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Buber versus Scholem and the Figure of the Hasidic Jew: A Literary Debate between Two Political Theologies

Hannan Hever

in Jews and the Ends of Theory

This chapter looks at one of the most famous and significant debates in Jewish studies: between Gershom Scholem and Martin Buber over the character of Hasidism. On the face of it, the debate was a ... More

This chapter looks at one of the most famous and significant debates in Jewish studies: between Gershom Scholem and Martin Buber over the character of Hasidism. On the face of it, the debate was a literary one, centering on the significance of the Hasidic tale and its role in the interpretation of the Hasidic movement. It was a debate between two conceptions of Hasidism, one as a system of theological concepts, and the other as a way of life. Yet this debate was not merely historicist, but topical and political as well. For in this debate, Buber and Scholem negotiated the question of Jewish sovereignty and endeavored to determine the desired relationship between Jews and the state.Less

The Emergence of a Female Constituency in Twentieth-Century Habad Hasidism: Women In?

Ada Rapoport-Albert

in Hasidic Studies: Essays in History and Gender

This chapter refutes the notion that the hasidic movement brought about something of a feminist revolution in Judaism. It mentions S.A. Horodetsky, who first claimed that the hasidic movement endowed ... More

This chapter refutes the notion that the hasidic movement brought about something of a feminist revolution in Judaism. It mentions S.A. Horodetsky, who first claimed that the hasidic movement endowed women with complete equality in the religious life. It also analyzes women's direct, personal relationship with the rebbe or tsadik, which established a new equality between the sexes within the family and the community. The chapter argues how Hasidism has remained predominantly the preserve of men since its inception until the early twentieth century. It explains male hasidim who travelled to the court and would normally leave their women behind, and periodically drop out of matrimony and its mundane obligations.Less

The Gaon versus Hasidism

Eliyahu Stern

in The Genius

This chapter discusses Elijah ben Solomon's opposition to the eighteenth century eastern European Hasidic movement. Elijah became an ardent opponent of the movement. He even accused the leaders of ... More

This chapter discusses Elijah ben Solomon's opposition to the eighteenth century eastern European Hasidic movement. Elijah became an ardent opponent of the movement. He even accused the leaders of Hasidic movement of Sabbatian tendencies. It explains that the Hasidic movement was established by the charismatic spiritual leader Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem. This movement minimized the legalistic, elite intellectual and ascetic elements in the Jewish tradition and promoted God's imminence, prayer, spiritual ecstasy, and popular social practices. Elijah opposed the Hasidic principle that humanity could access the Divine only through the medium of the Torah, which he viewed as a dangerous overestimation of the individual's ability to communicate with God.Less

The Historiography of the Hasidic Immigration to Erets Yisrael

Jacob Barnai

in Hasidism Reappraised

This chapter explores the historiography of the hasidic immigration to Erets Yisrael. The first waves of hasidic immigration to Erets Yisrael have attracted the attention both of scholars of hasidism ... More

This chapter explores the historiography of the hasidic immigration to Erets Yisrael. The first waves of hasidic immigration to Erets Yisrael have attracted the attention both of scholars of hasidism and of historians of the Jewish yishuv in Erets Yisrael. Hasidic scholarship has viewed the subject as an interesting and somewhat obscure chapter in the history of hasidism, while the historians of the yishuv, most of whom were associated with either the Zionist or the Orthodox currents in Jewish historiography, have perceived the hasidic immigration as an important element of the ‘proto-Zionist’ trend which proved the centrality of Erets Yisrael to Diaspora Jews even before Zionism. While the scholars of hasidism have set the issue in the context of the overall history of the hasidic movement, historians of the yishuv, under the impact of various trends within the Zionist movement and orthodox Jewry, have treated it primarily as an ideological issue. The chapter then surveys and evaluates these two distinct traditions in the historiography of the subject.Less

From Woman as Hasid to Woman as ‘Tsadik’ in the Teachings of the Last Two Lubavitcher Rebbes

Ada Rapoport-Albert

in Hasidic Studies: Essays in History and Gender

This chapter explains inclusive attitude to women that has become a hallmark of contemporary Habad Lubavitch, which can be traced back to the very beginnings of the early school of Hasidism. It ... More

