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188.1 | | ELWOOD::SIMON | | Fri Sep 19 1986 15:56 | 85 |
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The following was sent to me by Bruce Cohen from NY. I found that
interesting and with his permission I am posting it here.
Edited to remove personal references.
Leo Simon
1) The syntax of the term is sort of like - He is a Hasid, They are hassidim,
They are a hassidic sect, or he is hassidic. The term origionaly
meant 'pious' and was used in speaking of elder sages of the
Babaylonian academies c.200-600 ce.
2) For reading material, Martin Buber is probably the literary authority
on hassidism, although there are numerous other works, one in
particular is called '9 1/2 Mystics' I don't know the author
off hand but I can try to find out.
3) Hassidism was a direct offshoot of European turbulence in the 1600-1700
timeframe. Earlier in the century ther had been a false messiah
who entranced much of European and Middle Eastern Judaism by the name
of Shabbtai Tzvi. After his conversion to Islam (the Turkish sultan
offered him Islam or death) Jewry was in a state of shock and as a
result the Mystical elements of the religion were put on a back burner
and there was a tremendous increase in secular and legal judaism.
There arose in the mid-1600's a man called Israel Baal Shem Tov who
was a grass roots Mystic and started bringing mystical teachings to
the commoner peasants of Russia and Poland who were left out of the
famous polish and German academies.
Basically the gentleman Israel Baal Shem Tov (Israel of the good name)
was a grass roots Mystic/Kabbalist who was trying to get the main peasantry
of Eastern Europe to feel a certain affinity and closeness to the Divine.
As I said at the time the great institutes of learning in such place as
Vienna, Vilna, Prague et al., were not concerned with the masses but
rather the intellectual elite and those that could be accepted to the
schools. Also remember that at that time Judaism took a sharp turn from
the Kabbalistic/Mystical inclination and concentrated heavily on secular
and legalistic application of the law. Even the Zohar a main text of the
Kabbalists discoverwed sometime before, was approached as an intellectual
excercise and not with a purley Mystical aspect. The Baal Shem Tov as he
is called, went travelling around E. Europe teaching that feeling close
to G-d is more important than studying dry law. He also taught methods of
meditation and esctatascism (sp?) whereby his followers could get the
spiritual rush they couldn't get elsewhere. (Meditation is an inherent
part of Biblical and Mystical Judaism, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan has some
excellent books on the topic [Jewish Meditation being an excellent primer]
which due to sociologic and historic reasons, much has been lost to us.
The B.S.T. and his followers angered the major rabbi's of the day
by their attitudes toward law (ie: by getting psyched up and close to
G-d before praying they might transgress the law of praying by a specific
time, the rabbi's say definately not and they said 'Of Course you can).
It got to the point that the Hassidim were excommunicated, considered
heretics and generally not accepted. The people against them were called
Mitnagdim - those who oppose, the head of which was the famous Vilna Gaon.
They felt that the Hassidim would be like other offshoot sects and be dangerous
particularly being only a few gen. after Shabbtai Tzvi. Gradually there were
some conciliations between the two groups but not really until W.W.II
when the Nazi's wiped out most of Europes population of jews inc. most of
the more staunch Mitnagdim, also afterward it really didn't seem to make
much difference anyhow. Like most good things, they usually get changed
and not usually forthe better (this is my opinion as opposed to the previous
history), Hassidism over the years has developed into numerous groups
each holding allegiance to their particular Rebbe who came in a direct line
from the origional rebbe's who were students of the B.S.T.. Surprisingly
the B.S.T. doesn't seem to be held in regard as high as the Rebbe.
I personally have a few problems with this. It strikes me as a very Christian
concept placing the rebbe as your intermediary to the Divine, i don't buy
that. Many Hassidim do, they hold him in an almost dangerously high place.
I also think that except for a few friendly groups, many hassidim don't
think of regular ol Jews as being Jewish. If your rabbi is as he sounds he's
probably one of the friendly ones (like Lubavitch) otherwise he probably
wouldn't even recognize you. Also on a final note todays Hassidim really don't
have the same Mystical tradition as their predecessors. They still have some
but really have become more like the Mitnagdim in placing the Talmud and
the cut & dry legalistic aspect of Judaism in a higher light. Let me know
the name of the Rabbi as I have some friends from Lubavitch in Mass. and
it might be family.
Hope i haven't gotten to preachy or soap boxy but I'm into Jewish
History and Sociology and i can talk when give a forum.
|
188.2 | Try it. You'll like it. | GRAMPS::LISS | Fred - ESD&P Shrewsbury MA | Mon Sep 22 1986 14:26 | 37 |
| My only knowledge of the Hassidim is from personal experience.
There is a fairly large Lubovitch community in Worcester.
