Glenn Dynner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195175226
- eISBN:
- 9780199785148
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175226.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Hasidism, a kabbalah-inspired movement founded by Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (c1700-1760), transformed Jewish communities across Eastern and East Central Europe. This book illuminates Hasidism's dramatic ...
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Hasidism, a kabbalah-inspired movement founded by Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (c1700-1760), transformed Jewish communities across Eastern and East Central Europe. This book illuminates Hasidism's dramatic ascendancy in the region of Central Poland during the early 19th century, presenting Hasidism as a socioreligious phenomenon that was shaped in crucial ways by its Polish context. Despite their folksy image, the movement's charismatic leaders are revealed as astute populists who proved remarkably adept at securing elite patronage, neutralizing powerful opponents, and methodically co-opting Jewish institutions. The book also reveals the full spectrum of Hasidic devotees, from humbleshtetldwellers to influential Warsaw entrepreneurs. The Hasidic concept of “worship through corporeality” (avodah be-gashmiyut), a notion that holiness may be derived from even mundane endeavors, enabled Hasidic leaders and adherents to immerse themselves in politics, business, and popular culture, and yet effectively remain mystics. Hasidism's transformation into a mass movement is thus attributable to a convergence of sociopolitical and theological innovations.Less
Hasidism, a kabbalah-inspired movement founded by Israel Ba'al Shem Tov (c1700-1760), transformed Jewish communities across Eastern and East Central Europe. This book illuminates Hasidism's dramatic ascendancy in the region of Central Poland during the early 19th century, presenting Hasidism as a socioreligious phenomenon that was shaped in crucial ways by its Polish context. Despite their folksy image, the movement's charismatic leaders are revealed as astute populists who proved remarkably adept at securing elite patronage, neutralizing powerful opponents, and methodically co-opting Jewish institutions. The book also reveals the full spectrum of Hasidic devotees, from humbleshtetldwellers to influential Warsaw entrepreneurs. The Hasidic concept of “worship through corporeality” (avodah be-gashmiyut), a notion that holiness may be derived from even mundane endeavors, enabled Hasidic leaders and adherents to immerse themselves in politics, business, and popular culture, and yet effectively remain mystics. Hasidism's transformation into a mass movement is thus attributable to a convergence of sociopolitical and theological innovations.
Glenn Dynner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195175226
- eISBN:
- 9780199785148
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175226.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter highlights the regional distinctiveness of Polish Hasidism and attempts to quantify its regional expansion. Polish Hasidism shared the broader theological and experiential features of ...
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This chapter highlights the regional distinctiveness of Polish Hasidism and attempts to quantify its regional expansion. Polish Hasidism shared the broader theological and experiential features of Hasidism in other regions. But the impact of the unique Central Polish context is reflected in its more urban, cosmopolitan, and economically adept leaders and adherents, as well as in its meritocratic tendencies during leadership succession. In estimating the size of the Hasidic community in Central Poland by the early 19th century, we must account for the considerable proportion of women and adolescent men whose participation seldom registered in official estimates. The chapter concludes with a mapping of Hasidism's geographical spread in the region during this period.Less
This chapter highlights the regional distinctiveness of Polish Hasidism and attempts to quantify its regional expansion. Polish Hasidism shared the broader theological and experiential features of Hasidism in other regions. But the impact of the unique Central Polish context is reflected in its more urban, cosmopolitan, and economically adept leaders and adherents, as well as in its meritocratic tendencies during leadership succession. In estimating the size of the Hasidic community in Central Poland by the early 19th century, we must account for the considerable proportion of women and adolescent men whose participation seldom registered in official estimates. The chapter concludes with a mapping of Hasidism's geographical spread in the region during this period.
Glenn Dynner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195175226
- eISBN:
- 9780199785148
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195175226.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter evaluates the movement's grassroots appeal through its miracle working enterprises, arguing that Polish zaddikim were neither charlatans, nor were they, technically speaking, “popular” ...
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This chapter evaluates the movement's grassroots appeal through its miracle working enterprises, arguing that Polish zaddikim were neither charlatans, nor were they, technically speaking, “popular” leaders. In their embrace of folk religion, they were apparently sincere and differed little from traditional mystical practitioners,ba'alei shem, but differed markedly in their social status and concomitant influence among the Jewish masses and Polish officialdom. Women and youth obtained unprecedented access to zaddikim; yet followers from the Jewish elite granted special or lengthier audiences and were groomed for leadership succession. The chapter concludes with a look at the most ambivalent zaddik with respect to miracle working, R. Simha Bunem of Przysucha.Less
This chapter evaluates the movement's grassroots appeal through its miracle working enterprises, arguing that Polish zaddikim were neither charlatans, nor were they, technically speaking, “popular” leaders. In their embrace of folk religion, they were apparently sincere and differed little from traditional mystical practitioners,ba'alei shem, but differed markedly in their social status and concomitant influence among the Jewish masses and Polish officialdom. Women and youth obtained unprecedented access to zaddikim; yet followers from the Jewish elite granted special or lengthier audiences and were groomed for leadership succession. The chapter concludes with a look at the most ambivalent zaddik with respect to miracle working, R. Simha Bunem of Przysucha.
