Digging the Well Deep (Zevic Mishor Doctoral Thesis)
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Errata Notice (for Doctoral Thesis) Digging the Well Deep: The Jewish “Ultra-Orthodox” Relationship with the Divine Explored through the Lifeworld of the Breslov Chasidic Community in Safed Author of Notice: Dr Zevic Mishor Date of Notice submission: 2nd May 2019 Errata: With the aid of Heaven") to top') בס"ד Title page: Add Hebrew acronym right-hand corner, as per standard practice in the Jewish tradition for written material. Page ix (Table of Photographs): Amend Figure 6 entry to: “The Breslov Magen Avot boys school in Safed” Page 86: Amend Figure 6 caption to “The Breslov Magen Avot boys school in Safed” Page 287: Add thesis closing quotation in Hebrew: ״...כי הכל הבל – לבד הנשמה הטהורה, שהיא עתידה לתן דין וחשבון לפני כסא כבודך״ (ברכות השחר) [English translation: “… for all is vain – except for the pure soul that is destined to give justification and reckoning before the throne of Your glory” (Morning blessings)] Digging the Well Deep The Jewish “Ultra-Orthodox” Relationship with the Divine Explored through the Lifeworld of the Breslov Chasidic Community in Safed A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology) at The University of Sydney by Zevic Mishor October 2016 Supervisor: Professor Jadran Mimica ii Abstract The Jewish Charedi (“ultra-orthodox”) community is an example of a contemporary social group whose lifeworld is dictated almost entirely by the tenets of its religious beliefs. This thesis seeks to illuminate the physical, psychological, social and metaphysical structures of that Charedi world, using the Breslov Chasidic community in the town of Safed, northern Israel, as its ethnographic anchor. Following an introductory theoretical background to Judaism, Kabbalah, the Chasidic movement, and the Breslov group, a descriptive account is given of the Breslov lifeworld across many of its facets, including demographics, dress, prayer and study practices, the venerated position of the head Rabbi of the community, various religious practices, connection to and meditation in nature, attitudes towards non-Jews, pilgrimage, and the use of psychoactive drugs. This ethnographic material forms the basis for subsequent deeper analyses. The Charedi aspiration towards “zero degrees of freedom”, in terms of that society’s extreme application of the myriad prescriptions and proscriptions of Halakhic Law, is discussed, as well as Charedi society’s emphasis on constituting its own identity through what it is not; namely the “goyim” (non-Jews) and non-religious Jews. The parallels between Judaism and the anthropological category of shamanism are considered, with the argument made that much of the Jewish tradition is essentially shamanic, yet that this aspect of the religion has been relegated to a relatively minor position in the contemporary Jewish religious (including Charedi) milieu. A functional analysis is then given regarding certain Jewish practices, demonstrating that Judaism contains within it sophisticated mechanisms, acting in affective, cognitive and social domains, to ensure replication of the religion—and specifically its core “template”, the Torah—from generation to generation. This analysis is followed by an exploration of the phenomenology of the religious experience and the Torah lifeworld, seeking to penetrate and document the experience of “being Breslov”. The final chapter ties all of the previous material together, presenting several psychoanalytic perspectives on the Charedi phenomenon. iii iv Towards the end of a long and personally challenging and intense chapter of my life, I would like to express my gratitude to several people. First and foremost, to my supervisor Professor Jadran Mimica—thank you for your trust and support, for sharing your tremendous and inspiring knowledge, and for your warm friendship. You gave me free rein to do as I wished and to truly express myself, and that is a priceless gift. I could ask for no better supervisor nor friend. To Rabbi Jorai Kopas—you introduced me to a new path, with all its light, wonderment, challenges and suffering along the way. Thank you for teaching me, and for sharing your deep and unique knowledge. To my family in Israel, not least of all the Yanivim—your love and support for this endeavour were so very important to me, and they warmed and continue to warm my heart, always. Leo and Zsófie—my friends who are as family to me, thank you for your support throughout, and for sharing your home when I needed one most. Tim Bakas—you’re a wonderful friend and a rock, who’s been there for the pointy end of this journey for me. Thank you brother. And all the best on the last part of your own journey! My gratitude and admiration to Dr. Sebastian Job, for opening my eyes to the breadth of the Western intellectual tradition, showing me each time how simple my thinking could be, and affording me glimpses of grander metaphysical vistas beyond. Evan Yisrael Strauss—you inspired and continue to inspire me, reminded me constantly that the rainbow contains many colours, and you kept me sane in Tzfat. Thank you for being a shining example and a true friend. Efi Lipshutz—you became a friend and brother to me and made my year of fieldwork so much richer and fuller than it could ever have been without you. With all my heart, toda! And finally and importantly, to the people of the Breslov community in Safed—thank you for your openness, warm friendships, and willingness to share. You are the backbone upon which this thesis relied, and without you, of course, it would not have been possible. In the course of my writing I have endeavoured to remain respectful yet honest; if there are passages that affront, they were written in the only spirit that should rightfully be accepted as valid—that of a sincere seeking after Truth. I also acknowledge with gratitude the following scholarships that made my fieldwork and thesis-writing possible: the Australian Postgraduate Award, the Carlyle Greenwell Bequest Postgraduate Research Fund, and the University of Sydney Doctoral Travel Grant Scheme. The cover-image is a photograph taken by the author at the ancient Jewish cemetery of Safed, located on the border between the city and the forested hills beyond. See Part V. “Conclusion” for an explanation regarding the origins of the title of this thesis. v vi Table of Contents ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................................................... III TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................................. VII TABLE OF PHOTOGRAPHS ......................................................................................................................................... IX A NOTE ON ORTHOGRAPHY, STYLISTIC CONVENTIONS AND REFERENCING ...................................... XI I. PROJECT PRELIMINARIES ........................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 PROJECT CONCEPTION: A PERSONAL JOURNEY ........................................................................................................... 5 1.3 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................................................ 9 II. BACKGROUND: JUDAISM, KABBALAH, AND THE CHASIDIC MOVEMENT .......................................... 17 2.1 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE JEWISH WORLDVIEW .................................................................................................. 17 2.2 THE ESOTERIC JEWISH TRADITION: KABBALAH ........................................................................................................ 23 2.3 THE RISE OF THE CHASIDIC MOVEMENT IN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY EUROPE ........................................................... 29 2.4 THE BRESLOV CHASIDIC GROUP AND SAFED ............................................................................................................ 35 III. ETHNOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................................................... 41 3.1 DEMOGRAPHICS, LIVELIHOOD AND FAMILY LIFE ...................................................................................................... 41 3.2 DRESS ......................................................................................................................................................................... 49 3.3 SYNAGOGUE, KOLEL AND STATE—PRAYER, LEARNING AND CONTROVERSY .......................................................... 57 3.4 “THE RAV”—THE FIGUREHEAD OF THE COMMUNITY ............................................................................................... 79 3.5 SHABBAT .................................................................................................................................................................... 89 3.6 GENERAL RELIGIOUS PRACTICES—FESTIVALS, LIFE EVENTS, AND OTHER ............................................................. 97 3.7 “FORESTS, MOUNTAINS AND FINDING G-D”—THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND HITBODEDUT ......................... 107 3.8 THE “CHOSEN PEOPLE” AND THE GOYIM—ATTITUDES TOWARDS NON-JEWS ......................................................