Hillel Zeitlin and the Theosophical Activity in Warsaw 1917--1924

Oz Bluman Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 THE MOMENT OF WORLDWIDE RENEWAL: HILLEL ZEITLIN AND THE THEOSOPHICAL ACTIVITY IN WARSAW 1917--1924

ABSTRACT This article examines the idiosyncratic conduct of the philosopher, journalist and mystic, Hillel Zeitlin (1871--1942). Both Zeitlin’s writings and activities are unique or even strange when viewed against the backdrop of the Jewish streets of Warsaw during those years, even when considering other “neo-Hasidic” projects. He published poem-prayers and a personal-mystical diary, founded journals, called for religious and spiritual awakening and tried to start mystical study and prayer groups. Zeitlin’s work had a messianic fervor that was lacking in the activity of other Jewish ﬁgures. Despite an expansion of scholarly interest in Zeitlin’s writings and activities, no satis- factory explanation of his behavior has yet been proposed. This article con- textualizes Zeitlin’s writing and activities in light of those of various spiritual and esoteric movements that ﬂourished in early twentieth century Poland, Russia and Germany, in particular, those of the Theosophical Societies in Warsaw. He was aware and deeply sympathetic to the various movements of spiritual awakening, and these affected his work profoundly.

Keywords: Hillel Zeitlin, Theosophical Societies, Warsaw, spirituality, religious renewal

See: Wanda Dynowska, “Woanie z geRbi” (A call from deep inside), Przegla˛d Teozoﬁczny, Vol. 2 (1921), p. 2 (in Polish). The author would like to thank Prof. Boaz Huss, Prof. Hanoch Ben-Pazi, Dr. Karolina M. Hess and Mr. Samuel Glauber-Zimra, who read an early draft of this article and contributed to it from their broad knowledge. Thank you also to the Riklis Foundation for its support of this study.

INTRODUCTION

The academic literature discussing the life and work of the philosopher, journalist and mystic, Hillel Zeitlin (1871--1942), has expanded in recent years to a significant number of books, articles, and research papers.1 Yet, it seems as if a central piece of the puzzle of Zeitlin’s complex personality and numerous works is still missing. There is still Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 no good explanation for those idiosyncratic behaviors that struck many as strange, lacking any cultural context or reasonable explanation. Even after what scholarship calls the “religious turn” in his life was sketched clearly, much of Zeitlin’s behavior and works remains a mystery.2 To give an impression of this behavior we mention a few sparse examples. Zeitlin published a personal-mystical diary along with poem- prayers in various periodicals. He founded his own journals and published calls for religious awakening alongside esoteric articles. He attempted to create “groups of the unique” that would pray together and read mystical texts. He published prophetic-political statements with a messianic spirit and overtones of despair of Europe’s moral state. He gave a round of lectures across Poland. Critics responded overwhelmingly negatively to this myriad of in- explicable actions, descending even to mockery. They found the publication of his personal diary to be strange or even preposterous.3 HaTzfira—The Hebrew daily popular in the Russian Empire—responded with parody, while HaShiloach called it “a magical delusion.”4 Yosef Haim Brenner (1881--1921), a friend of Zeitlin, called it a “scandal,” while the writer and translator Dov Kimchi (1889--1961) saw it as collection of “strange prayers written in a strange tone; dreams—vain, even sick, dreams.”5 Fishel Lachower (1883--1947), the famous editor and publisher and another friend of Zeitlin, called it “different and even quite strange” and called on Zeitlin to repent from his unusual ways.6 Zeitlin’s lectures about “repentance” received generous helpings of contempt or even physical resistance.7 The criticism, shock, contempt and ridicule that Zeitlin received are also clearly perceptible in his responses to his critics.8 To today, Zeitlin’s activities have been surveyed in the context of his project of “Hasidic Revival” and were examined in relation to other examples of Jewish revivals or messianic movements that flourished between the world wars.9 But this approach is not correct because Zeitlin’s activities and behavior are distinctive and out of the ordinary when viewed against the background of the social and spiritual movements in the Jewish streets of Warsaw during those years, even when considering other “neo-Hasidic” projects. In this article, I attempt to begin to fill the void by examining Zeitlin’s religious project in light of the activities of other spiritual Hillel Zeitlin 139 and esoteric movements that blossomed in early twentieth century Poland, Russia and Germany, especially the branches of the Theosophical Society that were active in post-World War I Warsaw. Turn of the century (Fin de sie`cle) Europe underwent not only significant cultural and artistic changes, but also experienced a wave of spir- 10

ituality and religious renewal. Groups and individuals began to offer Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 varied practices—from spiritualism, astrology, soothsaying, graphology, telekinesis and mind reading to alternative medicine, nutrition, exercise and meditation. Millions participated in these diverse practices.11 Semi-scientific elite groups searched for a new science and explored the idea of a “fourth dimension,” an “astral body,” “magnetic influences” and parapsychological phenomena.12 Thinkers, along with modernist artists, called for spiritual and societal renewal and were often politically involved.13 This spiritual awakening encompassed a plethora of movements that were distinct from organizational, societal and religious perspec- tives, and had different goals and methods, but shared inspiration and passed ideas around freely. Movements like spiritualism, Freemasonry, the New Thought movement, the Golden Dawn, theosophy and her- meticism flourished as distinct organizations while enriching each other with a free flow of ideas and sources.14 They shared a common goal: reaction against Positivism, materialist economic theories, cynical politics and extreme individualism that they claimed were eating away at European society. The spiritual awakening was of great moment in European history and influenced manifold fields, from the arts to politics. These movements form the background against which we must understand Zeitlin’s activity. They give his work and actions context and make them explicable. Beyond Zeitlin, they serve as a background to other Jewish thinkers who flourished in the same Warsaw environment—R. Yehuda Ashlag and R. Klonymus Kalman Shapira, for instance. The following paragraphs will focus on Zeitlin’s behavior, and will not address the influence of these movements on Zeitlin’s writings and teachings—a subject to which other research should be devoted.

HILLEL ZEITLIN AND RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM

Hillel Zeitlin was born in 1871 in the town of Korma in Belarus. The death of Zeitlin’s father forced him to leave home at a young age and roam around the Pale of Settlement in order to make a living. There, Zeitlin discovered for the ﬁrst time the pitiful and feeble state of Jews in Western Europe, but he also discovered the literature of the Jewish 140 Oz Bluman enlightenment and through it philosophy, literature and the general sciences. Zeitlin describes this period as one of doubt, in which his religious beliefs did not seem as stable as they had been. In 1898 he moved to Homiel, where he met other wandering Jewish youths, many of whom would go on to become well known Hebrew authors—Yosef

