A Murder in Lemberg: Politics, Religion, and \t\t Violence in Modern Jewish History

Murder, intrigue, media spotlight, community in-fighting, police \t\t coverup, judicial malfeasance. O.J. Simpson? Jon-Benet Ramsey? No, it's the \t\t poisoning of Rabbi Abraham Kohn and his family by a fellow Jew, Abraham Ber \t\t Pilpel, in 1848, in the Ukrainian city of Lemberg (now Lviv). Stanislawski, \t\t professor of Jewish history at Columbia, uncovers a forgotten story as his \t\t fascinating book details the events surrounding the murder of the reformist \t\t (but not Reform) Rabbi Kohn and his four-year-old daughter (four other family \t\t members survived) after Pilpel sneaked into their kitchen and poured arsenic in \t\t the family's soup. While the twists and turns of the case make a compelling \t\t narrative, Stanislawski has a far more important story to tell. The \t\t assassination of Kohn was the result of roiling religious and political \t\t tensions between Lemberg's Orthodox community, which remained loyal to the \t\t Hapsburg empire, and Rabbi Kohn, allied with those demanding independence as \t\t revolution spread across Europe in 1848. While there is too much on Lemberg \t\t Jews' communal affairs for most readers, Stanislawski tells his story with a \t\t sharp eye for detail and plot, with the historical context and analysis that \t\t students of Jewish history will appreciate. (Feb.)