The Rise of Hasidism
If the 1600s were a combination of promise and pogrom for the Jews, the 1700s began with less promise. Russia had a strangle hold on Poland’s neck. Border cities underwent successive threats, and then skirmishes and attacks resulting in large land masses changing nationalities. Eastern Poland became western Russia. Kiev went to Russia; Podolia and Volhynia stayed in Poland. Just as the kings of Poland turned a kind eye toward the Jews, the loss of land saw their power replaced by the Diet – the Polish Parliament, whose every member had veto power as well as the power to levy taxes.
The Jews now had to pay a crown tax, local taxes, and Jesuit taxes to keep the mobs from destroying their neighborhoods (mob-like protection money). What’s more, the Jewish community was responsible for paying the debts and tax obligations of any individual member who could not afford them. So severe were the communal debts that sumptuary laws were passed by the Jewish community restricting how much could be spent by any family for a religious celebration. The number of weddings held was limited, rabbi salaries were sliced to a bare minimum, one synagogue had to pawn its eternal light in order to meet tax obligations, and the head tax on each Jew was raised over a 20 year period by hundreds of thousands of Polish gulden.
All of this effectively made the city-Jew a tax servant to the government, and rural Jews became in effect serfs to the lords of the land. On any given day, a Jew might be turned out of the inn he managed or driven off of the land he farmed. On any given day, a tax collector could take away his wife and children for tax default – the children turned over to a convent to be converted.
In some areas the blood libel* raged. Every miscarried fetus disposed of in an alley, or a street waif found dead of starvation was potentially fodder for the accusation. The hapless Jew who happened to live near a corpse could be tortured to death and quartered. The madness was so bad that Popes from 1763 and thereafter were forced to declare that the blood libel was a lie. It did take them a bit more than 75 years to do so officially, however.
*[Blood libel = the absurd accusation that Jews used the blood of Christian children in the baking of matzah for Passover]
Before the Cossack invasion in the 1640s-50s, Poland had been a safe and successful redoubt for Jews. Over half a million had found their way there to participate in the welcome set out for them by the crown. Krakow, Lublin, and Posen were the largest settlements. The Jewish population was engaged in countless occupations – handicrafts, finance, innkeepers, merchants, clerks, land managers. To the annual fairs, the largest being in Lublin, Jewish farmers and merchants streamed in from villages and towns far and near with goods for sale and discussions to share. Yeshivahs were established in every city and the minds of students were sharpened by a method of study known as pilpul, invented by the father-in-law of Moses Isserles. (You may remember Isserles as the rabbi who added Ashkenazic annotations to Joseph Caro’s Shulchan Aruch.) Pilpul challenged the mind of those who used it to study Talmud and made that generation of students perhaps the sharpest of any who came before.
The Va’ad, otherwise known as the Council of the Four Lands, was the crown-approved, self-governing body of Polish Jewry. It adjudicated cases, passed legislation as needed, appropriated tax monies, and set donation standards for its people. The Va’ad could send a representative to the Polish Diet to watch out for Jewish interests. Such a person was called a Shtatland - a court Jew. The Va’ad could and did set dress standards, pass sumptuary laws, supervise education, prevent unfair business competition, arbitrate between congregations and communities. For 150 years, the Polish Va’ad was the first and most successful form of Jewish self-governing since the Romans destroyed Jerusalem.
But now, two-thirds of a century after the Cossacks, Polish Jewry was impoverished, not only financially, but mentally and spiritually as well. Scholarship in southern Poland was at its nadir, literacy too. Could the youth even read Hebrew; did they know their prayers? If they couldn’t read the prayers, how would they talk to Gd? Would Gd forget about them? Was there any hope to be found for this distraught community of coreligionists? Was there someone, anyone who could help?
The Baal Shem Tov (1700-1760)
His name was Israel ben Eliezer. He was born in 1700 in the Polish town of Medziboz. His father died when he was a tot; his mother died soon afterward. An orphan at a young age, he was raised by the Jewish community, but he spent much of his time off by himself alone wondering while wandering in the nearby forests. As a lad of 12 or so, he earned a few kopecks taking young children to their rural school. He would often stop to teach them about bird songs and about the opening of flowers as prayers to Gd. When they got to school, awaiting the teacher, he would teach them when to say “Amen” after a prayer or blessing … and with feeling.
He disdained school learning for himself and was never a scholar, but he was well-liked and interesting. He married at an early age and moved to the Carpathian Mountains, the border between Ukraine and Hungary-Rumania. Then he moved to a small town where he and his wife set up an inn. In this territory of Podolia, at the age of 36, he gathered together a circle of friends and became for them a healer of sorts and a comforter. And he must have been effective at what he did and what he said, because the people of his town bestowed a very special epithet upon him – they called him "Baal Shem Tov," which means Master of the Good Name. Then using only the first letters of that epithet, they called him simply "Besht.”