Haim Brenner, Uri Nissan Gnessin and Shalom Sender Baum, among Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 others. In the same period, Zeitlin joined the Zionist movement.15 In 1905 Zeitlin moved to Vilnius to accept an invitation to join the editorial board of the paper Hazman.16 Zeitlin stayed in Vilnius for two years, and this period was one of the most fertile of his life. He wrote tens of philosophical articles alongside literary reviews, feuilletons, col- umns and political opinion articles. During this period he underwent deep personal change that affected his work as well. By the time he left Vilnius for Warsaw in 1907 he was writing primarily in Yiddish, he had essentially ceased his political involvement in the Zionist movement, and his books and articles began to focus intensively on religious ideas drawn from Kabbalah and Hasidism and had a distinct spiritual, mystical and symbolic bent. Most biographers of Zeitlin see these changes (the “religious turn”) as a response to political upheavals and disturbing events that occurred in the years 1905--1906. These included: the attempt at a socialist up- rising in Russia, the Russian-Japanese war, pent up frustration in Russian society and the rioting this caused, the attacks on Jews that reached a head in Odessa and in the pogroms carried out by the “Black Hundreds,” the rejection of the Uganda Plan by the Seventh Zionist Congress, and the massive emigration from the Pale of Settlement.17 These reasons, however, are not the only causes of Zeitlin’s religious turn. We must include among them another cause, a cultural and aesthetic one, namely, intimate familiarity with cultural and artistic movements active in Vilnius. Among others, Zeitlin was familiar with the Jewish sculptor Mark Antokolsky (1843--1902) and the work of a number of symbolistic artists.18 Additionally, Zeitlin was fluent in Russian and German and had an active interest in the different religious movements that emerged along both sides of the border. In 1907, the same year he moved to Warsaw, he wrote a letter to Joseph Klausner, editor of HaShiloach, detailing his plans to write a “large book” on Hasidism. In the letter he outlined each chapter, and in a footnote about the sixth chapter, which was to deal with the renewal of Hasidic spirituality, the “Hasidism of the Future,” he added, “Amongst the nations this is nothing new: figures like Kalthoff in Germany, Merezhkovsky, Rozanoff, Berdyaev, etc., etc., in Russia.”19 These names place Zeitlin’s work squarely in the midst of social, religious and artistic Hillel Zeitlin 141 revival movements that, while differing widely, were widespread through Germany and Russia. Albert Kalthoff (1850--1906) was a German scholar and Protestant religious figure who was deeply influenced by Nietzsche and saw him as a prophet and a harbinger of the modern age.20 In 1880, he began to disseminate writings calling for religious renewal in the spirit of ex- Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 treme individualism and pacifism. He wrote a popular book entitled The Rise of Christianity, published in 1904, that he organized in a fashion similar to that proposed by Zeitlin in his letter to Klausner. In the last chapter—“The Future of Christianity” or, with minor modification, “Christianity of the Future”—he laid out his worldview as to the renewal of Christianity in the twentieth century.21 Dmitry Merezhkovsky (1866--1941) was among the founders of the Russian God-Seekers and wrote a large novel entitled The Resurrection of Gods.22 Beginning in 1901, he organized religious-philosophical conferences in St. Petersburg, with the intention of discussing the future of Christianity.23 Authors, poets, artists and philosophers participated in these conferences. Along with Vasily Rozanoff (1880--1918) and Nikolai Berdyaev (1874--1948), whom Zeitlin mentioned in his letter, other participants included Alexander Blok (1880--1921), Andrei Bely (1880--1934) and Vyacheslav Ivanov (1866--1949), all prominent symbolist poets and among the pioneers of the second wave of the “Silver Age” of Russian poetry.24 These movements and individuals were also intimately familiar with the Theosophical Society. Some took an active part in it and drew inspiration from it while others, such as Merezhkovsky, opposed some aspects of it (such as their attitude to the problem of evil in the world) and preferred Christian renewal.25 In 1906, a conference in Paris with Rudolf Steiner (1861--1925), then still a member of the Theosophical Society, drew the likes of Merezhkovsky and the Russian God-seekers, along with symbolistic poets, religious thinkers and the heads of the Theosophical Society in Russia.26 Modern scholarship has consistently glossed over these links and accounted them as nothing more than background noise in Zeitlin’s biographical information, having a negligible effect on his life or on the nature of his “religious turn,” but the combination of religious revival and societal involvement that these movements embodied captured Zeitlin’s heart. In the same year (1906), Zeitlin surveyed favorably another societal-religious movement, the Mariavites, which was active in Poland.27 The Mariavites, an esoteric movement that was involved with Occultism, caused upheavals in the Catholic Church that ended in bloodshed, all the while preaching a life of intense spirituality, vegetarianism, feminism and simplicity. Its activities included cultural, educational and philanthropic action. Zeitlin saw this movement and those 142 Oz Bluman similar to it as harbingers of a hitherto unrealized opportunity: to make a “new man” with a new ethical-religious outlook by freeing caged religious feeling.28 In the years following World War I, Zeitlin’s religious writing began to accelerate. He began to cite esoteric and occult literature about dreams, intuition, soothsaying, hidden senses and life after death.29 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 Through the lens of this field of interest, Zeitlin mentions the writings of the American writer and poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803--1882), who wrote about transcendental experiences; those of the author and philosopher Ralph Waldo Trine (1866--1958) of the New-Thought movement, which deeply influenced philosophy and art in the United States; those of the German doctor Justinus Kerner (1786--1862), who was involved in magnetism; those of the German mystic Alfred Karl von Prel (1839--1899), one of the leading scholars in psychology and parapsychological activity in Germany, and who, for a short time, was a part of the Theosophical Society; those of Swami Vivekananda (1836--1902), among the first to spread yoga to the western world; along with the writings of many others.30 Zeitlin consumed these works in German or Russian and later worked them into Yiddish or Hebrew. He viewed Emerson as “one of the greatest American philosophers,” and saw Trine as an important thinker whose works should be translated.31 These thinkers influenced many of the movements that comprised the religious renewal of the period, especially the Theosophical Society. Their methods merged physiological, psychological and cosmic ideas in an attempt to find a modern and scientific path to the transcendental. A short anecdote may illustrate Zeitlin’s interest in these esoteric subjects. While in the process of translating the Zohar to Hebrew, Zeitlin wrote a letter to his publisher asking him to search for a book by the German artist and mystic Boˆ Yin Râ (1876--1943, also known as Joseph Anton Schneiderfranken), which was published at the same time in Leipzig,32 and mentioned by name several Berlin bookstores. In this period, Zeitlin’s view of Eastern religion also changed significantly, especially his view of Buddhism. He began to compare these religions, with increasing approval, to ideas found in Jewish mysticism. In an essay written in 1920 about the Zohar, Zeitlin wrote that he wanted to map out and explain the central subjects of the Zohar without the help of the traditional commentators. He explained that in his opinion the Zohar reveals its own truth and does not need any commentary.33 Despite his reluctance to rely on traditional commentary, Zeitlin cites “Indian, theosophical and occult” literature broadly and repeatedly. He compares the Kabbalistic concept tzelem, image, to the “astral body”—“A thin, thin energy that carries the diagram of the body organs and mediates between the physical forces of the body and the Hillel Zeitlin 143 upper mind.”34 He also likens the Hasidic idea of “nothingness” to nirvana, and the highest levels of the soul’s existence to the “Atman.” 35 He devotes several pages to a comparison of the Zohar’s doctrine of breath with the ideas discerned by Indian yoga masters, and describes their similarities and differences at length:

As those seers of India, so the authors of the Zohar regard the world’s Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 air, and, behold, it is all holy and pure life. A man breathes; he takes air into himself, and ﬁlls with all that is good, beautiful, just and true. But from whence comes all this ﬁlth and all this impurity? [From man,] for man does not take in air without releasing hevel, [discarded] breath. [...] The ancient seers of India therefore taught the ‘science of breathing.’ [...] those same airs and [discarded] breaths meet in the nostils, and, much like the contemporary Indian yoga masters, occult- ists and Theosophists, the Zohar distinguishes between the breath of the right nostril and the breath of the left nostril.36 In another essay, Zeitlin calls on man to reach “true perfection of the soul” by regarding the world as nothing other than deception, a worldview that will bring the soul to a “full and complete liberation from the muck of earthliness.”37 In a third essay, he takes European intellectuals to task for their view of Buddhism and claims that they see it through the pessimistic lens of Schopenhauer alone, similar to the way in which Zeitlin himself viewed it in his early works—while in reality Buddha’s morality is “positive, and full of justice and love.”38 In Zeitlin’s words: In moments of “Nirvana” [man] defeats completely all human desires, passions and lusts and at the same time feels a intense sense of elevation above all earthliness -- a sense that is in some ways similar to what theologians and philosophers have named “self.” This sense does not negate moments of bliss (even in the common sense of the word), and not even moments of happiness.39 Though Zeitlin’s work is clearly situated within this range of thinkers and movements, in order to understand the full range of his activity we must understand his unique relationship with one group in particular: the Theosophical Society. His practical activity, including his social and political sentiment, which carried a certain messianic tinge, carried a surprising similarity to that of the Theosophical Society in Eastern and Central Europe.

THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN EASTERN EUROPE

The International Theosophical Society was founded in 1875 in New York City. Helena Blavatsky (1831--1891), born and raised in Russia, along with Colonel Henry Olcott, a well-respected general in the 144 Oz Bluman

American army and a journalist, were instrumental in founding the society. A few years after its foundation, Blavatsky and Olcott moved to Adyar, India, where they joined local renaissance movements and established the movement’s headquarters, which is active until this day. Blavatsky claimed that there is one ancient source of all religion and belief, which was hidden from the masses. This ancient wisdom Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 included the deepest possible understanding of the world, one that stands at the base of both religion and science. The most esoteric aspects of each religion, she believed, preserved some part of this wisdom, and the goal of theosophy—a synthesis of disparate religions, science and philosophy—is to uncover or recreate this hidden knowledge. Theosophy opposed both organized religion on one side of the spec- trum and scientific positivism on the other. Blavatsky died in 1891 and her partner, Olcott, took her place until his death in 1907. Annie Besant (1847--1933) took the reins after Olcott. Besant, born in England, left her mark on the movement during her thirty years at its helm and gave the movement a clear social-political slant.40 Along with the imperative “to investigate the unexplained laws of nature”, and “supporting the study of comparative religion,” its goals included “the spread of tolerance and respect for emotions and beliefs” and the “furtherance of those activities which tend to human fraternity and right dealing, and the maintenance of social and international peace.” Its members dealt with various social issues and minority rights, along with topics such as man’s obligation to society, the proper way to educate, women’s rights, human brotherhood and solving the problem of evil and suffering by practical means.41 Besant did not share Blavatsky’s belief that human nature could change through spiritual training and evolution, and she did not see the doctrine of reincarna- tion as a solution for suffering. Under her leadership, the Theosophical Society began to become involved politically. She utilized all of her personal influence during World War I to fight for Indian indepen- dence, and she served as president of the Indian National Congress for one year. Her activity as leader caused the Theosophical Society to grow to a peak of more than forty thousand members across the globe. Their numerous public speeches and innumerable books and periodicals had great intellectual influence.42 As early as the late nineteenth century small theosophical circles were active in Eastern Europe.43 Interest in Blavatsky’s work grew, not in small part due to her Russian origins, but the Church and political authorities made it difficult to establish official societies. Besant’s activity influenced the head of the Russian division of the Theosophical Society, Anna Kamenskaia (1867--1952). Kamenskaia laid the ground- work for the establishment of an official branch of the Theosophical Society in Russia and, in Besant’s spirit, took up various societal Hillel Zeitlin 145 causes—workers’ and women’s rights, for instance. Additionally, Russian Silver Age elites from the arts and from symbolistic circles, who were wont to involve themselves in any political and religious ag- itation, supported the Society enthusiastically. The Polish offices of the Theosophical Society developed parallel to those in Russia; until World War I, Poland was part of the Russia Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 Empire. In 1908, documents from the Theosophical Society show that it had officially become active in the Russian Empire, and one of its offices was in Warsaw.44 The kernel of the Warsaw office formed as early as 1905 around the Polish painter Kazimierz Stabrowski (1869-- 1929), director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.45 Stabrowski gained renown for his symbolistic art, especially his innovation regarding the female form. He developed the Kabbalistic-mysticism of Vladimir Solovyov along Theosophical lines and depicted woman as mystery, as fable, as something otherworldly.46 This particular piece of information is of interest to Zeitlin’s intellectual biography because Zeitlin moved to Warsaw in 1907 and there began to develop his symbolistic work, which had an exceptional and particular interest in the “female-shekhinah” form, that of the female aspect of God’s presence. These works depicted the shekhinah as rep- resenting harmony, tenderness, compassion and love. In 1908, Zeitlin portrayed woman in Jewish mysticism as “the symbol of all that is lofty, beautiful and good,” “heavenly love, eternal compassion, tenderness and solace.”47 In Zeitlin’s thought, when a Jew searches out God he is searching for the “forever motherly,” and the “eternally feminine”. In 1917, Wanda Dynowska (1888--1971), deeply influenced by Annie Besant,— and who would later become a well-known international figure and friend to Mahatma Gandhi who gave her the name Umadevi (bearer of light) — led further developments that came to a head in 1921 with the founding of the official Polish branch of the Theosophical Society.48 Following in Besant’s footsteps, Dynowska did not focus exclusively on translation and editing of mystical texts but rather turned her focus to societal and national issues: women’s rights, workers’ rights, human rights, education, freeing oppressed na- tionalities, and more. Dynowska was relentless. Under her leadership, new chapters opened yearly—in Radom, Lodz, Krakow, Lviv, Poznan, along with others. By the mid-twenties, seven official branches were active in Warsaw alone. Along with the official founding of the Theosophical Society in Poland, the periodical Przegla˛d Teozoficzny (Theosophical Review) appeared, edited by Dynowska. The periodical survived for more than a decade, appearing every two months on average, with each issue numbering around forty pages.49 These pages held translations of Besant’s work as well as that of other theosophical thinkers, poems 146 Oz Bluman and prayers, research on esoteric subjects, enthusiastic articles about the uniqueness of the period alongside those expressing messianic hopes, updates from branches scattered across the globe, and references to recommended esoteric and mystical readings. Dynowska was a talented editor and writer, and her spiritual articles, her messianic

hopes for societal renewal and her poems of prayer were published Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 side by side with her reports about the Society’s activity in social and educational matters. She believed that the World War and the Russian Revolution brought Europe to the edge of an abyss and she waited expectantly for “a complete destruction and reorganization of all pre- viously accepted values.”50 The thought and activity of Zeitlin bears an unmistakable similarity to these ideas and ﬁgures.

ZEITLIN AND THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

A number of sources testify to Zeitlin’s familiarity with the activities and publications of the Theosophical Society.51 As we mentioned previ- ously, in 1920--1921 Zeitlin published a number of long essays about Jewish mysticism and referred explicitly to theosophical ideas. For example, Zeitlin explains the idea of the “soul” extensively, and he mentions two main approaches to the idea: one “traditional-metaphysical,” like that of Kabbalah and Hasidism, the other “psychological-- mysterious,” like that of the Theosophical Society. He is careful to em- phasize that these two approaches are different, but he claims that they meet and complete each other.52 Zeitlin describes the metaphysical approach through the concepts of “higher worlds” and Seﬁrot, Partzuﬁm, and the letters of the names of God, which correspond to the various degrees of the soul, as found in Kabbalah and Hasidic scriptures. The psychological approach is different in that it describes the concept of “soul” with the help of personal experience: just as the body changes and renews itself daily, so do our emotions and state of mind. We move between love and hate, beauty and ugliness, and even truth and falsehood. “What is the thing within in us that is stable and exists forever,” Zeitlin asks, and he replies—in all those changes of consciousness and character, there is an elevated, eternal “I” that does not change. Indian thinkers do not rely on con- ceptual analysis of the mind alone, or even primarily. They rely mainly on intensive practice that lasts for years. By doing so, they acquire various capabilities, such as “inner vision” or the ability to leave the body and return to it. Hillel Zeitlin 147

