TSADDIQ

TSADDIQ . The Hasidic tsaddiq (righteous one), also called rebbe (teacher) or admor (acronym for "master, teacher, and guide"), is the spiritual leader of a Jewish community, to whom members look for guidance in both spiritual and mundane matters. Throughout history, with a few exceptions, the overwhelming majority of Hasidic tsaddiqim (plural for tsaddiq ) have been male. The tsaddiq is the officially designated intercessor to God (shaliah tsibur ) whose prayers on behalf of the community or the individual, while not absolving them of their religious responsibility to address only God in prayer, are considered to be more efficacious than their own, due to his perceived close intimacy with—and influence on—divine providence. He prays with his community and often presides over sacred meals with them, where his followers observe his holy comportment and participate in his charisma, expressed in both communal song and verbal teaching. The source of his charisma is said to be his having transformed his material being into spiritual form and sacred presence. His teachings often take on two forms: (1) exoteric explanations of biblical or rabbinic lore, said with his eyes open; and (2) esoteric teachings on the soul or on other mystical matters, which he says with his eyes closed, often in trance.

Biblical and Rabbinic Doctrines

The Hasidic use of the term tsaddiq —the righteous one—has deep roots in biblical and classic rabbinic literature, and was further informed by qabbalistic and late-medieval ethical treatises. Some of these sources shall be illustrated here.

In biblical writings, the term tsaddiq was used to designate both the divine nature—righteousness—and the one who carries out God's will. Given the biblical mythos that regards the human being as created in the divine image, the term represents the human ideal. The tsaddiq is one who has chosen to be an instrument of the divine nature and will. Attaining charisma thereby, he or she employs it for sacred purposes.

The persona of the tsaddiq, as reflected in the teachings of the rabbinic period (second century bce—fifth century ce) often suggests the functions of one who in biblical times was described by the word navi (prophet). The rabbis state that a tsaddiq transforms divine wrath into divine compassion: God issues a heavenly decree, and the tsaddiq may annul it (Midrash Genesis Rabba 33:3). The divine presence (shekhinah ) is said to be the tsaddiq 's constant companion.

The rabbis appraised the deeds of the tsaddiqim as being even more valuable than the creation of heaven and earth; for the latter are the product of divine justice, whereas the tsaddiqim add kindness to the creation (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot fol. 5a). The tsaddiq is sometimes also called a Hasid —one who acts with kindness towards God and creation, beyond the obligations of the law; upon acquiring both wisdom and humility. The rabbis detested the ignorant Hasid, whom they regarded as a public nuisance. (The term Hasid, meaning "follower of a particular Hasidic rebbe," has no textual witness before the 1850s.) In classical Midrash, the biblical Joseph was given the appellation tsaddiq, and refraining from sexual impropriety was regarded as the tsaddiq 's hallmark.

In Babylonian Talmud Yoma there are esoteric statements such as: "the entire world was created for the sake of one tsaddiq "(fol. 38b)—where either or both God and the righteous individual are indicated; or "The tsaddiq is a foundation upon whom the entire world stands"(fol. 38b)—a source for the idea of the Hasidic tsaddiq as axis mundi (Green, 1977). The rabbis state that prior to creation, God's "first thought" was the creation of tsaddiqim, and that their primordial presence was "consulted" in the creation of the human being (Midrash Genesis Rabbah 8:7). The tsaddiq functions as the conduit through whom divinity pours blessings and liberation into creation; and it is stated that due to the merit of tsidqaniyot (female tsaddiqim ), Israel was delivered from the bondage of Egypt (Babylonian Torah Sotah fol. 11b). In the Qabbalah of the sefirot, which hypostasized the divine attributes, Joseph represents the archetype of the tsaddiq —the procreative power.

The sages declare that male and female tsaddiqim are exempted from the curses of Adam and Eve—meaningless toil and the pain of childbirth (Babylonian Torah Sotah fol. 12a). In this Edenic vein another rabbinic teaching that plays an especially important role in qabbalistic and Hasidic thought pronounces that: "By the light that was created on the first day, one could simultaneously gaze from one end of the world to the other. God, having observed that it could be abused by the wicked, hid this light and vouchsafed it for the tsaddiqim in 'the future time'"(Babylonian Torah Hagiga fol. 12a).

It is within the potential of every human being, regardless of national affiliation, to be a tsaddiq. As for the minimal qualification of the title tsaddiq, the rabbis state that a tsaddiq is one who has chosen, more often than not, to function as a divine instrument: doing more good than evil, and attempting to establish a conscience-driven rapport with the divine presence (Babylonian Torah Qidushin fol. 40b).

Yet, even the greatest tsaddiqim —even the angels—are not perfectly free of fault. King David was accorded the role of the repentant tsaddiq who defeated his evil inclination by practicing austerities although the ascetic ideal was not universally embraced by the rabbis. According to some rabbis, human beings—endowed with freedom of choice—are more precious to God than the angels, who were expressly created to suit their particular functions (Babylonian Torah Sanhedrin fol. 93a). The principal inner voice of the human tsaddiq is the inclination to the good, construed as an angel nurtured by the tsaddiq' s good deeds, and the impetus that sustains the tsaddiq is faith in divine righteousness. All of these form the ideal of the Hasidic tsaddiq.

Qabbalah and Hasidism

Regarding the "light of the first day" in qabbalistic literature, we find a difference of opinion as to the meaning of "the future time" when it is stored away for the tsaddiqim. According to the Sefer haBahir, one of the earliest works of the Qabbalah (anon., twelfth century ce?), members of the Provence and Gerona schools of Qabbalah (1180–1230), the authoritative Sefer haZohar (anon., late thirteenth century), and the Sefer haTemunah (anon., early fourteenth century); this light is available to tsaddiqim during their earthly lifetime, by means of Torah study and contemplative prayer. Through uniting with the light, the tsaddiq theurgically and devotionally draws blessings to the entire creation. But according to the more conservative Maʾarekhet haElohut and the introductory qabbalistic treatise Gates of Light by R. Joseph Gikatilla (both are late thirteenth century), as well as the Sefer haPeliah (early fourteenth century?) "the future time" refers to the after-death state. In the sixteenth century, R. Moshe Cordovero (1522–1570) and R. Isaac Luria (1534–1572), both of whom greatly influenced Hasidic thought, accepted the view of the Zohar. In early Hasidic teaching, this light was said to inhere in the sacredness of the letters of the Torah—through which the world itself was created. These holy letters are themselves a central object of contemplation. The famous Epistle of the Besht indicates that the Messiah revealed to R. Israel Baal Shem Tov (henceforth, Besht, an acronym for Baal Shem Tov; 1700?–1760), the founder of the Hasidic movement, that each letter contains aspects of the outer world the realm of the soul, and the divine realm, which all unite within divinity. Practice in this form of contemplative-union was said to have afforded the Besht ("Master of the Good Name") clairvoyant vision.

