Hasidism Reappraised

by Rapoport-Albert, Ada

• ISBN13: 9781874774358
• ISBN10: 1874774358
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-01-01
• Publisher: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization in association with Liverpool University Press

Summary

Hasidism has been a seminal force and a source of controversy in the Jewish world since its inception in the second half of the eighteenth century. Indeed, almost every ideological trend that has made itself felt among Jews since that time - from Zionism and Orthodoxy to contemporary Jewish feminism and movements within the yeshiva world - has claimed to have derived some inspiration from this vibrant movement. While this is sure testimony to its vitality and originality, it has also given rise to many misconceptions as to what Hasidism is about. This collection of twenty-eight essays offers a comprehensive treatment of the subject.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors	xiii
Introduction	xvii
Ada Rapoport-Albert
PART I JOSEPH G. WEISS AS A STUDENT OF HASIDISM
Joseph G. Weiss: A Personal Appraisal	3	(7)
Jacob Katz
Joseph Weiss: Letters to Ora	10	(35)
Sara Ora Heller Wilensky
PART II TOWARDS A NEW SOCIAL HISTORY OF HASIDISM
The Conditions in Jewish Society in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Middle Decades of the Eighteenth Century	45	(6)
Gershon David Hundert
Social Conflicts in Miedzyboz in the Generation of the Besht	51	(12)
Moshe J. Rosman
Hasidism and the Kahal in Eastern Europe	63	(13)
Shmuel Ettinger
Hasidism after 1772: Structural Continuity and Change	76	(65)
ADA Rapoport-Albert
The Hasidic Managing Editor as an Agent of Culture	141	(18)
Zeev Gries
PART III THE SOCIAL FUNCTION OF MYSTICAL IDEALS IN HASIDISM
The Zaddik: The Interrelationship Between Religious Doctrine and Social Organization	159	(9)
Immanuel Etkes
The Paradigms of Yesh and Ayin in Hasidic Thought	168	(12)
Rachel Elior
Walking as a Sacred Duty: Theological Transformation of Social Reality in Early Hasidism	180	(28)
Elliot R. Wolfson
Hasidism and the Dogma of the Decline of the Generations	208	(6)
Louis Jacobs
Personal Redemption in Hasidism	214	(11)
Morris M. Faierstein
Hasidism as a Socio-religious Movement on the Evidence of Devekut	225	(26)
Mendel Piekarz
PART IV DISTINCTIVE OUTLOOKS AND SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT WITHIN HASIDISM
The Influence of Reshit Hokhmah on the Teachings of the Maggid of Mezhirech	251	(7)
Bracha Sack
Torah lishmah as a Central Concept in the Degel mahaneh Efrayim of Moses Hayyim Ephraim of Sudylkow	258	(10)
Roland Goetschel
The Teachings of R. Menahem Mendel of Vitebsk	268	(20)
Moshe Hallamish
Habad Approaches to Contemplative Prayer, 1790-1920	288	(13)
Naftali Loewenthal
The Fluidity of Categories in Hasidism: Averah lishmah in the Teachings of R. Zevi Elimelekh of Dynow	301	(20)
Yehoshua Mondshine
R. Naphtali Zevi of Ropczyce (`the Ropshitser') as a Hasidic Leader	321	(24)
Yoseph Salmon
PART V THE HASIDIC TALE
New Light on the Hasidic Tale and its Sources	345	(9)
Gedaliah Nigal
The Source Value of the Basic Recensions of Shivhei haBesht	354	(13)
Karl Erich Grozinger
PART VI THE HISTORY OF HASIDIC HISTORIOGRAPHY
The Imprint of Haskalah Literature on the Historiography of Hasidism	367	(9)
Israel Bartal
The Historiography of the Hasidic Immigration to Erets Yisrael	376	(13)
Jacob Barnai
Martin Buber and Gershom Scholem on Hasidism: A Critical Appraisal	389	(15)
Moshe Idel
Yitzhak Schiper's Study of Hasidism in Poland	404	(11)
Chone Shmeruk
PART VII CONTEMPORARY HASIDISM
Hasidism: The Third Century	415	(12)
Joseph Dan
Differences in Attitudes to Study and Work between Present-day Hasidim and Mitnaggedim: A Sociological View	427	(14)
Daniel Meijers
PART VIII THE PRESENT STATE OF RESEARCH ON HASIDISM: AN OVERVIEW
Early Hasidism: Some Old/New Questions	441	(6)
Arthur Green
The Study of Hasidism: Past Trends and New Directions	447	(18)
Immanuel Etkes
Bibliography	465	(28)
Index	493