Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (
Ashkenazi Hebrew
Ashkenazi Hebrew ( he, הגייה אשכנזית, Hagiyya Ashkenazit, yi, אַשכּנזישע הבֿרה, Ashkenazishe Havara) is the pronunciation system for Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew favored for Jewish liturgical use and Torah study by Ash ...
: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contemporary
Western Ukraine
Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austr ...
during the 18th century, and spread rapidly throughout
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...
. Today, most affiliates reside in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
.
Israel Ben Eliezer, the "
Baal Shem Tov
Israel ben Eliezer (1698 – 22 May 1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov ( he, בעל שם טוב, ) or as the Besht, was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. "Besht" is the acronym for Baal Shem Tov, which ...
", is regarded as its founding father, and his disciples developed and disseminated it. Present-day Hasidism is a sub-group within
Haredi Judaism
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to '' halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppo ...
and is noted for its religious conservatism and social seclusion. Its members adhere closely both to
Orthodox Jewish practice – with the movement's own unique emphases – and the traditions of Eastern European Jews. Many of the latter, including various special styles of dress and the use of the
Yiddish language
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
, are nowadays associated almost exclusively with Hasidism.
Hasidic thought draws heavily on
Lurianic Kabbalah
Lurianic Kabbalah is a school of kabbalah named after Isaac Luria (1534–1572), the Jewish rabbi who developed it. Lurianic Kabbalah gave a seminal new account of Kabbalistic thought that its followers synthesised with, and read into, the earlie ...
, and, to an extent, is a popularization of it. Teachings emphasize God's
immanence
The doctrine or theory of immanence holds that the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world. It is held by some philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence. Immanence is usually applied in monotheistic, pant ...
in the universe, the need to cleave and be one with Him at all times, the devotional aspect of religious practice, and the spiritual dimension of corporeality and mundane acts. ''Hasidim'', the adherents of Hasidism, are organized in
independent sects known as "courts" or dynasties, each headed by its own hereditary leader, a
Rebbe
A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritu ...
. Reverence and submission to the Rebbe are key tenets, as he is considered a spiritual authority with whom the follower must bond to gain closeness to God. The various "courts" share basic convictions, but operate apart and possess unique traits and customs. Affiliation is often retained in families for generations, and being Hasidic is as much a sociological factor – entailing birth into a specific community and allegiance to a dynasty of Rebbes – as it is a purely religious one. There are several "courts" with many thousands of member households each, and hundreds of smaller ones. , there were over 130,000 Hasidic households worldwide, about 5% of the global Jewish population.
Etymology
The
terms ''hasid'' and ''hasidut'', meaning "pietist" and "piety", have a long history in Judaism. The
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
and other old sources refer to the "Pietists of Old" (''Hasidim haRishonim'') who would contemplate an entire hour in preparation for prayer. The phrase denoted extremely devoted individuals who not only observed the Law to its letter, but performed good deeds even beyond it.
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
himself is honored with the title, in
tractate Eruvin 18b by
Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir ( he, רַבִּי מֵאִיר) was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishnah. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation (139-163). He is the third most frequently mentioned sage in the Mis ...
: "Adam was a great ''hasid'', having fasted for 130 years." The first to adopt the epithet collectively were apparently the ''hasidim'' in
Second Temple period
The Second Temple period in Jewish history lasted approximately 600 years (516 BCE - 70 CE), during which the Second Temple existed. It started with the return to Zion and the construction of the Second Temple, while it ended with the First Je ...
Judea
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous so ...
, known as
Hasideans after the Greek rendering of their name, who perhaps served as the model for those mentioned in the Talmud. The title continued to be applied as an honorific for the exceptionally devout. In 12th-century
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
, or ''
Ashkenaz
Ashkenaz ( he, ''ʾAškənāz'') in the Hebrew Bible is one of the descendants of Noah.
Ashkenaz is the first son of Gomer, and a Japhetic patriarch in the Table of Nations. In rabbinic literature, the descendants of Ashkenaz were first associa ...
'' in Jewish parlance, another prominent school of ascetics named themselves ''hasidim''; to distinguish them from the rest, later research employed the term
Ashkenazi Hasidim
The Hasidim of Ashkenaz ( he, חסידי אשכנז, trans. ''Khasidei Ashkenaz''; "German Pietists") were a Jewish mystical, ascetic movement in the German Rhineland during the 12th and 13th centuries.
Background
The leaders of the community o ...
. In the 16th century, when
Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
spread, the title also became associated with it.
Jacob ben Hayyim Zemah Jacob ben Hayyim Zemah (17th century) was a Portuguese kabalist and physician. He received a medical training in his native country as a Marrano, but fled about 1619 to Safed and devoted himself to the Talmud and the casuists ("poseḳim") until 1 ...
wrote in his glossa on
Isaac Luria
Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (1534Fine 2003, p24/ref> – July 25, 1572) ( he, יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי ''Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Lurya Ashkenazi''), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" (mean ...
's version of the
Shulchan Aruch
The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in ...
that, "One who wishes to tap the hidden wisdom, must conduct himself in the manner of the Pious."
The movement founded by
Israel Ben Eliezer in the 18th century adopted the term ''hasidim'' in the original connotation. But when the sect grew and developed specific attributes, from the 1770s, the names gradually acquired a new meaning. Its common adherents, belonging to groups each headed by a spiritual leader, were henceforth known as Hasidim. The transformation was slow: The movement was at first referred to as "New Hasidism" by outsiders (as recalled in the autobiography of
Salomon Maimon), to separate it from the old one, and its enemies derisively mocked its members as ''Mithasdim'', "
hose who
A hose is a flexible hollow tube designed to carry fluids from one location to another. Hoses are also sometimes called ''pipes'' (the word ''pipe'' usually refers to a rigid tube, whereas a hose is usually a flexible one), or more generally '' ...
pretend
o be''hasidim''". Yet, eventually, the young sect gained such a mass following that the old connotation was sidelined. In popular discourse, at least, "Hasid" came to denote someone who follows a religious teacher from the movement. It also entered
Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the He ...
as such, meaning "adherent" or "disciple". One was not merely a ''Hasid'' anymore, observed historian David Assaf, but a Hasid of someone or some dynasty in particular. This linguistic transformation paralleled that of the word ''
tzaddik
Tzadik ( he, צַדִּיק , "righteous ne, also ''zadik'', ''ṣaddîq'' or ''sadiq''; pl. ''tzadikim'' ''ṣadiqim'') is a title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. The ...
'', "righteous", which the Hasidic leaders adopted for themselves – though they are known colloquially as Rebbes or by the honorific ''Admor''. Originally denoting an observant, moral person, in Hasidic literature, ''tzaddik'' became synonymous with the often hereditary master heading a sect of followers.
Hasidic philosophy
Distinctions
The lengthy history of Hasidism, the numerous schools of thought therein, and particularly its use of the traditional medium of
homiletic
In religious studies, homiletics ( grc, ὁμιλητικός ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices o ...
literature and sermons – comprising numerous references to earlier sources in the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
, Talmud and exegesis as a means to grounding oneself in tradition – as the almost sole channel to convey its ideas, all made the isolation of a common doctrine highly challenging to researchers. As noted by
Joseph Dan
Joseph Dan (, 1935 – 23 July 2022) was an Israeli scholar of Jewish mysticism. He taught for over 40 years in the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was the first incumbent of the Gershom Scholem Chair ...
, "Every attempt to present such a body of ideas has failed". Even motifs presented by scholars in the past as unique Hasidic contributions were later revealed to have been common among both their predecessors and opponents, all the more so regarding many other traits that are widely extant – these play, Dan added, "a prominent role in modern non-Hasidic and anti-Hasidic writings as well".
[Joseph Dan, ]
Hasidism: Teachings and Literature
', The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe
''The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe'' is a two-volume, English-language reference work on the history and culture of Eastern Europe Jewry in this region, prepared by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and published by Yale Univ ...
The difficulty of separating the movement's philosophy from that of its main inspiration, Lurianic Kabbalah, and determining what was novel and what merely a recapitulation, also baffled historians. Some, like
Louis Jacobs
Louis Jacobs (17 July 1920 – 1 July 2006) was a leading writer and theologian. He was the rabbi of the New London Synagogue in the United Kingdom. He was also the focus in the early 1960s of what became known as "The Jacobs Affair" in the ...
, regarded the early masters as innovators who introduced "much that was new if only by emphasis"; others, primarily
Mendel Piekarz Mendel may refer to:
People
* Mendel (name), includes a list of people with the name
:*Gregor Mendel (1822–1884), the "father of modern genetics"
* Mendel (Hungarian family), a prominent Hungarian family that flourished in the 15th century
* Yi ...
, argued to the contrary that but a little was not found in much earlier tracts, and the movement's originality lay in the manner it popularized these teachings to become the ideology of a well-organized sect.
Among the traits particularly associated with Hasidism in common understanding which are in fact widespread, is the importance of joy and happiness at worship and religious life – though the sect undoubtedly stressed this aspect and still possesses a clear populist bent. Another example is the value placed on the simple, ordinary Jew in supposed contradiction with the favouring of elitist scholars beforehand; such ideas are common in ethical works far preceding Hasidism. The movement did for a few decades challenge the rabbinic establishment, which relied on the authority of
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
acumen, but affirmed the centrality of study very soon. Concurrently, the image of its
Opponents
An adversary is generally considered to be a person, group, or force that opposes and/or attacks.
Adversary may also refer to:
* Satan ("adversary" in Hebrew), in Judeo-Christian religion
Entertainment Fiction
* Adversary (comics), villain f ...
as dreary intellectuals who lacked spiritual fervour and opposed mysticism is likewise unfounded. Neither did Hasidism, often portrayed as promoting healthy sensuality, unanimously reject the asceticism and self-mortification associated primarily with its rivals. Joseph Dan ascribed all these perceptions to so-called "
Neo-Hasidic
Neo-Hasidism, Neochassidut, or Neo-Chassidus, is an approach to Judaism in which people learn beliefs and practices of Hasidic Judaism, and incorporate it into their own lives or prayer communities, yet without formally joining a Hasidic group. ...
" writers and thinkers, like
Martin Buber
Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 –
June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism ...
. In their attempt to build new models of spirituality for modern Jews, they propagated a romantic, sentimental image of the movement. The "Neo-Hasidic" interpretation influenced even scholarly discourse to a great degree, but had a tenuous connection with reality.
A further complication is the divide between what researchers term "early Hasidism", which ended roughly in the 1810s, and established Hasidism since then onwards. While the former was a highly dynamic religious revival movement, the latter phase is characterized by consolidation into sects with hereditary leadership. The mystical teachings formulated during the first era were by no means repudiated, and many Hasidic masters remained consummate spiritualists and original thinkers; as noted by
Benjamin Brown, Buber's once commonly accepted view that the routinization constituted "decadence" was refuted by later studies, demonstrating that the movement remained very much innovative. Yet many aspects of early Hasidism were indeed de-emphasized in favour of more conventional religious expressions, and its radical concepts were largely neutralized. Some Rebbes adopted a relatively rationalist bent, sidelining their explicit mystical,
theurgical roles, and many others functioned almost solely as political leaders of large communities. As to their Hasidim, affiliation was less a matter of admiring a charismatic leader as in the early days, but rather birth into a family belonging to a specific "court".
Immanence
The most fundamental theme underlying all Hasidic theory is the
immanence
The doctrine or theory of immanence holds that the divine encompasses or is manifested in the material world. It is held by some philosophical and metaphysical theories of divine presence. Immanence is usually applied in monotheistic, pant ...
of God in the universe, often expressed in a phrase from
Tikunei haZohar, (
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
: "no site is devoid of Him"). This
panentheistic concept was derived from Lurianic discourse, but greatly expanded in the Hasidic one. In the beginning, in order to
create the world, God contracted (''
Tzimtzum
The ''tzimtzum'' or ''tsimtsum'' (Hebrew ' "contraction/constriction/condensation") is a term used in the Lurianic Kabbalah to explain Isaac Luria's doctrine that God began the process of creation by "contracting" his ''Ohr Ein Sof'' (infinite ...
'') His omnipresence, the ''
Ein Sof
Ein Sof, or Eyn Sof (, he, '; meaning "infinite", ), in Kabbalah, is understood as God prior to any self-manifestation in the production of any spiritual realm, probably derived from Solomon ibn Gabirol's ( 1021 – 1070) term, "the Endless ...
'', leaving a Vacant Void (), bereft from obvious presence and therefore able to entertain free will, contradictions and other phenomena seemingly separate from God Himself. These would have been impossible within His original, perfect existence. Yet, the very reality of the world which was created in the Void is entirely dependent on its divine origin. Matter would have been null and void without the true, spiritual essence it possesses. Just the same, the infinite ''Ein Sof'' cannot manifest in the Vacant Void, and must limit itself in the guise of measurable corporeality that may be perceived.
[Rachel Elior]
יש ואין - דפוסי יסוד במחשבה החסידית
in: ''Masuʼot : meḥḳarim be-sifrut ha-ḳabalah ube-maḥshevet Yiśraʼel'', Bialik Institute (1994), . pp. 53–54.