This qabbalistic difference of opinion is similar to one found in medieval Jewish philosophy that deals with the possibility of conjunction—or devequt —during one's lifetime with the active (or agent) intellect, which is regarded as divinely emanated. This devequt union results from human awareness transcending the physical body, focusing on the divine presence within the human mind. Formulae to this effect are found in the explanations to the yihudim (unifications)—practices promulgated by the sixteenth-century Qabbalah of R. Isaac Luria, whereby the tsaddiqim unify their own conscious presence with the divine attributes, and raise them to higher levels, thereby drawing bounty from more sublime levels within the divine source for the sake of tiqun —the repair of the divine-human interface. Lurianic Qabbalah stipulates eight basic levels of theurgic union that provide sustenance, increase, renewal, or innovation, on the spiritual and/or material planes. During the millenia of the exile, nearly all unifications that occur are, in effect, the tsaddiqim uniting with the shekhinah —as it were, embodying the place of God—by uniting the divine primordial union with the temporal state. During the Temple period (first Temple, c. ninth century bce to late fifth century bce; second Temple, fourth century bce to 70 ce) and in the Messianic era (yet to occur), we read that it is God who directly enacts this union.

Levels of Tsaddiqim

Hasidism, following the Zohar and Lurianic Qabbalah, divided the soul into five levels: (1) nefesh, the animating soul of the material plane; (2) ruah, the emotive spirit; (3) neshamah, the consciousness soul; (4) hayah, the emanated wisdom-soul of divine Imminence; and (5) yehida, transcendent unity.

These soul levels correlate with four worlds and their defining sefirot (divine attributes) as follows:

1. nefesh = action-sovereignty;
2. ruah = formation-harmony;
3. neshamah = creation-understanding;
4. hayah = emanation-wisdom; and
5. yehida = crown of emanation = primordial Adam = unity within the absolute infinite. Each level contains all five, within its own context.

Whereas emanation is understood and experienced as a seamless divine dialectical unity, creation represents the unfolding of the individual's participation in this dialectic process. Formation represents the emotional contours of this participation, and action, righteous effectuation. Given that all souls were originally within Adam, this schema was understood as forming a collective, living, human-form organism.

The potential of the human being as such, whether male or female, is likened to all five levels, as explicated in the Lurianic corpus. One who purifies all five levels of the nefesh attains to periodic transcendent unification with the aspect of sovereignty-in-emanation. This level constantly descends into the world of creation and needs to be raised to emanation by the tsaddiq, who has also descended. This is also the case with one who is in the process of purifying the fourth level of thenefesh. These two constitute the levels of most tsaddiqim. If one succeeds in purifying all five levels of the ruah, one would be in constant communion with the Ruah haQodesh, the Holy Spirit, and would abide—as active or passive—in the world of emanation, even when in descent to the "lower worlds," and would no longer be subject to jealousy and competitiveness. This is perhaps the qabbalistic analog to the conceptions of the tsaddiq developed by R. Nahman of Bratslav (1772–1810), a great-grandson of the Besht, and by the founder of Habad Hasidism, R. Shneur Zalman of Lyadi (1745?–1814). The archetypal image of tsaddiqim mentioned in the Bible has them working on the five aspects of the neshamah. The biblical forefathers, for example, were regarded as the "Divine Chariot"—the instruments of the emanated divine attributes: kindness, judgment, and harmonizing compassion—uniting the second and the third levels of the cosmic neshamah. Moses was said to have attained the union of its third and fourth levels and received, as a gift from God, the emanated light of the fifth level. According to the Zoharic-Lurianic Qabbalah, Moses incarnates in every generation, and is potentially present in all Israelite and convert-souls. Upon completion of the tiqun of the fifth level of the neshamah, he will be in constant union with the unchanging compassion of the yehidah, and will manifest as the Messiah.

Luria states that tsaddiqim who during the course of their lifetime have always striven to "unite the part with the whole" are constant companions of the divine presence (shekhinah ) and are themselves present in spirit whenever anyone enacts a yihud. Furthermore, these tsaddiqim may "impregnate" with their own souls the soul of one who contemplates in this way (striving to unify the part with the whole), thereby aiding the person's spiritual development. According to the Lurianic explanation of the Zohar, higher-level tsaddiqim are able to voluntarily reincarnate, and they do so for the sake of furthering the cosmic tiqun. With this background it is easier to understand the insistence of R. Yaakov Yosef of Polnoya (died c. 1782), the chief spokesman of the doctrine of the tsaddiq as expounded by the Besht, that for the untutored laity as well as for the lesser tsaddiq to experience devequt with God, he or she must be aligned with the tsaddiqim.

In every generation a soul-spark of the Messiah is sent to incarnate, to redeem the generation that shows itself worthy; or, if there are worthy tsaddiqim in the generation, to illuminate them. By means of messianic consciousness, all the holy potential in human beings will be realized, and numerous texts of early Hasidic teaching (1750–1825) suggest that even the wicked will be transformed and released from hell. This transformative work, according to the Zohar and Lurianism, is performed by tsaddiqim in the present (both in this life and in the hereafter), rescuing the souls of those people who are associated with their own Adamic roots.

This work is the source of the Hasidic doctrine of "the descent of the tsaddiq," who must periodically leave exalted states of divine union in order to raise up those for whom they are responsible. Lower-level tsaddiqim leave involuntarily, and may even temporarily fall. For higher-level tsaddiqim who have cultivated equanimity (as taught by the Besht and his disciples), in the words of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizansk (1716?–1787), "oyven-hinten, hinten-oyven " ("below [integrated with] above, and above [with] below") (Or Elimelekh, p. 98, number 148). And as said by Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz (1726–1791), a companion of the Besht : "great tsaddiqim love the exceedingly wicked, and lesser tsaddiqim love the less wicked" (Imrei Pinchas haShalem vol. 1, p. 474, number 72). Elimelech and his disciples also stressed the practice of union with all the tsaddiqim. Since the appearance of the pioneering work of Mendel Piekarz (1978), scholars no longer believe that these aspects of Hasidic spirituality were influenced by the Sabbatean false-messiah movement (c. 1666). The anti-Hasidic mitnagdic (opponent [to Hasidism]) theology of Rabbi Elijah of Vilna (1720–1797) concurs with the conception of the tsaddiq in all of the above, and differs from the early Hasidic model on the public aspect of the intercessory role of the tsaddiq and on the breakdown of elitist stratification in the community. Indeed, the Hasidic "social revolution" and its displacement of previous rabbinic and communal forms became possible only as a result of the complete breakdown of centralized Jewish authority (and its well-established universal educational system) in Poland and Lithuania due to the continuing upheavals in the kingdom of Poland between the years 1648 and 1772 which resulted in a smaller and weakened state. In addition, the aforementioned failed popular messianic movement resulted in the near-interdiction of qabbalistic literature, which became the preserve of the elite, who were perceived as having coldly distanced themselves from the greater, largely uneducated, community. These two events seemed to have engendered a novel construal of social solidarity and a replacement of authority.

