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Hasidism
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•CHAPTER 12IN THE EMPIRE OF THE TSARS: POLANDAlthough the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth effectively ceased to exist after 1795, Imperial Russia carved out a semiautonomous rump state, after 1815 vari-ously called Congress Poland (after the Congress of Vienna), the Kingdom of Poland, or Central Poland, in the lands centered around Warsaw (see chapter 10). Hasidism had already established a few outposts in this region in the latter part of the eighteenth century, as we saw in chapter 6. The first Hasidim to arrive there encountered less re-sistance than was the case in Galicia or the northern part of the Pale of Settlement (White Russia and Lithuania). In Central Poland, the movement was easily integrated into the communal rabbinical establishment, with many Hasidic leaders functioning as community rabbis before and even after their ascendance to leadership (see map 12.1). In this respect, Hasidism in Central Poland was the opposite of Ukraine, where communities contracted with an already- established tsaddik to be responsible for their spiritual life. In Central Poland, while a tsaddik’s tenure as community rabbi was indeed a position of leadership, the authority that this position granted him was much more limited than for the tsaddik in Ukraine.The forefathers of Hasidism in Central Poland were Elimelekh of Lizhensk, who is also considered the father of Hasidism in Galicia, and his disciple, Ya’akov Yitshak Horowitz, the Seer of Lublin, as well as Israel of Kozhenits, all of whose lives and thought were discussed in section 1. And because one can point to specific fathers, the history of Hasidism in Congress Poland is largely the history of the disciples of these two tsaddikim. For our purposes, the passing in 1815 of the Seer of Lublin marks the beginning of Hasidism in Congress Poland in the nineteenth century, although his dis-ciple, the “Holy Jew” from Pshiskhe (Przysucha), who died in 1813 before his master, is also part of our story as the founder of the school known by the name of his town.There were Hasidic dynasties based on family lineage in Congress Poland already from the very beginning of the period. However, whereas in Russia this became the dominant pattern, in Poland, prominent disciples often became tsaddikim in their own right. In many cases, after a tsaddik’s death, his adherents split between those who followed his biological offspring and those who followed a gifted disciple, with the latter often overshadowing the former. This nondynastic pattern might reflect the elit-ism of a number of Polish Hasidic groups, such as those associated with Pshiskhe,
© 2018 Princeton University Press, Princeton

•CHAPTER 12IN THE EMPIRE OF THE TSARS: POLANDAlthough the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth effectively ceased to exist after 1795, Imperial Russia carved out a semiautonomous rump state, after 1815 vari-ously called Congress Poland (after the Congress of Vienna), the Kingdom of Poland, or Central Poland, in the lands centered around Warsaw (see chapter 10). Hasidism had already established a few outposts in this region in the latter part of the eighteenth century, as we saw in chapter 6. The first Hasidim to arrive there encountered less re-sistance than was the case in Galicia or the northern part of the Pale of Settlement (White Russia and Lithuania). In Central Poland, the movement was easily integrated into the communal rabbinical establishment, with many Hasidic leaders functioning as community rabbis before and even after their ascendance to leadership (see map 12.1). In this respect, Hasidism in Central Poland was the opposite of Ukraine, where communities contracted with an already- established tsaddik to be responsible for their spiritual life. In Central Poland, while a tsaddik’s tenure as community rabbi was indeed a position of leadership, the authority that this position granted him was much more limited than for the tsaddik in Ukraine.The forefathers of Hasidism in Central Poland were Elimelekh of Lizhensk, who is also considered the father of Hasidism in Galicia, and his disciple, Ya’akov Yitshak Horowitz, the Seer of Lublin, as well as Israel of Kozhenits, all of whose lives and thought were discussed in section 1. And because one can point to specific fathers, the history of Hasidism in Congress Poland is largely the history of the disciples of these two tsaddikim. For our purposes, the passing in 1815 of the Seer of Lublin marks the beginning of Hasidism in Congress Poland in the nineteenth century, although his dis-ciple, the “Holy Jew” from Pshiskhe (Przysucha), who died in 1813 before his master, is also part of our story as the founder of the school known by the name of his town.There were Hasidic dynasties based on family lineage in Congress Poland already from the very beginning of the period. However, whereas in Russia this became the dominant pattern, in Poland, prominent disciples often became tsaddikim in their own right. In many cases, after a tsaddik’s death, his adherents split between those who followed his biological offspring and those who followed a gifted disciple, with the latter often overshadowing the former. This nondynastic pattern might reflect the elit-ism of a number of Polish Hasidic groups, such as those associated with Pshiskhe,
© 2018 Princeton University Press, Princeton