Thus, there is a dualism between the true aspect of everything and the physical side, false but ineluctable, with each evolving into the other: as God must compress and disguise Himself, so must humans and matter in general ascend and reunite with the Omnipresence.
Rachel Elior quoted
Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi ( he, שניאור זלמן מליאדי, September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573) was an influential Lithuanian Jewish rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of ...
, in his commentary ''
Torah Or
''Torah Or/Likutei Torah'' is a compilation of Chassidic treatises, ''maamarim'', by the first Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. The treatises are classic texts of Chabad philosophy arranged according to the Weekly Torah portion, and a ...
'' on Genesis 28:21, who wrote that "''this is the purpose of Creation, from Infinity to Finitude, so it may be reversed from the state of Finite to that of Infinity''". Kabbalah stressed the importance of this dialectic, but mainly (though not exclusively) evoked it in cosmic terms, referring for example to the manner in which God progressively diminished Himself into the world through the various dimensions, or ''
Sephirot
Sefirot (; he, סְפִירוֹת, translit=Səfīrōt, Tiberian: '), meaning '' emanations'', are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof (The Infinite) reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm an ...
''. Hasidism applied it also to the most mundane details of human existence. All Hasidic schools devoted a prominent place in their teaching, with differing accentuation, to the interchanging nature of ''Ein'', both infinite and imperceptible, becoming ''Yesh'', "Existent" – and vice versa. They used the concept as a prism to gauge the world, and the needs of the spirit in particular. Elior noted: "''Reality lost its static nature and permanent value, now measured by a new standard, seeking to expose the Godly, boundless essence, manifest in its tangible, circumscribed opposite.''"
One major derivative of this philosophy is the notion of ''
devekut
Devekut, debekuth, deveikuth or deveikus ( Heb. דבקות; Mod. Heb. "dedication", traditionally "clinging on" to God) is a Jewish concept referring to closeness to God. It may refer to a deep, trance-like meditative state attained during Jew ...
'', "communion". As God was everywhere, connection with Him had to be pursued ceaselessly as well, in all times, places and occasions. Such an experience was in the reach of every person, who only had to negate his inferior impulses and grasp the truth of divine immanence, enabling him to unite with it and attain the state of perfect, selfless bliss. Hasidic masters, well versed in the teachings concerning communion, are supposed not only to gain it themselves, but to guide their flock to it. ''Devekut'' was not a strictly defined experience; many varieties were described, from the utmost ecstasy of the learned leaders to the common man's more humble yet no less significant emotion during prayer.
Closely linked with the former is ''Bitul ha-Yesh'', "Negation of the Existent", or of the "Corporeal". Hasidism teaches that while a superficial observance of the universe by the "eyes of the flesh" (''Einei ha-Basar'') purportedly reflects the reality of all things profane and worldly, a true devotee must transcend this illusory façade and realize that there is nothing but God. It is not only a matter of perception, but very practical, for it entails also abandoning material concerns and cleaving only to the true, spiritual ones, oblivious to the surrounding false distractions of life. The practitioner's success in detaching from his sense of person, and conceive himself as ''Ein'' (in the double meaning of 'naught' and 'infinite'), is regarded as the highest state of elation in Hasidism. The true divine essence of man – the soul – may then ascend and return to the upper realm, where it does not possess an existence independent from God. This ideal is termed ''Hitpashtut ha-Gashmi'yut'', "the expansion (or removal) of corporeality". It is the dialectic opposite of God's contraction into the world.
To be enlightened and capable of ''Bitul ha-Yesh'', pursuing the pure spiritual aims and defying the primitive impulses of the body, one must overcome his inferior "Bestial Soul", connected with the Eyes of the Flesh. He may be able to tap into his "Divine Soul" (''Nefesh Elohit''), which craves communion, by employing constant contemplation, ''Hitbonenot'', on the hidden Godly dimension of all that exists. Then he could understand his surroundings with the "Eyes of the Intellect". The ideal adherent was intended to develop equanimity, or ''Hishtavut'' in Hasidic parlance, toward all matters worldly, not ignoring them, but understanding their superficiality.
Hasidic masters exhorted their followers to "negate themselves", paying as little heed as they could for worldly concerns, and thus, to clear the way for this transformation. The struggle and doubt of being torn between the belief in God's immanence and the very real sensual experience of the indifferent world is a key theme in the movement's literature. Many tracts have been devoted to the subject, acknowledging that the "callous and rude" flesh hinders one from holding fast to the ideal, and these shortcomings are extremely hard to overcome even in the purely intellectual level, a fortiori in actual life.
Another implication of this dualism is the notion of "Worship through Corporeality", ''Avodah be-Gashmi'yut''. As the ''Ein Sof'' metamorphosed into substance, so may it in turn be raised back to its higher state; likewise, since the machinations in the higher ''Sephirot'' exert their influence on this world, even the most simple action may, if performed correctly and with understanding, achieve the reverse effect. According to Lurianic doctrine, the netherworld was suffused with divine sparks, concealed within "husks", ''
Qliphoth
In the Zohar, Lurianic Kabbalah and Hermetic Qabalah, the ''qliphoth/qlippoth/qlifot'' or ''kelipot'' ( ''qəlīpōṯ'', originally Aramaic: ''qəlīpīn'', plural of ''qəlīpā''; literally "peels", "shells", or "husks"), are the represe ...
''. The glints had to be recovered and elevated to their proper place in the cosmos. "Materiality itself could be embraced and consecrated", noted
Glenn Dynner
Glenn Davis Dynner (born April 11, 1969) is an American author and historian specializing in religion and history of East European Jewry. He is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of '' Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies'' and a Professor ...
, and Hasidism taught that by common acts like dancing or eating, performed with intention, the sparks could be extricated and set free. ''Avodah be-Gashmi'yut'' had a clear, if not implicit,
antinomian edge, possibly equating sacred rituals mandated by Judaism with everyday activities, granting them the same status in the believer's eyes and having him content to commit the latter at the expense of the former. While at some occasions the movement did appear to step at that direction – for example, in its early days, prayer and preparation for it consumed so much time that adherents were blamed of neglecting sufficient Torah study – Hasidic masters proved highly conservative. Unlike in other, more radical sects influenced by kabbalistic ideas, like the
Sabbateans, Worship through Corporeality was largely limited to the elite and carefully restrained. The common adherents were taught they may engage it only mildly, through small deeds like earning money to support their leaders.
The complementary opposite of corporeal worship, or the elation of the finite into infinite, is the concept of ''Hamshacha'', "drawing down" or "absorbing", and specifically, ''Hamschat ha-Shefa'', "absorption of effluence". During spiritual ascension, one could siphon the power animating the higher dimensions down into the material world, where it would manifest as benevolent influence of all kinds. These included spiritual enlightenment, zest in worship and other high-minded aims, but also the more prosaic health and healing, deliverance from various troubles and simple economic prosperity. Thus, a very tangible and alluring motivation to become followers emerged. Both corporeal worship and absorption allowed the masses to access, with common actions, a religious experience once deemed esoteric.
Yet another reflection of the ''Ein''-''Yesh'' dialectic is pronounced in the transformation of evil to goodness and the relations between these two poles and other contradicting elements – including various traits and emotions of the human psyche, like pride and humility, purity and profanity, et cetera. Hasidic thinkers argued that in order to redeem the sparks hidden, one had to associate not merely with the corporeal, but with sin and evil. One example is the elevation of impure thoughts during prayer, transforming them to noble ones rather than repressing them, advocated mainly in the early days of the sect; or "breaking" one's own character by directly confronting profane inclinations. This aspect, once more, had sharp antinomian implications and was used by the Sabbateans to justify excessive sinning. It was mostly toned down in late Hasidism, and even before that, leaders were careful to stress that it was not exercised in the physical sense, but in the contemplative, spiritual one. This kabbalistic notion, too, was not unique to the movement and appeared frequently among other Jewish groups.
Righteous One
While its mystical and ethical teachings are not easily sharply distinguished from those of other Jewish currents, the defining doctrine of Hasidism is that of the saintly leader, serving both as an ideal inspiration and an institutional figure around whom followers are organized. In the movement's sacral literature, this person is referred to as the ''
Tzaddiq'', the Righteous One – often also known by the general honorific ''Admor'' (acronym of Hebrew for "our master, teacher and Rabbi"), granted to rabbis in general, or colloquially as ''Rebbe''. The idea that, in every generation, there are righteous persons through whom the divine effluence is drawn to the material world is rooted in the kabbalistic thought, which also claims that one of them is supreme, the reincarnation of
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu ( Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pr ...
. Hasidism elaborated the notion of the ''Tzaddiq'' into the basis of its entire system – so much that the very term gained an independent meaning within it, apart from the
original which denoted God-fearing, highly observant people.
[David Assaf, ''The Regal Way: The Life and Times of Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin'', Stanford University Press (2002). pp. 101–104.]
When the sect began to attract following and expanded from a small circle of learned disciples to a mass movement, it became evident that its complex philosophy could be imparted only partially to the new rank and file. As even intellectuals struggled with the sublime dialectics of infinity and corporeality, there was little hope to have the common folk truly internalize these, not as mere abstractions to pay lip service to. Ideologues exhorted them to have faith, but the true answer, which marked their rise as a distinct sect, was the concept of the ''Tzaddiq''. A Hasidic master was to serve as a living embodiment of the recondite teachings. He was able to transcend matter, gain spiritual communion, Worship through Corporeality and fulfill all the theoretical ideals. As the vast majority of his flock could not do so themselves, they were to cleave to him instead, acquiring at least some semblance of those vicariously. His commanding and often – especially in the early generations – charismatic presence was to reassure the faithful and demonstrate the truth in Hasidic philosophy by countering doubts and despair. But more than spiritual welfare was concerned: Since it was believed he could ascend to the higher realms, the leader was able to harvest effluence and bring it down upon his adherents, providing them with very material benefits. "The crystallization of that
theurgical phase", noted
Glenn Dynner
Glenn Davis Dynner (born April 11, 1969) is an American author and historian specializing in religion and history of East European Jewry. He is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of '' Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies'' and a Professor ...
, "marked Hasidism's evolution into a full-fledged social movement."
In Hasidic discourse, the willingness of the leader to sacrifice the ecstasy and fulfillment of unity in God was deemed a heavy sacrifice undertaken for the benefit of the congregation. His followers were to sustain and especially to obey him, as he possessed superior knowledge and insight gained through communion. The "descent of the Righteous" (''Yeridat ha-Tzaddiq'') into the matters of the world was depicted as identical with the need to save the sinners and redeem the sparks concealed in the most lowly places. Such a link between his functions as communal leader and spiritual guide legitimized the political power he wielded. It also prevented a retreat of Hasidic masters into hermitism and passivity, as many mystics before them did. Their worldly authority was perceived as part of their long-term mission to elevate the corporeal world back into divine infinity.
[Elior, pp. 66–68; Dynner, pp. 20–21.] To a certain extent, the Saint even fulfilled for his congregation, and for it alone, a limited
Messianic capacity in his lifetime. After the Sabbatean debacle, this moderate approach provided a safe outlet for the eschatological urges. At least two leaders radicalized in this sphere and caused severe controversy:
Nachman of Breslov
Nachman of Breslov ( he, רַבִּי נַחְמָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב ''Rabbī'' ''Naḥmān mīBreslev''), also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Reb Nachman Breslover ( yi, רבי נחמן ברעסלאווער ''Rebe Nakhmen Breslover'' ...
, who declared himself the only true ''Tzaddiq'', and
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Modern Hebrew: מנחם מענדל שניאורסון; old-fashioned spelling: מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן; April 5, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to man ...
, whom many of his followers believed to be the Messiah. The ''Rebbe''s were subject to intense hagiography, even subtly compared with Biblical figures by employing prefiguration.
It was argued that since followers could not "negate themselves" sufficiently to transcend matter, they should instead "negate themselves" in submission to the Saint (''hitbatlut la-Tzaddiq''), thus bonding with him and enabling themselves to access what he achieved in terms of spirituality. The Righteous served as a mystical bridge, drawing down effluence and elevating the prayers and petitions of his admirers.
The Saintly forged a well-defined relationship with the masses: they provided the latter with inspiration, were consulted in all matters, and were expected to intercede on behalf of their adherents with God and ensure they gained financial prosperity, health and male offspring. The pattern still characterizes Hasidic sects, though prolonged routinization in many turned the ''Rebbes'' into de facto political leaders of strong, institutionalized communities. The role of a Saint was obtained by charisma, erudition and appeal in the early days of Hasidism. But by the dawn of the 19th century, the Righteous began to claim legitimacy by descent to the masters of the past, arguing that since they linked matter with infinity, their abilities had to be associated with their own corporeal body. Therefore, it was accepted "there can be no ''Tzaddiq'' but the son of a ''Tzaddiq''". Virtually all modern sects maintain this hereditary principle. For example, the ''Rebbe''s' families maintain endogamy and marry almost solely with scions of other dynasties.
