Res Humanitariae

The article describes the issues I raised in more detail in my doctoral dissertation. I explore the clash between modernity and Judaic tradition, which accompanied the development of cultural practices and Zionist youth organisations in interwar Poland. Based on an analysis of press sources from this period, I examine two selected organisations, Hashomer Hatzair and Akiba. Each sought to build its cultural capital by relying, to varying degrees, on the selection and substitution of elements in a process described by Hobsbawm and Ranger as the invention of tradition. These processes were reflected in the cultural practices, particularly musical ones, that I present in this article.