Models of Hasidic Leadership: A Brief History of the Tsaddiq in Hasidism

Defining the archetype of Moses as leader of his people was central to the formulation of the ideal tsaddiq in the teachings of the Besht, who described such a tsaddiq as encompassing all and uniting with all, from the pharoah to the sage. The tsaddiq 's sense of responsibility is mirror-like; all facets of the world, both wicked and holy, become located in tsaddiqim, through recognition of their subtle forms within themselves. This causes them to repent, and opens the way for the wicked to repent as well. When they discern that heavenly inspiration is offered, they give honest and loving rebuke, being present within the dialectic of humility and innate worth, and realizing that the rebuke applies to themselves as well. Deriving from the qabbalistic procreative metaphor of the tsaddiq, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoya regarded the desire, enthusiasm, and pleasure that a person has in performing the good as the expression of the attribute of the tsaddiq within the individual.

In early Hasidic applications of these teachings to petitionary prayer, the Besht and his successor, the magid (preacher) of Mezritch (1710?–1772) had always stressed the importance of the needs of the shekhinah as being the foremost of the tsaddiq' s concerns; the Besht, making allowance for personal petition when one's sincerity would be compromised by pretense. They counseled the tsaddiqim to observe their needs, and by applying qabbalistic tools of symbolic analogy, to discern the spiritual needs of the shekhinah. The magid, being of an ascetic bent, and having accepted the leadership of what was fast becoming a religious movement that was attracting the cream of the young spiritually and intellectually gifted, placed his entire stress on the needs of the divine presence. This emphasis was passed on to Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyadi, who asked his followers not to trouble him with personal petitions.

The magid, acting as the Hasidic movement's advocate, distinguished between two types of tsaddiqim, based on Psalm 92:12: "The tsaddiq shall blossom like a palm; like a cedar of Lebanon shall he rise high." The solitary tsaddiq, who may rise high as "a perfect tsaddiq," produces no fruit. But the one who causes others to flourish, raising the lower elements outside himself, although he may not rise "as high" as the cedar, will blossom with new fruit. It is interesting to note that this distinction is not found in the teachings of the Besht as recorded by Rabbi Yaakov Yosef and other disciples. This fact seems to conform to the view of scholars as of the 1980s that Hasidism cannot be construed as a movement prior to the succession of the magid.

Indeed, the recruitment efforts of the magid' s disciples enabled them to become the next generation's elite rabbinic authorities in most of the Ukraine and part of Poland (1772–1800), no doubt facilitated by the final division of Poland in 1772 and the vacuum in Jewish centralized authority. The socioreligious change that Hasidic ideology advocated in the teachings of the Besht, as recorded by Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, called for "men of form" to spiritually transform the "people of matter." This is in keeping with a narrative in the aforementioned Epistle of the Besht, which contains an exchange between the Besht and the Messiah. The Besht asked: "when will the Master (Messiah) come?" The Messiah answered: "when your teachings will be so well-publicized and revealed in the world … that they too will be able to enact unifications (yihudim ) and soul-ascents as you do. Then the cosmic obscurations will come to an end and the time of divine favor and salvation will be upon us." Whereas the Besht was distressed by this answer, his numerous teachings instructing the would-be tsaddiq in the ways of humility and the acceptance of mutual social responsibility reflect acceptance of the messianic challenge, albeit with the understanding that it is a slow process. Indeed, this messianic ideal is in keeping with Moses' aspiration (Num. 11:29) that "the entire People of God be prophets."

It is this ambivalence that led to differences of opinion among scholars as to whether early Hasidism was messianic, or represented a neutralization of acute messianism. In addition, we find statements from the Besht regarding the messianic spark inherent in all who serve God, and the proviso that one must pray for personal redemption before one can pray for cosmic redemption. We also find anecdotal testimony regarding at least two Hasidic masters who realized this spark within themselves, while renouncing pretensions of public messianic identity: Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk (1730–1788), a senior disciple of the magid who guided Rabbi Shneur Zalman after the magid' s demise, before emigrating to the Holy Land in 1777; and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rymanov (d. 1815).

The Third Generation and the Nineteenth Century

Rabbi Elimelech of Lyzansk was an elder disciple of the magid who came to him after having already developed into a fairly accomplished tsaddiq. He is credited with the formulation of a new Hasidic model—"Practical Tsaddiqism." His understanding of the exigencies of the time empowered the Hasidic tsaddiq to directly intercede on behalf of the material needs of the Jews. This was acknowledged by Rabbi Ephraim of Sudlykov (1740–1800), a grandson and respected disciple of the Besht, as legitimate, even as he stated that it represents a change from previously accepted emphasis on the needs of the shekhinah.

The chief disciple of Rabbi Elimelech was Rabbi Jacob Isaac Hurwitz (1745–1815), the "Seer of Lublin," whose disciples (1795–1870) became the rabbinic leaders of Poland and Galicia and even penetrated into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Hurwitz was allowed to function as a public tsaddiq during the lifetime of Elimelech. The Seer's school produced great practitioners of Lurianic theurgy, and further applied its practices to petitionary prayer. The rationale given for this was the conviction that with fewer material concerns, the laity would better apply themselves to spiritual pursuits. This gave rise to anti-acute-messianism and informed a proto-anti-Zionist ideology. Rabbi Tsvi Elimelech of Dynov (1783–1841), a disciple of the Seer, asserted in the name of the Besht that it is easier to attain the level of Ruakh haQodesh (inspiration of the Holy Spirit) in exile than in the Holy Land, where the standards are more demanding. His descendants, the rebbes of Munkacs, were among the foremost anti-Zionist Hasidic leaders in the pre–World War II period.

Returning to the theme of the Lurianic "cosmic organism" with its levels and shortcuts, the early Hasidim claimed that the tsaddiq can raise up some people only by eating or engaging in other mundane matters in a mode of holy intention, whereas others had to be elevated through the tsaddiq 's direct engagement in sacred matters. One of the contemplative innovations of the Besht involves the "raising up" of improper, distracted thought by recognizing the holy essence-nature of the thought: physical desire is rooted in kindness, anger and its effects are rooted in judgement, and pride is rooted in harmonious beauty. By subduing the evil impulse in these negative manifestations and recognizing their specific nature in holiness, the tsaddiq "sweetens them at their roots." Rabbi Yaakov Yosef quotes the Besht as saying that one who doesn't believe that divinity inheres in everything, and who doesn't believe that an untoward thought during prayer contains a holy spark sent to the person by divine providence so as to find redemption, shows a lack of faith. Some of the disciples of the magid held that thought-transformation practices were reserved only for the elite, whereas some tsaddiqim from the school of the Seer of Lublin—notably, the great Hasidic qabbalist Rabbi Isaac of Komarno (1806–1876)—advocated them for anyone who can maintain honesty in the course of these practices.