This chapter explains inclusive attitude to women that has become a hallmark of contemporary Habad Lubavitch, which can be traced back to the very beginnings of the early school of Hasidism. It reviews the historical record of Habad and its distinct attitude to women from the male exclusivity that marks the hasidic movement as a whole. It also analyses early ideological foundations that are rooted in the special gender sensibilities of Habad's first leaders. The chapter discusses the internal Habad tradition of early-twentieth-century provenance whereby Shneur Zalman of Liady used to teach Hasidism to his daughter. It mentions the publication of Shneur Zalman's Hilkhot talmud torah in Shklov in 1794, in which he cited the traditional strictures against women's Torah study.Less

Conclusion: Tracing the Maiden

Nathaniel Deutsch

in The Maiden of Ludmir: A Jewish Holy Woman and Her World

This chapter addresses the traces made in writing by the Maiden of Ludmir. Throughout the process of writing, the Maiden has remained an elusive subject. It is tempting to see her as a pioneer in the ... More

This chapter addresses the traces made in writing by the Maiden of Ludmir. Throughout the process of writing, the Maiden has remained an elusive subject. It is tempting to see her as a pioneer in the struggle for Jewish women's spiritual empowerment. One of the most striking and, for the biographer, frustrating aspects of the Maiden's life is that she does not appear to have written anything herself. She is popularly known as the only “woman rebbe” in history. The Maiden's story can be read as a powerful metaphor for two contrasting and competing modes of spiritual leadership within the Hasidic movement. There is little knowledge on how the Maiden felt about her new life in Palestine.Less

The Death of an Idea: Political, Historical, and Poetic Visions of Hasidism

Marcin Wodziński

in Haskalah and Hasidism in the Kingdom of Poland: A History of Conflict

This chapter addresses the ideological crisis among Polish Jewish integrationists at the start of the twentieth century. One of the signs of departure from the old ideological line was the rapidly ... More

This chapter addresses the ideological crisis among Polish Jewish integrationists at the start of the twentieth century. One of the signs of departure from the old ideological line was the rapidly changing attitude to hasidism. On the one hand, politically involved journalists such as Nachum Sokołów saw a new political threat in the hasidic movement and called for an alliance of all non-hasidic political forces against this group. On the other hand, from the mid-1890s, it became more and more common to idealize the hasidic past, to see the movement as the fascinating creation of folk mysticism, a depository of authentic Jewish folklore, and above all an excellent literary theme. These two attitudes, although they seemed contradictory, frequently coexisted. Usually, they were evident in the belief that the good and beautiful teachings of the fathers of hasidism were later distorted by the tsadikim and had led to the contemporary degenerate form of the political movement. The great interest in the origins of the movement was undoubtedly an attempt to escape contemporary reality and, at the same time, to escape the confrontational attitudes of the maskilim. This was obviously the result of changes in European writings that took place at the turn of the century in relation to the historiographic, philosophical, and literary portrayal of hasidism.Less

:Trance and the Nomian

in Shamanic Trance in Modern Kabbalah

This chapter argues that shamanic trance often seems in contexts of a markedly nomian nature. The Hasidic movement can be shown as a prime example of the intimate link between trance experience and ... More

This chapter argues that shamanic trance often seems in contexts of a markedly nomian nature. The Hasidic movement can be shown as a prime example of the intimate link between trance experience and nomian practice. The placement of trance within a graduated path explains the prevalence of the rabbinic ladder of ethical and nomian progression in Kabbalistic texts on trance. The nomian practice of immersion should be demonstrated as a crucial aspect of the daily mystical regimen of the central Hasidic figures, and that of other kabbalists, such as the Sephardic masters. It is immersion that differentiates the identity of the Hasidic path from antinomian mystical deviations such as Sabbateanism. The cultural determination of trance and other shamanic moments in mystical life reinforces the “contextual” school in the understanding of mystical experience, without negating the value of comparative study.Less

The Hasidic Managing Editor as an Agent of Culture

Zeev Gries

in Hasidism Reappraised

This chapter traces the history of hasidic books and the individuals who saw them into print. In their humble way, they played a crucial part in the process of converting oral traditions to literary ... More