This common theosophical explanation appeared in each of the movement’s publications. The first issues of Theosophical Review opened with Annie Besant’s articles on “Psychology and Theosophy.” She claimed that psychology had already come a long way by recognizing non-physiological mental phenomena—such as dreams, intuitions, states of trance and ecstasy, and even spiritual visions. In her view, if Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 psychology would adopt a religious perspective, it would recognize the “higher Self, the living spirit, the part of God [...] This broad consciousness is our true and essential self [...] the elevated self, which is inde- structible, immutable, immortal, continuous.”53 Zeitlin notes that “in the previous decades, thousands of books about the philosophical and mysterious practices of the Indians have been published in Europe.” However, for those who desired direct access to the sources, without European mediation, he recommended a series of lectures delivered by Jagadish Chandra Chatterji in Brussels in 1898.54 Chatterji was a scholar and philologist of Indian background. He wrote several well-known books about Indian thought, and he translated parts of the Vedas and the Upanishads. Chatterji was a unique figure in Theosophical circles in Warsaw, and Zeitlin included him in his explanation of the theosophical view for good reason: he influenced Wanda Dynowska deeply, especially his book The Esoteric Philosophy of India, which sum- marized the same series of lectures that Zeitlin had recommended. His works starred at the top of the recommended reading lists published by Dynowska’s periodical.55 Zeitlin’s view of the Society and its activity was not unequivocally positive, however, especially with regards to issues concerning societal affiliation. In an article published in the early twenties, “How to Find Inner Light In Our Days,” he objected to the tendency of Jewish youths to involve themselves in various spiritual movements, among them the Theosophical Society.56 As we pointed out earlier, in the twenties Warsaw was home to seven branches of the Theosophical Society; some of these were located on overwhelmingly Jewish streets, such as Dzika Street.57 Zeitlin cited and referenced theosophical thinkers and gave their works a unique standing in his own work, but the similarities between his activity and that of figures within the Theosophical Society extend well beyond explicit references and quotations. This is our main focus: Zeitlin’s idiosyncratic behavior, which we outlined above, coalesced in 1917 in tandem with the entrenchment of the Theosophical Society in Poland. In the following section, we will focus on several examples of Zeitlin’s work that display a striking similarity to that of figures from the Theosophical Society. He disseminated personal-mystical journals and prayer-poems in philosophical periodicals; he edited and printed periodicals with esoteric articles alongside calls for repentance; he 148 Oz Bluman attempted repeatedly to found “groups of the unique” that would focus on internal change, pray and read mystical texts together; and he pro- mulgated prophetic-political calls with clear messianic overtones de- spairing of the moral and spiritual situation in Europe. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 JOURNALS, POEMS, PRAYERS, AND PERIODICALS

In 1917, Zeitlin began to keep a journal in which he recorded significant meetings and events from the years of World War I, along with thoughts, dreams and visions, mystical experiences, messianic ideas and calculations foreseeing the end of days. He published the first part of the journal in 1919 in the important literary anthology, The Times (Hatekufah).58 Later, he would attempt several more times to publish the entire journal as a book in its own right.59 As stated above, the appearance of a personal journal in a literary platform brought criticism and ridicule. It has been the generally accepted scholarly view to compare Zeitlin’s publishing of his journals to that of personal journals written by mystics, such as Rabbi Yosef Karo and Rabbi Hayyim Vital. Zeitlin himself, when he approached the Bialik Institute about publishing the journal, described it as “a sort of new Zohar on the one hand, and on the other a most personal confession, significantly more profound and more absorbing than Augustine’s Confessions.”60 The fact is, though, that writing mystical journals and publishing them in periodicals was an accepted and well-known practice, almost an obvious thing to do, for those in the Theosophical Society. It should be noted that as a result of this spiritual awakening, publication flourished: periodicals and newspapers put out by various movements reached tens of thousands of subscribers.61 Thousands of titles, spanning from Hinduism and spiritual enlightenment to alternative science and magic, saw print in several European languages. Bookstores and libraries dedicated to such books opened. In Russia and Germany hundreds of titles in these genres appeared.62 The Theosophical Society promoted keeping journals and publishing personal experiences.63 Sir Henry Olcott, Blavatsky’s partner in the founding of the Theosophical Society, kept a diary for years, which until this day serves as an important historical source for information about the first years of the Society. The diary appeared in parts in the important monthly journal The Theosophist, which was distributed in all the local branches of the Theosophical Society across the globe. Anna Kamenskaia, the head of the Russian branch of the Society, also published a diary—in Vestnik Teosofi (Theosophical Herald)—from the years Hillel Zeitlin 149

1909 to 1919.64 Her writing did not have a mystical bent but rather was personal, literary and episodic and told of the founding of the Theosophical Society in Eastern Europe. However, it serves as a source of spiritual inspiration to this day. Tens of German publications published this type of personal writing as well; some wrote of spiritual experiences while others docu- Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 mented historical periods in personal journals and notes.65 Franz Hartmann, a close friend of Blavatsky and a highly regarded theosophical writer, regularly published episodes from his life in the periodical New Lotus Blossoms, which he edited, until close to his death in 1912.66 Another prominent theosophical writer, Dr. Wilhelm Hu¨bbe- Schleiden, published a personal journal in parts in the periodical The Sphinx. The Sphinx, published in Leipzig for almost a decade (1886- 1896), was particularly influential in Germany. Each volume contained hundreds of pages dealing with theories of mind, psychology, mediums, extra-sensory experiences, hypnosis and more. The Sphinx coined the term “parapsychology,” making it famous. Other contributors included Carl du Prel along with others whose writings served Zeitlin as a main source of inspiration when he wrote about dreams and extra-sensory phenomena. Du Prel’s contributions included tales of his own personal search for spirituality and for mystical experiences; titles such as “Notes about a Dream,” “Journal of Visions” (names similar to the ones Zeitlin gave to some of his essays) were common. Hu¨bbe-Schleiden’s journal described his journey to India and included passages telling of the voyage, spiritual exercises, dreams, various types of experiences and philosophical musings.67 The Sphinx was a broadly distributed literary collection that held a position of prominence for many years and continued to impact intellectuals well after it was officially discontinued. There has not been enough scholarship comparing Zeitlin’s journals to those mentioned above. Zeitlin’s style of writing was even more personal. He shared various experiences and described his suffering and internal struggle, his prayers and his longing for the messiah. Zeitlin’s spiritual perspective can be found woven amongst these personal notes; he located solutions for humanity’s problems in the twentieth century in mysticism and social action. The style of writing found in the theosophical periodicals that began to appear in Poland in 1919 carries a particular similarity to the style of writing Zeitlin adopted in his articles and periodicals. The theosophical periodical Wyzwolenie (Freedom) published monthly in Silesia, addressed its Polish readers directly from its very first issue with the call, “Free yourselves!”68 The meaning of this freedom was intensive spiritual exercise, finding “rational and scientific answers” to life’s great questions and spreading the message of universal brotherhood. Its issues included prayer poems and inspirational messages alongside 150 Oz Bluman translations of Bhagavad Gita and other Far-Eastern literary works, thoughts about the future of humanity, articles about psychology and spirituality, calls for peace and vegetarianism, and more. Following is an example of enthusiastic and even messianic personal writing and descriptions of suffering alongside a political-social temperament from Dynowska’s journal, Theosophical Review, that Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 appeared in 1921, a short time after the theosophical journals began to appear in Warsaw. In its second issue, in the main editorial, Dynowska wrote: In future culture the defining feature will be brotherhood. Anywhere something new is born, whether through revolt or longing we must be present to support, to light the way, to help, to push forward. We must roll up our sleeves and promote various domains of human life. We must organize, unite and join in the spirit of new life, of the day yet to come, of the first dawn that we are fortunate enough to see today; we must unite all those who feel and want it -- people of good will, re- gardless of party, belief or religion. For the good of the work, for the good of tomorrow’s humanity. “Tomorrow’s humanity” (similar to Zeitlin’s vision of “Hasidism of the Future”) almost immediately became a reality with the Citizens of Tomorrow society, the function of which was social, but whose vigor was messianic. “Current events, the war in Europe and the revolution that immediately followed herald a momentous change about to come, a change of all recognized values. This is the decisive moment of worldwide renewal.” In 1917, before the appearance of these journals, Zeitlin published his own periodical: Hillel Zeitlin’s Bletlekh. The journal apparently survived only two issues. Articles on Jewish philosophy appeared alongside translations of Ralph Waldo Trine into Yiddish and mystical aphorisms by Adam Mickiewicz (1798--1855), the great Polish poet. At the end of the first issue, “a letter to the Jewish people” appeared in which Zeitlin turned to his readers and described the destruction and devastation rampant in Jewish cities, the mendacity and foolishness of politics, and the only way out of all of it: the founding of a messianic movement. Zeitlin described, along the lines of the Theosophical Society, a movement of spiritual renewal that would gather all those seeking truth, that would improve the state of morality, that would “kindle the fire of love, truth and justice,” that would better the life of the individual and society by imbuing them with a spirit of holiness and purity, and that would be an “internal [movement] that would free and excite.”69 It was in- cumbent on the Jewish people, Zeitlin proclaimed, for their own redemption and for the redemption of the world, to develop “a new ear, a new language, an entirely new will [...] an entirely different type of living.”70 Hillel Zeitlin 151