There is an early Habad tradition (which traces its provenance to the Besht) that states that whereas in earlier times, souls were incarnated within a stratified rubric (peasants possessing souls from the world of action, business people possessing souls from the world of formation, and scholars possessing souls from the world of creation), as of the advent of the Besht, which constitutes the "footsteps of the Messiah," the souls that enter the world contain sparks from all worlds. Thus, at one moment, one can be engaged in a sublime religious experience, and at the next, one can find oneself in totally different inner circumstances. For this reason the Besht counseled against self-satisfaction—the surest way to forsake the sacred path. Yet, Habad reserved thought-transformation practices for tsaddiqim. On the other hand, there is an oral tradition from the fifth Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Dov-Ber (1860–1920), who recommended that each of his followers spend at least fifteen minutes a day cultivating the persona of the tsaddiq, observing all things as rooted in primordial Adam.

Internal Dissent; Exceptional Women; External Opposition; Decline and Accommodation

The Hasidism of Preshischa, formulated at the beginning of the nineteenth century by disciples of the Seer of Lublin as a breakaway reform of Hasidism, attempted to purify Hasidism from an ethos of the vain petitionary seeking of the miraculous. Instead. it stressed the values of inner truth and the study of the law, and demurred from the study of Qabbalah. This movement conquered Poland for the Hasidism of Kotzk, Gur, Aleksander, Biala, Amshinov-Worka, and Izbica-Radzin. During the first three generations, it upheld its antipetitionary position. There was mutual criticism between the schools of Lublin and Preshischa. The great magid of Kozienice, Rabbi Israel Hopstein (1733–1815), a prolific writer of qabbalistic works and close friend of both the Seer and Rabbi Simha Bunim of Preshischa (1765–1827), attempted to act as a bridge between them.

His daughter, Perele (d. 1849?) observed many of the biblical commandments ordained specifically for men, and was recognized as a tsadeqet by Rabbi Elimelech of Lyzansk, who, together with her father, urged his followers to visit her with their prayer petitions. The Rebbe's Daughter: Memoir of a Hasidic Childhood (2002), a memoir by Malka Shapira, a descendent of the magid of Kozienice, sheds light on the elevated status of women in this branch of Hasidism. Harry M. Rabinowicz, a scholar of the Hasidim in the late twentieth century, profiled more than ten women who made their mark in the nineteenth-century Hasidic world, including one who was not born into a family of Hasidic rebbes. Rabbi Hannah Rachel Werbmacher (1805–1892), an exceptional self-taught tsadeqet known as the "Maid of Ludmir," acted as a full-fledged Hasidic rebbe, receiving prayer petitions and delivering Torah sermons in public from a cordoned-off room. Since the late 1980s there has developed a controversy among scholars of Hasidism as to the correct assessment of these phenomena. Certainly, there is much research yet to be done in this field.

As of the 1870s, the elite of Preshischa renewed their interest in Qabbalah, including the works of Rabbi Isaac of Komarno, an opponent to the Preshischa path. Particularly good examples of such integration can be found in numerous works of Rabbi Tsaddoq haKohen of Lublin (1823–1900), a disciple of Rabbi Mordehai Joseph of Izbica (1788?–1854) who often placed his teacher's and his own deep psychological insights in a qabbalistic context, and also emphasized the aspect of the tsaddiq potential in all his followers; and Rabbi Yehudah Leib of Gur (1847–1905), whose voluminous Sefat Emet integrated many of the insights of the early Hasidim.

Throughout this period, Hasidism faced staunch opposition from the maskilim (enlighteners), who advocated antitraditional modernization and often attempted to accomplish it through government lobbying. Recriminations of unscrupulous manipulation were rife on both sides. The historiography of this period needs to be reevaluated, as its scholarship has been colored by modernist agendas that misvalue the efforts of the traditionalist Hasidim to preserve their culture. Although most Hasidic groups held secular education, and even job-training, as anathema, many Preshischa-influenced Hasidic courst (including Gur) were among the first to allow their communities access to Jewish trade schools, and to permit the formation of political parties that were more accommodating to the Zionist movement.

Piekarz has gathered evidence to produce a profile of the deteriorated state of East European tsaddiqism based on certain early twentieth-century Hasidic texts (c. 1920). This decadent tendency sustains an insular conformist mentality that fears and attacks all change. It views the stratification of souls as innate and unchanging—everyone has his station, and must place their faith in an unerring tsaddiq who is described as "the root of all worlds, transcending and filling and giving life to them all." These tsaddiqim and their families and close kin would often spend their time at Western European resorts, financed by their less-than-wealthy Hasidic followers (in accord with Hasidic perspective: in exile, the tsaddiq replaces the Cohen -priest, whose upkeep is incumbent on the laity), whom they encouraged to oppose other Hasidic "dynasties." However, there is not enough data to ascertain the extent of this trend. Indeed, traditional Hasidism allowed for pluralism of opinion and indeed, by stressing the uniqueness of the individual, encouraged it. One of the reasons for this deterioration over time is surely the nepotism of Hasidic "dynastic succession"—appointing successors regardless of merit. This emerged from the process of institutionalization that took place during the nineteenth century.

During the interwar period (1918–1939), some of the conservative Hasidic elite began reluctantly opening up to the modern world. Overcoming opposition, but not precipitating a break, gifted members of various leading Hasidic families, such as Rabbi Dr. A. J. Heschel (1907–1972) and R. Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994), the seventh Lubavitcher rebbe, were among the significant few who studied in some of Western Europe's major universities. In addition, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935), the first chief rabbi of modern Palestine (but not, strictly speaking, not a Hasidic tsaddiq ), emphasized the role of the contemporary tsaddiq as one who also embraces the openness of modernity and forges new paths of creative spiritual speculation out of humanistic and scientific developments.

As for the period of the war itself, two works composed during that period are notable. Esh Qodesh (1960; Sacred Fire) was written by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmish of Piasetzna (1889–1943), who was descended from some of the chief disciples of the Seer, and before the war was a renowned educator. This work contains his sermons delivered in the Warsaw Ghetto until 1943, and its heartrending theodicy of faith is a testament to this tsaddiq and his internalization of some of the central messages of the Besht. The second book was written in occupied Hungary by Rabbi Yissachar Shelomoh Teichtal (1885–1945), a leading disciple of the brilliant scholar Rabbi Haim Elazar, the rebbe of Munkacs (1868–1937) and an irascible compassionate and extremely opinionated Hasidic leader of the Hungarian anti-Zionist movement. Rabbi Teichtal's book, Em haBanim Smeha (A joyful mother of children), was an unpretentious repudiation of his teacher's theological arguments for opposing Zionism. Rabbi Teichtal also left behind a wartime diary that was published in 1995.