Ezra Mendelsohn
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195112030
- eISBN:
- 9780199854608
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195112030.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, History of Religion
This chapter discusses modern Jewish literature in Eastern Europe where the rise of secular forms of Jewish self-expression coincided with the Kulturkampf between Hasidism and Haskalah. It explains ...
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This chapter discusses modern Jewish literature in Eastern Europe where the rise of secular forms of Jewish self-expression coincided with the Kulturkampf between Hasidism and Haskalah. It explains that the image of the rabbi and rebbe (a.k.a. zaddik, or guter yid), which became the battleground for the hearts and minds of the impressionable masses, is used to stake one's claim to the future. Even a new translation of the Book of the Proverbs into the Yiddish vernacular could be used by the reformers (wolves in sheep's clothing) to draw a firm line between the biblical zaddik, glossed as an erlekher, or a koshere neshome, and the usurpers of that title in the present. Meanwhile, in the rival camp, hagiographic tales about the great zaddikim of old were used for propaganda and popular education from 1815 onwards.Less
This chapter discusses modern Jewish literature in Eastern Europe where the rise of secular forms of Jewish self-expression coincided with the Kulturkampf between Hasidism and Haskalah. It explains that the image of the rabbi and rebbe (a.k.a. zaddik, or guter yid), which became the battleground for the hearts and minds of the impressionable masses, is used to stake one's claim to the future. Even a new translation of the Book of the Proverbs into the Yiddish vernacular could be used by the reformers (wolves in sheep's clothing) to draw a firm line between the biblical zaddik, glossed as an erlekher, or a koshere neshome, and the usurpers of that title in the present. Meanwhile, in the rival camp, hagiographic tales about the great zaddikim of old were used for propaganda and popular education from 1815 onwards.
Marcin Wodzinski
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- July 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190631260
- eISBN:
- 9780190631291
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190631260.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Innovative and multidisciplinary in approaches, the book discusses the most cardinal features of any social or religious movement: definition, gender, leadership, demographic size, geography, ...
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Innovative and multidisciplinary in approaches, the book discusses the most cardinal features of any social or religious movement: definition, gender, leadership, demographic size, geography, economy, and decline of Hasidism, one of the most important religious movements of modern Eastern Europe. This is the first such attempt to respond to those central questions of Hasidism in one book. Recognizing the major limitations of the existing research on Hasidism, the book offers four important corrections. First, it offers an anti-elitist corrective attempting to investigate Hasidism beyond its leaders into the masses of the rank-and-file followers. Second, it introduces new types of sources, rarely or never used in the research of Hasidism, including archival documents, Jewish memorial books, petitionary notes, folk texts, and quantitative and visual materials. Third, it covers the whole classic period of Hasidism from its institutional maturation at the end of the eighteenth century to its major crisis and decline in wake of the First World War. Fourth, instead of focusing on intellectual history, it offers a multidisciplinary approach with the modern methodologies of the corresponding disciplines: social and cultural history, sociology and anthropology of religion, historical demography of religions, historical geography, gender studies, economic history, and more.Less
Innovative and multidisciplinary in approaches, the book discusses the most cardinal features of any social or religious movement: definition, gender, leadership, demographic size, geography, economy, and decline of Hasidism, one of the most important religious movements of modern Eastern Europe. This is the first such attempt to respond to those central questions of Hasidism in one book. Recognizing the major limitations of the existing research on Hasidism, the book offers four important corrections. First, it offers an anti-elitist corrective attempting to investigate Hasidism beyond its leaders into the masses of the rank-and-file followers. Second, it introduces new types of sources, rarely or never used in the research of Hasidism, including archival documents, Jewish memorial books, petitionary notes, folk texts, and quantitative and visual materials. Third, it covers the whole classic period of Hasidism from its institutional maturation at the end of the eighteenth century to its major crisis and decline in wake of the First World War. Fourth, instead of focusing on intellectual history, it offers a multidisciplinary approach with the modern methodologies of the corresponding disciplines: social and cultural history, sociology and anthropology of religion, historical demography of religions, historical geography, gender studies, economic history, and more.
Shaul Magid
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804791304
- eISBN:
- 9780804793469
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804791304.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
Hasidism Incarnate argues that much of modern Judaism in the west developed under what it calls a “Christian gaze,” that is, reacting to Christianity by defending Judaism, positing that Judaism is ...