Schools of thought
Some Hasidic "courts", and not a few individual prominent masters, developed distinct philosophies with particular accentuation of various themes in the movement's general teachings. Several of these Hasidic schools had lasting influence over many dynasties, while others died with their proponents. In the doctrinal sphere, the dynasties may be divided along many lines. Some are characterized by Rebbes who are predominantly Torah scholars and
decisors, deriving their authority much like ordinary non-Hasidic rabbis do. Such "courts" place great emphasis on strict observance and study, and are among the most meticulous in the Orthodox world in practice. Prominent examples are the House of
Sanz and its scions, such as
Satmar, or
Belz
Belz ( uk, Белз; pl, Bełz; yi, בעלז ') is a small city in Lviv Oblast of Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, located between the Solokiya river (a tributary of the Bug River) and the Richytsia stream. Belz hosts the administ ...
. Other sects, like
Vizhnitz, espouse a charismatic-populist line, centered on the admiration of the masses for the Righteous, his effervescent style of prayer and conduct and his purported miracle-working capabilities. Fewer still retain a high proportion of the mystical-spiritualist themes of early Hasidism, and encourage members to study much kabbalistic literature and (carefully) engage in the field. The various
Ziditchover dynasties mostly adhere to this philosophy.
Others still focus on contemplation and achieving inner perfection. No dynasty is wholly devoted to a single approach of the above, and all offer some combination with differing emphasis on each of those.
In 1812, a schism occurred between the
Seer of Lublin and his prime disciple, the
Holy Jew of
Przysucha
Przysucha is a town in south-central Poland. Located in historic Lesser Poland, it is part of the Masovian Voivodeship, about 100 km southwest of Warsaw and 40 km west of Radom. It is the capital of Przysucha County, and the town 6, ...
, due to both personal and doctrinal disagreements. The Seer adopted a populist approach, centered on the Righteous' theurgical functions to draw the masses. He was famous for his lavish, enthusiastic conduct during prayer and worship, and extremely charismatic demeanour. He stressed that as ''Tzaddiq'', his mission was to influence the common folk by absorbing Divine Light and satisfying their material needs, thus converting them to his cause and elating them. The Holy Jew pursued a more introspective course, maintaining that the Rebbe's duty was to serve as a spiritual mentor for a more elitist group, helping them to achieve a senseless state of contemplation, aiming to restore man to his oneness with God which
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
supposedly lost when he ate the fruit of the
Lignum Scientiae. The Holy Jew and his successors did neither repudiate miracle working, nor did they eschew dramatic conduct; but they were much more restrained in general. The Przysucha School became dominant in
Central Poland
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
, while populist Hasidism resembling the Lublin ethos often prevailed in
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
. One extreme and renowned philosopher who emerged from the Przysucha School was
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk. Adopting an elitist, hard-line attitude, he openly denounced the folky nature of other ''Tzaddiqim'', and rejected financial support. Gathering a small group of devout scholars who sought to attain spiritual perfection, whom he often berated and mocked, he always stressed the importance of both somberness and totality, stating it was better to be fully wicked than only somewhat good.
The
Chabad
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...
school, limited to its namesake dynasty, but prominent, was founded by
Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi ( he, שניאור זלמן מליאדי, September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573) was an influential Lithuanian Jewish rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of ...
and was elaborated by his successors, until the late 20th century. The movement retained many of the attributes of early Hasidism, before a clear divide between Righteous and ordinary followers was cemented. Chabad Rebbes insisted their adherents acquire proficiency in the sect's lore, and not relegate most responsibility to the leaders. The sect emphasizes the importance of intellectually grasping the dynamics of the hidden divine aspect and how they affect the human psyche; the very acronym Chabad is for the three penultimate ''
Sephirot
Sefirot (; he, סְפִירוֹת, translit=Səfīrōt, Tiberian: '), meaning '' emanations'', are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof (The Infinite) reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm an ...
'', associated with the cerebral side of consciousness.
Another famous philosophy is that formulated by
Nachman of Breslov
Nachman of Breslov ( he, רַבִּי נַחְמָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב ''Rabbī'' ''Naḥmān mīBreslev''), also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Reb Nachman Breslover ( yi, רבי נחמן ברעסלאווער ''Rebe Nakhmen Breslover'' ...
and adhered to by Breslov Hasidim. In contrast to most of his peers who believed God must be worshiped through enjoyment of the physical world, Nachman portrayed the corporeal world in grim colors, as a place devoid of God's immediate presence from which the soul yearns to liberate itself. He mocked the attempts to perceive the nature of infinite-finite dialectics and the manner in which God still occupies the Vacant Void albeit not, stating these were paradoxical, beyond human understanding. Only naive faith in their reality would do. Mortals were in constant struggle to overcome their profane instincts, and had to free themselves from their limited intellects to see the world as it truly is.
Tzvi Hirsh of Zidichov, a major Galician ''Tzaddiq'', was a disciple of the Seer of Lublin, but combined his populist inclination with a strict observance even among his most common followers, and great pluralism in matters pertaining to mysticism, as those were eventually emanating from each person's unique soul.
Mordechai Yosef Leiner of
Izbica
Izbica ( yi, איזשביצע ''Izhbitz, Izhbitze'') is a village in the Krasnystaw County of the Lublin Voivodeship in eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina administrative district called Gmina Izbica. It lies approximately south of Kr ...
promulgated a radical understanding of free will, which he considered illusory and also derived directly from God. He argued that when one attained a sufficient spiritual level and could be certain evil thoughts did not derive from his animalistic soul, then sudden urges to transgress revealed Law were God-inspired and may be pursued. This volatile, potentially antinomian doctrine of "Transgression for the Sake of Heaven" is found also in other Hasidic writings, especially from the early period. His successors de-emphasized it in their commentaries. Leiner's disciple
Zadok HaKohen
Rabbi Zadok ha-Kohen Rabinowitz of Lublin (in Hebrew: צדוק הכהן מלובלין) (Kreisburg, 1823 – Lublin, Poland, 1900), or Tzadok Hakohen or Tzadok of Lublin, was a significant Jewish thinker and Hasidic leader.
Biography
He was bor ...
of Lublin also developed a complex philosophic system which presented a dialectic nature in history, arguing that great progress had to be preceded by crisis and calamity.
Practice and culture
Rebbe and "court"
The Hasidic community is organized in a sect known as "court" (Hebrew: חצר, ''hatzer''; Yiddish: הויף, ''Hoif'' from German ''Hof/Gerichtshof''). In the early days of the movement, a particular Rebbe's following usually resided in the same town, and Hasidim were categorized by their leaders' settlement: a Hasid of Belz, Vizhnitz, and so forth. Later, especially after World War II, the dynasties retained the names of their original Eastern European settlements when moving to the West or Israel. Thus, for example, the "court" established by
Joel Teitelbaum in 1905 at Transylvania remained known after its namesake town,
Sathmar, even though its headquarters lay in New York, and almost all other Hasidic sects likewise – albeit some groups founded overseas were named accordingly, like the
Boston (Hasidic dynasty).
Akin to his spiritual status, the Rebbe is also the administrative head of the community. Sects often possess their own synagogues, study halls and internal charity mechanisms, and ones sufficiently large also maintain entire educational systems. The Rebbe is the supreme figure of authority, and not just for the institutions. The rank-and-file Hasidim are also expected to consult with him on important matters, and often seek his blessing and advice. He is personally attended by aides known as ''
Gabbai
A ''gabbai'' ( he, גבאי), also known as ''shamash'' (, sometimes spelled ''shamas'') or warden ( UK, similar to churchwarden) is a beadle or sexton, a person who assists in the running of synagogue services in some way. The role may be un ...
'' or ''Mashbak''.
Many particular Hasidic rites surround the leader. On the Sabbath, holidays, and celebratory occasions, Rebbes hold a ''
Tisch'' (table), a large feast for their male adherents. Together, they sing, dance, and eat, and the head of the sect shakes the hands of his followers to bless them, and often delivers a sermon. A ''Chozer'', "repeater", selected for his good memory, commits the text to writing after the Sabbath (any form of writing during the Sabbath itself
being forbidden). In many "courts", the remnants of his meal, supposedly suffused with holiness, are handed out and even fought over. Often, a very large dish is prepared beforehand and the Rebbe only tastes it before passing it to the crowd. Apart from the gathering at noon, the
third repast on Sabbath and the "
Melaveh Malkah" meal when it ends are also particularly important and an occasion for song, feasting, tales, and sermons. A central custom, which serves as a major factor in the economics of most "courts", is the ''Pidyon'', "Ransom", better known by its Yiddish name ''
Kvitel'', "little note": Adherents submit a written petition, which the master may assist with on behalf of his sanctity, adding a sum of money for either charity or the leader's needs. Occasions in the "court" serve as pretext for mass gatherings, flaunting the power, wealth and size of each. Weddings of the leader's family, for example, are often held with large multistoried stands (פארענטשעס, ''Parentches'') filled with Hasidim surround the main floor, where the Rebbe and his relatives dine, celebrate, and perform the
Mitzvah tantz
''Mitzvah tantz'' (lit. "mitzvah-dance" in Yiddish) is the Hasidic custom of the men dancing before the bride on the wedding night, after the wedding feast. Commonly, the bride, who usually stands perfectly still at one end of the room, will hold ...
. This is a festive dance with the bride: Both parties hold one end of a long sash, a Hasidic
gartel
The ''gartel'' is a belt used by Jewish males, predominantly (but not exclusively) Hasidim, during prayer. "Gartel" is Yiddish for "belt". The word comes from the same source as German " Gürtel", which is also cognate with the English "gir ...
, for reasons of modesty.
Allegiance to the dynasty and Rebbe is also sometimes a cause for tension. Notable feuds between "courts" include the 1926–1934 strife after
Chaim Elazar Spira
Chaim Elazar Spira (December 17, 1868 – May 13, 1937) was a rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism, Hasidic Munkacs (Hasidic dynasty), Munkacs dynasty.
Family background
Spira was born in Strzyżów, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, ...
of
Munkatch cursed the deceased
Yissachar Dov Rokeach I
Yissachar Dov Rokeach (1854 – 29 October 1926)''A World That Was'', ''Hamodia'' Magazine, 12 November 2009, p. 15. was the third Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He was the second son of Rabbi Yehoshua Rokeach (the second Rebbe of Belz), a ...
of Belz; the 1980–2012 Satmar-Belz collision after
Yissachar Dov Rokeach II broke with the
Orthodox Council of Jerusalem, which culminated when he had to travel in a bulletproof car; and the 2006–present Satmar succession dispute between brothers
Aaron Teitelbaum and
Zalman Teitelbaum, which saw mass riots.
As in other
Haredi
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
groups, apostates may face threats, hostility, violence, and various punitive measures, among them separation of children from their disaffiliated parents, especially in divorce cases. Due to their strictly religious education and traditionalist upbringing, many who leave their sects have few viable work skills or even command of the English language, and their integration into the broader society is often difficult. The segregated communities are also a comfortable setting for
sexual abuse of children
Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whethe ...
, and numerous incidents have been reported. While Hasidic leadership has often been accused of silencing the matter, awareness of it is rising within the sects.
Another related phenomenon is the recent rise of ''Mashpi'im'' ("influencers"). Once a title for an instructor in Chabad and Breslov only, the institutionalized nature of the established "courts" led many adherents to seek guidance and inspiration from persons who did not declare themselves new leaders, but only ''Mashpi'im''. Technically, they fill the original role of Rebbes in providing for spiritual welfare; yet, they do not usurp the title, and are therefore countenanced.
Liturgy
Most Hasidim use some variation of ''
Nusach Sefard'', a blend of
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
and
Sephardi
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
liturgies, based on the innovations of Rabbi
Isaac Luria
Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (1534Fine 2003, p24/ref> – July 25, 1572) ( he, יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי ''Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Lurya Ashkenazi''), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" (mean ...
. Many dynasties have their own specific adaptation of Nusach Sefard; some, such as the versions of the Belzer, Bobover, and
Dushinsky Hasidim, are closer to Nusach Ashkenaz, while others, such as the Munkacz version, are closer to the old Lurianic. Many sects believe that their version reflects Luria's mystical devotions best. The Baal Shem Tov added two segments to Friday services on the eve of Sabbath: Psalm 107 before
afternoon prayer, and Psalm 23 at the end of
evening service.
Hasidim use the
Ashkenazi pronunciation
Ashkenazi Hebrew ( he, הגייה אשכנזית, Hagiyya Ashkenazit, yi, אַשכּנזישע הבֿרה, Ashkenazishe Havara) is the pronunciation system for Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew favored for Jewish liturgical use and Torah study by Ashk ...
of
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
for liturgical purposes, reflecting their Eastern European background. Wordless, emotional melodies, ''
nigun
A nigun ( he, ניגון meaning "tune" or "melody", plural nigunim) or niggun (plural niggunim) is a form of Jewish religious song or tune sung by groups. It is vocal music, often with repetitive sounds such as "Bim-Bim-Bam", "Lai-Lai-Lai", ...
im'', are particularly common in their services.
Hasidim lend great importance to ''
kavana'', devotion or intention, and their services tend to be extremely long and repetitive. Some courts nearly abolished traditional specified times by which prayers must be conducted (''zemanim''), to prepare and concentrate. This practice, still enacted in
Chabad
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...
for one, is controversial in many dynasties, which do follow the specifics of
Jewish Law
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comman ...
on praying earlier, and not eating beforehand.
