The Regal Way

by Assaf, David; Louvish, David

• ISBN13: 9780804744683
• ISBN10: 0804744688
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-07-01
• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr

Summary

This is a pioneering study of the nineteenth century Hasidic movement as shown through the life of one of the most controversial and influential Hasidic leaders, Rabbi Israel Friedman of Ruzhin (1796-1850). The dramatic episodes of his life--including his involvement in the murder of Jewish informers, his imprisonment in Russia, his subsequent escape to Austria where he successfully reestablished his court--are echoed by the contradictory and highly critical opinions of his personal character and his role as leader of one of the largest and most opulent Hasidic courts of the nineteenth century. Nineteenth-century Hasidism has been a comparatively neglected topic in Jewish historiography largely because of the traditional view that the movement was in a degenerate state during this period. The natural interest that scholars found in the eighteenth-century origins of the movement, alongside their personal dislike of the nineteenth-century Hasidic courts and their machinations, led them to concentrate on the earliest years and the more recent phases of Hasidism. The book is in four parts. Part I draws on surprisingly rich non-Hasidic sources as well as on Hasidic materials to recreate the early life of Rabbi Israel from his childhood to his leadership of a Hasidic community. Part II concentrates on his activities as a famous spiritual leader, his adventures in Russia, and his final years in Austria. In Part III, the author analyzes major aspects of Rabbi Israel's career and thought as a Hasidic leader and public figure, with emphasis on his approach to materialism, wealth, and luxury. Part IV describes in detail the royal Hasidic court of Rabbi Israel and his sons--its formation, buildings, economics, social structure, functionaries, and administrative organization.

Author Biography

David Assaf is Professor of Jewish History at Tel Aviv University. He is the editor of the English translation (from Yiddish) of Journey to a Nineteenth-Century Shtetl: The Memoirs of Yechezkel Kotik and the compiler of Bratslav: An Annotated Bibliography.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
A Note on Translation and Transliteration	xiii
Introduction	1	(1)
Method	1	(7)
On the State of Research and Hasidic Historiography	8	(13)
The Sources and Their Nature	21	(10)
Part I: The 'Young Rabbi Israel
``But I Was Never a Boy'': Accession to Leadership	31	(16)
``That Child Understood Everything'': Childhood	31	(2)
Rabbi Abraham of Pohorbishch	33	(2)
``I Myself Have No Time to Study'': Adolescence	35	(6)
The Power of Inferiority	41	(3)
Conclusion	44	(3)
``The Main Thing Is One's Own Distinction'': The Argument Over Succession	47	(22)
Hereditary Leadership and Schism in Nineteenth-Century Hasidism	47	(4)
``Ancestral Merit'' or ``One's Own Distinction''?	51	(6)
Ancestral Lineage in the Ruzhin Clan	57	(6)
The Victory of the ``Sons of Zaddikim'' and Its Implications	63	(6)
Part II. From Ruzhin to Sadgora: The Making of a Hasidic Leader
``The Untrod Path'': Emergence and Expansion	69	(36)
On the Throne of Leadership	69	(3)
From Pohorbishch to Ruzhin	72	(4)
Avenues of Expansion and Growth	76	(5)
His Personality and the Secret of his Charisma	81	(8)
A New Mode of Worship	89	(5)
Opposition	94	(4)
Rabbi Israel as Seen by the Maskilim	98	(7)
``The Jewish Kingdom Is Falling'': The Ushits Case	105	(11)
Informers and the Law of the ``Pursuer''	105	(3)
The Murder Case and the Investigation	108	(6)
Historical Significance of the Ushits Case	114	(2)
``Princes Have Persecuted Me Without Reason'': In Prison	116	(12)
The Imprisonment and Its Repercussions	116	(5)
Rabbi Israel versus Nicholas I	121	(3)
Affliction and Its Significance	124	(4)
The Fugitive: Flight from Russia	128	(8)
The Memoirs of Yossi Rath	128	(1)
Return to Ruzhin	129	(2)
Flight from Russia	131	(5)
``A Guest at the Inn'': The New Court at Sadgora	136	(27)
The Danger of Expulsion and Legal Problems	136	(8)
``For I Have No Strength to Endure'': Instability and Discontent	144	(3)
Between Center and Periphery	147	(2)
The Geographical Context	149	(4)
Economic Consolidation: Purchase of the Potik Zloty Estate	153	(3)
The Fame of the New Court	156	(7)
``Broken and Mortified'': The Last Years	163	(12)
In the Evening of Life	163	(5)
The Zaddik's Death and Succession	168	(7)
Part III: Rabbi Israel as a Hasidic Leader
``The Law of People'': Rabbi Israel's Approach to Communal Leadership	175	(37)
Between Rebbe and Rabbi	175	(6)
Appointments and Dismissals	181	(6)
``A Remedy to Aid Israel'': Intercession for the Jewish Community	187	(15)
Working for the Land of Israel	202	(7)
Conclusion: Rabbi Israel as a Leader	209	(3)
``All the Money in the World Is Mine'': Visions of Wealth and Royalty	212	(32)
The Novelty of the Regal Way	212	(4)
The Claim of Descent from King David	216	(2)
``Hidden Worship'': The Ideological Basis	218	(7)
Objection to Self-Mortification	225	(3)
Criticism of the Regal Way	228	(5)
Musicians and Singers, Carriages and Horses	233	(5)
Wealth and Honor as a Religious Test	238	(6)
The True Zaddik of the Generation'': Rabbi Israel as Zaddik	244	(23)
The Question of Uniqueness and Superiority	244	(11)
On Messianism and Redemption	255	(6)
Objection to Wonder-Working	261	(6)
Part IV: Rabbi Israel's Court
``Like a Small State within a Large One'': The Royal Court and Its Members	267	(18)
The Sources and Their Nature	267	(2)
The Physical Framework	269	(9)
Social Aspects	278	(7)
``Money for Household Expenses'': Economic Aspects of the Hasidic Royal Courts	285	(25)
Zaddikism as a Profession	285	(3)
The Meaning of the Pidyon	288	(4)
The Cost of the Pidyon and Methods of Amassing a Fortune	292	(4)
The Zaddik's Travels	296	(3)
The Ma'amadot Taxes	299	(4)
Concessions and Privileges	303	(4)
The Decline of the Hasidic Royal Court	307	(3)
``Under One Tent'': The Hasidim and Their Zaddik	310	(15)
The Pilgrimage to the Zaddik	310	(5)
Access to the Zaddik	315	(6)
Around the Zaddik's Grave	321	(4)
Afterword: Dynamic Adaptation to a Changing World	325	(16)
Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin as an Object of Biographical Research	325	(2)
Stagnation versus Innovation in Ruzhin Hasidism	327	(3)
Decline of the Generations or the Power of Inferiority?	330	(4)
The Hasidic Court in an Era of Upheaval	334	(7)
Notes	341	(68)
Glossary	409	(4)
Works Cited	413	(32)
Indexes of Names, Places, and Subjects	445	(10)
Alternate Forms of Place Names	455