Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism (also Chassidic, etc., from the Hebrew: Chasidut חסידות, meaning "piety", from the Hebrew root word chesed חסד meaning "loving kindness") is a Haredi Jewish religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective Chasidic/Hasidic (or in Yiddish Chasidish חסידיש) applies. The movement originated in Eastern Europe (Belarus and Ukraine) in the 18th century.

Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (1698–1760), also known as the Ba'al Shem Tov , founded Hasidic Judaism. It originated in a time of persecution of the Jewish people, when European Jews had turned inward to Talmud study; many felt that most expressions of Jewish life had become too "academic", and that they no longer had any emphasis on spirituality or joy. The Ba'al Shem Tov set out to improve the situation. In its initial stages, Hasidism met with opposition from several contemporary leaders, most notably the Vilna Gaon, leader of the Lithuanian Jews, united as the misnagdim—literally meaning "those who stand opposite".

History

Prelude

In Poland, where the bulk of Jewry had established itself since the sixteenth century, the struggle between traditional Rabbinic Judaism and radical Kabbalah-influenced mysticism became particularly acute after the Messianic movement of Sabbatai Zevi in the 17th century. Leanings toward mystical doctrines and sectarianism showed themselves prominently among the Jews of the south-eastern provinces of Poland, while in the north-eastern provinces, in Lithuania, and in White Russia, rabbinical orthodoxy held sway. Jews who follow this tradition are called Litvish (Lithuanian). In part, this division in modes of thought reflected social differences between the northern (Lithuanian) Jews and the southern Jews of Ukraine. In Lithuania the Jewish masses mainly lived in densely-populated towns where rabbinical academic culture (in the yeshivot) flourished; while in Ukraine the Jews tended to live scattered in villages far removed from intellectual centers.

Pessimism in the south became more intense after the Cossacks' Uprising (1648 - 1654) under Bohdan Chmielnicki and the turbulent times in Poland (1648 - 1660), which completely ruined the Jewry of Ukraine, but left comparatively untouched that of Lithuania. The economic and spiritual decline of the Jews of what became southern Russia created a favorable field for mystical movements and religious sectarianism, which spread in the area from the middle of the seventeenth to the middle of the eighteenth century.

Besides these influences, deeply-seated causes produced among many Jews a discontent with Rabbinism and a gravitation toward mysticism. Rabbinism, which in Poland had become transformed into a system of religious formalism, no longer provided a satisfactory religious experience to many Jews. Although traditional Judaism had adopted some features of Kabbalah, it adapted them to fit its own system: it added to its own ritualism the asceticism of the "practical cabalists" of the East, who saw the essence of earthly existence only in fasting, in penance, and in spiritual sadness. Such a combination of religious practises, suitable for individuals and hermits, did not suit the bulk of the Jews.

Hasidism gave a ready response to the burning desire of the common people in its simple, stimulating, and comforting faith. In contradistinction to other sectarian teaching, early Hasidism aimed not at dogmatic or ritual reform, but at a deeper psychological one. It aimed to change not the belief, but the believer. By means of psychological suggestion it created a new type of religious man, a type that placed emotion above reason and rites, and religious exaltation above knowledge.

Israel ben Eliezer

A claimed portrait of Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism.

The founder of Hasidism, Israel ben Eliezer, also became known under the title of the "Master of the Good Name" (the Ba'al Shem Tov, abbreviated as the Besht). His fame as a healer spread not only among the Jews, but also among the non-Jewish peasants and the Polish nobles. He allegedly could successfully predict the future.

To the common people, the Besht appeared wholly admirable. Characterized by an extraordinary sincerity and simplicity, he knew how to gain an insight into the spiritual needs of the masses. He taught them that true religion consisted not only of religious scholarship, but also of a sincere love of God combined with warm faith and belief in the efficacy of prayer; that the ordinary person filled with a sincere belief in God, and whose prayers come from the heart, is more acceptable to God than someone versed in and fully observant of Jewish law. This democratization of Judaism attracted to the teachings of the Besht not only the common people, but also the scholars whom the rabbinical scholasticism and ascetic Kabbalah failed to satisfy.