Chabad
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...
makes use of the permission granted in Jewish law to eat before prayer in certain circumstances, and to have later praying times, as a result of longer periods of preparatory study and contemplation beforehand. A common saying to explain this (attributed to the Third Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson I) goes, "Better to eat in order to pray, than to pray in order to eat", implying it is better to eat before prayer if due to the later time of prayers finishing one will be hungry and unable to properly concentrate. Another reglement is daily immersion in a
ritual bath by males for spiritual cleansing, at a rate much higher than is customary among other Orthodox Jews.
Melody
Hasidism developed a unique emphasis on the spirituality of melody (''
Nigunim
A nigun ( he, ניגון meaning "tune" or "melody", plural nigunim) or niggun (plural niggunim) is a form of Jewish religious song or tune sung by groups. It is vocal music, often with repetitive sounds such as "Bim-Bim-Bam", "Lai-Lai-Lai", " ...
'') as a means to reach
Deveikut Divine communion, during prayer and communal gatherings. Ecstatic, often wordless Hasidic melodies developed new expressions and depths of the soul in Jewish life, often drawing from folk idioms of the surrounding gentile culture, which were adapted to elevate their concealed sparks of divinity, according to
Lurianic
Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (1534 Fine 2003, p24/ref> – July 25, 1572) ( he, יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי ''Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Lurya Ashkenazi''), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" (mea ...
theology.
Appearance
Within the Hasidic world, it is possible to distinguish different Hasidic groups by subtle differences in dress. Some details of their dress are shared by non-Hasidic Haredim. Much of Hasidic dress was historically the clothing of all Eastern European Jews, influenced by the style of
Polish–Lithuanian nobility. Furthermore, Hasidim have attributed religious origins to specific Hasidic items of clothing.
Hasidic men most commonly wear dark overclothes. On weekdays, they wear a long, black, cloth jacket called a
rekel, and on
Jewish Holy Days
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstre ...
, the bekishe (Yiddish; lit., satin caftan), a similarly long, black jacket, but of
satin
A satin weave is a type of fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back. It is one of three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside plain weave ...
fabric traditionally silk. Indoors, the colorful tish bekishe is still worn. Some Hasidim wear a satin overcoat, known as ''rezhvolke''. Most Hasidim do not wear neckties.
On
the Sabbath, the Hasidic Rebbes traditionally wore a white bekishe. This practice has fallen into disuse among most. Many of them wear a black silk bekishe that is trimmed with velvet, known as ''stro-kes'' or ''samet'', and in Hungarian ones, gold-embroidered.
Various symbolic and religious qualities are attributed to Hasidic dress, though they are mainly apocryphal and the clothes' origin is cultural and historical. For example, the long overcoats are considered modest, the shtreimel is supposedly related to
shaatnez and keeps one warm, without using
wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...
, and Sabbath shoes are laceless in order not to have to tie a knot, a prohibited action. A ''
gartel
The ''gartel'' is a belt used by Jewish males, predominantly (but not exclusively) Hasidim, during prayer. "Gartel" is Yiddish for "belt". The word comes from the same source as German " Gürtel", which is also cognate with the English "gir ...
'' divides the Hasid's lower parts from his upper parts, implying modesty and chastity, and for kabbalistic reasons, Hasidim button their clothes right over left. Hasidic men customarily wear black hats during the weekdays, as do nearly all Haredi men today. A variety of hats are worn depending on the group: Chabad men often pinch their hats to form a triangle on the top, Satmar men wear an open-crown hat with rounded edges, and ''Samet'' (velvet) or ''biber'' (
beaver
Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers a ...
) hats are worn by many Galician and Hungarian Hasidic men.
Married Hasidic men don a variety of fur
headdresses on the Sabbath, once common among all wedded Eastern European Jewish males and still worn by non-Hasidic
Perushim
The ''perushim'' ( he, פרושים) were Jewish disciples of the Vilna Gaon, Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, who left Lithuania at the beginning of the 19th century to settle in the Land of Israel, which was then part of Ottoman Syria under Ott ...
in Jerusalem. The most ubiquitous is the ''
shtreimel
A shtreimel ( yi, שטרײַמל , plural: or ) is a fur hat worn by some Ashkenazi Jewish men, mainly members of Hasidic Judaism, on Shabbat and Jewish holidays and other festive occasions. In Jerusalem, the shtreimel is also worn by Litva ...
'', which is seen especially among Galician and Hungarian sects like Satmar or Belz. A taller ''
spodik'' is donned by Polish dynasties such as
Ger. A ''
kolpik'' is worn by unmarried sons and grandsons of many Rebbes on the Sabbath. Some Rebbes don it on special occasions.
There are many other distinct items of clothing. Such are the
Gerrer ''hoyznzokn''—long black socks into which the trousers are tucked. Some Hasidic men from Eastern
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
wear black socks with their breeches on the Sabbath, as opposed to white ones on weekdays, particularly
Belzer Hasidim.
Following a Biblical commandment not to shave the sides of one's face (Leviticus 19:27), male members of most Hasidic groups wear long, uncut sidelocks called
payot (or ''peyes''). Some Hasidic men shave off the rest of their hair. Not every Hasidic group requires long peyos, and not all Jewish men with peyos are Hasidic, but all Hasidic groups discourage the shaving of one's beard. Most Hasidic boys receive their
first haircuts ceremonially at the age of three years (only the Skverrer Hasidim do this at their boys' second birthday). Until then, Hasidic boys have long hair.
Hasidic women wear clothing adhering to the principles of
modest dress in Jewish law. This includes long, conservative skirts and sleeves past the elbow, as well as covered necklines. Also, the women wear stockings to cover their legs; in some Hasidic groups, such as
Satmar or
Toldot Aharon, the stockings must be opaque. In keeping with
Jewish law
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comman ...
, married women cover their hair, using either a ''
sheitel'' (wig), a ''
tichel
According to halacha (Jewish law), married Jewish women are expected to cover their hair when in the presence of men other than their husband or close family members. Such covering is common practice nowadays among Orthodox Jewish women.
Differ ...
'' (headscarf), a ''
shpitzel'', a
snood, a hat, or a beret. In some Hasidic groups, such as
Satmar, women may wear two headcoverings – a wig and a scarf, or a wig and a hat.
Families
Hasidic Jews, like many other Orthodox Jews, typically produce large families; the average Hasidic family in the United States has 8 children. This is followed out of a desire to fulfill the Biblical mandate to "
be fruitful and multiply
In Judaism, Christianity, and some other Abrahamic religions, the cultural mandate is the divine injunction found in Genesis 1:28, in which God, after having created the world and all in it, ascribes to humankind the tasks of filling, subduing, ...
".
Languages
Most Hasidim speak the language of their countries of residence but use
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
among themselves as a way of remaining distinct and preserving tradition. Thus, children are still learning Yiddish today, and the language, despite predictions to the contrary, has not died. Yiddish newspapers are still published, and Yiddish fiction is being written, primarily aimed at women. Even films in Yiddish are being produced within the Hasidic community. Some Hasidic groups, such as Satmar and Toldot Aharon, actively oppose the everyday use of Hebrew, which they consider a holy tongue. The use of Hebrew for anything other than prayer and study is, according to them, profane, and so, Yiddish is the vernacular and common tongue for most Hasidim around the world.
Literature
Hasidic Tales are a literary genre, concerning both hagiography of various Rebbes and moralistic themes. Some are anecdotes or recorded conversations dealing with matters of faith, practice, and the like. The most famous tend to be terse and carry a strong and obvious point. They were often transmitted orally, though the earliest compendium is from 1815.
[Schacter-Shalomi, Zalman, Wrapped in a Holy Flame (2003) San Francisco CA, Jossey-Bass, ]
Many revolve around the righteous. The Baal Shem, in particular, was subject to excess hagiography.
[Buber, Martin, Tales of the Hasidim: The Early Masters (1948) New York, NY, Schocken Books ] Characterized by vivid metaphors, miracles, and piety, each reflects the surrounding and era it was composed in. Common themes include dissenting the question what is acceptable to pray for, whether or not the commoner may gain communion, or the meaning of wisdom.
The tales were a popular, accessible medium to convey the movement's messages.
Additional to these tales, Hasidim study the numerous mystical / spiritual works of
Hasidic philosophy
Hasidic philosophy or Hasidism ( he, חסידות), alternatively transliterated as Hasidut or Chassidus, consists of the teachings of the Hasidic movement, which are the teachings of the Hasidic ''rebbes'', often in the form of commentary on the ...
.
(Chabad Hasidim, for example, daily study the
Tanya, the
Likutei Torah
''Torah Or/Likutei Torah'' is a compilation of Chassidic treatises, ''maamarim'', by the first Chabad Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. The treatises are classic texts of Chabad philosophy arranged according to the Weekly Torah portion, and ...
, and the voluminous works of the
Rebbes of Chabad
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups ...
;
Breslovers study the teachings of
Rabbi Nachman, additional to his "tales".)
These works draw on the earlier esoteric theology of ''
Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...
'', but articulate this in terms of inner psychological awareness and personal analogies. Additional to its formal, intellectual component, this study thus makes Jewish mysticism accessible and tangible, so that it inspires emotional ''
dveikus'' (cleaving to God) and embeds a deep
spiritual element in daily Jewish life.
Organization and demographics
The various Hasidic groups may be categorized along several parameters, including their geographical origin, their proclivity for certain teachings, and their political stance. These attributes are quite often, but by no means always, correlated, and there are many instances when a "court" espouses a unique combination.
Thus, while most dynasties from the former
Greater Hungary and
Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
are inclined to extreme conservatism and
anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestin ...
, Rebbe
Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam
Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam (January 10, 1905 – June 18, 1994) was an Orthodox rabbi and the founding rebbe of the Sanz-Klausenburg Hasidic dynasty.
Halberstam was one of the youngest rebbes in Europe, leading thousands of followers in the ...
led the
Sanz-Klausenburg
Klausenburg, also known as Sanz-Klausenburg, is a Hasidic dynasty that originated in the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca (german: Klausenburg, hu, Kolozsvár), today in Romania.
At the behest of Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, Klausenburg ...
sect in a more open and mild direction; and though Hasidim from Lithuania and Belarus are popularly perceived as prone to intellectualism, David Assaf noted this notion is derived more from their
Litvak surroundings than their actual philosophies.
[David Assaf]
חסידות פולין" או "החסידות בפולין": לבעיית הגיאוגרפיה החסידית'
in: גלעד: מאסף לתולדות יהדות פולין.
Apart from those, each "court" often possesses its unique customs, including style of prayer, melodies, particular items of clothing, and the like.
On the political scale, "courts" are mainly divided on their relations to
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
. The right-wing, identified with
Satmar, are hostile to the
State of Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, and refuse to participate in the elections there or receive any state funding. They are mainly affiliated with the
Edah HaChareidis and the
Central Rabbinical Congress. The great majority belong to ''Agudas Israel'', represented in Israel by the
United Torah Judaism party. Its
Council of Torah Sages
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nat ...
now includes a dozen Rebbes. In the past, there were Religious Zionist Rebbes, mainly of the Ruzhin line, but there are virtually none today.
In 2016, a study conducted by Prof.
Marcin Wodziński Marcin Wodziński (born 30 May 1966) is a professor of Jewish Studies at University of Wrocław in Wrocław, Poland, where he heads the University's Department of Jewish Studies. Wodziński previously worked as the chief historian for the Museum of ...
, drawing from the courts' own internal phone-books and other resources, located 129,211 Hasidic households worldwide, about 5% of the estimated total Jewish population. Of those, 62,062 resided in Israel and 53,485 in the United States, 5,519 in Britain and 3,392 in Canada. In Israel, the largest Hasidic concentrations are in the Haredi neighbourhoods of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
– including
Ramot Alon,
Batei Ungarin, et cetera – in the cities of
Bnei Brak
Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an area of 709 hectares (1752 acres, or 2.7 ...
and
El'ad, and in the
West Bank settlement
Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
s of
Modi'in Illit
Modi'in Illit ( he, מוֹדִיעִין עִלִּית; ar, موديعين عيليت, lit. "Upper Modi'in") is a Haredi Israeli settlement and city in the West Bank, situated midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Modi'in Illit was grante ...
and
Beitar Illit
Beitar Illit ( he, בֵּיתָר עִלִּית; officially Betar Illit; "Illit" is pronounced "ee-leet"; ar, بيتار عيليت) is an Haredi Jewish-Israeli settlement organized as a city council in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, sou ...
. There is considerable presence in other specifically Orthodox municipalities or enclaves, like
Kiryat Sanz, Netanya
Kiryat Sanz ( he, קריית צאנז, also spelled Kiriat Tzanz) is a Haredi neighborhood located at the northwestern end of Netanya, Israel. Founded in 1956 by the previous Klausenburger Rebbe, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, who established ...
. In the United States, most Hasidim reside in New York, though there are small communities across the entire country.
