The founding and
flourishing of a movement
By Louis Jacobs
Reprinted with
permission from The
Jewish Religion: A Companion,
published by Oxford University Press.
Terminology
The Hebrew for Hasidism, hasidut,
denotes piety or saintliness, an extraordinary devotion to the spiritual
aspects of Jewish life. The term itself did not originate with the
eighteenth-century movement.
Groups of Hasidim were found in talmudic times and even
earlier. The Saints of Germany in the Middle Ages were called the Hasidim of
Ashkenaz. In the early eighteenth century, the group surrounding the Baal Shem
Tov ["Master of the Good Name", known as the Besht] was, at first,
only one of a number of such groups of pneumatics. But eventually the Beshtian
group became the dominant one; the others either vanished from the scene or
became absorbed in the Beshtian group.
From the beginning, Hasidism centered on a charismatic
personality, the tzaddik. (Zaddik in
the usual English transliteration) This term has an interesting history of its
own. In the Bible and the talmudic literature, the tzaddik ("righteous
man") is the ordinary good man to whom the Hasid is superior. But since
the members of the group were themselves termed Hasidim, a different term had
to be found for the spiritual leader and for this the old term tzaddik was adopted. In this way the
older roles were reversed. The Hasid is the follower of the Zaddik, with the
latter being the superior pietist.
Mysticism for the Masses?
Hasidism was, at first, an elitist movement, consisting of a
small company of pietists seeking proximity to the Baal Shem Tov in order to be
guided by him in the spiritual path. But since the idea of loving every Jew was
stressed by the Baal Shem Tov and his disciples as a highly significant
religious ideal, it is not surprising that, as the movement spread, it
attracted to itself Jews with no pretension to excessive piety who believed in
the power of the Zaddik's prayers to help them in their distress.
The Zaddik then came to function both as a spiritual guide
to the few thirsting for a closer relationship with God and as a man of prayer
and a miracle-worker for the masses. Not to be overlooked, however, is that the
masses, too, had mystical yearnings, which they believed the Zaddik could
satisfy. The description of Hasidism as "mysticism for the masses"
ignores the elitist aspects of the movement, but is nonetheless a fair
representation of the appeal of Hasidism as it came to be.
Hasidism Took Hold
Dov Baer of Mezirech, the foremost disciple of the Baal Shem
Tov, sent out his own chosen disciples to spread his understanding of the Baal
Shem Tov's teachings abroad, and those men became Zaddikim in their own right
in different Eastern European centers. Personalities such as Levi Yitzhak of
Berditchev, Shneur Zalman of Liady, the "Seer" of Lublin and other
disciples of Dov Baer are the spiritual heroes of Hasidism.
The spread of the movement was assisted by anther disciple
of the Baal Shem Tov, Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye, author of the first Hasidic
book to be published. Jacob Joseph's Toledot
Yaakov Yosef was published in the town of Koretz in 1780 and this was
followed by a spate of works by the masters in which new doctrines were
expounded.
Through these works and through the missionary activities of
Dov Baer's disciples, Hasidism spread rapidly to Volhynia, Poland, Russia, and
Lithuania, despite, or perhaps because of the opposition of Mitnagdim, the
rabbinic and communal leaders who tended to see the new ideas as rank heresy.
It has been estimated that by the beginning of the nineteenth century, Hasidism
had won over to its ranks almost half the communities of Eastern Europe.
Leadership and Succession
The movement developed a variety of groups, each owing
allegiance to a particular Zaddik. In the early days, when a Zaddik died he was
succeeded by his most outstanding disciple, acknowledged as such by his
companions. But, towards the end of the eighteenth century, the idea of
dynastic succession took root. The Zaddik was called a "king" with
his own "court." And when he died, he was succeeded by his son, the
"crown prince", or, where he had left no son suitable to succeed him,
by his son-in-law, brother, or other close relative.
Each Zaddik (or Rebbe, as he was called, to distinguish him
from the traditional Rav, the town rabbi) had his own court to which his
devoted followers journeyed periodically, especially to be with the Zaddik on
the great festive occasions of the year. There were often fierce rivalries
between the different dynasties, and occasionally, struggle for the succession
in the dynasty itself. When Mordecai of Chernobil died in 1837, each of his
eight sons founded a new dynasty, as did his son-in-law. It was far from
unusual for a Hasid to ask another Hasid: "To whom do you journey?"
meaning to which Zaddik do you owe allegiance?
While some Hasidim settled in the land of Israel in 1777 and
a very few settled in western Europe, the vast majority remained in Eastern
Europe, where, before World War II, hundreds of Hasidic dynasties flourished.
The pattern was for the Rebbe to reside in a small town with his followers
meeting for prayer, study, and companionship in a small conventicle, the stiebel. These small meetinghouses were
found everywhere in the villages and in the larger towns. The dynasties were
known by the name of the town in which the Rebbe resided.
After the Holocaust and the resulting destruction of the
great European communities, the Rebbes who survived created a new home for
themselves in the state of Israel and the USA, taking care to preserve the name
of the European centers at which they and their ancestors held court. The
Hasidic master who held court in Boston was the exception in that he became
known as the Bostoner Rebbe. The best-known and most influential Hasidic
dynasties on the contemporary scene are those of Belz, Ger, Satmar, and
Lubavitch.
Louis Jacobs, founding rabbi of the New London Synagogue, is a renowned
scholar and lecturer. c. Louis Jacobs, 1995. Published by Oxford University
Press. All rights reserved. No part of this material may be stored,
transmitted, retransmitted, lent, or reproduced in any form or medium without
the permission of Oxford University Press.