In the early 1700's Rabbi Shneir Zolman of Ladi (sp?) was unhappy
with the state of Jewish worship and the fact that Judaism was
becoming a religion of the elite. As mentioned in the previous
reply, he based hid philosophy around the mystical side of
Judaism. His major work, _Tanya_ , is still studied today in
Lubovitch institutions. He also simplified the sidur in use at the
time. A slightly modified version of his sidur is in wide use
today as _Sidur Thilat H"_.
What was not mentioned in the previous reply, is that the
Lubovitch Hasidum also base their lifestyle on the joy of carrying
out mitzvohs, the love one Jew inherently has for another, the
importance of family and community life. I have found that a
Lubovitch shul is not just a place where one goes on Shabbos. The
shul is the center of the community. Our children go to school
there, we go there to dovin, to learn, to study, and to meet
friends socially.
The Lubovitch have a dynastic leadership. Today Rabbi Manachim
Shneirson also known simply as The Rebi, is the seventh descendant
of the first Rebi. Their headquarters are located at 770 Eastern
Parkway Brooklyn NY. I was down there a few weeks ago to see the
Rebi and it was a wonderful experience. I'm tempted to go into a
description of the Crown Hights area of Brooklyn on a Sunday
afternoon but that could be the topic of another note. I could
probably go on and on with stories and personal experiences so
I'll stop here. This is definitely something which you must
experience for yourself.
Fred
PS - I'll answer the question before someone asks. "No, I am not
Lubovitch".
|
188.3 | some particularly dislike _each other_ | DELNI::GOLDSTEIN | or someone like him | Mon Sep 22 1986 17:04 | 16 |
| Just to give a few more tidbits from memory,
The Lubavitchers (sp?) are probably the best known Hasidic group
in the US, and have many shuls, including Chabad House in Boston
(near B.U.). Another group, the Satmar hasidim, is found mostly
in Brooklyn and Rockland County, NY -- they own the Village of New
Square (New Skver, anglicized) which closes its gate on shabbos.
The two groups do not get along at all! There have been reports
of gang warfare in Brooklyn between them, although that is more
likely to be the exception. Both groups also have contingents in
Jerusalem, but the Satmarers are anti-Zionist and do not recognize
the State of Israel, while the Lubavichers do.
The Bostoner hasidim, based in Brookline, are independent of the
others and have a reputation for being very friendly and open.
There are probably other local groups too.
|
188.4 | | NY1MM::BCOHEN | | Wed Sep 24 1986 16:40 | 16 |
|
Fred,
Rabbi Shneir Zalman of Ladi was one the Baal Shem Tov's disciples.
Along with other notables as Rabbi Nachman of Breslov et al.
The next time you come to N.Y. please give me a call.
P.S. You might have found it an amazing site, Crown Heights on
a Sunday, but coming from Boro Park after 20 years, there are many
other places i would rather be. (Too many baby carriages)
P.P.S. The moonkatch are another group who don't recognize Israel
and actively fight the Govt.
Bruce
|
188.5 | Trouble w/Jewish History:There's so MUCH of it! | LSMVAX::ROSENBLUH | | Wed Jan 21 1987 12:44 | 100 |
| I re-stumbled across this note recently and remembered a vague promise
I had made to myself to correct some of the misinformation presented
herein.
a.) Source material on hassidim:
Anon. "In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov"
This book consists of stories about the Besht (the acronym of his name
in Hebrew is B-Sh-T, and it is pronounced thus) collected and published
by the first generation of his students.
R. Nahman of Bratslav's "The Tales of Rav Nahman".
Martin Buber's "Tales of the Hassidim"
Gershom Scholem's essays on Hassidism in "Essays on Jewish Mysticism"
and "The Messianic Idea in Judaism". Also there is a famous essay
by Scholem against Buber's romanticizing misinterpretation of Hasidism
which can be found in J. Goldin's (ed.) collection of essays on Jewish
thought, avail. in paperback, I forget the name.
Arthur Green's "Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav: The Tormented Master"
There is a recently published study of R. Nahman's tales by Adin Steinsaltz.
Eli Weisel's 2 books of Hassidic stories.
Recent book called "Holy Days", by Liz x (mind slipped again), which first
appeared, serialized, in "The New Yorker" magazine, in 1985.
Book tells of the lifestyle and beliefs of a Lubavitch family. Also
gives brief historical overview of Hasidism.
"9 1/2 Mystics" is actually a _wonderful_ book about Kabbalah today, and its
modern practitioners, not so much about Hasidism.
========================================================================
First of all, about R. Israel Baal Shem Tov's name: translating it as
'R. Israel of the good name' doesn't quite make it.
Baal Shem Tov means "Master of the Good Name". The 'Good Name' in question
is God's name, and to be its Master means, 'to have magical powers'.So to speak.