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, particularly the neighborhoods of
Borough Park,
Williamsburg, and
Crown Heights, has an especially large population. So does the hamlet of
Monsey in upstate New York. In the same region,
New Square
New Square ( yi, שיכון סקווירא, Shikun Skvir) is an all-Hasidic village in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Hillcrest, east of Viola, south of New Hempstead, and west of New City ...
and
Kiryas Joel
Kiryas Joel ( yi, קרית יואל, Kiryas Yoyel, ; often locally abbreviated as KJ) is a village coterminous with the Town of Palm Tree in Orange County, New York, United States. The village shares one government with the Town. The vast major ...
are rapidly growing all-Hasidic enclaves, one founded by the
Skver dynasty and the other by Satmar. In Britain,
Stamford Hill
Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about 5.5 miles north-east of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a sub-district of Hackney, the major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the ...
is home to the largest Hasidic community in the country, and there are others in London and
Prestwich
Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester city centre, north of Salford and south of Bury.
Historically part of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ancient pari ...
in Manchester. In Canada,
Kiryas Tosh is a settlement populated entirely by
Tosh
Tosh may refer to:
People
* Tosh (surname)
* Tosh (nickname)
* Tosh Townend (born 1985), professional skateboarder
* Tosh Van der Sande (born 1990), Belgian professional cyclist
Places
* Tosh, Himachal Pradesh, India; a village
* Kiryas ...
Hasidim, and there are more adherents of other sects in and around Montreal.
[All numbers are from: Marcin Wodziński, ''Historical Atlas of Hasidism'', Princeton University Press, 2018. pp. 192–205.]
There are more than a dozen Hasidic dynasties with a large following, and over a hundred which have small or minuscule adherence, sometimes below twenty people, with the presumptive Rebbe holding the title more as a matter of prestige. Many "courts" became completely extinct during the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
, like the
Aleksander (Hasidic dynasty) from
Aleksandrów Łódzki
Aleksandrów Łódzki (; german: 1943–45 Wirkheim) is a town in Zgierz County, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland. It is a part of the Łódź agglomeration. Aleksandrów Łódzki has an area of , and as of December 2021 it has a population of 21,789 ...
, which numbered tens of thousands in 1939, and barely exists today.
The largest sect in the world, with some 26,000 member households, which constitute 20% of all Hasidim, is Satmar, founded in 1905 in the namesake city in Hungary and based in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Williamsburg is a Neighborhoods in Brooklyn, neighborhood in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Bedford–Stuyvesant to the s ...
, and
Kiryas Joel
Kiryas Joel ( yi, קרית יואל, Kiryas Yoyel, ; often locally abbreviated as KJ) is a village coterminous with the Town of Palm Tree in Orange County, New York, United States. The village shares one government with the Town. The vast major ...
. Satmar is known for its extreme conservatism and opposition to both ''
Agudas Israel'' and
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
, inspired by the legacy of Hungarian Haredi Judaism. The sect underwent a schism in 2006, and two competing factions emerged, led by rival brothers
Aaron Teitelbaum and
Zalman Teitelbaum. The second-largest "court" worldwide, with some 11,600 households (or 9% of all Hasidism), is
Ger, established in 1859 at
Góra Kalwaria
Góra Kalwaria (; " Calvary Mountain", yi, גער, ''Ger'') is a town on the Vistula River in the Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is situated approximately southeast of Warsaw and has a population of around 12,109 (as of 2019). ...
, near
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. For decades, it was the dominant power in ''Agudas'', and espoused a moderate line toward Zionism and modern culture. Its origins lay in the rationalist
Przysucha School of
Central Poland
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...
. The current Rebbe is
Yaakov Aryeh Alter
Yaakov Aryeh Alter ( pl, Jakub Arie Alter, he, יעקב אריה אלתר, born 18 May 1939) is the eighth, and current, Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a position he has held since 1996. He lives in Israel, and has followers there and in ...
. The third-largest dynasty is
Vizhnitz
Vizhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager. Vizhnitz (ויז׳ניץ or וויזשניץ) is the Yiddish name of Vyzhnytsia, a town in present-day Ukraine (then, a village in Austrian Bukovina).
Followers o ...
, a charismatic sect founded in 1854 at
Vyzhnytsia
Vyzhnytsia (; ; german: link=no, Wischnitz; pl, Wyżnica; ro, Vijnița; ; ) is a town located in the historical region of Bukovina, on the Cheremosh River in Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Vyzhnytsia R ...
,
Bukovina
Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...
. A moderate group involved in Israeli politics, it is split into several branches, which maintain cordial relations. The main partition is between Vizhnitz-Israel and Vizhnitz-Monsey, headed respectively by Rebbes Israel Hager and the eight sons of the late Rebbe Mordecai Hager. In total, all Vizhnitz sub-"courts" constitute over 10,500 households. The fourth major dynasty, with some 7,000 households, is
Belz
Belz ( uk, Белз; pl, Bełz; yi, בעלז ') is a small city in Lviv Oblast of Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, located between the Solokiya river (a tributary of the Bug River) and the Richytsia stream. Belz hosts the administ ...
, established 1817 in namesake
Belz
Belz ( uk, Белз; pl, Bełz; yi, בעלז ') is a small city in Lviv Oblast of Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, located between the Solokiya river (a tributary of the Bug River) and the Richytsia stream. Belz hosts the adminis ...
, south of
Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
. An
Eastern Galicia
Eastern Galicia ( uk, Східна Галичина, Skhidna Galychyna, pl, Galicja Wschodnia, german: Ostgalizien) is a geographical region in Western Ukraine (present day oblasts of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Ternopil), having also essential h ...
n dynasty drawing both from the
Seer of Lublin
Yaakov Yitzchak HaLevi Horowitz ( he, יעקב יצחק הלוי הורוביץ), known as "the Seer of Lublin" (), ''ha-Chozeh MiLublin''; (c. 1745 - August 15, 1815) was a Hasidic rebbe from Poland.
"Rabbi Yaacov Yitzchak, the Chozeh of Lublin, ...
's charismatic-populist style and "rabbinic" Hasidism, it espoused hard-line positions, but broke off from the
Edah HaChareidis and joined ''Agudas'' in 1979. Belz is led by Rebbe
Yissachar Dov Rokeach.
The
Bobover dynasty, founded 1881 in
Bobowa
Bobowa ( yi, בּאָבּאָוו, ''Bobov'') is a small town in Gorlice County, southern Poland. Administratively part of the Lesser Polish Voivodeship, it is situated west of Gorlice and south-east of the regional capital Kraków. It was for ...
,
West Galicia
New Galicia or West Galicia ( pl, Nowa Galicja or ''Galicja Zachodnia'', german: Neugalizien or ''Westgalizien'') was an administrative region of the Habsburg monarchy, constituted from the territory annexed in the course of the Third Partition ...
, constitutes some 4,500 households in total, and has undergone a bitter succession strife since 2005, eventually forming the "Bobov" (3,000 households) and "
Bobov-45
Bobov (or Bobover Hasidism) ( he, חסידות באבוב, yi, בּאָבּאָװ) is a Hasidic community within Haredi Judaism, originating in Bobowa, Galicia, in southern Poland, and now headquartered in the neighborhood of Borough Park, in Br ...
" (1,500 households) sects.
Sanz-Klausenburg
Klausenburg, also known as Sanz-Klausenburg, is a Hasidic dynasty that originated in the Transylvanian city of Cluj-Napoca (german: Klausenburg, hu, Kolozsvár), today in Romania.
At the behest of Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, Klausenburg ...
, divided into a New York and Israeli branches, presides over 3,800 households. The
Skver sect, established in 1848 in
Skvyra
Skvyra ( uk, Скви́ра, ; Yiddish: skver, סקווער) is a city in Bila Tserkva Raion, Kyiv Oblast (region) of central Ukraine. Skvyra has an area of . It hosts the administration of Skvyra urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It ...
, near
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
, constitutes 3,300. The
Shomer Emunim
Shomer Emunim ( he, שומרי אמונים, meaning "Guardian of the Faith") is a devout, insular Hasidic group based in Jerusalem. It was founded in the 20th century by Rabbi Arele (Aharon) Roth.
The Shomrei Emunim are characterized by fervent ...
dynasties, originating in Jerusalem during the 1920s and known for their unique style of dressing imitating that of the
Old Yishuv
The Old Yishuv ( he, היישוב הישן, ''haYishuv haYashan'') were the Jewish communities of the southern Syrian provinces in the Ottoman period, up to the onset of Zionist aliyah and the consolidation of the New Yishuv by the end of Wor ...
, have over 3,000 families, almost all in the larger "courts" of
Toldos Aharon
Toldos Aharon is a devout, insular, fervently anti-Zionist Hasidic group. The group is characterized by extreme conservatism and a desire to preserve the life of the old Yishuv in Jerusalem, in sharp opposition to Zionism, in a strict Haredi way ...
and
Toldos Avraham Yitzchak.
Karlin Stolin
Karlin-Stolin is a Hasidic dynasty, originating with Rebbe Aaron ben Jacob of Karlin in present-day Belarus. One of the first centres of Hasidim to be set up in Lithuania, many Lithuanian Hasidic groups are its offshoots.
Today, the Karlin-St ...
, which rose already in the 1760s in a quarter of
Pinsk
Pinsk ( be, Пі́нск; russian: Пи́нск ; Polish: Pińsk; ) is a city located in the Brest Region of Belarus, in the Polesia region, at the confluence of the Pina River and the Pripyat River. The region was known as the Marsh of Pinsk a ...
, encompasses 2,200 families.
There are two other populous Hasidic sub-groups, which do not function as classical Rebbe-headed "courts", but as de-centralized movements, retaining some of the characteristics of early Hasidism.
Breslov rose under its charismatic leader
Nachman of Breslov
Nachman of Breslov ( he, רַבִּי נַחְמָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב ''Rabbī'' ''Naḥmān mīBreslev''), also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Reb Nachman Breslover ( yi, רבי נחמן ברעסלאווער ''Rebe Nakhmen Breslover'' ...
in the early 19th century. Critical of all other Rebbes, he forbade his followers to appoint a successor upon his death in 1810. His acolytes led small groups of adherents, persecuted by other Hasidim, and disseminated his teachings. The original philosophy of the sect elicited great interest among modern scholars, and that led many
newcomers to Orthodox Judaism ("repentants") to join it. Numerous Breslov communities, each led by its own rabbis, now have thousands of full-fledged followers, and far more admirers and semi-committed supporters; Marcin Wodziński estimated that the fully committed population of Breslovers may be estimated at 7,000 households.
Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...
, originating in the 1770s, did have hereditary leadership, but always stressed the importance of self-study, rather than reliance on the Righteous. Its seventh, and last, leader,
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Modern Hebrew: מנחם מענדל שניאורסון; old-fashioned spelling: מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן; April 5, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to man ...
, converted it into a vehicle for Jewish outreach. By his death in 1994, it had many more semi-engaged supporters than Hasidim in the strict sense, and they are still hard to distinguish. Chabad's own internal phone-books list some 16,800 member households.
None succeeded Schneerson, and the sect operates as a large network of communities with independent leaders.
History
Background
In the late 17th century, several social trends converged among the Jews who inhabited the southern periphery of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
, especially in contemporary
Western Ukraine
Western Ukraine or West Ukraine ( uk, Західна Україна, Zakhidna Ukraina or , ) is the territory of Ukraine linked to the former Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, which was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Austr ...
. These enabled the emergence and flourishing of Hasidism.
The first, and most prominent, was the popularization of the mystical lore of Kabbalah. For several centuries, an esoteric teaching practiced surreptitiously by few, it was transformed into almost household knowledge by a mass of cheap printed pamphlets. The kabbalistic inundation was a major influence behind the rise of the heretical
Sabbatean
The Sabbateans (or Sabbatians) were a variety of Jewish followers, disciples, and believers in Sabbatai Zevi (1626–1676),
a Sephardic Jewish rabbi and Kabbalist who was proclaimed to be the Jewish Messiah in 1666 by Nathan of Gaza.
Vast ...
movement, led by
Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi (; August 1, 1626 – c. September 17, 1676), also spelled Shabbetai Ẓevi, Shabbeṯāy Ṣeḇī, Shabsai Tzvi, Sabbatai Zvi, and ''Sabetay Sevi'' in Turkish, was a Jewish mystic and ordained rabbi from Smyrna (now İzmir, Turk ...
, who declared himself
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
in 1665. The propagation of Kabbalah made the Jewish masses susceptible to Hasidic ideas, themselves, in essence, a popularized version of the teaching – indeed, Hasidism actually emerged when its founders determined to openly practice it, instead of remaining a secret circle of ascetics, as was the manner of almost all past kabbalists. The correlation between publicizing the lore and Sabbateanism did not escape the rabbinic elite, and caused vehement opposition to the new movement.
Another factor was the decline of the traditional authority structures. Jewish autonomy remained quite secured; later research debunked
Simon Dubnow
Simon Dubnow (alternatively spelled Dubnov, rus, Семён Ма́ркович Ду́бнов, Semyon Markovich Dubnov, sʲɪˈmʲɵn ˈmarkəvʲɪtɕ ˈdubnəf; yi, שמעון דובנאָװ, ''Shimen Dubnov''; 10 September 1860 – 8 Dece ...
's claim that the
Council of Four Lands
The Council of Four Lands ( he, ועד ארבע ארצות, ''Va'ad Arba' Aratzot'') in Lublin, Poland was the central body of Jewish authority in Poland from the second half of the 16th century to 1764. The first known regulation for the Council ...