About 1740 the Besht established himself in the Podolian town of Miedzyboz. He gathered about him numerous disciples and followers, whom he initiated into the secrets of his teachings not by systematic exposition, but by means of sayings and parables. These sayings spread by oral transmission; later the founder's disciples set them in writing, developing the disjointed thoughts of their master into a system. The Besht himself did not write anything. As a mystic by nature, he regarded his teachings as a prophetic revelation.

The spread of Hasidism

Israel ben Eliezer's disciples attracted many followers; they themselves established numerous Hasidic courts across Europe. After the Besht's death, followers continued his cause, especially Dov Ber of Mezeritch. From his court students went forth; they in turn attracted many Jews to Hasidism, and many of them came to study in Mezhirech with Dov Ber personally. Hasidic Judaism eventually became the way of life of the majority of Jews in Ukraine, Galicia, and central Poland; the movement also had sizable groups of followers in Belarus-Lithuania and Hungary. Hasidic Judaism came to Western Europe and then to the United States during the large waves of Jewish emigration in the 1880s.

File:Hasidim Hungary.jpg

Hasidim at a 1923 Rabbinical conference in Marienbad (Now Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic)

Hasidism gradually branched out into two main divisions: (1) in Ukraine and in Galicia and (2) in Lithuania. Three disciples of Dov Ber of Mezeritch (Elimelech of Lezhinsk, Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, and Menachem Nahum of Chernobyl), besides the grandson of the Besht, Baruch of Tulchin, directed the first of these divisions. Elimelech of Lezhinsk affirmed belief in Tzaddikism as a fundamental doctrine of Hasidism. In his book No'am Elimelekh he conveys the idea of the Tzadik ("righteous one") as the mediator between God and the common people, and suggests that through him God sends to the faithful three earthly blessings: life, a livelihood, and children, on the condition, however, that the Hasidim support the Tzaddik by pecuniary contributions ("pidyonim"), in order to enable the holy man to become completely absorbed in the contemplation of God. Lithuanian Hasidim followed Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, who founded Chabad Hasidism.

This teaching practically led to the contribution by the people of their last pennies toward the support of their tzaddik (rebbe), and the tzaddik untiringly "poured forth blessings on the earth, healed the sick, cured women of sterility," etc. The vocation of tzaddik became hereditary. A multiplicity of Hasidic dynasties contested for supremacy.

Opposition

Early on, a serious schism evolved between the Hasidic and non-Hasidic Jews. The Hasidim dubbed European Jews who rejected the Hasidic movement as Misnagdim. Critics of Hasidic Judaism:

• decried the novel Hasidic emphasis on different aspects of Jewish law;
• found even more problematic the overwhelming exuberance of Hasidic worship;
• distrusted as non-traditional Hasidic ascriptions of infallibility and Miracle-working to their leaders;
• expressed concern that Hasidism might become a messianic sect (which in fact had occurred among the followers of both Shabbatai Zvi and Jacob Frank)

The Vilna Gaon, the head of the Misnagdim and the most famous opponent of Hasidism

Some other important differences between Hasidim and Misnagdim included:

• Hasidism believed in miracle workers; they believed that the Ba'al Shem Tov and some of his disciples literally performed miracles. Stories of their miracles became a part of Hasidic literature. In opposition many Jewish religious rationalists held such views as heretical, based on classical rabbinic works such as Saadia Gaon's Emunoth ve-Deoth.
• The Hasidic way of dress was seen as a way to outwardly appear pious; this was opposed as improper.
• Hasidic philosophy (Chassidus) holds as a core belief that God permeates all physical objects in nature, including all living beings. This belief is understood by Hasidim in a non-pantheistic way, saying only that God is the animating force behind the universe. However many of the Hasidic teachings if taken literally and not in the way that those teachings are explained, can be misunderstood as pantheism. In opposition many Jewish religious rationalists viewed these writings literally, and their pantheistic understanding of them as being a violation against the Maimonidean principle of faith that God is not physical, and thus was seen as heretical.
• Hasidism teaches that there are sparks of goodness in all things, which can be redeemed to perfect the world. Many held such a view to be false and dangerous.