The Besht's dates are 1700-1760! Hassidism 'started' immediately after his
death, at about the same time as the Haskalah (the "Jewish Enlightenment")!
The important students of the Besht are R. Jacob Joseph of Polnoye,
R. Baer of Mezeritch (the Maggid of Mezeritch), and R. Nahman.
(I think R. Shneur Zalman of Ladi is actually second-generation after the Besht.
Thus Lubavitch Hassidism, which he founded, would date back to the early
decades of the 19th c.)
Rather than go thru the previous replies correcting dates (which are often
off by entire centuries) here is a very broad outline/timeline for medieval
and early modern Jewish history to help anchor a discussion of Hassidism, etc.
in reality.
1040-1105 Rashi's dates
1096 Massacre of Jews in Rhineland, in wake of Crusades, begins
1182 Expulsion from France
1150-1250 German hasidim flourish (R. Judah the Pious, Elazar of Worms, etc)
~1200 Sefer HaBahir, early Kabbalistic work, is written in Provence.
1202 Death of Maimonides
1230's (approx) Nahmanides (Ramban) writing commentary to Bible which
incorporates many Kabbalistic ideas.
~1280 Zohar is 'discovered'
1348 Beginning of Black Death
1492 Expulsion from Spain
1520-1609 are the Maharal's dates
(R. Judah Loew of Prague, the legendary creator of the Golem)
~1560's The great period of the development of Lurianic Kabbalah in Safed.
R. Isaac Luria (the Ari), R. Moshe Cordovero, R. Hayim Vital;
1564 R. Yosef Caro's "Shulchan Aruch" is published
1648 Chmielnitzki uprising, massacre of many Jewish communities in
Eastern Europe follows.
1665 Shabbtai Zevi acclaimed as Messiah
1666 Sh. Z. converts to Islam, "Sabbatians" go underground
1760 The Baal Shem Tov dies.
1772 The Vilna Gaon makes strong, public attacks on Hassidism
1780's Important Hassidic works published; the Maggid of Mezeritch's
Likkutei Amorim, and Sefer Toldot Yakov Yosef among others)
1780's also saw the peak of the Frankist movement, the rise of
the Haskalah, and the beginning of Jewish Emancipation in
Western Europe.
1808 R. Nahman's book "Likkutei Moharan" published.
?1870's Publication of Leo Pinsker's "Auto-Emancipation", official start
of political Zionism.
OK, that's enough for a start! No more excuses for dates that are off
by an era!
(P.S. to reply .4; That's Munkacs, not "moonkatch". I like your spelling for
the thoughts it brings to mind of a hasid standing under the open sky waiting
to katch a falling moon!)
|
188.6 | katch a moon? | CURIE::FEINBERG | Don Feinberg | Thu Jan 22 1987 10:42 | 15 |
| re: .-1
>>>(P.S. to reply .4; That's Munkacs, not "moonkatch". I like your spelling for
>>>the thoughts it brings to mind of a hasid standing under the open sky waiting
>>>to katch a falling moon!)
I can't resist!
I wonder what the (non-Jewish) neighbors think when we're out after
Ma'ariv in thi middle of the street in front of the shul saying
Kiddush L'voneh? Maybe we _are_ trying to katch the falling
moon! :-)
/don feinberg
|
188.7 | You never know what you'll see on the road | GRAMPS::LISS | ESD&P Shrewsbury | Thu Jan 22 1987 12:52 | 14 |
| Re .6
This reminds me of the time Yeshiva Academy rented a van so about
sixteen of us could go down to New York for a fabrengin. It was getting
close to sunset so we pulled into the rest area at Wallingford(sp?) Ct.
We dovined mincha and maariv in the information building. I wonder what
many of the non-jews thought as the watched us. About half the men in
the group were wearing their long coats. The "show" went on for 20
minutes.
Fred
PS - A fabrengin is one the Lubavich Rebi's speeches, meetings, etc.
Actually it's an experience that defies description.
|
188.8 | Hi Tech Hassidus | GRECO::FRYDMAN | | Thu Jan 22 1987 13:25 | 11 |
| A Lubavitcher Rebbe's farbrengin may defy description, but it's
on cable TV about every 6 weeks. I'll try to remember to post
information about the next one when I get the schedule.
Though I'm not a Lubavitcher, I find the farbrengin very thought provoking.
There is a running translation /explanation.
It usually starts at 9:30pm and lasts till 1am. I watch the first
hour and tape the rest.
---Av
|
188.9 | More information, please | KUDZU::GELBER | | Fri Mar 17 1989 11:23 | 7 |
|
< A Lubavitcher Rebbe's farbrengin may defy description, but it's
< on cable TV about every 6 weeks.
Are there written transcripts?
Edie
|