He wrote no books. He taught orally through wise sayings and parables. He loved mixing among the people and he was ready to tell them that Gd can be found by the least among us. The scholar, even the rabbi, had no greater claim to Gd than the butcher, the peddler, or even the luftmensch – the unemployed daydreamer. Everyone serves Gd to the extent of their powers, even the worm serves Gd. Every word, every thought, finds its way to Gd for Gd is everywhere and in everything. Spinoza was excommunicated 50 years earlier for espousing a pantheistic theology that came very close to this.
The Baal Shem Tov had no interest in creating a new sect or denomination of Judaism. He made no attempt to modify doctrines or do away with the smallest detail of accepted observances. Rather, the stress was laid on a new way to serve Gd.
And here is where he became profound — sadness, he said, is a hindrance to worship; all prayer must come with cheerfulness and joy ... even abundant joy. Don’t read the words out of the prayer book; you know the prayers. Close your eyes when you pray. Pray with your heart. Pray with joy in your heart ... with overflowing love. Such devotion renews us. The angels are sustained by our joyous prayer. It is the emotion of devotion, the enthusiasm that suffuses the soul of man that reaches the Holy One, blessed be His Name.
Exuberance of spirit resonates on high. With this thought, the Besht brought heaven down to the masses. Luria connected heaven and earth through personal morality and kindness. The study of Talmud was much too heady for a desperate, desolate, diminished, downtrodden people. It’s not the mind, he taught; it’s the emotion. Be joyous. Smile, laugh, sing, sway, dance — not only is that the methodology of pray, that is its essence. In this way, the Besht put a torch to the darkness of those who followed him. He lit the inner lamp of Jews in small towns and villages ... bringing about a consciousness of spiritual power and making of religion a joyous immersion in an ever-present Gd who loves to see us smile and laugh and sing and dance and cry from joy. When nothing but joy in Gd matters, then hardship and evil is but a mere inconvenience. Earthly beauty and pleasure are gifts to the heavenly hosts, and devotion ... (devaykut) clinging to Gd, is as a sustaining nectar.
For the Besht there was to be no mortification of the body, no non-ritual fasting, no abstinence, no pretension of being messianic ... even though he spoke about the Messiah and hoped for his coming. Of Shabbetai he said that there was a “holy spark” in him, but vanity was his undoing.
The major philosophy of the Besht consisted of worshiping Gd with joy and believing that simple prayers, when uttered in earnest, were more important than extreme intellectualization.
There is an abundance of beautiful stories that teach this, for example:
It is Yom Kippur, the holiest of days and the synagogue is crowded. The Rabbi is leading services and the noise of murmured prayers fills the shtible - the prayer room. Suddenly, a small boy begins to blow softly on his toy flute and men begin to shush him, but the Rabbi stopping his prayers says, “Let him play. This room is so dense with the mumble of our prayers that words can not ascend. The honest feeling of that youngster and his flute will break though even the gates of heaven.”
And one more:
Again the men wrapped in tallit and tefilin are at prayer. A small boy in the back of the shtible is crying softly. A youth not much older asks why he is crying. “I can’t read words; I can’t read the prayers.” “Do you know the letters?” the youth asks. “Yes.” “Then just recite the letters with all your heart and Gd will put them in their proper order.”
Form and substance take a back seat to intention and fervor. Pray as if Gd is listening; dance as if no one is watching; love as if the whole world is awaiting it.
The Besht believed that there were special people, good people, holy in their righteousness. Tzadikim he called them. Such righteous ones were sent by Gd to guide the people. Such a lovely thought caused the folk to treat the humble, pious, and noble with special care. The beggar might be a tzadik; a kopeck for his cup then. The cart driver who never used the whip, even the horse who delivered goods, even the priest who showed compassion to the Jews – a tzadik could be anyone. Even you could be a tzadik, even I could be if we work on our good intentions. And even if we can’t reach such a high level of goodness, we can certainly learn kindness – hesed in Hebrew, we can certainly become a Hasid, a kind one, and so the community took on the name Hasidim, doers of hesed, of kindness.
With no writings of his own, he was immortalized by the often miraculous and magnified stories of his life told by his closest followers. The Baal Shem Tov is said to have had no children and yet several of his followers claimed to be his grand and great grand-children.
His closest pupils set up "courts" and established Hasidic dynasties in different areas of Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Rumania, Lithuania, and Russia. Each dynasty differed slightly, but all adhered to the principles that the Besht had laid down.