On a more prosaic level, other Misnagdim argued that Jews should follow a more scholarly approach to Judaism. At one point Hasidic Jews were put in cherem (a Jewish form of communal excommunication); after years of bitter acrimony, a rapprochement occurred between Hasidic Jews and those who would soon become known as Orthodox Jews. The reconciliation took place in response to the perceived even greater threat of the Haskala, or Jewish Enlightenment. Since then Orthodox Judaism, and particularly Haredi Judaism, has subsumed all the sects of Hasidic Judaism.

Recent History

The Bolshevik revolution and the rise of Communism saw the disintegration of the Hasidic centers in Ukraine such as Chabad, Breslov, and the dynasties of Chernobyl and Ruzhin. The Holocaust brought final destruction to all Hasidic centers of Eastern Europe. Survivors moved to Israel or to America, and established new centers of Hasidic Judaism modeled after their original communities. Some of the larger and more well-known Hasidic sects still extant include Breslov, Lubavitch (Chabad), Satmar, Ger, Belz, Bobov, Skver, Vizhnitz, Sanz (Klausenberg), Puppa, Munkacz, and Spinka Hasidim.

The largest groups in Israel today are Ger, Belz, Satmar, Breslov, Vizhnitz, Seret, Nadvorna, and Toldos Aharon. In the United States the largest are Lubavitch, Satmar, Skver, and Bobov, all centered in Brooklyn, New York. Large Hasidic communities also exist in Rockland County, New York; Montreal; Toronto; London; Antwerp; and Melbourne.

Many Hasidim remained in the Soviet Union (primarily in Russia), intent on preserving Judaism as a religion in the face of increasing Soviet opposition. With yeshivot and instruction in Hebrew outlawed, synagogues seized by the government and transformed into secular community centers, and Jewish circumcision forbidden to all members of the Communist Party, most Hasidim took part in the general Jewish religious underground movement. Many became so-called "wandering clerics," travelling from village to village and functioning as chazzanim, shochetim, mohels, and rabbis wherever such services were needed. These figures were often imprisoned and sometimes executed.

Today, Matisyahu, a Lubavitcher Hasidic Jew, is thriving in the music industry. His combination of reggae music and religious lyrics are changing the genre of reggae. However, his music is primarily meant for non-religious Jews as a means of bringing them closer to Judaism; it is not widely listened to by Hasidic Jews.

Religious practice and culture

Fundamental conceptions

The teachings of Hasidism are founded on two theoretical conceptions: (1) religious panentheism, or the omnipresence of God, and (2) the idea of Devekut, communion between God and man. "Man," says the Besht, "must always bear in mind that God is omnipresent and is always with him; that God is, so to speak, the most subtle matter everywhere diffused... Let man realize that when he is looking at material things he is in reality gazing at the image of the Deity which is present in all things. With this in mind man will always serve God even in small matters."

File:Hasidic Celebration.jpg

A Hasidic celebration in Borough Park, New York

Devekut (communion) refers to the belief that an unbroken intercourse takes place between the world of God and the world of humanity. It is true not only that the Deity influences the acts of man, but also that man exerts an influence on the will of the Deity. Every act and word of man produces a corresponding vibration in the upper spheres. From this conception is derived the chief practical principle of Hasidism - communion with God for the purpose of uniting with the source of life and of influencing it. This communion is achieved through the concentration of all thoughts on God, and consulting Him in all the affairs of life.

The righteous man is in constant communion with God, even in his worldly affairs, since here also he feels His presence. An especial form of communion with God is prayer. In order to render this communion complete the prayer must be full of fervor, ecstatic; and the soul of him who prays must during his devotions detach itself, so to speak, from its material dwelling. For the attainment of ecstasy recourse may be had to mechanical means, to violent bodily motions, to shouting and singing. According to Besht, the essence of religion is in sentiment and not in reason. Theological learning and halakhic lore are of secondary importance, and are useful only when they serve as a means of producing an exalted religious mood. It is better to read books of moral instruction than to engage in the study of the casuistic Talmud and the rabbinical literature. In the performance of rites the mood of the believer is of more importance than the externals; for this reason formalism and superfluous ceremonial details are injurious.

