HASIDISM: Historical Overview 659
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the time, however, he suffered from ill 239–266; Hans Schleier, Geschichte der deuts- Besht’s circle of Hasidim and their disci- health, and though he moved to Vienna, chen Kulturgeschichtsschreibung (Waltrop, Ger., ples became charismatic leaders in he was too weak to dedicate himself fully 2003), vol. 1, pt. 2, pp. 879–892; Otto Wittner, numerous communities in the regions of to this position. With his wife and young Moritz Hartmanns Leben und Werke, 2 vols. Ukraine, Subcarpathian Rus’, and Belo- (Prague, 1906–1907). russia, attracting admirers and curious in- son, Ludo (later a well-known historian), —Wilma Iggers he was largely supported by Jewish phi- dividuals, particularly young Torah schol- lanthropists. Hartmann was distressed by ars unable to satisfy their spiritual needs the Prussian victory of 1866 and even HASIDISM by traditional methods of scholarship. more by the unification of Germany that [To treat the historical rise, beliefs, and prac- Poland experienced dramatic political was engineered by Bismarck in 1871. tices of the movement known as Hasidism, changes during the 1700s, culminating in Although Hartmann was the grandson this entry includes five articles. The first is a the last quarter of the century with that of the famous Prague rabbi El‘azar Fleck- historical overview that describes the devel- country’s partition among the surround- eles, and despite the fact that many of his opment of the movement and its geographic ing absolutist states; at the same time, the friends were Jews, he was alienated from expansion from the late eighteenth century autonomous Jewish community began his religion. It is said that at the age of 13 to the present. The second article surveys Ha- to weaken, making way for new sources he threw his tefillin into a field of grain sidic teachings and literature. It is followed of religious inspiration and authority. by the side of the road. In his youth, by a description of the distinctive features of Hasidism prospered and spread against he was one of a small group of German- everyday life among Hasidim and successive the background of the collapse of the old speaking literati, both Jewish and gentile, articles on music and dance in Hasidism. For social order, a collapse that saw the aboli- who idealized the Czech past and identi- further and related discussion, see also en- tion of the Council of Four Lands in fied with Czech culture. The question for tries on specific Hasdic dynasties and leaders; 1764; the loss of faith in traditional insti- him remained whether he was Czech or Misnagdim; Mysticism and Mystical Lit- tutions of community leadership, includ- German. It is not known if Hartmann erature; and Piety.] ing the rabbinate, which were increas- converted to Christianity. He was married ingly identified with the interests of the in a Christian church but was buried in Historical Overview Polish nobility; and many manifestations the Jewish cemetery in Vienna. Hasidism is a movement of religious re- of social and interclass tensions. These Hartmann’s writings included lyric and vival with a distinctive social profile. Orig- were further compounded by a religious– satirical poetry, novels, journalistic re- inating in the second quarter of the eigh- ethical crisis due to the remnants of ports, and lively descriptions of the regions teenth century, it has continued to exist Sabbatian messianism and Frankism, as and inhabitants he visited, most notably without interruption up to the present well as the weakened position of the rab- expressed in his Tagebuch aus Languedoc day. Its ideological and historical origins bis, many of whom were suspected of ow- und Provence (Diary from Languedoc and are generally associated with the figure ing their posts largely to their wealth and Provence; 1858). The volume Kelch und and unique teachings of Yisra’el ben contacts with authorities. Schwert (Chalice and Sword) glorifies the Eli‘ezer (1698/1700–1760), known as the Despite attempts by Misnagdim (oppo- Hussites and expresses regret over their Ba‘al Shem Tov (Master of the Good nents) to vilify Hasidism and describe its downfall. Published in Leipzig in 1845, it Name; abbreviated Besht), his self-aware- leaders as ignorant and corrupt, most or- was banned in Austria. ness as a leader of his people, and his ac- dinary people rejected these charges and The brilliant satire Reimchronik des tivities as the purveyor of a new reli- considered Hasidic leaders, the tsadikim Pfaffen Mauritius (Rhymed Chronicle of gious message. The emergence and rapid (lit., “righteous ones”), to be superior spir- the Priest Mauritius)—Mauritius being expansion of Hasidism, coupled with the itual figures. The weakening of the au- the Latin form of Hartmann’s own first