Chief among his followers were:
Dov Ber, the Maggid (preacher) of Mezeritch (1710-1772) was the Besht's most brilliant disciple. He was the first to take the title of Rebbe to delineate Hasidic leaders, and he was the first Rebbe to hold court and give personal advice. People began to feel that the importance of the Rebbe had more to do with his family background than with his scholarship. Sons were thus able to inherit both the title as well as the Hasidic followers of their fathers. Thus Hasidic family dynasties were formed and became the norm.
Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717-1786) is credited with the spread of the Hasidic movement in Poland and Galicia. He and his brother Zusya were disciples of Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezeritch. In his commentary on the Torah, Elimelech developed the Hasidic theory that the Rebbe as a tzadik – a “righteous one,” could serve as a mediator both among people and in the spiritual sphere as well. He taught that while the tzadik lives on a higher plain, he descends to the level of community in order to redeem it, by transforming that which is evil into good.
Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev (1740-1809 Russia) was a great Rebbe and scholar. He studied under Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezeritch, and became one of his close friends. Levi Yitzchak stressed the joy in serving Gd, emphasizing the idea of connecting to Gd through fervent prayer. He always accentuated the good and the positive that was in people. He composed Hasidic music – the niggun, which consisted of melodies without lyrics, melodies that lifted the spirit especially when chanted aloud in community and in worship. He is famous for his charmingly optimistic parables and for his teaching that Gd creates light at every moment for every living being. Creation is a never-ending divine process.
Shneur Zalman of Lyadi (1745-1813 Liady, Russia) comes on the scene 150 years after the Besht. By the mid-1800s, the American and French Revolutions had left their mark, the Ages of Enlightenment and Reason have made their mark. The fate of Europe’s Jews had become substantially improved. With renewed optimism and prosperity, education returned to Jewish communities in southern Poland and western Russia – Belarus and Ukraine, where now over two million Jews reside. So Hasidism, which at first was directed at and appealed to the uneducated, now underwent a sea change. It was Shneur Zalman who introduced an intellectualized form of Hasidism called Chabad. The name is derived from the initials of three Hebrew words – chochmah, binah, da’at – wisdom, understanding, knowledge.
His intention was to bridge the gap with the opponents of the Hasidim, who were known as the Mitnagdim, which appropriately means opponents. The great leader of the Mitnagdim was Elijah ben Solomon, (1720-1797), known also as the Vilna Gaon. His contention was that without study and Talmud learning, Hasidism would devolve into an anti-nominal, know-nothing, pietistic diversion that would certainly lead followers away from Judaism.
The Vilna Gaon was a giant among the scholarly and pietistic Lithuanian rabbis. He had influence at court and though he had little interest in involving himself in communal activities lest they take him away from his studies, he sent a writ to rabbis of the greater region that they take steps to sever all connections with the Hasidim. He suggested the Hasidim be expelled from all their communities and treated as if beyond the pale of Judaism.
It fell to Shneur Zalman to take up the gauntlet. Chabad was now ready to span both methods – to maintain the emotion and fervor of prayer, while encouraging the reintroduction of serious study. Shneur Zalman’s Lekutei Amarim – his Collected Sayings, became known as The Tanya - The Teaching, and is one of the most important study texts of today’s Chabad Hasidim.
Just three more Rebbes:
Baruch of Medzhybizh (1753-1811) was considered to be the grandson(?) of the Baal Shem Tov. He saw himself as the main heir to the movement. He took over his grandfather’s school and shul. Reb Baruch had a quick temper, suffered fits of depression, and was the first Hasidic Rebbe who ran his court as if royalty – living in a large house, riding in a luxurious carriage. He was also the first Rebbe to raise money by requesting donations for his personal prayers or "interventions.” Such séance-like sessions were against all rabbinic norms. He also abused the idea of the rebbe-tzadik as a wonder worker who could bring about miracles. His abuses were disconcerting to many Hasidim including Shneur Zalman of Lyadi. Justly, upon his death his Hasidim found other Rebbes to follow.
And there is Hershel of Ostropol (1757-1811 Ukraine) who served as jester in the court of Baruch of Medzhybizh to calm him during his bouts of depression and rage. Hershel’s sharp wit was usually at the expense of the rich and powerful - Jews and gentiles. Some believe that he died in a fatal accident, when in a rage Rebbe Baruch had him tossed off his roof. Maybe yes; maybe no. Many folktales were written about Hershel including Isaac Babel’s Shabbos-Nakhamu and Eric Kimmel's The Adventures of Hershel of Ostropol. Along with The Wise Men of Chelm, these are classics of Hasidim laughing at themselves and at their communities.