This chapter traces the history of hasidic books and the individuals who saw them into print. In their humble way, they played a crucial part in the process of converting oral traditions to literary documents and thus of constructing not only the collective memory of the hasidic movement but also people's critical perception of its history. Much of the vast literature of hasidism was derived from the verbal addresses delivered by the leaders of the movement to the gatherings of their followers at their ‘court’, usually for the third sabbath meal or on festival days. The address of the hasidic leader would be committed to memory first and only later, once the holy day was over, would the ‘court’ scribe record it in writing. The outcome was rarely scrutinized, edited, or even approved by the ‘author’. Since the oral traditions of early hasidism are no longer retrievable in their original form, and since the only access to them is through the literary adaptations and translations in which they have been preserved, it is important to shed some light on the often obscure processes of their recension, publication, and dissemination by apparently minor figures whose agency was nevertheless indispensable: the hasidic managing editors.Less

The Narcissism of Small Differences?: Rituals and Customs as Hasidic Identity-Markers

Gadi Sagiv

in Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry Volume 33: Jewish Religious Life in Poland since 1750

This chapter highlights the problematic nature of every attempt to characterize the diverse Hasidic groups, schools of thought, and sects, which comprise the Hasidic movement. It talks about three ... More

This chapter highlights the problematic nature of every attempt to characterize the diverse Hasidic groups, schools of thought, and sects, which comprise the Hasidic movement. It talks about three well-known Hasidic leaders: ’the Yehudi,’ Simhah Bunem of Pshiskhe, and the Rabbi of Kotsk, who are generally considered founders of the distinctive Pshiskhe–Kotsk school but differed greatly in their respective spiritual orientations. It also explains Hasidism as a collection of distinct and often conflicting groups that comprises one charismatic leader each, who usually belongs to a dynasty of hereditary leaders. The chapter discusses the awakening of the collective consciousness of belonging to one movement among the disciples of the Magid of Mezeritsh. It describes the fragmented structure of the movement that was inherent from its earliest formative period.Less

Hatred or Solidarity? Jewish and Polish–Jewish Fraternity in the 1860s

Marcin Wodziński

in Haskalah and Hasidism in the Kingdom of Poland: A History of Conflict

This chapter focuses on the founding of Polish-language periodicals — first Jutrzenka (1861–3) and then Izraelita (1866–1915) — which was one of the most visible achievements of the new ... More

This chapter focuses on the founding of Polish-language periodicals — first Jutrzenka (1861–3) and then Izraelita (1866–1915) — which was one of the most visible achievements of the new integrationist movement. The most active members of this new group were Marcus Jastrow and Daniel Neufeld, who was editer-in-chief of Jutrzenka. Even though it was active only for a short time, Jutrzenka and the writers associated with it wielded considerable influence. Their influence extended to bringing about a realignment of the attitude of the modernizing camp towards the hasidim; in particular, it was not until the 1860s that hasidism was recognized as a major ideological problem and perceived to be the most serious enemy in the battle to emancipate and modernize Jews in Poland. Neufeld and other Jutrzenka writers argue that the hasidim needed to be educated and that learning would bring about the ultimate solution to the problem, i.e. the disappearance of hasidism. But, alongside the voices of criticism, Jutrzenka's writers increasingly expressed the positive features of hasidism, particularly their unrivalled unity, their caring for their families, their concern for religious education, and their wholehearted espousal of their ideology. Ultimately, the reassessment of attitudes towards the hasidic movement among the moderate integrationist camp brought immediate, direct results in the pre-uprising period of Polish–Jewish fraternity and had a lasting effect.Less

Introduction

Marcin Wodziński

in Hasidism and Politics: The Kingdom of Poland, 1815-1864

This chapter discusses the study of the Haskalah and the hasidic movement in the Kingdom of Poland, sometimes also known as “Congress Poland” because it was created by the Congress of Vienna in the ... More