Post-Holocaust Hasidism

Despite their population being decimated by the Holocaust, in the post-Holocaust world Hasidism made a remarkable recovery in the United States and in Israel, rebuilding their institutions and replenishing their numbers. Many of the eligible "future rebbes " who resurrected old dynasties were trained in the postwar period by the few surviving elders. Most notable of those who trained these future rebbes was Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum (1887–1987), the Satmar rebbe, whose lineage goes back to Rabbi Moshe of Ujhely (1759–1841), a leading disciple of the Seer of Lublin. An ultra-conservative and brilliant scholar-charismatic, the Satmar rebbe saw his mission as rebuilding Hungarian and Galician Hasidism in the United Sates so that it would be as similar as possible to prewar times. A complex elitist, he discouraged the public teaching of Qabbalah and Hasidism, while apparently also training serious cadres of Hasidic-qabbalistic scholars. Following his death there was a flurry of publications of classic Hasidic works with extensive commentaries, originating both from his own community and from those aligned to it. Also, since the mid-1990s, several large anthologies of the teachings of the disciples of the Besht, such as Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz (1726–1791) and Rabbi Michael of Zlotchov (1734–1786) have appeared; these include manuscript material previously withheld by Hasidic dynastic leaders. In addition, some rare works written and published during the first four decades of the twentieth century which attest to the continuing creativity of Hasidic Qabbalah have been reissued. After the death of the Satmar rebbe in 1987, his surviving wife, Alte Feiga, held the primary charismatic attention of a significant portion of his followers until her own death in 2001. The Lubavitcher rebbe, another brilliant charismatic tsaddiq, built a worldwide network of Hasidic institutions and outreach programs. A look at the messianic pretensions of this movement is beyond the scope of this article, but while the deep contemplative traditions of this movement are being cultivated by small numbers of his followers, the recent voluminous publications (many for the first time) of the teachings of the seven rebbes of this dynasty (1777–1992) has led to a renaissance in the learning and teaching of this tradition.

In Israel Rabbi Shalom Noah Barazofsky (1918?–2000) the late rebbe of Slonim, had his discourses published in modern vernacular Hebrew. Like Rabbi Tsaddoq haKohen of Lublin, the Slonimer rebbe' s teachings addressed the tsaddiq potential in all who came to hear him or read his sermons. The Amshinover rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov David Milikofsky (b. 1947), is a premier type of charismatic tsaddiq in the Preshischa mode. His manner of prayer exemplifies genuine piety, and he is known as an extremely compassionate and astute listener in the private audiences that he freely grants. During the final decades of the twentieth century the charismatic authoritative and intercessory model of the Hasidic tsaddiq was widely adopted in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish world at large, both by the anti-Hasidic Lithuanian mitnagdim and by the renascent Orthodox communities of Jews originating from Moslem-dominated lands. Due to the unquestioned authority obliged by their homogeneous communities, which in each group results in stable voting patterns, these leaders have been increasingly sought after by politicians, and at times have been instrumental in shaping the balance of power in the larger political arena.

Finally, the twentieth century has also witnessed a surging of secular interest in the Hasidic ethos, thanks to both the person and the writings of Martin Buber (1878–1965), whose collections of Hasidic tales introduced the world at large to the spiritual relevance of this otherwise Jewish sectarian spirituality. In addition, numerous aphorisms as well as whole tracts of Hasidic teachings have been translated into English and other Western languages as of the second half of the twentieth century. The universal and ecumenical potential within Hasidic spirituality was further developed by Rabbi Dr. A. J. Heschel, who produced various academic studies on Hasidic history, the phenomenology of Hasidic piety, and wonder, and who also provided a living example of the religious activist-humanist tsaddiq. In the next generation, postmodern New Age spirituality found a Hasidic expression in Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi (b. 1924), a Habad-educated spiritual master whose academic work on the rebbe- Hasid personal interview gave rise to a form of counseling that stresses the inner tsaddiq. He has continued the ecumenical trend by his intensive interactions with traditional spiritual teachers of non-Western religious traditions, and he champions a cross-cultural creative-Jewish paradigm in collaboration with traditional Hasidic texts. During the last decade of the twentieth century, he and Rabbi Arthur Green (b. 1941) established numerous retreat centers of Jewish contemplation that incorporate elements of Eastern (i.e., Sufi-Hindu-Buddhist) meditative traditions. Together in the late 1960s they began the Hasidic-influenced "conscious community" havurah movement in the Unites States. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (1925–1994), a charismatic Hasidic teacher and prolific composer and musician educated in the great traditional academies of Europe and the United States, was Rabbi Schachter-Shalomi's lifelong partner in ecumenical activity, often providing its ecstatic element. As a teacher, he was largely responsible for the popular renewal of interest in Izbica, Bratslav, and Piasetzna thought, and touched countless lives with his unconditional personal expressions of universal love.

See Also

Hasidism, overview article; Judaism, article on Judaism in Northern and Eastern Europe since 1500; Luria, Isaac; Qabbalah.

Bibliography

There is as yet no scholarly history of Hasidic usage of the terms tsaddiq, rebbe, and admor. With regard to teaching with open or closed eyes, see Rabbi Hayim Elazar Shapira's Divrei Torah (Munkacz, 1930; Israel reprint, n.d.), series 3, num-ber 36.

The biblical and rabbinic theology of the tsaddiq was analyzed in the classic study by Rudolf Mach, Der Zaddik in Talmud und Midrasch (Leiden, 1957), which together with Ephraim E. Urbach's The Sages: Their Concepts and Beliefs (Jerusalem, 1975), pp. 483–511 and elsewhere, formed the basis for the discussion of the classical period in Gershom Scholem's "Tsaddik : The Righteous One" in his On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead: Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah (New York, 1991), see pp. 88–140 and 283–293. Scholem's essay goes on to discuss the early and classical Qabbalah, but then ignores Lurianic Qabbalah and discusses Hasidism. Additional sources come from the excellent collection Otsar haAgadah, edited by Moshe David Gross (3 vols., Tel Aviv, 1954; 13th ed., Jerusalem, 1993), see vol. 3, pp. 1032–1057, which adduces over 500 rabbinic quotes regarding the tsaddiq ; and from the works of Abraham J. Heschel, including The Prophets (New York, 1962), see pp. 200–205. Theology of Ancient Judaism (New York, 1965, Hebrew), see pp. 200–205. Also see Arthur Green's "The Zaddiq as Axis Mundi in Later Judaism" in Journal of the American Academy of Religion 45 (1977): 327–347. Regarding the colloquial use of the term Hasid meaning "follower of a particular Hasidic rebbe," the earliest citation found is in a text of Preshischa provenance, Ramatayim Tsofim by Shmuel of Shinyava (Warsaw, 1881), see pp. 200–205, based on the teachings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (1787–1959) recalling events that took place in the 1820s that involved the Kotzker's teacher, Rabbi Simha Bunim of Preshischa (1765–1827). The history of this usage requires further investigation.

