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Dissertation BOSTON UNIVERSITY THE UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS Dissertation HASIDIC NONVIOLENCE: R. NOSON OF BRATZLAV'S HERMENEUTICS OF CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION by ARIEL BURGER B.A., Skidmore College, 1998 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosphy 2008 [copyright page, counted, (ii) not printed] ii [Reader’s Approval Page, counted (iii), not printed] iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Professor Elie Wiesel has been my teacher for over a decade. His profound integration of his Hasidic Jewish heritage with activism on behalf of oppressed communities the world over has been a source of inspiration for me, particularly in the crafting of this dissertation. His guidance, support and friendship have been invaluable gifts. The members of my committee, Professors Chris Schlauch, Stephen Esposito, and Hillel Levine offered multi-layered and interdisciplinary critiques and commentary on drafts, while extending a deeper sort of friendship and mentoring than that commonly found in academia. I wish to thank Rabbi Yitz Greenberg for his compelling theology and inspiring vision of pluralism, as well as for his unflagging support. The opportunity to study with him as a Limdu Heitev Fellow deepened my thinking about many important theological and social questions, including those addressed in the dissertation. My Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Natan Greenberg of the Bat Ayin Yeshiva, was the first to introduce me to R. Noson of Bratzlav and the Years of Oppression. He did so in order to teach a very immediate, practical lesson for dealing with contemporary sectarian crises in Israel, thus embodying an integrated approach to Bratzlav which has come to define my life, and which has so much to offer the world. Rabbi Charlie Buckholtz contributed hours of his time to thinking through issues of form and content. He is my hevruta, whose clarity, depth and humor help me to sound the depths of my own mysterious mind. Jennifer Hoberer read chapters and provided editing help. My father, David Burger, Christina Rathbone, Stewart Hirsch and Claudia Huang all read chapters and gave me critical, sensitive feedback. A close friend of Professor Wiesel provided a grant that allowed me to see the dissertation through to completion. The students in Professor Wiesel’s “Literature of Memory” courses, for which I served as Teaching Fellow for 5 years, as well as many students, colleagues and friends at Harvard Hillel, Facing History and Ourselves, Combined Jewish Philanthropy’s Ikkarim, raised questions and concerns regarding world literature, Jewish text and ethical questions, and these deepened my own. Rabbis Chaim Kramer and Ozer Bergman of the Breslov Research Institute answered questions from Israel, and in Uman. Channah Schafer; Professor Stephen, Madeline, and Rhiannon Esposito; and Lynn and Fred Basch all generously provided beautiful physical spaces in which to work without interruption. Rabbi Joseph and Raizel Polak offered insight and lunch at BU Hillel. Professor Nehemiah Polen guided my earliest studies of Hasidic sectarian conflict, and reminded me that “the blessing is in the text”. Rabbi Raz and Leah Hartman, Rabbi David and Janette Hillis-Jaffe, Daniel Yosef Epstein, Professor Benyamin Lichtenstein, Yoni Ellis, Michal and Michael Oshman, Avital iv Rech, Rabbi Dr. Meir and Anne Sendor and the Sharon community made a home for us, and continue to remind us what home truly means. The staff of the Sharon Public Library deserves special acknowledgment. My parents, Vivian and Matthew Lazar, David and Sasha Burger, my sister Yael Ditza Jessie Lauren Burger, Silkie, and my grandparents, Baba and Zeide, Nana and Papa, planted and tended the roots from which this project grew. Acharon acharon chaviv: to Sabrina and our children, Ness, Yaakov Shalom, Yoveli and Menachem. To paraphrase Rabbi Akiva, “What is mine, and what is yours, belongs to them.” v HASIDIC NONVIOLENCE: R. NOSON OF BRATZLAV'S HERMENEUTICS OF CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION (Order No. ) ARIEL BURGER Boston University, The University Professors, 2008 Professor Elie Wiesel, University Professor, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Philosophy and Religion ABSTRACT The dissertation presents an overlooked example of religious nonviolence, that of R. Noson Sternhartz of Bratzlav, a 19th century Hasidic thinker whose response to persecution by a rival Hasidic group was informed by classical Jewish tradition and historical antecedents, but was also radically innovative. The setting for the study is Ukraine in the years 1834-1838, a period referred to in Bratzlaver literature as the “Years of Oppression”, an oblique reference to the campaign of persecution led by a prominent Ukrainian Hasidic leader, R. Moshe Tzvi of Savran, against