For a more detailed treatment see Hasidic philosophy

Liturgy and prayer

The Zidichov'er Rebbe Praying

The Tosher Rebbe concentrating on prayer

Most Hasidim pray according to the Nusach Sepharad (prayer style), a blend of Ashkenazi and Sephardi liturgies, based on the innovations of Rabbi Isaac Luria (also known as the Arizal). In regard to dialect, the Hasidim pray in very strong Ashkenazi Hebrew that contains many nuances picked up from Yiddish. This dialect has nothing to do with Hasidism in its origins, nor was it chosen deliberately: it just happens to be the Yiddish dialect of the places from which most Hasidim originally came.

Hasidic prayer has a distinctive accompaniment of melodies called nigunim (or in America "nigguns") that represent the overall mood of the prayer; even many non-Hasidim attend Hasidic synagogues in order to hear this. Hasidic prayer also has a reputation for taking a very long time (although some groups do pray quickly). Some very pious Hasidim will spend seven seconds of concentration of every single word of the prayer of Amidah.

Hasidim have a reputation for having a lot of kavanah, mental concentration, during prayer. Overall, Hasidim regard prayer as one of the most paramount activities during the day. In fact, one of the most controversial innovations of Hasidic practice involves the near-abolition of the traditional specified times of day by which prayers must be conducted (zemanim), particularly the morning prayer; the preparations for prayer, including partaking of food (also proscribed by strict halachic literalism) take precedence and may extend into the allotted time. The Kotzker Rebbe allegedly originated this practice.

Dress

Hasidim have a reputation for their distinctive attire. Within the Hasidic world, one can distinguish different groups by subtle differences in appearance. Many of the details of their dress are not peculiar to Hasidim, and are shared by many non-Hasidic Haredim. Much of their dress was historically the clothing of all Eastern-European Jews before and after the start of the Hasidic movement. However, it is mainly the Hasidim who have continued with these styles to this day, although many non-Hasidic Haredim do also don such clothing. Furthermore, Hasidim have attributed mystical intents to these clothing styles.

Hasidic men most commonly wear all black with a white shirt. On the Shabbat they wear a long black silk or satin (or similar of a cheaper material, such as polyester) robe called a bekishe, with which they use a gartel (a type of prayer belt). A Hasidic Rebbe on the Sabbath traditionally wears a white bekishe rather than a black one, but this practice is no longer followed today, save for some Rebbes of Jerusalem based Hasidic sects such as Toldos Aharon and Lelov, and by Hungarian sects such as Tosh and Satmar. Many Hasidic Rebbs wear a bekishe that is lined with velvet (known as strokes or samet).

Some Hasidim wear an overcoat known as rezhvolkes over the regular bekishe. A Rebbe's rezhvolkes might be lined with velvet. Some Rebbes wear a fur-lined rezhvolkes known as a tilep. The fur is referred to as peltz.

In many other Hasidic sects the Rebbe wears a white, gold, or other coloured "tish bekishe" only during the "Tish" or during the prayers that come right before or after the "tish". In many others no colored bekishe other than black is worn at all.

Dombrover Rebbe of Monsey with the Nadvorna Rebbe. Note the pelz, or fur coat, worn by the rebbes.

Contrary to popular belief, Hasidic dress has little or nothing to do with the way Polish nobles once dressed. The Emancipation movement originated this myth in the late 19th century in an attempt to induce younger Jews to abandon the outfit. Interestingly, secular Yiddish writers of old, living in Eastern Europe (Sholom Aleichem, for example) appear to have no knowledge of the "Polish origin" of the dress. Likewise, numerous Slavic sources from the 15th century onwards refer to the "Jewish Kaftan". The Tsarist edict of the mid-19th century banning Jewish outfits mentions the "Jewish Kaftan" and "Jewish hat" - as a result of this edict Hasidim modified their dress in the Russian Empire and generally abandoned sidelocks. Modern Chabad Lubavitch dress - where the Prince Albert frock-coat substitutes for the bekishe - reflects this change.