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Illustrations vii
  4. Preface and Acknowledgments ix
  5. Note on Spelling, Transliteration, and Annotation xi
  6. Introduction: Hasidism as a Modern Movement 1
  7. SECTION 1 - ORIGINS: The Eighteenth Century
  8. PART I. BEGINNINGS
  9. Hasidism’s Birthplace 17
  10. Ba’al Shem Tov: Founder of Hasidism? 43
  11. From Circle to Court: The Maggid of Mezritsh and Hasidism’s First Opponents 77
  12. PART II. FROM COURT TO MOVEMENT
  13. Ukraine 103
  14. Lithuania, White Russia, and the Land of Israel 118
  15. Galicia and Central Poland 141
  16. PART III. BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
  17. Ethos 159
  18. Rituals 183
  19. Institutions 222
  20. SECTION 2 - GOLDEN AGE: The Nineteenth Century
  21. Introduction: Toward the Nineteenth Century 257
  22. A Golden Age within Two Empires 263
  23. PART I. VARIETIES OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY HASIDISM
  24. In the Empire of the Tsars: Russia 291
  25. In the Empire of the Tsars: Poland 332
  26. Habsburg Hasidism: Galicia and Bukovina 359
  27. Habsburg Hasidism: Hungary 387
  28. PART II. INSTITUTIONS
  29. “A Little townlet on Its Own”: The Hasidic Court and Its Inhabitants 403
  30. Between Shtibl and Shtetl 429
  31. Book Culture 457
  32. PART III. RELATIONS WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD
  33. Haskalah and Its Successors 477
  34. The State and Public Opinion 502
  35. The Crisis of Modernity 531
  36. Neo- Hasidism 556
  37. SECTION 3 - DEATH AND RESURRECTION: The Twentieth and Twenty- First Centuries
  38. Introduction: The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries 575
  39. PART I. BETWEEN WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II
  40. War and Revolution 579
  41. In a Sovereign Poland 597
  42. Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania 623
  43. America and the Land of Israel 637
  44. Khurbn: Hasidism and the Holocaust 652
  45. PART II. POSTWAR PHOENIX: HASIDISM AFTER THE HOLOCAUST
  46. America: Hasidism’s Goldene Medinah 677
  47. The State of Israel: Haven in Zion 707
  48. Hasidic Society 740
  49. Hasidic Culture 770
  50. In the Eyes of Others: Hasidism in Contemporary Culture 793
  51. Afterword 807
  52. Annotated Bibliography 813
  53. About the Authors 847
  54. Index 849
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400889198-017

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Illustrations vii
  4. Preface and Acknowledgments ix
  5. Note on Spelling, Transliteration, and Annotation xi
  6. Introduction: Hasidism as a Modern Movement 1
  7. SECTION 1 - ORIGINS: The Eighteenth Century
  8. PART I. BEGINNINGS
  9. Hasidism’s Birthplace 17
  10. Ba’al Shem Tov: Founder of Hasidism? 43
  11. From Circle to Court: The Maggid of Mezritsh and Hasidism’s First Opponents 77
  12. PART II. FROM COURT TO MOVEMENT
  13. Ukraine 103
  14. Lithuania, White Russia, and the Land of Israel 118
  15. Galicia and Central Poland 141
  16. PART III. BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
  17. Ethos 159
  18. Rituals 183
  19. Institutions 222
  20. SECTION 2 - GOLDEN AGE: The Nineteenth Century
  21. Introduction: Toward the Nineteenth Century 257
  22. A Golden Age within Two Empires 263
  23. PART I. VARIETIES OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY HASIDISM
  24. In the Empire of the Tsars: Russia 291
  25. In the Empire of the Tsars: Poland 332
  26. Habsburg Hasidism: Galicia and Bukovina 359
  27. Habsburg Hasidism: Hungary 387
  28. PART II. INSTITUTIONS
  29. “A Little townlet on Its Own”: The Hasidic Court and Its Inhabitants 403
  30. Between Shtibl and Shtetl 429
  31. Book Culture 457
  32. PART III. RELATIONS WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD
  33. Haskalah and Its Successors 477
  34. The State and Public Opinion 502
  35. The Crisis of Modernity 531
  36. Neo- Hasidism 556
  37. SECTION 3 - DEATH AND RESURRECTION: The Twentieth and Twenty- First Centuries
  38. Introduction: The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries 575
  39. PART I. BETWEEN WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II
  40. War and Revolution 579
  41. In a Sovereign Poland 597
  42. Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Romania 623
  43. America and the Land of Israel 637
  44. Khurbn: Hasidism and the Holocaust 652
  45. PART II. POSTWAR PHOENIX: HASIDISM AFTER THE HOLOCAUST
  46. America: Hasidism’s Goldene Medinah 677
  47. The State of Israel: Haven in Zion 707
  48. Hasidic Society 740
  49. Hasidic Culture 770
  50. In the Eyes of Others: Hasidism in Contemporary Culture 793
  51. Afterword 807
  52. Annotated Bibliography 813
  53. About the Authors 847
  54. Index 849
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