The qabbalistic aspect of the "hidden light" was briefly discussed in Scholem, pp. 113–115, where he adduces the Zohar II, 166b–167a. See Isaiah Tishby's The Wisdom of the Zohar: An Anthology of Texts (Oxford, 1989, vol. 1), p. 442. See also Zohar II 147b and Daniel Abrams's The Book Bahir: An Edition Based on the Earliest Manuscripts (Los Angeles, 1994), numbers 97–100, 106, and related references in Scholem. And see, by Rabbi Azriel of Gerona, Perush haAgadot, edited by Isaiah Tishby (Jerusalem, 1945–1983), p. 111, and regarding the theurgic application, see "Principles Concerning the Secrets of Prayer" (Hebrew), included in Scholem's "Newly Discovered Writings of Rabbi Azriel of Gerona" (Hebrew) in Festschrift for A. Gulak and Sh. Klein (Jerusalem, 1942), pp. 214–216, and see Moshe Idel's "Some Remarks on Ritual and Mysticism in Geronese Kabbalah" in Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 3 (1993): pp. 111–130. See also Sefer haTemunah (vol. 3 of Torat haQaneh, Jerusalem, 1997), pp. 176a–177b. This is to be contrasted with Maʾarekhet haElohut (Mantoba, Italy, 1558; reprint, Jerusalem, n.d.), folio 101b–102b; Gates of Light, by Rabbi Joseph Gikatilla (translated by Avi Weinstein, New York, 1994), pp. 76 and 327, and Sefer haPeliah in volume 1 of Torat haQaneh, p. 230a–b. Regarding Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, see Bracha Sack's The Kabbalah of R. Moshe Cordovero (Jerusalem, 1995, Hebrew), p. 323 and sources there; and on his influence on Hasidism, see Moshe Idel's Hasidism: Between Ecstasy and Magic (Albany, N.Y., 1995). With regard to Lurianic Qabbalah, see Menachem Kallus's The Theurgy of Prayer in Lurianic Kabbalah (Ph.D. dissertation, Hebrew University, 2002), chapter 4, sections 12–14, and pp. 281–282; and for his influence on Hasidism, the same source at pp. 280–281, and chapter 3. See also Menachen Kallus's "The Relation of the Baal Shem Tov to the Practice of Lurianic Kavvanot," Kabbalah: Journal for the Study of Jewish Mystical Texts, vol. 2 (Los Angeles and Jerusalem, 1997), pp. 151–167. As for the Besht and the "hidden light," see Sefer Baal Shem Tov al haTorah (ed. Rabbi Nathan Nata of Kalbiel and Shimeon Menachem Mendel of Gowarchov, Lodz, Poland, 1938; reprint, Jerusalem, 1993), vol. 1, "Noah," p. 107, col. 1 of note number 13, and also p. 14, number 27 and notes. This is the most complete anthology of the teachings of the Besht, and will be referenced here several times (cited as Sefer Besht, followed by volume number, Torah Portion and the number of teaching). A translation of it is due to appear in 2006–2007. Regarding the opinions of medieval philosophers, see Dov Schwartz's The Philosophy of a Fourteenth Century Jewish NeoPlatonic Circle (Jerusalem, 1996, Hebrew), pp. 153–208. See also the fascinating monograph by A. J. Heschel, Prophetic Inspiration After the Prophets: Maimonides and Other Medieval Authorities ; translated and edited by Morris M. Faierstein (Hoboken, N.J., 1996). Returning to Lurianic Qabbalah, see Shaʾar haYihudim (Lvov, Ukraine, 1855; reprint, Jerusalem, n.d.), chapters 4 and 5, and see Kallus's dissertation, chapter 4 towards the end of note 357, and section 6 of note 383.

Regarding the levels of the soul and the implications of their perfections, see Menachem Kallus's "Pneumatic Mystical Possession and the Eschatology of the Soul in Lurianic Kabbalah" in Spirit Possession in Judaism: Cases and Contexts from the Middle Ages to the Present, edited by Matt Goldish, foreword by Joseph Dan (Detroit, Mich., 2003), pp. 159–184. See also, Gershom Scholem's "Gilgul : The Transmigration of Souls" in his On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead: Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah (New York, 1991), pp. 140–197, 300–312. And regarding tsaddiqim who have always striven to "unite the part with the whole" and are present in spirit whenever anyone enacts a yihud, see the Lurianic Shaʾar Ruah haQodesh (Jerusalem, 1912; reprinted 1983), folios 13a and 28a; and Shaʾar Maamarei Rashby (Jerusalem, 1898; reprint, 1978), folio 12b–c, and compare Sefer Besht vol. 2, Behukotai number 3. On the alignment of the laity to tsaddiqim, see Sefer Besht, vol. 2, VaEthanan number 66, and Eqev numbers 12–15, 30, and 66–70. And see Samuel Dresner's The Zaddik: The Doctrine of the Zaddik According to the Writings of Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoy (New York, 1960), pp. 75–142. Regarding the "descent of the tsadyq " and release from hell, see Zohar II, 128b–129a and elsewhere, and Sefer Besht vol. 1, Bereshit numbers 70–75, Lekh Likha number 19; vol. 2, Eqev number 68 and elsewhere. And see from Rabbi Pinhas of Koretz, Imrei Pinchas haShalem, edited by Yehezkiel Shraga Finkel (Bnei Beraq, Israel, 2003), pp. 370, numbers 31–32 and 474, number 72; and see from Rabbi Elimelekh of Lizansk, Or Elimelekh, edited by Alter Elisha haKohen Paksher (Jerusalem, 1984), pp. 65–66, number 84, p. 89, number 129, p. 91, number 131, and p. 98, number 148; and from Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rymanov, Menachem Tsion, edited by Tsvi Elimelekh Pannet (Jerusalem, 2004), p. 11, col. b. Regarding previous scholarship on the "descent of the tsadyq," see Dresner's The Zaddik, chapters 7 and 8; and regarding earlier sources of this doctrine, including Lurianic Qabbalah, and the refutation of Sabbatean influence, see Mendel Piekarz's The Beginning of Hasidism: Ideological Trends in Derush and Mussar Literature (Jerusalem, 1978, Hebrew), pp. 280–395. On Mitnagdic opposition to Hasidic conceptions of the tsaddiq, see Allan Nadler's The Faith of the Mithnagdim: Rabbinic Responses to Hasidic Rapture (Baltimore, Md., 1999), chapter 2.