Zeitlin published another journal in 1920, Der Sneh, which followed a similar pattern. This journal was dedicated to “unusual ideas and select literature,” and also included translations of world literature (Giuseppe Mazzini’s “God”), prayer-poems, Hasidic aphorisms, literature reviews, and more. He opened with a personal letter in which he described the suffering and the pain that are the lot of the Jewish peo- Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 ple and the adulation of the masses for the false gods of their age (amongst which he counted “the gods of the Orthodoxy”). He called for repentance, which, according to the Talmud, could bring about the final redemption. He described this repentance in general terms: purity of intent and cleansing of the heart, improvement of action and spiritual elevation, withdrawal from mendacity and deceit and a striving for “a great and holy life.”71 These journals, which have been identified by scholars as “repentance pamphlets,” could easily be identified as spiritual periodicals and be set against the background of the parallel theosophical and esoteric literature.72 The similarity continued late into Zeitlin’s career. In 1924, Zeitlin published the pamphlet, “The Ark: Pages for All Who Want to be Saved from the Lies Flooding the World,” which was written for “the religious-ethical group Yavneh.”73 The pamphlet included an explanation of the group along with prayers, poems, a dialogue with the internal voice, and a vision for a worldwide renewal in the spirit of Hasidism, all in addition to fourteen “warnings” and advice for those who would join the Yavneh group. A sample of the warnings: to dis- tance one’s self from luxuries, from commerce, from political parties; to sanctify one’s sexual life and speech; and to bolster three loves: love of God, love of the Jewish people and love of the Torah. Various bits of advice and instruction for spiritual development were typical fare in theosophical journals. For comparison, the ninth issue of Theosophical Review, published in 1924, opened with a description of the collapse of European culture and described a movement towards “a new world” and “a new life” that was taking shape amongst various and numerous spiritual groups. They saw this same movement in the spiritual renewal of the age, in the search for personal, internal experiences instead of the external dogma and ritual that reigned amongst organized religions. They also saw it in the social-ethical-religious approach that was making strides in numerous social and political arenas. These arenas included property, industry, workers’ rights, sexual and family life, the treatment of the outsider, relationships amongst nations, and more—fields that had a close affinity to Zeitlin’s warnings. They believed that theosophy cultivated the internal life of man, especially the love within his heart and the desire to promote these issues. Certainly, we have here an environment for spiritual development distinct to Warsaw. 152 Oz Bluman

MESSIANIC CALLS

In the years that followed, Zeitlin continued to publish pamphlets and periodicals, some of which included prophetic-political calls. These calls were similar to theosophical articles, not only in genre and format but often had similar names as well.74 One pamphlet, by the name “A Word to the Nations: A Vision for Gentiles and Kingdoms, The Essentials of Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 Noachide Laws and Prayer Poems Concerning World Peace and the Return of the Divine Presence to its Proper Place,” was published in 1928 and may be the zenith of Zeitlin’s unique work. Stirring personal addresses, full of emotion, to the peoples of the world about the impending spiritual revolution filled its pages. “The Logos” revealed itself to Zeitlin’s soul and he passed it on to humanity: I am light and warmth and an all-consuming flame [...] Light and warmth -- to the upstanding; a flame of love -- to those who fight my battles, battles for truth; an all-consuming flame to despots. [...]Iam a raging sea and a purifying sea: I wash away all of the filth and purify, uplift and sanctify the profane in life. I am an eternal sun and a new sun. A sun that gives new life, as sun that nourishes the grass and brush anew [...]. I am a Garden of Eden for those who hear the ‘thin voice of silence,’ for the deep, the enthusiastic, the dreamers, those who yearn and those who search.75 Zeitlin compared his “words of vision” to those of “our prophets of old,” but his style mimicked that of Dynowska in her songs and intro- ductions to the journals she wrote for Theosophical Review. The similarity was so uncanny that it seemed as though the different texts echoed each other intentionally. He summoned those who had not yet seen or heard the imminent great events to prepare themselves for revelation, for peace, for the belief and love that were on the verge of encompass- ing humanity.76 Zeitlin saw the era in which he lived—an era filled with war, suffering and political upheaval—as “the days of the messiah.”77 His prophetic-messianic style assuredly seems out of place among the Jewish literary practice of the day, but there is certainly nothing out of place in the milieu of the sundry theosophical journals, where “addresses to humanity” or “to the peoples of the world” were run-of- the-mill titles. Moreover, messianic anticipation accompanied the social activities of the Theosophical Movement during these years. Annie Besant called to prepare for the emergence of a “world teacher,” a lofty spiritual being who would advance the human race to the next stage in its collective evolution. Beginning in 1909, and more intensively after World War I, Besant identified the teacher as a young boy named Jiddu Krishnamurti.78 Hillel Zeitlin 153

BETWEEN THE ZOHAR AND THE BHAGAVAD GITA

Not only Zeitlin’s writing paralleled the activity of the Theosophical Society, his attempts to convene mystical groups were also strikingly similar. Starting in 1919 and peaking in 1923--1925, Zeitlin tried to found “groups of the unique.”79 He claimed that the awaited religious renewal would not come from the religious parties, from the religious Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 establishment, nor from the religious masses. It would come from young people searching for God, who would accept upon themselves strict moral and spiritual demands and who would engage in communal prayer, unify God’s name (yihuddim) and learn Kabbalah—all in contrast with a world whose cultural and societal standards were rapidly deteri- orating. These attempts by Zeitlin continued until the end of the thirties, through articles and pamphlets, in various conventions and lectures, but they seem to have been unsuccessful.80 The accepted line of thought compares Zeitlin’s activity as regards these societies to other similar projects in a Jewish framework, such as that of Rabbi Klonymus Kalman Shapira, who also was active in Warsaw. However, it seems that these projects must also be reinter- preted in light of the widespread activity of the Theosophical Society.81 As we mentioned earlier, the Theosophical Society spread rapidly throughout the twenties in Europe, especially in Poland. Each annual report mentions the number of branches around the world and the number of members in each branch. In the Society’s meetings, the participants studied together, prayed and read various types of esoteric texts. In addition to his mystical diaries, editing of journals and attempts to found societies, Zeitlin labored until the end of his life on a translation of the Zohar into Hebrew. The Zohar drew Zeitlin’s interest as a Jewish mystic, but it is impossible to ignore the fact that mystical texts from various religions were translated routinely in early twentieth century Europe, and not just by members of the Theosophical Society. For example, Zeitlin was aware of Ernst Mu¨ller’s (1880--1954) German translation of the Zohar—Mu¨ller was a member of Joseph Steiner’s Anthroposophical Society.82 The Jewish Theosophical Society member Joshua Abelson (1873--1940) was among those who initiated the translation of the Zohar into English.83 Kabbalah became one of the foundation stones for various spiritual movements, and translations of fundamental Jewish texts were produced and published in books or various journals. Zeitlin did not stop at Jewish mystical texts. During the years he worked on his translation of the Zohar, he translated sections of the Bhagavad Gita into Hebrew as well, with the help of German and Polish 154 Oz Bluman translations. The translation of Bhagavad Gita into European languages became so popular in the early twentieth century that three separate individuals translated it into Polish alone (one was the Jewish symbolist poet Anthony Lang, who lived in Warsaw). Later, Dynowska also joined the ranks of translators. In his introduction to Bhagavad Gita, Zeitlin