This chapter discusses the study of the Haskalah and the hasidic movement in the Kingdom of Poland, sometimes also known as “Congress Poland” because it was created by the Congress of Vienna in the nineteenth century. Hasidism was no doubt the largest and most important new movement to emerge within east European Jewry in those turbulent times. The chapter explains how Hasidism participated in abrupt social, economic, and cultural transformations in the Polish territories. It investigates the changes in social relations and perceptions that the transformations brought about or how the new social formations that arose in the Polish lands defined and redefined themselves in relation to each other. The chapter focuses on Haskalah and the traditional non-hasidic Jewish community by considering the political history of the Kingdom of Poland and its relationship with the hasidic movement.Less

Introduction

Ada Rapoport-Albert

in Women and the Messianic Heresy of Sabbatai Zevi, 1666 - 1816

This chapter looks at the notion of how the hasidic movement brought about a feminist revolution in Judaism. It mentions the twentieth-century historian of Hasidism named S. A. Horodetsky, who first ... More

This chapter looks at the notion of how the hasidic movement brought about a feminist revolution in Judaism. It mentions the twentieth-century historian of Hasidism named S. A. Horodetsky, who first claimed that the Hasidic movement endowed women with complete equality in the religious life that are expressed in a variety of hasidic innovations. It also discusses women's direct, personal relationship with the rebbe or tsadik that established a new equality between the sexes within the family and the community. The chapter covers the breakdown of the educational barrier of Hebrew and the language of traditional scholarly discourse in the male world of Torah learning. It argues how hasidism has remained predominantly the preserve of men in the early twentieth century.Less

Hasidism

Louis Jacobs

in Hasidic Prayer

This chapter discusses the meaning of Hasidism and the history of the movement. The Hasidic movement was born in the Jewish communities of Volhynia and Podolia during the eighteenth century. The ... More

This chapter discusses the meaning of Hasidism and the history of the movement. The Hasidic movement was born in the Jewish communities of Volhynia and Podolia during the eighteenth century. The chapter shows that despite the fiercest opposition on the part of the Jewish establishment, Hasidism spread quickly. Fifty years after the death of its founder, R. Israel b. Eliezer (d. 1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov (‘Master of the Good Name [of God] ’), the movement had succeeded in winning over half the Jewish population of Russia and Poland — the great centres of Jewish life in the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries. Indicative of its hold over the masses is the fact that the upholders of the status quo were very soon referred to as Mitnaggedim (‘opponents’), implying that they, and not the Hasidim (singular, Hasid), were obliged to be on the defensive.Less

The Hasidic Movement and the Gaon of Vilna: (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1994) pp. xvi + 258. ISBN 1-56821-125-2

Alan Brill

in Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry Volume 12: Focusing on Galicia: Jews, Poles and Ukrainians 1772-1918

This chapter takes a look at Elijah Judah Schochet's The Hasidic Movement and the Gaon of Vilna. Schochet sets out to answer two related questions in this book: What problems did its opponents ... More

This chapter takes a look at Elijah Judah Schochet's The Hasidic Movement and the Gaon of Vilna. Schochet sets out to answer two related questions in this book: What problems did its opponents perceive in the hasidic movement and why did the Vilna Gaon, Elijah ben Solomon Zalman (known as Hagra), reject it? The book presents the problems of hasidism through the eyes of the edicts and polemical tracts against it. The chapter reviews how Schochet presents his arguments and how the Gaon is presented within the book. Schochet's scholarship is also analysed, and certain possible influences to his work drawn. To conclude, the chapter offers some critiques on Schochet's analysis could be improved.Less

Hasidic Prayer in the Responsa

Louis Jacobs

in Hasidic Prayer

This chapter examines some rabbinic responsa relating to Hasidic prayer. Alongside R. Ezekiel Landau, multiple prominent rabbis who were either opposed or neutral to the growing Hasidic movement in ... More

This chapter examines some rabbinic responsa relating to Hasidic prayer. Alongside R. Ezekiel Landau, multiple prominent rabbis who were either opposed or neutral to the growing Hasidic movement in the eighteenth century issued several responsa regarding Hasidism. The chapter thus takes up responsa regarding a wide variety of subjects relating to Hasidic prayer, including the appropriate garments for prayer, the use of individuals for officiating, the issue of taking meals before prayer, and even which prayer book to use. In doing so, this chapter reveals a long series of dialogue and response from multiple rabbi. These shed light on many different views regarding Hasidic practice at the time.Less