For the sources of the teachings on Moses and the tsaddiq, see Sefer Besht, vol. 1, Bereshit numbers 121, 127, Noah, numbers 61, 62, 80, 81, 156–158; vaYishlakh, numbers 6–7; vol. 2, Shemot number 19; Ki Tisa number 9; Metzorah numbers 9, 10, 24; Qedoshim numbers 2–18; Qorah numbers 1–5; Eqev number 72, and elsewhere. Regarding the attribute of the tsaddiq within the individual, see Sefer Besht, vol. 1, Noah, number 2. With regard to the teachings of the Besht on petitionary prayer, see Sefer Besht, vol. 1, Noah, numbers 128–129 and 153–155, and on not compromising one's integrity in this, see especially ibid. numbers 124 and 152. For the teachings of the magid see ibid. numbers 80, 84, 87, 89–94, and especially, 130–131. For Rabbi Shneur Zalman's views on prayer, see Roman A. Foxbrunner's Habad: The Hasidism of R. Shneur Zalman of Lyady (Montogmery, Ala., 1992), pp. 19–22, 38, and 186–194. Regarding the two types of tsaddiq in the works of the magid, see Liqutim Yeqarim (Jerusalem, 1974), numbers 256 and 273, and for the version quoted here from the teachings of Rabbi Elimelekh, where the dialectic between the two types is more pronounced, see Torat Shimeon by Rabbi Shimeon of Yaroslav, a disciple of Rabbi Elimelekh (Jerusalem, 1974) (beginning of Parshat Emor). On Hasidism during the generation of the Besht, see Immanuel Etkes's "Hasidism as a Movement: The First Phase" in Hasidism: Continuity or Innovation, edited by Bezalel Safran (Cambridge, Mass., 1988), pp. 1–26. On the teachings of the Besht regarding the role of the "men of form," see Gedalya Nigal's Manhig vaEdah (Jerusalem, 1962) and Dresner's The Zaddik: The Doctrine of the Zaddik According to the Writings of Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoy (New York, 1960). The Epistle of the Besht was translated into English several times, most recently in the monumental work of translation and commentary by Norman Lamm, The Religious Thought of the Hasidim: Text and Commentary (New York, 1999); see there pp. 541–555, and for our text, p. 550. For the textual problems of this epistle, the history of scholarship, and possible resolutions, see I. Etkes's Baʾal Shem: The Besht—Magic, Mysticism, Leadership (Jerusalem, 2000), pp. 292–310. On the scholarly controversy concerning early Hasidism and messianism, see Gershom Scholem's "The Neutralization of the Messianic Element in Early Hasidism" in his The Messianic Idea in Judaism and other Essays on Jewish Spirituality (New York, 1971), pp. 176–203, and see Ben Zion Dinur's "The Beginnings of Hasidism and its Social and Messianic Foundations" (translated, originally in Hebrew, 1945) in Essential Papers on Hasidism, edited by Gershon Hundert, pp. 86–209 (New York, 1991), whose insightful readings regarding the early Hasidic social "program," although attacked ad homonym have not been effectively countered. See also Isaiah Tishby's "The Messianic Idea and Messianic Trends in the Growth of Hasidism" (Hebrew) Zion 32, no. 1 (1967): 1–45. Regarding the messianic spark-potential and the emphasis on personal redemption, see Sefer Besht, vol. 1, Bereshit number 166 and Shemot number 5; and vol. 2, Nitzavim number 8. As regards Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, see Mordechai Hayim Perlow's Liqutei Sipurim (Brooklyn, N.Y., 1992), p. 284, number 8. And regarding Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rymanov, see Torat haMagid meZlotchov, edited by Eliezer Eliyahu Horowitz (Jerusalem, 1999), p. 176, number 6.

On Rabbi Elimelekh of Lizansk, see Nigal's Mehqarim beHasidut (Jerusalem, 1999; originally, 1978), pp. 116–233, and the more recent work by Piekatz, "R. Elimelekh miLizensk uMamshichei Darko," Gilʾad 15–16 (1998): 42–80, where he also discusses Rabbi Ephrayim of Sydlakov, and the later development of the school of the Seer. On the Seer of Lublin see Rachel Elior's "Between Yesh and Ayin: The Doctrine of the Zaddik in the Works of Jacob Isaac, the Seer of Lublin" in Jewish History: Essays in Honour of Chimen Abramsky, edited by Ada Rapaport-Albert and S. J. Zipperstein (London, 1988), 393–455. Regarding the easier availability of access to Ruah haQodesh in the exile, see Sefer Besht, vol. 1, VaYeshev number 4 and note 5. On Munkasz Hasidism, see Efraim Gottleib's Studies in the Kabbalah Literature, edited by Joseph Hacker (Tel Aviv, 1976), pp. 584–586. For the techniques of and variety of Hasidic opinion on the "raising-up of distracted thought," see Sefer Besht, vol. 1, Noah numbers 97–124, and especially note 94 (pp. 152–155) for the range of third- to fifth-generation Hasidic opinion. This matter seems to be a litmus test with regard to the contrast between social realism and antielitist idealism in the development of Hasidic thought and its relation to the original democratizing impulse (see Scholem's "Devekut, or Communion with God" in his The Messianic Idea in Judaism and other Essays on Jewish Spirituality, pp. 208–226). Regarding the Habad-Besht tradition concerning the nature of the soul in later generations, see Rabbi Aaron of Staroselye's Shaarei haYichud vihaEmunah (Jerusalem, 1966), folio 3b, marginal note. On this important mystical thinker see Louis Jacobs, translator, Tract on Ecstasy (London, 1963) and Rachel Elior's Paradoxical Ascent to God (Albany, N.Y., 1993).

