The Mystical Origins of Hasidism

The Mystical Origins of Hasidism
ISBN-10
1874774846
ISBN-13
9781874774846
Category
History / Jewish
Pages
258
Language
English
Published
2006
Publisher
Littman Library of Jewish Civilization
Author
Rachel Elior

Description

The words 'hasid' and 'hasidism' have become so familiar to people interested in the Jewish world that little thought is given to understanding exactly what hasidism is or considering its spiritual and social consequences. What, for example, are the distinguishing features of hasidism? What innovations does it embody? How did its founders see it? Why did it arouse opposition? What is the essential nature of hasidic thought? What is its spiritual essence? What does its literature consist of? What typifies its leadership? What is the secret of its persistence through the centuries? How have scholars explained its origins? Is hasidism an expression of mystical ideas, or a response to changing social circumstances? What is its connection to kabbalah? To Shabateanism? To messianism? What is its relationship to the traditional structures of authority in the Jewish world? This book aims to answer all these questions in a lucid and accessible manner.

Rachel Elior focuses on the fundamental positions and the factors of primary importance: the substantial issues that recur in the hasidic texts, including how hasidim have seen themselves over the centuries, how they have constructed a new spiritual and social ideal, and how that ideal has stood the test of reality. The goal is to present the main characteristics of the hasidic movement and to examine the social implications of its mystical ideas. The text is fully supported by references to the relevant hasidic sources and academic literature. The book concludes with a list of the hasidic texts on which the discussion is based and a comprehensive bibliography of scholarly works on kabbalah and hasidism.

Get the book

Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Search the book
eBay.com
eBay.com
Search the book

Other editions

Similar books

  • שרח מגלת אחשורוש: ל[ל]שיך אלפאצל אלמעלם אבו עלי ...
    שרח מגלת אחשורוש: ל[ל]שיך אלפאצל אלמעלם אבו עלי ...
    By Japheth ben Ali, Michael G. Wechsler

    sniN 'i ns naana bn nsbnaa ixasbx obis 'b bsaaxbx |N nsa^s aibaa 'd pao 'niVsi -taxVxi -ixaaxbaa [inn?1] xabsbx jarm1 hVk fnaba ... as in His statement, Let me sing of my well-beloved, a song of my beloved touching his vineyard, etc.

  • Hellenism in the Land of Israel
    Hellenism in the Land of Israel
    By John Joseph Collins, Gregory E. Sterling

    The papyri are in V. A. Tcherikover , A. Fuks , M. Stern , and D. M. Lewis , Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum ( 3 vols . ... and was part of the Cyrenean community in Jerusalem that is attested in the NT ( Acts 6 : 9 ; Mark 15:21 ) . 67.

  • סימבוליקה מינית ופרשנות המרכבה באשכנז: A Study of the Sod Ha-egoz Texts
    סימבוליקה מינית ופרשנות המרכבה באשכנז: A Study of the Sod Ha-egoz Texts
    By Daniel Abrams

    35 32 The text was apparently known to Jacob ha - Kohen , the first known Kabbalist in Castile ( Soria ) , in his Commentary to ... of R. Zarfati on the Book Ma'arekhet ha - Elohuť , master's thesis , The Hebrew University , 1987 , p .

  • On Equal Terms: Jews in America, 1881-1981
    On Equal Terms: Jews in America, 1881-1981
    By Lucy S. Dawidowicz

    Some of these Jewish students took a course in biblical literature given by Edward Chauncey Baldwin , a noted Bible scholar and a practicing Christian . Astonished and grieved to discover that his Jewish students knew little ...

  • Religion and State in the American Jewish Experience
    Religion and State in the American Jewish Experience
    By Jonathan D. Sarna, David G. Dalin

    This text focuses on what it means to be Jewish in America and the different positions held within the Jewish community on past and present church-state issues - whether Orthodox Jews in the military should wear yarmulkes while in uniform - ...

  • Studies in Hellenistic Judaism
    Studies in Hellenistic Judaism
    By Louis H. Feldman

    concerning slavery that were used by Josephus , for his native language was Aramaic or Hebrew ( W 1. proem , 1 , 9 ) . ... August Pauly and Georg Wissowa ( Stuttgart , 1916 ) , 9 : 1963-69 , discusses all of Josephus ' literary sources ...

  • 美国犹太人：从边缘到主流的少数族群
    美国犹太人：从边缘到主流的少数族群
    By 刘军著

    该派犹太人整日戴着“卡巴”(kippah,一种小圆片帽)或“亚姆路克”(yarmulke,无沿统制室内便帽),每日做三次祈祷,认真学习《妥拉》,强调科谢尔饮食法,严格遵守安息日禁止点火熄灯、乘公共汽车、抽烟、携带钱款、从事各种劳动的规定;每周六早上参加犹太教会堂的 ...

  • A History of Zionism
    A History of Zionism
    By Walter Laqueur

    ... 1913–14°, Middle Eastern Studies, April 1965. J.Marlowe, Rebellion in Palestine, London, 1946. M.Medzini, Esser Shanim Shel Mediniut Eretz Misraelit, Jerusalem, 1928. M.Orenstein, A Plea for Arab-Jewish Unity, London, 1946.

  • The Burden of Conscience: French Jewish Leadership During the Holocaust
    The Burden of Conscience: French Jewish Leadership During the Holocaust
    By Richard I. Cohen

    Bernstein report , 4 December 1942 ( YIVO : RG 245.4 , II - 26 ) , and Spanien and Bernstein , 20 October 1942 ( YIVO : RG 245.4 , XII , Portugal , B - 54 ) . 124. HICEM 1942 report ( YIVO : RG 245.4 , XII , France A - 33 , pp .

  • A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time
    A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time
    By Howard M. Sachar

    ... threatens military intervention against Israel, 346; succeeded by Morrison, 459 Bezalal Art Academy, 586 Bialik, Chaim Nachman, ... Bomar Law, Andrew, 129 Borochov, Ber 11, 70–1, 75,76 Boscovitch, Alexander, 589 Boskiliah, Albert, ...