Third, I could not omit Nachman of Breslov or Bratislava (1772-1811 - Medzhybizh, Uman, Ukraine). Simply known as Reb Nachman, he was the great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov. Nachman forged new if controversial ideas regarding Hasidut - the practice of Hasidism. He strongly believed in the principle of the Tzadik Hador (holy person of the generation) and of Hibodedut (self-seclusion) in prayer. He introduced the idea of confession to the Rebbe, but dropped it near the end of his life. He was against the dynastic concept in the Hasidic world to the disdain of other rebbes. None of his sons survived him, but several of his books have, the most interesting to me at least is Tales of Rabbi Nachman.
He was just 38 when he died. His Hasidim refused to believe that he would not return to them. The Bratzlaver Hasidim, as his followers are called, venerate him to this day. During the height of the USSR’s suppression of the Jews in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, a number of his Hasidim in Russia took the chair that he had used during study, disassembled it, and risking life or imprisonment smuggled it out of Russia piece by piece. Back in Israel, they reassembled the complete chair and put it a special museum room for the Rebbe in Jerusalem, awaiting the day he might return to use it again. They also created a chant, which they sing when they gather to study or pray – “Na-na Nachman, chai” - come back, Nachman, live. Now that’s devotion.
And finally, let me finish with a bizarre story about a bizarre man. He was born in the southwestern region of Poland that was once Russia, then Ukraine, then Prussia, then Poland again. If the Besht was a holy spark, Jacob Leibovicz was an empty shard. He was an uneducated Jew from Podolia. He moved to Constantinople and became a citizen there. In Turkey, many East Europeans were called Frank, and he adopted that name. He became Jacob Frank. He associated himself with the Dönmeh, the Jewish Muslims, and passed along the notion that he was the reincarnation of Shabbetai Zevi. He adopted an odd sort of Trinitarian belief that he was the second person in the holy triad ... a “Santo Senor,” or Holy Lord. His message was that since being good and suffering mightily did not bring the messiah, perhaps the opposite might. So, he returned to Poland where he gathered a number of adherents, men and women, and encouraged licentious orgies, an oxymoronic sort of holy evil.
The Council of the Four Lands, the Va’ad, met and excommunicated the Frankists as they were now called. The Frankists took their case to the Polish Bishop along with a confession of faith that came close to church doctrine. Frank maintained that they were Zoharists (mystics) at war with the Talmud (a page of sorts once used by the Karaites). The Bishop called upon the rabbis of Poland to weigh in. Disputation after disputation resulted in his entire group converting to Christianity. Imagine, Dönmeh – Jewish-Muslims, now becoming Jewish-Muslim-Christians. But the church was not long fooled and Frank was imprisoned for 13 years.
His followers looked upon the event as a necessary part of training for a messiah-to-be. He was released by Russia on the eve of the partition of Poland in 1771. He moved to Germany where as Baron von Frank he carried on his cult of self-deification for 20 more years. His daughter kept the swindle going until her death in 1817. He is officially known as the last of the false messiahs.
What began with ten years of Cossack raids in southern Poland causing the destruction of life, property, education, even the will to continue, led to a transformation in Jewish life that was revolutionary for its time. Isaac Luria (the ARI) set the stage for that change by teaching that each person through their acts of goodness could uncover the divine sparks hidden in the evils of the world and by individual acts of tikkun, of fixing that which is broken in the world, could collectively bring about the messiah.
Shabbetai Zevi though his own self delusion believed that he could become that one, the Messiah, bringing redemption to the world. Messianism, like any grandiose ideal or any kook theory or any lie promoted often enough, can emerge anywhere at any time. There will always be a significant percentage of a populace gullible enough to believe just about anything. With enough propaganda, white can be black, truth can be false, day can be night, and a twerp with a mustache can become a nation’s savior.
The Baal Shem Tov, the Besht, was totally different. He had no messiah complex, absolutely no interest in or pretense about saving the world. His desire was to lift the spirit of his people, to be a light in dark times. And he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. And while Hasidism went through the expected abuses of any movement, his vision of joyous prayer, of singing and dancing, and then the transition to study and learning maintain and flourish to this day.
There are well over a million Hasidim today under a multitude of dynastic names led by some dynamic and some mundane rebbes, some who estrange themselves from the secular world and some who engage at every opportunity. And the movement is growing and spreading to every part of the globe.
Messiahs, Hasidim, and Mitnagdim - Rabbis and Rebbes, charlatans and tzadikim ... working in concert or in conflict somehow, perhaps miraculously, brought a huge swath of a struggling, demoralized people back to life by the end of the 1700s.
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