Generally Hasidic dress has altered over the last hundred years and become more European in response to the Emancipation Movement. Modern Hasidim tend to wear Hasidic dress as used just prior to World War II - numerous pictures of Hasidim in the mid-19th century show a far more Levantine outfit (i.e. a kaftan lacking lapels or buttons) that differs little from the classical oriental outfit consisting of the kaftan, white undershirt, sash, knee-breeches (Halb-Hoyzn), white socks and slippers - this outfit allegedly had a Babylonian origin before its later adoption by the Israelites, Persians and lastly the Turks, who brought it to Europe where it became the basis of the modern western suit (note the 16th-century European outfit of frock coat, knee-breeches, silk stockings and slippers). The Polish nobility adopted its 16th-century outfit from the Turks - hence (allegedly) the vague similarity between the Hasidic outfit and Polish nobles' clothing. (Similarly, Hasidic dress has a vague connection with Shia Muslim clerical dress - the Shia clergy adopted this dress from the Persians). One Hasidic belief (taught by the Klausenberger rebbe) holds that Jews originally invented this dress-code and that the Babylonians adopted it from Israelites during the Jewish exile in Babylon of the 6th century BCE. This belief is not widely held or well known within Hasidism.

File:Hasidim.jpg

Hasidic Rebbes and Hasidim in traditional dress. Note the shtreimels, black bekishes, and the gartels. The Rebbes are distinguished by the velvet lining on their bekishes.

Some claim that the Shabbat dress of Hasidim resembles the description of the High Priest's dress in the Bible but there does not seem to be a serious similarity. Many Hasidim also believe that Hasidic dress reflects ancient Judaic concepts - for instance white socks tucked in short pants so one's trouser-bottoms never touch the floor (considered unholy); and slippers (shtibblat) without buckles or laces so one never need touch one's shoes - also considered unholy.

• Kaftans (bekishes, kapotes, chalat) serve as a sign of modesty and piety, covering the entire body.
• A sash or gartel divides one's lower parts from one's upper parts.
• Knee-breeches mean that a man's private parts remain covered when walking up stairs (according to the Bible).

Headgear

Hasidim customarily wear black hats during the weekdays as do nearly all Haredim today. A variety of hats are worn depending on the sect. Hasidim wear a variety of fur headdresses on Shabbat:

• Shtreimel is worn by Hasidim from Galicia and Hungary such as Satmar, Bobov and Belz, and some Polish Hasidim, such as Biala, as well as some non-Hasidic Jews in Jerusalem.
• Spodik are worn by most Polish Hasidim such as Ger, Amshinov, Ozrov, Aleksander.
• Choibl or "Soyvl" was worn in Poland prior to the Holocaust, and has fallen into disuse.
• Kolpik (in Polish, Calpac) is a traditional Slavic headdress, worn by unmarried sons and grandsons of many Rebbes on Shabbat. The Kolpak is worn by some Rebbes on special occasions other than Shabbat, such as Chanukah.
• Kashket was a peaked cap worn during the week, prior to the Holocaust. It was worn in Poland, Belarus and Ukraine, and was worn by poorer Hasidim on Shabbat. Its use began as a result of the Tsarist decrees banning other traditional Jewish headdress. In these geographic areas, generally only rabbis wore black hats. Today, some Hasidic children, under the age of 13, wear a kashket cap on the Sabbath. In the sect of Belz, the Kashket has been reintroduced for young minors during the weekday.
• Chabad Hasidim wear black felt fedoras, dating back to the style of the 1940s and 50s. They are the same as the hats worn by many non-Hasidic Haredim, as well as by some more "modern" Hasidim who are followers of a particular Rebbe without being part of a Hasidic community. Chabad Hasidim often pinch their hats to form a triangle on the top.
• Various forms of felt derby hats are worn by many Hasidim. Affiliation can be identified by whether there is a pinch in the middle of the top or not, as well as the type of brim. This is called a shtofener hat in Yiddish. Ger and Slonimer Hasidim wear a round topped hat, while Stolin and Emunas Yisrael wear a pintched hat. Many Satmar laymen wear a bowler hat with rounded edges on the brim.
• Samet (velvet) or biber (beaver) hats are worn by Galician and Hungarian Hasidim during the week and by unmarried men on Shabbat as well. Some unmarried men only wear a samet hat on the Sabbath and a felt hat during the week. There are many types of Samet hats, most notably the "high" ("hoicher") and "flat" ("platcher") varieties. The "flat" type is worn by Satmar Hasidim, and some others as well. Some Rabbis wear a "round" samet hat. They are called beaver hats even though today they are made from rabbit.
• A small fur hat called a kutchma (from the Ukrainian kučma) is worn by many Hasidic laymen during weekdays in the winter. This hat is referred to as a shlyapka (шляпка), by Russian Jews.