traced the history of the book in Europe and praised it for its Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 “wonderful exaltedness that lifts man above all that is inconsequential and insignificant in life and that frees him, for even a few fleeting hours, from the Valley of Tears we all inhabit.”84 Zeitlin dearly cherished the idea of translating the works of Eastern religions. In 1922 he reviewed avidly and at length Getzel Zelikovitch’s book The Teachings of Buddha, which was published in New York and included translations of parts of the Tripit: aka, the traditional Buddhist scriptures.85 After he praised the book, Zeitlin began to detail the differences between Judaism and Buddhism and took special issue with what he saw as a shallow point of view—seeing Judaism as opti- mism, happiness and a love of life versus Buddhism as pessimism, sad- ness and the negation of life. In his words, “Inasmuch as Buddhism consecrates and glorifies compassion, love, honesty, truth and absten- tion from bodily desires, how could anyone speak of Buddhism and Judaism as opposites?”86 Much as prominent Theosophical Society members did, Zeitlin went on a speaking tour in Jewish cities and called for spiritual advance. Alongside intensive involvement in burning social issues, Zeitlin called to all willing to listen to leave behind political and ideological methods for societal improvement and to free themselves from the vanity and fetters of this world. In his view, this was the only path to reach the spiritual destiny of the world in his fateful time and the only way to fix the suffering and injustice so prevalent around him.

SUMMING UP

The years that Zeitlin became a standard-bearer for tidings of religious renewal, 1906--1924, are the years that contemporary scholarship marks as the zenith of the spiritual and religious wave that swept across Central Europe at the start of the twentieth century. Spirituality and religion, along with social activism and anti-materialistic messaging, washed through Central Europe’s main hubs. The wave caught up tens and even hundreds of thousands of people and strengthened throughout the First World War. “I live in a different world,” Zeitlin wrote in a letter to Brenner in the early twenties, and he noted that his thoughts were all given over “to subjects of belief and mystery.”87 Hillel Zeitlin 155

Zeitlin believed that Jews should lead the feverish search for renewal. His calls made him into a popular writer and lecturer while simulta- neously arousing hatred and contempt, but they did not succeed in creating the messianic movement for which he hoped. The world re- fused to awaken, and so did the Jewish people. Political, economic and societal upheaval in the thirties buried Zeitlin’s hopes, and those hopes Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 turned to smoke in the flames of World War II, along with the Jews of Warsaw. With all the disappointment, there was one home for spirituality along the lines of Zeitlin’s vision—his own home at 60 Sliska Street. This is how the Warsaw publisher, Shlomo Sreberk, described it: When I entered the Zeitlin home, I felt as though I had entered a sanctuary, that of a saint and an ascetic who is familiar with all worldly happenings, with the whirlwind and tumult of life, while simulta- neously purifying all of his thoughts. [...] Hillel Zeitlin the man sur- passes Hillel Zeitlin the author considerably, a very rare occurrence in literary circles. His guests could feel his influence without hearing a world from his lips; just by being in his presence, they felt as if some luminosity flowed onto them from his figure.88 The memoirs of Simcha Bunem Urbach preserve an interesting description of this home, which for more than thirty years was active as a meeting place for intellectuals, artists and religious figures and which became almost a pilgrimage destination and a real “literary parlor.” According to Urbach, a diverse group of people found themselves a home there, amongst these “a Jewish kabbalist,” “a Talmudic prodigy,” “a proselyte from Podolia,” “a Polish author,” and an “Indian author in a sari.” Dynowska would often walk the streets of Warsaw in a Sari and she could certainly be described as “an Indian author.”89 Zeitlin was immersed in this spiritual climate at the beginning of the 1920s, and any review of his behavior in these years must take it into account.

BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY, ISRAEL

NOTES

1. See, for example: Shraga Bar-Sella, Ben sa’ar ledemama: h: ayav umish- nato shel Hillel Zeitlin (The life and teachings of Hillel Zeitlin) (in Hebrew; Tel Aviv, 1999); Jonatan Meir, “Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav: Two Essays by Hillel Zeitlin,” Introduction and Critical Notes, Yeriot, Vol. 5 (2006) (in Hebrew); Arthur Green, “Three Warsaw Mystics,” in Kolot Rabbim: Essays in Memory of Rivka Schatz Uffenheimer, edited by Rachel Elior (Jerusalem, 1997), pp. 1--58; Assael Abelman, Hillel Zeitlin and the Making of Modern Jewish Culture in East 156 Oz Bluman

Europe (1871-1919), Ph.D. Dissertation, Bar Ilan University, 2006 (in Hebrew); Shraga Bar-On, ’’The Thirst—Hillel Zeitlin in Search of God,” Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought, Vol. 23 (2011), pp. 543--84 (in Hebrew); Oz Bluman, Ethics on the Border of Two Worlds: The Ethical Dimension in Hillel Zeitlin’s Search of God, Ph.D. Dissertation, Bar Ilan University, 2018. 2. Shraga Bar-Sella, The life and Teachings, pp. 121--31; A. Abelman, Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 Hillel Zeitlin, pp. 162--70. 3. Ben-Yosef (pseudonym, apparently for Yosef Haim Brenner) “MiPinkaso shel Itonai” (From a journalist’s notebook), HaTzeﬁra, 20/2/ 1920 (in Hebrew). See also: Jonatan Meir, ‘Sefer HaHezyonot: al Yomano Hamisti shel Hillel Zietlin Unisyonot Hadpasato Leor Igrot Gnuzot’ (On Hillel Zeitlin’s mystical diary and the attempts to print it), Aley Sefer, Vol. 21 (2010), pp. 153--54 (in Hebrew). 4. Yaakov Kopilvits, “Sifrei Hatkufa: Reshimot Bikoret” (Period books: review), HaShiloach, Vol. 37 (1920), p. 420 (in Hebrew). 5. Dov Kimchi, ‘Reshimot Bikoret’ (review), HaPoel Hatzair,2/4/ 1920 (in Hebrew). 6. Fischel Lacover, “BaSefer HaIvri” (Hebrew books), Kneset,Vol.2 (1937) pp. 536--37 (in Hebrew). 7. Simcha B. Urbach, Toldot Neshama Achat (One Soul chronology), (in Hebrew; Kiryat Tivon, 1953), p. 133. 8. See, for example: Hillel Zeitlin, Sifran shel Yehidim (A book of individuals), (in Hebrew; Jerusalem, 1979), pp. 61--64. 9. Jonatan Meir, Rabbi Nahman, pp. 19--20. 10. Egil Asprem, The Problem with Disenchantment (Leiden, 2014); Corinna Treitel, A Science for the Soul (Baltimore, 2004). There are websites that collect hundreds of items, books and journals, sorted by year and country. See for example: http://resources.theosophical.org; http://iap- sop.com/ssoc; and others below. 11. Corinna Treitel, Science for the Soul, p. 212. The appendices contain lists of bureaus, publishing houses, organizations and associations that were active in Germany. To give a taste of the breadth of their reach, we take the example of communication with the spirits of the dead—a Berlin newspaper from 1900 estimated that no less than six hundred communi- cators were active in the city at the time. Ibid. p. 78. 12. Ibid., pp. 29--55. 13. Tessel M. Bauduin, “Abstract Art as a By-Product of Astral Manifestation,” in Olav Hammer and Mikael Rothstein (eds), Handbook of the Theosophical Current (Leiden, 2014), pp. 429--52; “Introduction,” in Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal (ed.), The Occult in Russian and Soviet Culture (Ithaca, NY, 1997), pp. 17--28. These included the Russian God-Seekers, the Mariavite Church in Poland and the religious paciﬁsts of Germany, from whom Zeitlin drew inspiration. 14. Maria Carlson, “Fashionable Occultism,” in Bernice G. Rosenthal (ed.), The Occult in Russian and Soviet Culture (Ithaca, NY, 1997), pp. 137--52. 15. Assael Abelman, Hillel Zeitlin, pp. 66--67. Hillel Zeitlin 157