Regarding the Hasidic "revolt" of Preshischa, see A. J. Heschel's Kotzk: The Struggle for Integrity, 2 volumes (Tel Aviv, 1963), see vol. 1, pp. 285–320 and 388–370; Morris Faierstein's All Is in the Hands of Heaven: The Teachings of R. Mordechai Joseph of Izbica (Hoboken, N.J., 1989); Shaul Magid's Hasidism on the Margin: Reconciliation, Antinomianism, and Mysticism in Izbica/Radzin Hasidism (Madison, Wis., 2003); and for later developments, see Arthur Green's The Language of Truth: The Torah Commentary of the Sefat Emet (Philadelphia, 1998), especially his introduction, and Alan Brill's Thinking God: The Mysticism of Rabbi Zaddok of Lublin (New York, 2002). On women and Hasidism, see Harry M. Rabinowicz's Hasidism: The Movement and its Masters (Northvale, N.J., and London, 1988), 341–351; Nehemia Polen's The Rebbe's Daughter: Memoir of a Hasidic Childhood/Malka Shapiro (Philadelphia, 2002) and Nathaniel Deutsch's The Maiden of Ludmir: A Holy Jewish Woman and Her World (Berkeley, Calif., 2003); and for a contrary view, see Ada Rapoport-Albert's "On Women and Hasidism: S.A. Horodecky and the Maid of Ludmir" in Jewish History: Essays in Honour of Chimen Abramsky, edited by Ada Rapaport-Albert and S. J. Zipperstein (London, 1988), pp. 45–525. On the early anti-Hasidic slander (Vienna, 1819) by the Maskilim, see Dov Taylor (ed. and tr.), Joseph Perl's "Revealer of Secrets": The First Hebrew Novel (Boulder, Colo., 1997), and see Heinrich Graetz's A History of the Jews (Philadelphia, 1967), volumes 4 and 5 regarding his bias against Qabbalah and Hasidism. For a more recent treatment, see Raphael Mahler's Hasidism and the Jewish Enlightenment: Their Confrontation in Galicia and Poland in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century, translated from the Yiddish by Eugene Orenstein (Philadelphia, 1985), and see Israel Bartal's "The Imprint of Haskalah Literature on the Historiography" in Hasidism Reappraised, edited by Ada Rapoport-Albert (London, 1996). On the development of Polish-Hasidic political parties, see Alan L. Mittleman's The Politics of Torah: The Jewish Political Tradition and the Founding of Agudat Israel (Albany, N.Y., 1996). On decadent forms of Hasidism, see Mendel Piekarz's "Religious Spiritualism against Zionism and Determinist Elitism: Lessons from the Discourses of the Admor of Partzava (1866–1930)" in Hasidism in Poland, edited by I. Bartal, Rabbi Elior, and C. Shmeruk (Jerusalem, 1994), and his earlier book, Ideological Trends of Hasidism in Poland during the Interwar Period and the Holocaust (Jerusalem, 1990). On the early life of Rabbi Dr. A. J. Heschel, see Abraham Joshua Heschel: Prophetic Witness by Edward K. Kaplan and Samuel H. Dresner (New Haven, Conn., 1998), and on the seventh Lubavitcher rebbe, see Larger Than Life: The Life and Times of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson by Shaul Shimeon Deutsch (New York, vol. 1 1995, vol. 2 1997). Although written by a follower of the late Lubavitcher rebbe, this work is an honest attempt at critical biography. For other examples of this trend, see Hillel Goldberg's Between Berlin and Slobodka: Jewish Transition Figures from Eastern Europe (Hoboken, N.J., 1989). Much has been written on Rabbi A. I. Kook. For some translations of his writings, see The Essential Writings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, translated with introduction by Ben Zion Bokser (Amity, N.Y., 1988), and When God Becomes History: Historical Essays by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook, edited and translated with introduction and notes by Bezalel Naor (New York, 2003); and see Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and Jewish Spirituality by Lawrence Kaplan and David Shatz (New York, 1995). On Hasidic thought during the Holocaust, and on Rabbi Kalonymus of Piasetzna, see Nehemia Polen's, The Holy Fire: The Teachings of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto (Northvale, N.J., 1994). Three of his works on educational philosophy were translated: A Student's Obligation: Advice from the rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto (tr. Micha Odenheimer; Northvale, N.J., 1991); To Heal the Soul: The Spiritual Journal of a Chassidic rebbe (tr. Yehoshua Starrett; Northvale, N.J., 1995) and Conscious Community: A Guide to Inner Work (tr. Andrea Cohen-Keiner; J. Aronson, N.J., 1996). See also regarding him, and on Rabbi E. Teichtal: Mendel Piekarz op. cit. (Jerusalem, 1990), and Eliezer Schweid: Wrestling Until Day-Break: Searching for Meaning in the Thinking on the Holocaust (Lanham, Md., 1994); idem. From Ruin to Salvation (Hebrew) (Hakibbutz Hameuchad, Israel, 1994).

Regarding Satmar, see Israel J. Rubin: Satmar: Two Generations of an Urban Island (New York, 1997) The Hasidic classic, Toldot Yaakov Yosef  by Rabbi Y.Y. of Polnoye (originally published in Koretz, 1780) was published by Rabbi Shimeon Weiss, a Hasid of Satmar in a five volume edition with extensive commentary (Monroe, N.Y., 1998). The anthologized teachings of Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz and Rabbi Michael of Zlochov are referenced above, in sections 3 and 4. And see A.J. Heschel: The Circle of the Baal Shem Tov (ed. S. Dresner; University of Chicago Press, 1985) for monographs on these and other members of this circle. There have not yet been any studies on the rebbes of Slonim and Amshinov. For a perspective on the political life of Post-Holocaust ultra-Orthodox society, see: "Religious Fundamentalism and Religious Jews: The Case of the Haredim" by Samuel C. Heilman and Menachem Friedman, in Fundamentalisms Observed (ed. Martin E. Marty and Rabbi Scott Appleby; Chicago, 1991; pp. 197–264). Some of Martin Buber's voluminous writings bear directly on Hasidism, such as his classic: Tales of the Hasidim (translated by Olga Marx; Schocken, N.Y., 1947 and 1991) and his novel based on the dramas of the circle of the Seer of Lublin: For the Sake of Heaven (Schocken, N.Y., 1945). Regarding Heschel, see also The Earth is the Lord's (London, 1945; reprint, Jewish Lights, Woodstock, N.Y., 1995); God in Search of Man (New York, 1955); and a posthumous collection of his essays: Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity (edited by Susannah Heschel, New York, 1996). Some of Rabbi Zalman Meshulam Schachter-Shalomi's books include: Spiritual Intimacy: A Study of Counseling in Hasidism (Northvale, N.J., 1991); Paradigm Shift: From the Jewish Renewal Teachings of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (Northvale, N.J., 1993) and Wrapped in a Holy Flame: Teachings and Tales of the Hasidic Masters, edited by Nataniel M. Miles-Yepes (San Francisco, 2003). Also see Jacob Yuroh Teshima's Zen Buddhism and Hasidism: A Comparative Study (Lanham, Md., 1995). On Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, see, by Meshulam Brandwein, Reb Shlomele: The Life and Work of Shlomo Carlebach, translated by Gavriel A. Sivan (Jerusalem, 1997), and Yitta Halberstam-Mandelbaum's Holy Brother: Inspiring Stories and Enchanted Tales about R. Shlomo Carlebach (Northvale, N.J., 1997).

Menachem Kallus (2005)