the Bratzlav community. The study examines R. Noson’s written oeuvre, particularly his Likutei Halachos and his letters from the period under consideration. Through the correlation of these and other texts, a clearer picture of the anti-Bratzlav campaign, and of R. Noson’s response, emerges. Analysis of R. Noson’s theological approaches and vi hermeneutic methods as they relate to his experiences as the leader of a persecuted community constitutes a central component of the dissertation. As a result of this analysis, a new approach to conflict resolution is identified, one which attempts to integrate mystical-theological approaches and social policy. Specific issues explored include R. Noson’s leadership model; the role of interpretation in the development of novel religious responses to suffering; and the creative use of human reactivity in the perpetuation of religious revival. This approach has implications for the field of Conflict Studies, which has begun to identify the need for the study of religious resources as they relate to conflict situations. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page i Copyright Page ii Reader’s Approval Page iii Acknowledgments iv Abstract vi Table of Contents viii Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study 1 Chapter 2: The Life and Quest of R. Noson of Bratzlav 18 Chapter 3: The Years of Oppression, 1834-1838 53 Chapter 4: The Hasidic Culture of Controversy 81 Chapter 5: R. Nachman’s Theology of Conflict 112 Chapter 6: R. Noson’s Nonviolent Response to Conflict 140 Chapter 7: R. Noson’s Educational Leadership 163 Chapter 8: R. Noson’s Interpretive Methods 201 Chapter 9: Hasidic Nonviolence 230 Epilogue 252 Appendix A: Selected Chronology 253 Selected Bibliography 256 viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY Between the years 1834 and 1838, the Hasidic thinker R. Noson of Bratzlav1 and his community of Bratzlaver Hasidim were the targets of a campaign of persecution by a prominent Hasidic leader, R. Moshe Tzvi of Savran. The purpose of this study is to examine the nonviolent response of R. Noson to that campaign. Jewish history is filled with instances of sectarian conflict; even in antiquity, groups with very different interpretations of Jewish traditions and texts asserted competing claims to be the authentic bearers of the covenant between God and Israel. The controversies engendered by such differences of perspective were bitter, often degenerating into outright hostility and violence. In the Hasidic milieu, as well, sectarian conflict was common; but the conflict which is the subject of this study devolved to an extent unique in Hasidic history. Bratzlav literature refers to this period as “The Years of Oppression”,2 and the intensity of the events was captured by a scholar of Hasidism, who wrote, “The persecution of the Bratzlaver Hasidim at 1 Bratzlavers generally do not refer to Noson of Bratzlav as “Rebbe Noson”, because he never claimed the title, preferring to lead his community as a disciple (see Chapter 2). I will use the abbreviated form, “R.” both for “Rebbe” in the case of Hasidic masters like R. Nachman, and for “Reb”, the more common honorific used for Hasidim, including R. Noson. 2 The Bratzlavers also referred to the events as “The Great Conflict [ha-machlokes ha-gadol]”. Because “Years of Oppression” is the term most commonly used in Bratzlav literature for the events described herein, I will make use of the term throughout the study. In order to avoid distracting the reader, I will do 1 the hands of the Savraners exceeded the worst persecutions of the Hasidim by their opponents in the previous century.”3 Through an examination of the events surrounding the Years of Oppression, I will demonstrate that R. Noson drew upon his particular texts, traditions and narratives to develop a model of spiritual resistance rooted in, and specific to, the pre-modern Hasidic culture in which he lived. I will show that by theological and interpretive means, R. Noson made creative use of those religious resources, and that it was precisely the specificity of his approach that gave it credibility with his community and was a prime factor behind its success. Here a definition of terms is in order. In order to clarify the use of “spiritual resistance” in the dissertation, it will be helpful to quote the author of a study of Hasidic resistance during the Holocaust. Although the context of his usage is radically different than that of the present study, Pesach Schindler’s definition of spiritual resistance provides us with the beginnings of a vocabulary which we can apply, in suitably altered form, to our own study. Spiritual resistance …refers to noncompliance with the various regulations and prohibitions aimed at destroying the religious and spiritual life of the Jew….[Its objective is] to preserve spiritual authenticity, thus
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