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Hasidism Incarnate argues that much of modern Judaism in the west developed under what it calls a “Christian gaze,” that is, reacting to Christianity by defending Judaism, positing that Judaism is unlike Christianity. This is done, ironically, while modern Judaism is being constructed as quite similar to Christianity in terms of its ethos, aesthetics, and attitude toward ritual and faith. Hasidism, unlike Judaism in Western Europe, is not developing under a “Christian gaze” and thus does not need to be apologetic of its positions. Free from an apologetic agenda (at least toward Christianity) what we find in Hasidism is a particular reading of medieval Jewish Kabbalah filtered through a focus on the charismatic leader that produces a religious world-view that shares a great deal with basic tenets of Christianity. This is because the basic many of the basic tenets of Christianity remained present, albeit often veiled, in much of kabbalistic teaching that was adopted in Hasidism to portray its notion of the charismatic figure (zaddik), often in supernatural terms. Hasidism Incarnate offer close readings of classical Hasidic texts to show the “Christian” tropes, which may have originally been “Jewish,” that lie beneath the surface of this multi-layered and textured literature.Less
Hasidism Incarnate argues that much of modern Judaism in the west developed under what it calls a “Christian gaze,” that is, reacting to Christianity by defending Judaism, positing that Judaism is unlike Christianity. This is done, ironically, while modern Judaism is being constructed as quite similar to Christianity in terms of its ethos, aesthetics, and attitude toward ritual and faith. Hasidism, unlike Judaism in Western Europe, is not developing under a “Christian gaze” and thus does not need to be apologetic of its positions. Free from an apologetic agenda (at least toward Christianity) what we find in Hasidism is a particular reading of medieval Jewish Kabbalah filtered through a focus on the charismatic leader that produces a religious world-view that shares a great deal with basic tenets of Christianity. This is because the basic many of the basic tenets of Christianity remained present, albeit often veiled, in much of kabbalistic teaching that was adopted in Hasidism to portray its notion of the charismatic figure (zaddik), often in supernatural terms. Hasidism Incarnate offer close readings of classical Hasidic texts to show the “Christian” tropes, which may have originally been “Jewish,” that lie beneath the surface of this multi-layered and textured literature.
Shaul Magid
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804791304
- eISBN:
- 9780804793469
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804791304.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter focuses on the work of Ya’akov Koppel who lived on the cusp of the Hasidic movement. The chapter focuses is the doctrine of the zaddik and its similarities to the Christian notion of ...
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This chapter focuses on the work of Ya’akov Koppel who lived on the cusp of the Hasidic movement. The chapter focuses is the doctrine of the zaddik and its similarities to the Christian notion of kenosis, the act of incarnation through divine emptying. Koppel’s writing offers the novel idea that the lowest kabbalistic sphere malkhut, thought to be empty of divinity is, in actuality, the fullest manifestation of pure divinity (eyn sof). This notion is strikingly similar to the Christian idea of kenosis from Philippians 1 whereby God empties Godself into the body of Jesus in the act of incarnation in order to fulfill divine disclosure. The zaddik thus serves as the fullest manifestation of the divine in the world. Not identical to incarnation, the zaddik as malkhut is presented as a Jewish example of kenosis and thus a Jewish articulation of incarnational thinking.Less
This chapter focuses on the work of Ya’akov Koppel who lived on the cusp of the Hasidic movement. The chapter focuses is the doctrine of the zaddik and its similarities to the Christian notion of kenosis, the act of incarnation through divine emptying. Koppel’s writing offers the novel idea that the lowest kabbalistic sphere malkhut, thought to be empty of divinity is, in actuality, the fullest manifestation of pure divinity (eyn sof). This notion is strikingly similar to the Christian idea of kenosis from Philippians 1 whereby God empties Godself into the body of Jesus in the act of incarnation in order to fulfill divine disclosure. The zaddik thus serves as the fullest manifestation of the divine in the world. Not identical to incarnation, the zaddik as malkhut is presented as a Jewish example of kenosis and thus a Jewish articulation of incarnational thinking.
Marcin Wodziński
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- July 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190631260
- eISBN:
- 9780190631291
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190631260.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This chapter attempts to add yet another perspective to the already extensive scholarship on the tsadikim, which has been based so far mainly on elitist, rabbinical sources of a normative, rather ...
More
This chapter attempts to add yet another perspective to the already extensive scholarship on the tsadikim, which has been based so far mainly on elitist, rabbinical sources of a normative, rather than a descriptive, nature. It asks what simple pilgrims expected to achieve from their visits to a Hasidic court and how they expressed it. By analyzing a mass source of popular petitions brought to one Hasidic leader by thousands of his followers, the chapter arrives at the conclusion that the simple pilgrims expected from the tsadik mainly intervention in the matters of health, income, and family matters, most typically connected to fertility and business problems. It also shows inroads of a modernizing vision of the world in the way the image of the tsadik and his powers were constructed in the petitions.Less
This chapter attempts to add yet another perspective to the already extensive scholarship on the tsadikim, which has been based so far mainly on elitist, rabbinical sources of a normative, rather than a descriptive, nature. It asks what simple pilgrims expected to achieve from their visits to a Hasidic court and how they expressed it. By analyzing a mass source of popular petitions brought to one Hasidic leader by thousands of his followers, the chapter arrives at the conclusion that the simple pilgrims expected from the tsadik mainly intervention in the matters of health, income, and family matters, most typically connected to fertility and business problems. It also shows inroads of a modernizing vision of the world in the way the image of the tsadik and his powers were constructed in the petitions.