' demise in 1746 was a culmination of a long process which destroyed judicial independence and paved the way for the Hasidic rebbes to serve as leaders (another long-held explanation for the sect's rise advocated by
Raphael Mahler Raphael Mahler (August 15, 1899 – October 4, 1977) was a Galician-born Jewish historian who worked in Poland, America, and Israel. Life
Mahler was born on August 15, 1899 in Nowy Sącz, Galicia, Austria-Hungary, the son of a scholarly and busi ...
, that the
Khmelnytsky Uprising
The Khmelnytsky Uprising,; in Ukraine known as Khmelʹnychchyna or uk, повстання Богдана Хмельницького; lt, Chmelnickio sukilimas; Belarusian language, Belarusian: Паўстанне Багдана Хмяльніц ...
effected economic impoverishment and despair, was also refuted). However, the
magnates and nobles held much sway over the nomination of both rabbis and communal elders, to such a degree that the masses often perceived them as mere lackeys of the land owners. Their ability to serve as legitimate arbiters in disputes – especially those concerning the regulation of leasehold rights over alcohol distillation and other monopolies in the estates – was severely diminished. The reduced prestige of the establishment, and the need for an alternative source of authority to pass judgement, left a vacuum which Hasidic charismatics eventually filled. They transcended old communal institutions, to which all the Jews of a locality were subordinate, and had groups of followers in each town across vast territories. Often supported by rising strata outside the traditional elite, whether nouveau riche or various low-level religious functionaries, they created a modern form of leadership.
Historians discerned other influences. The formative age of Hasidism coincided with the rise of numerous religious revival movements across the world, including the
First Great Awakening
The First Great Awakening (sometimes Great Awakening) or the Evangelical Revival was a series of Christian revivals that swept Britain and its thirteen North American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s. The revival movement permanently affecte ...
in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
, German
Pietism
Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life, including a social concern for the needy and ...
,
Wahhabism
Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, an ...
in Arabia, and the Russian
Old Believers
Old Believers or Old Ritualists, ''starovery'' or ''staroobryadtsy'' are Eastern Orthodox Christians who maintain the liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian Orthodox Church as they were before the reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow bet ...
who opposed the established church. They all rejected the existing order, decrying it as stale and overly hierarchic. They offered what they described as more spiritual, candid, and simple substitutes.
Gershon David Hundert
Gershon David Hundert (born 1946) is a Canadian historian of Early Modern Polish Jewry and Leanor Segal Professor at McGill University.
Biography
Born to a Jewish family in Toronto, Hundert is one of the three sons of Charles and Norma Hunder ...
noted the considerable similarity between the Hasidic conceptions and this general background, rooting both in the growing importance attributed to the individual's consciousness and choices.
Israel ben Eliezer
Israel ben Eliezer
Israel ben Eliezer (1698 – 22 May 1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov ( he, בעל שם טוב, ) or as the Besht, was a Jewish mystic and healer who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism. "Besht" is the acronym for Baal Shem Tov, which ...
(ca. 1698–1760), known as the ''Baal Shem Tov'' ("Master of the ''Good'' Name",
acronym
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
: "Besht"), is considered the founder of Hasidism. Born apparently south of the
Prut
The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , uk, Прут) is a long river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube. In part of its course it forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine.
Characteristics
The Prut originates ...
, in the northern frontier of
Moldavia
Moldavia ( ro, Moldova, or , literally "The Country of Moldavia"; in Romanian Cyrillic: or ; chu, Землѧ Молдавскаѧ; el, Ἡγεμονία τῆς Μολδαβίας) is a historical region and former principality in Centr ...
, he earned a reputation as a
Baal Shem
A ''Baal Shem'' (Hebrew: בַּעַל שֵׁם, pl. ''Baalei Shem'') was a historical Jewish practitioner of Practical Kabbalah and supposed miracle worker. Employing the names of God, angels, Satan and other spirits, ''Baalei Shem'' are claimed ...
, "Master of the Name". These were common folk healers who employed mysticism, amulets and incantations at their trade. Little is known for certain on ben Eliezer. Though no scholar, he was sufficiently learned to become notable in the communal hall of study and marry into the rabbinic elite, his wife being the divorced sister of a rabbi; in his later years, he was wealthy and famous, as attested by contemporary chronicles. Apart from that, most is derived from Hasidic hagiographic accounts. These claim that as a boy he was recognized by one "Rabbi Adam Baal Shem Tov" who entrusted him with great secrets of the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
passed in his illustrious family for centuries. The Besht later spent a decade in the
Carpathian Mountains
The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...
as a hermit, where he was visited by the Biblical prophet
Ahijah the Shilonite
Ahijah the Shilonite ( ''ʾĂḥīyā'' meaning "Yah is my brother") was a Levite prophet of Shiloh in the days of Solomon, as mentioned in the Hebrew Bible's First Books of Kings. Ahijah foretold to Jeroboam that he would become king ().
The ...
who taught him more. At the age of thirty-six, he was granted heavenly permission to reveal himself as a great kabbalist and miracle worker.
By the 1740s, it is verified that he relocated to the town of
Medzhybizh
Medzhybizh, previously known as Mezhybozhe, population 1,731, (Census 2001) ( uk, Меджибіж, russian: Меджибож, Translit: ''Medzhibozh'', pl, Międzybóż, german: Medschybisch, yi, מעזשביזש, translit. ''Mezhbizh'') is ...
and became recognized and popular in all
Podolia
Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...
and beyond. It is well attested that he did emphasize several known kabbalistic concepts, formulating a teaching of his own to some degree. The Besht stressed the immanence of God and His presence in the material world, and that therefore, physical acts, such as eating, have an actual influence on the spiritual sphere and may serve to hasten the achievement of communion with the divine (''devekut''). He was known to pray ecstatically and with great
intention, again in order to provide channels for the
divine light
In theology, divine light (also called divine radiance or divine refulgence) is an aspect of divine presence perceived as light during a theophany or vision, or represented as such in allegory or metaphor.
The term "light" has been widely used in ...
to flow into the earthly realm. The Besht stressed the importance of joy and contentment in the worship of God, rather than the abstinence and self-mortification deemed essential to becoming a pious mystic, and of fervent and vigorous prayer as a means of spiritual elation instead of severe asceticism,
but many of his immediate disciples reverted in part to the older doctrines, especially in disavowing sexual pleasure even in marital relations.
In that, the "Besht" laid the foundation for a popular movement, offering a far less rigorous course for the masses to gain a significant religious experience. And yet, he remained the guide of a small society of elitists, in the tradition of former kabbalists, and never led a large public as his successors did. While many later figures cited him as the inspiration behind the full-fledged Hasidic doctrine, the Besht himself did not practice it in his lifetime.
[Moshe Rosman, ]
Ba‘al Shem Tov
', The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe
''The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe'' is a two-volume, English-language reference work on the history and culture of Eastern Europe Jewry in this region, prepared by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and published by Yale Univ ...
.
Consolidation
Israel ben Eliezer gathered a considerable following, drawing to himself disciples from far away. They were largely of elitist background, yet adopted the populist approach of their master. The most prominent was Rabbi
Dov Ber the ''
Maggid
A maggid ( he, מַגִּיד), also spelled as magid, is a traditional Jewish religious itinerant preacher, skilled as a narrator of Torah and religious stories. A chaplain of the more scholarly sort is called a '' darshan'' (). The title of '' ...
'' (preacher). He succeeded the former upon his death, though other important acolytes, mainly
Jacob Joseph of Polonne Rabbi Jacob Joseph of Polonne, (1710–1784) (Hebrew: ) or Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Pollonye, was one of the first and best known of the disciples of the founder of Hasidic Judaism, the Baal Shem Tov.
Biography
Yaakov Yosef (sometimes spelled Yacov Yo ...
, did not accept his leadership. Establishing himself in
Mezhirichi, the Maggid turned to greatly elaborate the Besht's rudimentary ideas and institutionalize the nascent circle into an actual movement. Ben Eliezer and his acolytes used the very old and common epithet ''
Hasidim
Ḥasīd ( he, חסיד, "pious", "saintly", "godly man"; plural "Hasidim") is a Jewish honorific, frequently used as a term of exceptional respect in the Talmudic and early medieval periods. It denotes a person who is scrupulous in his observ ...
'', "pious"; in the latter third of the 18th century, a clear differentiation arose between that sense of the word and what was at first described as "New Hasidism", propagated to a degree by the Maggid and especially his successors.
[Moshe Rosman, ''Founder of Hasidism: A Quest for the Historical Ba'al Shem Tov''. University of California Press (1996). pp. 37–38.]
Doctrine coalesced as Jacob Joseph, Dov Ber, and the latter's disciple, Rabbi
Elimelech of Lizhensk
Elimelech Weisblum of Lizhensk (1717–March 11, 1787) was a rabbi and one of the great founding Rebbes of the Hasidic movement. He was known after his hometown, Leżajsk ( yi, ליזשענסק, translit=Lizhensk) near Rzeszów in Poland. He was ...
, composed the three magna opera of early Hasidism, respectively: the 1780 ''Toldot Ya'akov Yosef'', the 1781 ''Maggid d'varav le-Ya'akov'', and the 1788 ''No'am Elimelekh''. Other books were also published. Their new teaching had many aspects. The importance of devotion in prayer was stressed to such degree that many waited beyond the prescribed time to properly prepare; the Besht's recommendation to "elevate and sanctify" impure thoughts, rather than simply repress them during the service, was expanded by Dov Ber into an entire precept, depicting prayer as a mechanism to transform thoughts and feelings from a primal to a higher state in a manner parallel to the unfolding of the ''
Sephirot
Sefirot (; he, סְפִירוֹת, translit=Səfīrōt, Tiberian: '), meaning '' emanations'', are the 10 attributes/emanations in Kabbalah, through which Ein Sof (The Infinite) reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm an ...
''. But the most important was the notion of the ''Tzaddiq'' – later designated by the general rabbinic honorific
''Admor'' (our master, teacher, and rabbi) or by the colloquial Rebbe – the Righteous One, the mystic who was able to elate and achieve communion with the divine, but, unlike kabbalists past, did not practice it in secret, but as leader of the masses. He was able to bring down prosperity and guidance from the higher ''Sephirot'', and the common people who could not attain such a state themselves would achieve it by "clinging" to and obeying him. The ''Tzaddiq'' served as a bridge between the spiritual realm and the ordinary folk, as well as a simple, understandable embodiment of the esoteric teachings of the sect, which were still beyond the reach of most just as old-style Kabbalah before.
The various Hasidic ''Tzaddiqim'', mainly the Maggid's disciples, spread across Eastern Europe with each gathering adherents among the people and learned acolytes who could be initiated as leaders. The Righteous' "courts" in which they resided, attended by their followers to receive blessing and council, became the institutional centers of Hasidism, serving as its branches and organizational core. Slowly, various rites emerged in them, like the Sabbath ''
Tisch'' or "table", in which the Righteous would hand out food scraps from their meals, considered blessed by the touch of ones imbued with godly Light during their mystical ascensions. Another potent institution was the ''
Shtibel'', the private prayer gatherings opened by adherents in every town which served as a recruiting mechanism. The ''Shtibel'' differed from the established synagogues and study halls, allowing their members greater freedom to worship when they pleased, and also serving recreational and welfare purposes. Combined with its simplified message, more appealing to the common man, its honed organizational framework accounted for the exponential growth of Hasidic ranks. Having ousted the old communal model, and replaced it with a less-hierarchical structure and more individually-oriented religiosity, Hasidism was, in fact, the first great modern – albeit not modernist; its self-understanding was grounded in a traditional mindset – Jewish movement.
From its original base in
Podolia
Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...
and
Volhynia
Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. Th ...
, the movement was rapidly disseminated during the Maggid's lifetime, and after his 1772 death. Twenty or so of Dov Ber's prime disciples each brought it to a different region, and their own successors followed:
Aharon of Karlin (I)
Aaron ben Jacob Perlov of Karlin (1736 – 1772), known among the Ḥasidim as Rabbi Aaron the Great, or simply as the "Preacher" or "Censor", was one of the early rabbis of the sect who helped the rapid spread of Ḥasidism in Eastern Europe, a ...
,
Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk
Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk (1730?–1788), also known as Menachem Mendel of Horodok, was an early leader of Hasidic Judaism. Part of the third generation of Hassidic leaders, he was the primary disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch. From his base i ...
, and
Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi ( he, שניאור זלמן מליאדי, September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573) was an influential Lithuanian Jewish rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of ...
were the emissaries to the former
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
in the far north, while
Menachem Nachum Twersky
Menachem Nochum Twersky of Chernobyl (born 1730, , Volhynia - died 1787, Chernobyl, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) was a Ukrainian rabbi, and the founder of the Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty. He was a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid o ...
headed to
Chernobyl
Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about no ...
in the east, and
Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev
Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev (Levi Yitzchok Derbarmdiger (compassionate in Yiddish) or Rosakov) (1740–1809), also known as the holy Berdichever, and the Kedushas Levi, was a Hasidic master and Jewish leader. He was the rabbi of Ryczywół, Że ...
remained nearby.
Elimelech of Lizhensk
Elimelech Weisblum of Lizhensk (1717–March 11, 1787) was a rabbi and one of the great founding Rebbes of the Hasidic movement. He was known after his hometown, Leżajsk ( yi, ליזשענסק, translit=Lizhensk) near Rzeszów in Poland. He was ...