16. HaZman, 19/12/1904, p. 1; Y. D. Berkowitz, HaRisonim KiBnei Adam (Ancients as Human Beings) (in Hebrew; Tel Aviv, 1938), p. 65. 17. Simcha B. Urbach, Toldot Neshama, pp. 71--72; A. Abelman, Hillel Zeitlin, pp. 102--19. See also: Abba Achimeir (A. S. Geisinovich), “Hillel Zeitlin,” HaMashkif 16/1/1942 and 18/1/1943 (in Hebrew). 18. Oz Bluman, “Antokolsky as a Man: Hillel Zeitlin and the Visual Arts in Vilnius,” Gal-Ed, Vol. 26, forthcoming. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 19. National Library of Israel, Department of Manuscripts, Klausner Archives, file 190. Zeitlin continued to follow Dimitri Marzkowski’s circle for many years. 20. Gerhard Schmolze, “Kalthoff, Albert,” Neue Deutsche Biographie, Vol. 11 (1977) S. 74 f. [Online-Version]; Steven E. Aschheim, Nietzsche Legacy in Germany 1890-1990 (in Hebrew; Tel Aviv, 2008), pp. 183--85. 21. Albert Kalthoff, The Rise of Christianity, trans. Joseph McCabe (London, 1907). 22. Nel Grillaert, What the God-seekers found in Nietzsche (New York, 2008), pp. 13--15. 23. Ibid., p. 17. 24. Avril Pyman, A History of Russian Symbolism (Cambridge, UK, 1996), pp. 183--225; Ronald E. Peterson, A History of Russian Symbolism (Philadelphia, 1993), pp. 49--53. The “Silver Age” is a period of Russian poetry covering approximately 1890--1917. It is common to mark the beginning of this period with the appearance of the manifestos “In the Light of Conscience” by Nikolai Minsky (1890) and “On the Reasons for the Decline of Contemporary Russian Literature” by Dmitry Marzkowski (1893). 25. Ibid., pp. 38--41. Eastern European theosophists cited these movements in their journals. See: Maria Carlson, No Religion Higher Than Truth (Princeton, NJ, 1993), pp. 160--63. The “God-seekers” and theosophists had close and occasionally even familial relationships—Dimitri Philosophopov, the third side of a romantic and ideological triangle with Dimitri Marzkowski and his wife, Zinadia Gifius, was the son of Anna Philosophopova, one of the founders of the Theosophical Movement. 26. Ibid., p. 64. 27. Hillel Zeitlin, “Sichot Ketanot al Inyanim Gedolim” (Small talks about big things), Ha-Zman, 29/4/1906 (in Hebrew). 28. Ibid. 29. On the influence of broader esoteric currents on Zeitlin’s concep- tion of prophecy, see Samuel Glauber-Zimra, “Esotericism and Prophecy in Modern Jewish Thought: The Case of Hillel Zeitlin” (forthcoming). 30. Hillel Zeitlin, “Al haKamus vehaNe’elam” (About the secret and unknown), Ha-Tekufa, Vol. 11 (1921), pp. 472--80 (in Hebrew). 31. Hillel Zeitlin, Hillel Zeitlin’s Bletlekh (pages) (in Hebrew; Warsaw, 1918). In 1922--1923, two of Emerson’s books appeared in Hebrew, published by Stiebel in Warsaw. Zeitlin continued to quote from him in sub- sequent years. See, for example: “LeHertzel ve’al Hertzel,” Ba-Derech, 29/ 3/1934 (in Hebrew). 158 Oz Bluman

32. Hillel Zeitlin, “Hakdamat Sefer haZohar: Meturgemet u-Mevo’eret” (Introduction to the Zohar translated and explained), Metsudah,Vol.1 (1943), pp. 38--39 (in Hebrew). 33. Hillel Zeitlin, “Mafte’ah leSefer ha-Zohar” (Key to the Zohar), HaTekufah, Vol. 6 (1920), pp. 314--34 (in Hebrew); HaTekufah,Vol.7 (1920), pp. 353--68; HaTekufah, Vol. 9 (1921), pp. 265--330.

34. Ibid., p. 290. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 35. Hillel Zeitlin, Mafte’ah, Vol. 9, pp. 273; 283--85; 290; 297; 320; H. Zeitlin, “Kadmut haMistorin beYisrael” (Antiquities of Mystery in Israel), Ha-Tekufah, Vol. 5 (1920), pp. 280--322 (in Hebrew). 36. Ibid., pp. 283--85. 37. Hillel Zeitlin, “Der Lebensveg fun S. Anski” (S. Ansky’s life), in Almanach zum 10-Yerigen Yubileum fon Moment (in Yiddish; Warsaw, 1921). 38. Hillel Zeitlin, “In Hoiche Derakhim” (In high ways), Der Moment 30/6/1922; 7/7/1922 (in Yiddish). 39. Ibid. 40. Catherine Wessinger, “The Second Generation Leaders of the Theosophical Society (Adyar),” in Olav Hammer and Mikael Rothstein (eds), Handbook of the Theosophical Current (Leiden, 2014), pp. 33--50; Mark Bevir, “Theosophy as a Political Movement,” in Gurus and Their Followers, edited by Antony Copley (Delhi, 2000), pp. 159--79. 41. Olav Hammer and Mikael Rothstein, Theosophical Current, pp. 15-- 31. Besant’s lectures integrate discussions of the concepts of divinity and human nature with questions of societal repair and the problem of brotherhood. See, for example, the 1915 lecture series “Theosophy and the Deep Life Problems.” 42. By 1910, they had more than three hundred offices in Europe. General Report of the Theosophical Society (India: 1910). 43. Maria Carlson, No Religion, pp. 54--59. 44. Karolina M. Hess, “The Beginnings of Theosophy in Poland,” The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture, Vol. 1 (2015), pp. 53--72. 45. Theosophists also operated in Poland in unofficial circles, for pa- triotic reasons—they were not interested in officially belonging to the Russian Association. 46. Karolina M. Hess and Malgorzata A. Dulska, “Kazimierz Stabrowski’s Esoteric Dimensions: Theosophy, Art, and the Vision of Femininity,” La Rosa di Paracelso, Vol. 1 (2017), pp. 37--61. 47. Zeitlin wrote extensively on female symbolism in several important articles in 1908, see: “Shekinah: Histaklut” (Shekinah: observation), Sifrut, Vol. 1 (1908), pp. 67--84 (in Hebrew); “Yofi shel Ma’ale” (Beauty of above), Sifrut, Vol. 2 (1908), pp. 33--82 (in Hebrew); “Di Froi by Yidden’”(The woman by the Jews), in: Yugend Velt, Vols. 2--3 (1908), pp. 3--7 (in Yiddish). 48. Karolina M. Hess, The Beginnings of Theosophy, p. 68; Kazimierz Tokarski, “Wanda Dynowska-Umadevi: A Biographical Essay,” Theosophical History, Vol. V, No. 3 (1994), pp. 89--105. 49. He was preceded by the theosophical journal Wyzwolenie (Freedom), which began appearing in Silesia in 1919. See: https://sbc. org.pl/dlibra/publication/88638/edition/83621. Hillel Zeitlin 159

50. Przegla˛d Teozoﬁczny, Vol. 2 (1921), p. 1--2 (in Polish). 51. Zeitlin mentioned Blavatsky with appreciation as early as 1911. See: Yossi Schweig, I will Not Fear the Dark Wonder, M.A. thesis (in Hebrew; Be’er Sheva: Ben Gurion University, 2017), p. 54. 52. Hillel Zeitlin, Mafte’ah, Vol. 9, pp. 293--95. 53. Przegla˛d Teozoﬁczny, Vol. 3 (1921), pp. 9--10 (in Polish).