feelings of identification it continues to thority of communal institutions pro- name—was published anonymously in arouse, have helped it to withstand per- vided an opportunity for the leaders of 1849; it deals with the failure of the sistent opposition and become a central Hasidism, thanks to their personal pres- Frankfurt parliament and that of the phenomenon of Jewish history in the tige and moral position. While originally Hungarian revolution. Bruchstücke revo- modern era—one of the most prominent they had intended not to replace the old lutionärer Erinnerungen (Fragments of Rev- features in the religious, social, and expe- institutions but only to reinforce and be- olutionary Memories), concerned with the riential world of East European Jewry. come part of them, they essentially ap- 1848 revolution, appeared in 1861. Hart- The beginnings of Hasidism may be propriated powers that had previously mann also used his fictional works to traced to spontaneously formed, elitist been held by the community. highlight the fight for freedom from po- groups of Torah scholars and kabbalists in Beginning in the late eighteenth cen- litical oppression and economic injustice; the southeastern region of the Polish– tury, Hasidism experienced processes of for example, his Erzählungen eines Unsteten Lithuanian Commonwealth, particularly transformation and institutionalization (Tales of a Restless Man; 1858) concerns in the province of Podolia. In the genera- that changed its historical character. As it the fates of refugees and exiles. He also tion following the death of the Besht, his penetrated all corners of Eastern Europe wrote lyric poetry in the tradition of the admirers called themselves Hasidim (Heb., and split into numerous subdivisions, it Austrian poet Nikolaus Lenau. more properly Ôasidim)—a highly charged grew into a popular movement that ap- term applied previously to individuals pealed to the masses and not only to the • Hillel J. Kieval, Languages of Community: The Jewish Experience in the Czech Lands (Berkeley, recognized in the community as excep- elite. It garnered supporters in all classes 2000), pp. 65–94; Margarita Pazi, “Der Reim- tionally pious or as kabbalists, who were of traditional society, whatever their edu- chronist des Frankfurter Parlaments,” Jahrbuch as such allowed to adopt certain distinc- cation or socioeconomic positions. Each S des Instituts für deutsche Geschichte 3 (1973): tive ritual practices. Members of the such group was headed by a tsadik (also R L HASIDISM: Historical Overview 659 MS3 known as rebbe or admor [Hebrew acro- main groups comprising ultra-Orthodox bred by a popular ethos that was reflected nym for “our master, our teacher, and our society: Hasidim and Misnagdim or, as in a literature of customs, ethics, and rabbi”]), who represented a new type of the latter are often called today, Litvaks homiletics, profoundly shaped by kabba- religious leadership. They enjoyed a sta- (Heb., Lita’im; Lithuanians). listic ideas. tus, prestige, and authority different from Since the first quarter of the nineteenth The social and ideological substrata those of the rabbis or elders who had century, hostility has given way to coexis- from which the leaders of both Hasidism been the traditional leaders of the com- tence. Nonetheless, Hasidism soon found and its opposition emerged were circles of munity. The tsadik was not formally ap- itself facing a new, far more determined pietists and kabbalists known as Hasidim. pointed or elected to his post; nor was he and sophisticated enemy—the Haskalah. They were active in the southeastern dis- expected to prove his mettle in Torah The clash between Hasidim and maskilim tricts of Poland (now Ukraine) as individ- scholarship. He was accepted as leader by (followers of the Haskalah or Jewish En- uals and as Õavurot (Heb., groups), but his followers (including those not living lightenment) was not just a dispute be- they lacked unifying links. They operated in his own community) by virtue of his tween different groups in Jewish society in a variety of ways. Some individuals, re- charismatic personality or spiritual emi- over the correct way to worship God. Nor puted to be privy to the “holy spirit,” de- nence, and, from the nineteenth century, was it motivated by competition over voted themselves to religious and mysti- by dint of his descent from a dynasty economic interests and positions of influ- cal activities of an ascetic, reclusive nature; of previous tsadikim. Membership in a ence. It also represented a peak in the ba- others studied Torah and Kabbalah, en- Hasidic community was voluntary and sic tension that has characterized Jewish gaging in prayer and religious observance informal, depending on experience; one history throughout the modern era: this with an emphasis on such values as ec- joined