, his brother
Zusha of Hanipol
Rabbi Meshulam Zusha of Hanipol or Meshulum Zusil of Anipoli (1718–1800), Reb Zusha, Reb Zushe, The Rebbe Reb Zusha (sometimes spelled Zushye, Zusil, Zoussia, Zušya, Zushya, Zushia, Zisha of Anipoli) was an early Hasidic luminary and well-k ...
, and
Yisroel Hopsztajn
Yisroel Hopstein (1737–1814), also known as the Maggid of Kozhnitz, was the founder of Kozhnitz Hasidism, and a noted '' hasidic'' leader in Poland during the late 18th and early 19th century. He was a student of both the Magid/Dov Ber of Me ...
established the sect in
Poland proper. Vitebsk and
Abraham Kalisker later led a small ascension to the
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...
, establishing a Hasidic presence in the
Galilee
Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...
.
The spread of Hasidism also incurred organized opposition. Rabbi
Elijah of Vilnius, one of the greatest authorities of the generation and a ''hasid'' and secret kabbalist of the old style, was deeply suspicious of their emphasis on mysticism, rather than mundane Torah study, threat to established communal authority, resemblance to the Sabbatean movement, and other details he considered infractions. In April 1772, he and the Vilnius community wardens launched a systematic campaign against the sect, placing an
anathema
Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...
upon them, banishing their leaders, and sending letters denouncing the movement. Further excommunication followed in
Brody
Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...
and other cities. In 1781, during a second round of hostilities, the books of Jacob Joseph were burned in Vilnius. Another cause for strife emerged when the Hasidim adopted the
Lurianic
Isaac ben Solomon Luria Ashkenazi (1534 Fine 2003, p24/ref> – July 25, 1572) ( he, יִצְחָק בן שלמה לוּרְיָא אשכנזי ''Yitzhak Ben Sh'lomo Lurya Ashkenazi''), commonly known in Jewish religious circles as "Ha'ARI" (mea ...
prayer rite, which they revised somewhat to
Nusach Sefard; the first edition in Eastern Europe was printed in 1781 and received approbation from the anti-Hasidic scholars of Brody, but the sect quickly embraced the Kabbalah-infused tome and popularized it, making it their symbol. Their rivals, named ''
Misnagdim
''Misnagdim'' (, "Opponents"; Sephardi pronunciation: ''Mitnagdim''; singular ''misnaged''/''mitnaged'') was a religious movement among the Jews of Eastern Europe which resisted the rise of Hasidism in the 18th and 19th centuries. The ''Misna ...
'', "opponents" (a generic term which acquired an independent meaning as Hasidism grew stronger), soon accused them of abandoning the traditional
Nusach Ashkenaz
Nusach Ashkenaz is a style of Jewish liturgy conducted by Ashkenazi Jews. It is primarily a way to order and include prayers, and differs from Nusach Sefard (as used by the Hasidim) and Baladi-rite prayer, and still more from the Sephardic rite p ...
.
In 1798, Opponents made accusations of espionage against
Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi ( he, שניאור זלמן מליאדי, September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573) was an influential Lithuanian Jewish rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of ...
, and he was imprisoned by the Russian government for two months. Excoriatory polemics were printed and anathemas declared in the entire region. But Elijah's death in 1797 denied the ''Misnagdim'' their powerful leader. In 1804,
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.
The son of ...
allowed independent prayer groups to operate, the chief vessel through which the movement spread from town to town. The failure to eradicate Hasidism, which acquired a clear self-identity in the struggle and greatly expanded throughout it, convinced its adversaries to adopt a more passive method of resistance, as exemplified by
Chaim of Volozhin
Chaim of Volozhin (also known as Chaim ben Yitzchok of Volozhin or Chaim Ickovits; January 21, 1749 – June 14, 1821)Jewish Encyclopedia Bibliography: Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, pp. 347–349; idem, Kiryah Ne'emanah, pp. 156–158; Le ...
. The growing conservatism of the new movement – which at some occasions drew close to Kabbalah-based antinomian phraseology, as did the Sabbateans, but never crossed the threshold and remained thoroughly observant – and the rise of common enemies slowly brought a rapprochement, and by the second half of the 19th century, both sides basically considered each other legitimate.
The turn of the century saw several prominent new, fourth-generation ''tzaddiqim''. Upon Elimelech's death in the
now-partitioned Poland, his place in
Habsburg Galicia was assumed by
Menachem Mendel of Rimanov
Menachem Mendel Torem of Rimanov also known as Mendele Rimanover (Alt. spellings: ''Riminov'', ''Rimanev'') (1745–May 29, 1815) was a famous Hasidic Rebbe and one of the first five distributors of the Hasidic movement in Poland and Galicia ...
, who was deeply hostile to the modernization the Austrian rulers attempted to force on the traditional Jewish society (though this same process also allowed his sect to flourish, as communal authority was severely weakened). The rabbi of Rimanov hearkened the alliance the Hasidim would form with the most conservative elements of the Jewish public. In Central Poland, the new leader was Jacob Isaac Horowiz, the "
Seer of Lublin
Yaakov Yitzchak HaLevi Horowitz ( he, יעקב יצחק הלוי הורוביץ), known as "the Seer of Lublin" (), ''ha-Chozeh MiLublin''; (c. 1745 - August 15, 1815) was a Hasidic rebbe from Poland.
"Rabbi Yaacov Yitzchak, the Chozeh of Lublin, ...
", who was of a particularly populist bent and appealed to the common folk with miracle working and little strenuous spiritual demands. The Seer's senior acolyte,
Jacob Isaac Rabinovitz, the "Holy Jew" of
Przysucha
Przysucha is a town in south-central Poland. Located in historic Lesser Poland, it is part of the Masovian Voivodeship, about 100 km southwest of Warsaw and 40 km west of Radom. It is the capital of Przysucha County, and the town 6, ...
, gradually dismissed his mentor's approach as overly vulgar, and adopted a more aesthetic and scholarly approach, virtually without theurgy to the masses. The Holy Jew's "Przysucha School" was continued by his successor
Simcha Bunim
Simcha Bunim Bonhardt of Peshischa (Yiddish: שמחה בונם בונהרט פון פשיסכע, ; – September 4, 1827) also known as the Rebbe Reb Bunim was the second Grand Rabbi of Peshischa ( Przysucha, Poland) as well as one of the key ...
, and especially the reclusive, morose
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk. The most controversial fourth-generation ''tzaddiq'' was the Podolia-based
Nachman of Breslov
Nachman of Breslov ( he, רַבִּי נַחְמָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב ''Rabbī'' ''Naḥmān mīBreslev''), also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Reb Nachman Breslover ( yi, רבי נחמן ברעסלאווער ''Rebe Nakhmen Breslover'' ...
, who denounced his peers for becoming too institutionalized, much like the old establishment their predecessors challenged decades before, and espoused an anti-rationalist, pessimistic spiritual teaching, very different from the prevalent stress on joy.
Napoleon's Invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia, also known as the Russian campaign, the Second Polish War, the Army of Twenty nations, and the Patriotic War of 1812 was launched by Napoleon Bonaparte to force the Russian Empire back into the continental block ...
in 1812 promised to bring the first
Jewish emancipation
Jewish emancipation was the process in various nations in Europe of eliminating Jewish disabilities, e.g. Jewish quotas, to which European Jews were then subject, and the recognition of Jews as entitled to equality and citizenship rights. It incl ...
to the
Pale of Settlement
The Pale of Settlement (russian: Черта́ осе́длости, '; yi, דער תּחום-המושבֿ, '; he, תְּחוּם הַמּוֹשָב, ') was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 19 ...
. Hasidic Rebbes in Poland and Russia were divided on the issue, between supporting western freedom from imperial anti-Semitic decrees, to regarding Napoleon as the opening to heresy and agnosticism. According to Hasidic legend, the fate of Napoleon was decided not on the battlefields, but between the theurgic prayers and deeds of the Hasidic Rebbes.
Routinization
The opening of the 19th century saw the Hasidic sect transformed. Once a rising force outside the establishment, the ''tzaddiqim'' now became an important and often dominant power in most of Eastern Europe. The slow process of encroachment, which mostly begun with forming an independent ''Shtibel'' and culminated in the Righteous becoming an authority figure (either alongside or above the official rabbinate) for the entire community, overwhelmed many towns even in ''Misnagdic'' stronghold of Lithuania, far more so in
Congress Poland
Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...
and the vast majority in Podolia, Volhynia and Galicia. It began to make inroads into
Bukovina
Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...
,
Bessarabia
Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...
and the westernmost frontier of autochthonic pre-WWII Hasidism, in
northeastern Hungary, where the Seer's disciple
Moses Teitelbaum (I) was appointed in
Ujhely.
Less than three generations after the Besht's death, the sect grew to encompass hundreds of thousands by 1830. As a mass movement, a clear stratification emerged between the court's functionaries and permanent residents (''yoshvim'', "sitters"), the devoted followers who would often visit the Righteous on Sabbath, and the large public which prayed at Sefard Rite synagogues and was minimally affiliated.
All this was followed by a more conservative approach and power bickering among the Righteous. Since the Maggid's death, none could claim the overall leadership. Among the several dozens active, each ruled over his own turf, and local traditions and customs began to emerge in the various courts which developed their own identity. The high mystical tension typical of a new movement subsided, and was soon replaced by more hierarchical, orderly atmosphere.
The most important aspect of the routinization Hasidism underwent was the adoption of dynasticism. The first to claim legitimacy by right of descent from the Besht was his grandson,
Boruch of Medzhybizh
Rabbi Boruch of Medzhybizh (1753–1811), was a grandson of the Baal Shem Tov.
Reb Boruch (known in his childhood as Reb Boruch'l, a Yiddish diminutive, and subsequently as ''Reb Boruch'l HaKadosh'') was the first major "rebbe" of the Hasidic m ...
, appointed 1782. He held a lavish court with
Hershel of Ostropol
Hershel of Ostropol ( yi, הערשעלע אסטראפאלער, translit=Hershele Ostropoler, Little Hersh of Ostropol; 1757–1811) is a prominent figure in Jewish humor. Hershel was a prankster from Ostropol, Crown Poland (now Ukraine), who liv ...
as jester, and demanded the other Righteous acknowledge his supremacy. Upon the death of
Menachem Nachum Twersky
Menachem Nochum Twersky of Chernobyl (born 1730, , Volhynia - died 1787, Chernobyl, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) was a Ukrainian rabbi, and the founder of the Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty. He was a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov and the Maggid o ...
of
Chernobyl
Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about no ...
, his son
Mordechai Twersky
Mordechai Twersky (1770–1837), known as the ''Maggid'' of Chernobyl, was a Ukrainian rabbi. He was the son of Rabbi Menachem Nachum Twersky of Chornobyl and the second rebbe of the Chernobyl Hasidic dynasty. (The family surname originally come ...
succeeded him. The principle was conclusively affirmed in the great dispute after Liadi's demise in 1813: his senior acolyte
Aharon HaLevi of Strashelye was defeated by his son,
Dovber Schneuri
Dovber Schneuri (13 November 1773 – 16 November 1827 OS) was the second Rebbe (spiritual leader) of the Chabad Lubavitch Chasidic movement. Rabbi Dovber was the first Chabad rebbe to live in the town of Lyubavichi (in present-day Belarus), t ...
, whose offspring
retained the title for 181 years.
By the 1860s, virtually all courts were dynastic. Rather than single ''tzaddiqim'' with followings of their own, each sect would command a base of rank-and-file Hasidim attached not just to the individual leader, but to the bloodline and the court's unique attributes.
Israel Friedman of Ruzhyn
Israel Friedman of Ruzhyn ( he, ישראל פרידמן מרוז'ין) (5 October 1796 – 9 October 1850Assaf, ''The Regal Way'', p. 170.), also called Israel Ruzhin, was a Hasidic '' rebbe'' in 19th-century Ukraine and Austria. Known as ''Der ...
insisted on royal splendour, resided in a palace and his six sons all inherited some of his followers. With the constraints of maintaining their gains replacing the dynamism of the past, the Righteous or Rebbes/''Admorim'' also silently retreated from the overt, radical mysticism of their predecessors. While populist miracle working for the masses remained a key theme in many dynasties, a new type of "Rebbe-Rabbi" emerged, one who was both a completely traditional ''
halakhic
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
'' authority as well as a spiritualist. The tension with the ''Misnagdim'' subsided significantly.
[Benjamin Brown]
The Two Faces of Religious Radicalism - Orthodox Zealotry and Holy Sinning in Nineteenth Century Hasidism in Hungary and Galicia
But it was an external threat, more than anything else, that mended relations. While traditional Jewish society remained well entrenched in backward Eastern Europe, reports of the rapid acculturation and religious laxity in the West troubled both camps. When the ''
Haskalah
The ''Haskalah'', often termed Jewish Enlightenment ( he, השכלה; literally, "wisdom", "erudition" or "education"), was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Euro ...