54. Hillel Zeitlin, Mafte’ah, Vol. 9, p. 294. Chatterji studied at Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 Cambridge and lectured across Europe. His book The Esoteric Philosophy of India, printed at the end of the nineteenth century, became a bestseller, affecting key ﬁgures in the various spiritual movements reviewed above. 55. Jagadish C. Chatterji, Die Geheim-Philosophie der Indier (Leipzig, 1906). 56. Hillel Zeitlin, “Vi’azoi Men Zucht Haint Dos Innerleche Licht” (How to search for the inner light today), in Chasidut (in Yiddish; Warsaw, 1922), pp. 148--53. 57. General Report of the Theosophical Society (India, 1924), p. 470. For the participation of Jews in the Theosophical Movement, see: Boaz Huss, “Qabbalah, the theos-sophia of the Jews,” Theosophical Appropriations (2016), pp. 137--66. 58. Hillel Zeitlin, “Al Gvul Shnei Olamot: miTokh Sefer Reshimot shel Cholem” (On the border of two worlds: from a dreamer’s diary), Ha- Tekufah, Vol. 4 (1919), pp. 501--45 (in Hebrew). 59. Jonatan Meir, Sefer haHezyonot, pp. 52--55; S. Bar-Sella, The life and teachings, pp. 227--30; Assael Abelman, Hillel Zeitlin, pp. 252--56. 60. “Hillel Zeitlin,” Yedi’ot Genazim, Vol. 3 (1969), p. 186. 61. Maria Carlson and Robert H. Davis Jr, “Russian Occult Journals and Newspapers,” in The Occult in Russian and Soviet Culture, edited by Bernice G. Rosenthal (Ithaca, NY, 1997), pp. 423--42. 62. Maria Carlson, No Religion, pp. 253--74; Helmut Zander, Anthroposophie in Deutschland (Go¨ttingen, 2007), pp. 343--46; Corinna Treitel, Science for the Soul, pp. 264--66. The city of Leipzig played a major role in all the spiritual and religious awakening in Europe. 63. Some diaries were published only after the death of their author, such as that of Robert Crosbie (1849--1919), founder of The United Lodge of Theosophists (ULT), and the diary of theosophical leader William Q. Judge (1851--1896), the general secretary of the American branch. 64. http://www.theosophy.ru/vt-index.htm 65. Helmut Zander, Anthroposophie, pp. 343--46. 66. Corinna Treitel, Science for the Soul, p. 97. 67. The newspaper’s publication included some self-censorship, and the entire journal appeared in full version only in recent years. See: Wilhelm Hu¨bbe-Schleiden, Indisches Tagebuch (Go¨ttingen, 2009). Noteworthy is the fact, which tells much about the demand and popularity of the ﬁeld, that in Leipzig itself several more journals were published in those years, including the journal Psychische Studien, which included hundreds of pages on similar topics in each volume. 68. https://sbc.org.pl/dlibra/publication/88638/edition/83621. 69. Hillel Zeitlin, Bletlekh, p. 36. 160 Oz Bluman

70. Ibid., p. 36. 71. Hillel Zeitlin, Der-Sene (in Yiddish; Warsaw, 1920). 72. Simcha B. Urbach, Toldot Neshama, p. 113; Jonatan Meir, Rabbi Nahman, p. 22. 73. Hillel Zeitlin, Di-Teva (in Yiddish; Warsaw, 1924). 74. The title of the short book Silence and Voice: Thoughts, Admonitions,

Soul Bearing and Messianic Desire, paraphrased that of Blavatsky’s famous Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 book, The Voice of Silence, which was popular in early twentieth- century Europe. The vision of the “Hasidism of the Future” corre- sponds—along with similar visions of Christian revival mentioned above— with the multitude of articles and headlines about “The People of Tomorrow” and “The Future of Humanity.” The booklet Book of Individuals: Depth of the Hidden, Purity of Thought and Leadership Skills for Individual Souls Expecting Everlasting Salvation belongs to a whole genre of writing about “individuals,” “the isolated,” “observers,” which was popular around Zeitlin and amongst many similar spiritual movements. It is also possible that Zeitlin’s journal, Der-Sene (Moses’ bush) was a kind of response to the preoccupation with Egyptian mythology, theosophical and other esoteric movements and served as a kind of mirror to Die Sphinx journal, which was regularly adorned with an Egyptian Sphinx imprinted with the symbol of the Theosophical Movement—a cross and a Star of David. 75. Hillel Zeitlin, Davar laAmim (Warsaw, 1928), p. 4. 76. Ibid., pp. 7--9. 77. Ibid. 78. Catherine Wessinger, The Second Generation Leaders, pp. 34--40. This expectation was part of the attitude of the movement to the idea of evolution. See: Izabela Trzcinska, “Polish Interpretations of the Theosophical Concept of Evolution,” The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture, Vol. 13 (2015), pp. 173--90. 79. Hillel Zeitlin, “Tzu Ale di Wos Vilen Boyen Yavne” (For those who want to be ‘Yavne’), Der Moment, 28/9/1923; and 1/10/1923 (in Yiddish); Hillel Zeitlin, Di-Teva, pp. 1--2. 80. See, for example: Hillel Zeitlin, Myin Vort, pp. 1--4, (in Yiddish; Warsaw: 1924--1925); Di-Teva; Sifran shel Yehidim (For individual souls expecting world salvation in these years of Messiah’s Trace) (in Yiddish; Warsaw, 1928); Vos Ikh Hob Yets Tsu Zogen Dem Yudishen Folk (What do I have to say to the Jewish people) (in Yiddish; Warsaw: 1930); Der-Alef,Vols. 1--3 (in Yiddish; Warsaw, 1933--1934); and more. 81. Jonatan Meir, Rabbi Nahman, pp. 31--32. For various attempts to establish mystical societies in the 20th century, see: Smadar Cherlow, “Did Rabbi Harlap Try to Establish a Mystical Bunch for the Reduction of Redemption?,” Kabbalah, Vol. 15 (2007), pp. 233--70. For a similar reading of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, see: Daniel Reiser, “Historicism and/ or Phenomenology in the Study of Jewish Mysticism,” Modern Judaism,Vol. 36 (2016), pp. 67--82. 82. Mu¨ller and Zeitlin wrote about each other with appreciation, see: Jonatan Meir, Rabbi Nahman, p. 12; H. Zeitlin, “Vi Azoy Kon Men Hillel Zeitlin 161

Tzukumen Tzum Zohar?” (How to approach the Zohar?), Der Moment, 19/ 4/1932. 83. Boaz Huss, Qabbalah, p. 141. 84. Hillel Zeitlin, “MiShir Al-Mavet Ashr laHodim” (From the immortal song of the Indians), BaDerekh, 16/3/1934 (in Hebrew). A notice of the translation appears ﬁfteen years earlier, see: HaTzeﬁra, 6/2/1919, p. 38.

85. Getzel Selikovitch, Torat Budha (in Hebrew; New York, 1922). Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/mj/article/41/2/137/6248231 by guest on 27 September 2021 86. Hillel Zeitlin, Hoiche Derakhim. He eventually locates the difference between Judaism and Buddhism in the messianic foundation of Judaism. 87. “Hillel Zeitlin,” Yedi’ot Genazim, Vol. 5 (1973), p. 614. 88. Shlomo Shrebrek, Zikhronot (Memories) (in Hebrew; Tel Aviv, 1956), pp. 151--52. 89. Simcha B. Urbach, Hillel Zeitlin (in Hebrew; Tel Aviv, 1969), pp. 26--27.