Other distinct clothing

Gerrer Hasidim do not wear breeches or long white socks, rather they wear "hoizenzuken" - medium length black socks that they tuck their pants into.

Hasidim from Eastern Galicia, such as Belzer Hasidim, might wear black socks with their breeches on the Sabbath, as opposed to white ones.

Many Hungarian Hasidic laymen wear a suit jacket that lies somewhere between being a rekel and being a regular three-quarter double breasted suit-this is called a "drei-fertl" (Yiddish for "three-quarter"). It is distinct from a regular three-quarter suit inasmuch as the right side covers the left, like a rekel.

Many Hungarian Hasidim wear a gold chain watch ("zeigerel") and a vest (also right-over-left).

Skverer hasidim wear knee-high leather boots (shtivlen) with their breeches on the Sabbath. The Skverrer Rebbe and his family wear such boots every day.

Women

Hasidic women wear clothing of less distinctive appearance than that of modern women, which answers to the principles of tzeniut (modest dress in the sense of Jewish law). Long, conservative skirts and sleeves past the elbow form the standard, but other than that, Hasidic women wear clothing like other women in the non-Jewish societies in which they live. In some Hasidic groups, such as Satmar, many married women shave their hair beneath their head kerchiefs. In many Hasidic groups the women wear wigs. Other Hasidic groups consider wigs too natural looking, so they simply put their hair into nets (called "snoods") or kerchiefs (called tichels - a tichel often covers a shpitzel). All Hasidic groups allow uncovered hair before marriage.

Hair

Following a Biblical commandment not to shave the sides of one's face, male members of some Hasidic groups wear long, uncut sideburns called payoth (Ashkenazi Hebrew payos, Yiddish peyes). Many Hasidim shave off the rest of their hair on the top of their head. Not every Hasidic group requires long payot, and not all Jewish men with payoth are Hasidic, but all groups discourage the cutting of one's beard (although some Hasidic laymen ignore this dictum). All Hasidic boys receive their first haircuts ceremoniously at the age of three years. Until then, Hasidic boys have long hair. Many non-Hasidic (and even non-Orthodox) Jews have adopted this custom.

Tzitzit

The white threads seen at the waists of Hasidim and other Orthodox Jews have the name tzitzit. The requirement to wear fringes comes from the Book of Numbers: "Speak to the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes on the borders of their garments throughout their generations" (Numbers 15:38). By tradition, a Hasidic boy will receive his first fringed garment on his third birthday, the same day as his first haircut. Many Hasidim hold the ancient custom of wearing the tallis katan garment on top of their shirt as opposed to underneath. Some non-Hasidim have this custom as well.

Ritual Bathing

Male Orthodox Jews customarily immerse in a mikvah (ritual pool of water) before major Jewish holidays (and particularly before Yom Kippur), in order to achieve spiritual cleanliness. Many Hasidim have extended this to a daily practice preceding morning prayers.

Married female Orthodox Jews are required to immerse in a mikvah seven days after their menstrual cycle has ended. According to the Jewish law of Niddah, there may be no physical contact between a husband and wife from the beginning of her period until immersion in a kosher mikvah.

Families

Hasidic men and women, as customary in Haredi Judaism, usually meet through matchmakers in a process called a shidduch, but marriages involve the mutual consent of the couple and of the parents. Expectations exist that a bride and groom should be about the same age. No custom encourages an older man marrying a young woman.

