Over the past few decades, Poland has become a true hotbed of contemporary Jewish identity debate—in Europe, but perhaps even more so in North America and in Israel, where we find so many descendants of Polish Jews. "The Meshugene Effect" is a research-creation project situated in a socio-cultural milieu, which has been receiving much attention in academic and popular circles.
Since the fall of communism, thousands of people in Poland have discovered Jewish roots. Among them is a peculiar category of those, whose discovery was preceded by a ‘hunch’ – an irrational conviction that they were Jewish before they actually knew they were Jewish. Katka Reszke tries to make sense of the personal narratives of several Polish women (including her own), who embarked on a pursuit of Jewish identity following a feeling, an intuition, an uncanny precognition about their Jewish descent. These self-narratives reveal different ways of making sense of extraordinary experiences of memory and transition set against the landscape of troubled Polish-Jewish history and a new curious Polish-Jewish present.
Throughout history, the Jewish people have confronted many grave challenges. In each instance, the Jewish response has been wildly inventive, versatile and robust. In response to each challenge, Jewish practice, belief and sense of self and nation were utterly transformed. And yet, Jewish tradition perceives itself as a continuous, uninterrupted chain extending back to Abraham and Moses.
Though Jewish people continue to honour and venerate Moses, their tablet of choice today is an iPad. The present moment in Jewish history is one of tremendous challenge and change. The crisis is profound. The radical break has broken. And most importantly, the remake is live, wireless and extraordinary.