkin commentsPart FourJews as Part of the Fabric of Polish Society13. Messianists, Pragmatists, and Patriots: Orthodox Jews and the Modern Polish StateKamil Kijek comments14. Polish-Jewish Relations in Modern Times: The Search for a Metaphor and a Historical FrameworkYitzhak Conforti comments