'', the Jewish
Enlightenment, appeared in Galicia and Congress Poland in the 1810s, it was soon perceived as a dire threat. The ''maskilim'' themselves detested Hasidism as an anti-rationalist and barbaric phenomenon, as did Western Jews of all shades, including the most right-wing Orthodox such as Rabbi
Azriel Hildesheimer
Azriel Hildesheimer (also Esriel and Israel, yi, עזריאל הילדעסהיימער; 11 May 1820 – 12 July 1899) was a German rabbi and leader of Orthodox Judaism. He is regarded as a pioneering moderniser of Orthodox Judaism in Germany an ...
. In Galicia especially, hostility towards it defined the ''Haskalah'' to a large extent, from the staunchly observant Rabbi
Zvi Hirsch Chajes
Zvi Hirsch Chajes ( he, צבי הירש חיות - November 20, 1805 - October 12, 1855; also Chayes or Hayot or Chiyos) was one of the foremost Galician talmudic scholars. He is best known for his work ''Mevo Hatalmud'' (Introduction to the Tal ...
and
Joseph Perl
Joseph Perl (also ''Josef Perl''; November 10, 1773, Ternopil – October 1, 1839, Ternopil), was an Ashkenazi Jewish educator and writer, a scion of the Haskalah or Jewish Enlightenment. He wrote in Hebrew, Yiddish, and German; in 1819, he publi ...
to the radical anti-Talmudists like
Osias Schorr. The Enlightened, who
revived Hebrew grammar, often mocked their rivals' lack of eloquence in the language. While a considerable proportion of the ''Misnagdim'' were not averse to at least some of the ''Haskalas goals, the Rebbes were unremittingly hostile.
The most distinguished Hasidic leader in Galicia in the era was
Chaim Halberstam
Chaim Halberstam of Sanz (1793–1876) ( he, חיים הלברשטאם מצאנז), known as the ''Divrei Chaim'' after his sefer (works), was the rabbi of Sanz ( pl, Nowy Sącz), a famous Hasidic Rebbe and the founder of the Sanz Hasidic d ...
, who combined Talmudic erudition and the status of a major
decisor with his function as ''tzaddiq''. He symbolized the new era, brokering peace between the small Hasidic sect in Hungary to its opponents. In that country, where modernization and assimilation were much more prevalent than in the East, the local Righteous joined forces with those now termed
Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
against the rising liberals. Rabbi
Moses Sofer
Moses Schreiber (1762–1839), known to his own community and Jewish posterity in the Hebrew translation as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work ''Chatam Sofer'', ''Chasam Sofer'', or ''Hatam Sofer'' ( trans. ''Seal of the Scribe'', and acron ...
of
Pressburg
Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...
, while no friend to Hasidism, tolerated it as he combated the forces which sought modernization of the Jews; a generation later, in the 1860s, the Rebbes and the zealot Haredi rabbi
Hillel Lichtenstein allied closely.
Around the mid-19th century, over a hundred dynastic courts related by marriage were the main religious power in the territory enclosed between Hungary, former Lithuania, Prussia and inner Russia, with considerable presence in the former two. In Central Poland, the pragmatist, rationalist Przysucha school thrived:
Yitzchak Meir Alter
Yitzchak Meir Rotenberg-Alter ( yi, יצחק מאיר אלטער, pl, Icchak Meir Rothenberg Alter, he, יצחק מאיר אלתר) (1799 – 10 March 1866), was the first Rebbe of the Ger Hasidic dynasty, which he founded in the town of G ...
founded the
court of Ger in 1859, and in 1876
Jechiel Danziger established
Alexander
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
. In Galicia and Hungary, apart from Halberstam's House of
Sanz,
Tzvi Hirsh of Zidichov's descendants each pursued a mystical approach in the dynasties of
Zidichov,
Komarno and so forth. In 1817,
Sholom Rokeach
Sholom Rokeach (1781 – September 10, 1855), also known as the ''Sar Sholom'' ( he, שר שלום, "Angel of Peace"), was the first Belzer Rebbe.
To Belzer Hasidim, he is known as "Der Ershter Rov" (the first rabbi), but in the city of Belz itse ...
became the first Rebbe of
Belz
Belz ( uk, Белз; pl, Bełz; yi, בעלז ') is a small city in Lviv Oblast of Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, located between the Solokiya river (a tributary of the Bug River) and the Richytsia stream. Belz hosts the administ ...
. At
Bukovina
Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...
, the Hager line of
Kosov-
Vizhnitz was the largest court.
The ''Haskalah'' was always a minor force, but the
Jewish national movements which emerged in the 1880s, as well as Socialism, proved much more appealing to the young. Progressive strata condemned Hasidism as a primitive relic, strong, but doomed to disappear, as Eastern European Jewry underwent slow yet steady secularization. The gravity of the situation was attested to by the foundation of Hasidic
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...
s (in the modern, boarding school-equivalent sense) to enculturate the young and preserve their loyalty: The first was established at
Nowy Wiśnicz
Nowy Wiśnicz ( yi, ווישניצא Vishnitsa) is a small town in Bochnia County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,728 inhabitants (2019). Located south of Bochnia, Nowy Wiśnicz is renowned for its Italianate fortified castle which d ...
by Rabbi
Shlomo Halberstam (I)
Shlomo Halberstam ( pl, Szlomo Halberstam , he, רבי שלמה האַלבּערשטאַם ; 1847 –1905) was a Hasidic Rebbe, founder of the Hasidic dynasty of Bobov. He was the son of Rabbi Myer Noson Halberstam (1827-1855). Rabbi Shlom ...
in 1881. These institutions were originally utilized by the ''Misnagdim'' to protect their youth from Hasidic influence, but now, the latter faced a similar crisis. One of the most contentious issues in this respect was
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
; the Ruzhin dynasties were quite favourably disposed toward it, while Hungarian and Galician courts reviled it.
Calamity and renaissance
Outside pressure was mounting in the early 20th century. In 1912, many Hasidic leaders partook in the creation of the
Agudas Israel party, a political instrument intended to safeguard what was now named
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
even in the relatively traditional East; the more hard-line dynasties, mainly Galician and Hungarian, opposed the Aguda as "too lenient". Mass immigration to America, urbanization,
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and the subsequent
Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
uprooted the ''
shtetl
A shtetl or shtetel (; yi, שטעטל, translit=shtetl (singular); שטעטלעך, romanized: ''shtetlekh'' (plural)) is a Yiddish term for the small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish populations which existed in Eastern Europe before ...
''s in which the local Jews had lived for centuries, and which were the bedrock of Hasidism. In the new
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, civil equality first achieved and a harsh repression of religion caused a rapid secularization. Few remaining Hasidim, especially of
Chabad
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...
, continued to practice underground for decades. In the new states of the
Interbellum
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
era, the process was only somewhat slower. On the eve of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, strictly observant Jews were estimated to constitute no more than a third of the total Jewish population in Poland, the world's most Orthodox country. While the Rebbes still had a vast base of support, it was aging and declining.
The
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
hit the Hasidim particularly hard because they were easily identifiable and because they were almost unable to disguise themselves among the larger populace due to cultural insularity. Hundreds of leaders perished with their flock, while the flight of many notable ones as their followers were being exterminated – especially
Aharon Rokeach
Aharon Rokeach (19 December 1880Israel, Yosef (2005). "Rescuing the Rebbe of Belz". NY:Mesorah Publications, Ltd. . – 18 August 1957) was the fourth Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty. He led the movement from 1926 until his death in 1957.
...
of Belz and
Joel Teitelbaum of Satmar – elicited bitter recrimination. In the immediate post-war years, the entire movement seemed to teeter on the precipice of oblivion. In Israel, the United States, and Western Europe, the survivors' children were at best becoming
Modern Orthodox
Modern may refer to:
History
*Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Philosoph ...
. While a century earlier, the ''Haskalah'' depicted it as a medieval, malicious power, now, it was so weakened that the popular cultural image was sentimental and romantic, what
Joseph Dan
Joseph Dan (, 1935 – 23 July 2022) was an Israeli scholar of Jewish mysticism. He taught for over 40 years in the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He was the first incumbent of the Gershom Scholem Chair ...
termed "Frumkinian Hasidism", for it began with the short stories of
Michael Levi Rodkinson
Michael Levi Rodkinson (1845 – January 4, 1904) was a Jewish scholar, an early Hasidic historiographer and an American publisher. Rodkinson is known for being the first to translate the Babylonian Talmud to English. Rodkinson’s literary works ...
(Frumkin).
Martin Buber
Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 –
June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism ...
was the major contributor to this trend, portraying the sect as a model of a healthy folk consciousness. "Frumkinian" style was very influential, later inspiring the so-called "
Neo-Hasidism
Neo-Hasidism, Neochassidut, or Neo-Chassidus, is an approach to Judaism in which people learn beliefs and practices of Hasidic Judaism, and incorporate it into their own lives or prayer communities, yet without formally joining a Hasidic group. O ...
", and also utterly ahistorical.
[Joseph Dan, ]
A Bow to Frumkinian Hasidism
', Modern Judaism, Volume 11, pp. 175–193.
Yet, the movement proved resilient. Talented and charismatic Hasidic masters emerged, who re-invigorated their following and drew new crowds. In New York, the Satmar Rebbe
Joel Teitelbaum formulated a fiercely anti-Zionist
Holocaust theology
Holocaust theology is a body of theological and philosophical debate concerning the role of God in the universe in light of the Holocaust of the late 1930s and early 1940s. It is primarily found in Judaism. Jews were killed in higher proportions ...
and founded an insular, self-sufficient community which attracted many immigrants from Greater Hungary. By 1961, 40% of families were newcomers.
[Israel Rubin. ''Satmar: Two Generations of an Urban Island''. P. Lang (1997). p. 42] Yisrael Alter
Yisrael Alter ( pl, Izrael Alter, Hebrew: ; October 1895 – 20 February 1977), also known as the ''Beit Yisrael'', after the works he authored, was the fifth Rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism, Hasidic dynasty of Ger (Hasidic dynasty), Ger, a position ...
of
Ger created robust institutions, fortified his court's standing in ''Agudas Israel'', and held ''tisch'' every week for 29 years. He halted the hemorrhage of his followers, and retrieved many Litvaks (the contemporary, less adverse epithet for ''Misnagdim'') and
Religious Zionists
Religious Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת דָּתִית, translit. ''Tziyonut Datit'') is an ideology that combines Zionism and Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' ( "National Religious"), and in Israel, the ...
whose parents were Gerrer Hasidim before the war. Chaim Meir Hager similarly restored
Vizhnitz. Moses Isaac Gewirtzman founded the new
Pshevorsk (Hasidic dynasty)
Pshevorsk is a small Hasidic movement based in Antwerp, Belgium, led by the Leiser rabbinical dynasty, originating in the Polish town of Przeworsk.
History
The first Rebbe, Moshe Yitzchak, was a son of Rabbi Naftoli Elimelech, son of Rabbi A ...
in
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, .
The most explosive growth was experienced in
Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...
, whose head,
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Modern Hebrew: מנחם מענדל שניאורסון; old-fashioned spelling: מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן; April 5, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to man ...
, adopted a modern (he and his disciples ceased wearing the customary
Shtreimel
A shtreimel ( yi, שטרײַמל , plural: or ) is a fur hat worn by some Ashkenazi Jewish men, mainly members of Hasidic Judaism, on Shabbat and Jewish holidays and other festive occasions. In Jerusalem, the shtreimel is also worn by Litvak ...
) and outreach-centered orientation. At a time when most Orthodox Jews, and Hasidim in particular, rejected proselytization, he turned his sect into a mechanism devoted almost solely to it, blurring the difference between actual Hasidim and loosely affiliated supporters until researchers could scarcely define it as a regular Hasidic group. Another phenomenon was the revival of
Breslov, which remained without an acting ''Tzaddiq'' since the rebellious
Rebbe Nachman
Nachman of Breslov ( he, רַבִּי נַחְמָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב ''Rabbī'' ''Naḥmān mīBreslev''), also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Reb Nachman Breslover ( yi, רבי נחמן ברעסלאווער ''Rebe Nakhmen Breslover'' ...
's 1810 death. Its complex, existentialist philosophy drew many to it.
High fertility rates, increasing tolerance and
multiculturalism
The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...
on behalf of surrounding society, and the great wave of
newcomers to Orthodox Judaism which began in the 1970s all cemented the movement's status as very much alive and thriving. The clearest indication for that, noted Joseph Dan, was the disappearance of the "Frumkinian" narrative which inspired much sympathy towards it from non-Orthodox Jews and others, as actual Hasidism returned to the fore. It was replaced by apprehension and concern due to the growing presence of the reclusive, strictly religious Hasidic lifestyle in the public sphere, especially in Israel.
As numbers grew, "courts" were again torn apart by schisms between Rebbes' sons vying for power, a common occurrence during the golden age of the 19th century.
References
Further reading
*
* Balog, Yeshayahu P./Morgenstern, Matthias (2010)
Hasidism: A Mystical Movement Within Eastern European JudaismEGO - European History Online Mainz
Institute of European History retrieved: March 25, 2021
pdf.
*
*
External links
*
Map of the spread of Hasidism from 1730 and 1760–75, and its encroachment on the Lithuanian centre of Rabbinic oppositionSatmar Hasidic Williamsburgphoto-series by Suzanne Stein
{{Authority control
18th century in Poland
Jewish religious movements