An old myth asserts that Hasidic couples have intercourse through a sheet with holes in it. This is not true. Many scholars have posited that this myth originated in the speculation of outsiders upon seeing the poncho-like tallit katan drying on a clothes line. Since the tallit katan resembles a small square sheet with a hole in it (for the wearer's head to go through) and Hasidim were known for extreme modesty, a new myth was born. However, while this story is a myth, many pious Hasidic couples follow strict regulations regarding what types of sexual relations are allowed and how (what positions etc.). Hasidic thought stresses the holiness of sex. Most Hasidic sects stress the importance of married couples enjoying the pleasure of sexual intercourse as a divine command.

Hasidic Jews, like many other Orthodox Jews, have a reputation for producing large families; the average Hasidic family in the United States has 7.9 children.[1] Many sects follow this custom out of what they consider a Biblical mandate to 'be fruitful and multiply', and to replenish a Jewish population badly decimated during the Holocaust.

Languages

Most Hasidim speak the vernaculars of the lands in which they live, but try to use Yiddish amongst themselves as a way of keeping distinct and maintaining tradition. Thus, contrary to popular assumption, children continue to learn Yiddish and the language does not appear about to die. Yiddish newspapers continue in publication, and the Hasidic world produces a relatively healthy amount of Yiddish fiction, primarily aimed at women. Recently, motion pictures in Yiddish have been produced by the Hasidic community, released directly to DVD, as opposed to in the past when Yiddish films were made by secular Jews.

Some Hasidic groups actively oppose the everyday use of Hebrew as in Israel: they regard Hebrew as a holy language, profaned by use for anything other than prayer. Indeed, some Hasidim in Israel (such as the Satmar and Toldos Aaron groups) tend to use Yiddish as their everyday vernacular.

See also

List of Hasidic dynasties Hasidim and Misnagdim Neo Hasidism Lazar Gulkowitsch

External links

• Rebbe performing a Mitzvah Tantz, a ritual dance
• Hasidim celebrating the holiday of Purim (Windows Media Audio/Video file)
• Website of the Biala Rebbe of America

Further reading

• The Great Mission: The life and story of Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov. Compiled by Rabbi Eli Friedman, translated by Rabbi Elchonon Lesches. Kehot Publication Society, 2005, ISBN 0-8266-0681-4.
• Holy Days: The World of a Hasidic Family. Lis Harris. Simon & Schuster New York, 1985, ISBN 0-684-81366-1.
• Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels. Hella Winston. Beacon Press Boston, 2005, ISBN 0-8070-3626-9.

References

Books

• Boteach, Shmuel (1993). Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge: basic concepts of hasidic thought. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson. ISBN 0-87668-557-2 LCCN 95-0 – 00. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Buber, Martin (July 23 1991) [1947]. Tales of the Hasidim. translated by Olga Marx; forward by Chaim Potok (Paperback: 2 volumes in 1 ed.). New York, NY: Schocken Books. ISBN 0-8052-0995-6 LCCN 90-0 – 0. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Finkel, Avraham Yaakov (1994). Contemporary sages: the great Chasidic masters of the twentieth century. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson. ISBN 1-56821-155-4 LCCN 94-0 – 00. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Nadler, Allan (June 24 1997). The faith of the Mithnagdim: rabbinic responses to Hasidic rapture. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-5560-8 LCCN 96-0 – 00. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Schochet, Elijah Judah (1994). The Hasidic Movement and the Gaon of Vilna. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson. ISBN 1-56821-125-2 LCCN 93-0 – 0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder, ed. (1972). "Hasidic Judaism". Encyclopedia Judaica. Vol. 7. New York, NY: Macmillan Company. LCCN 84-0.

Websites

• Hasidim, Hasidism, jewishencyclopedia.com
• Hasidism, jewishvirtuallibrary.org
• What is Chassidism?, scjfaq.org
• FAQ on Hasidism, hasidism.info
• Hasidic Judaism Reading List, shamash.org
• Chassidism from chabad.org
• Large collection of Hasidic Texts in English from chabad.org