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Architects for Jewish Living: A Series Chassidism: The Ba'al Shem Tov Hassidism, with its glamorous-magic impact upon Jewish life and lore, has become the fertile subject of historians, biographers, philosophers, dramatists, story tellers, etc., who have undertaken to interpret its mysticism, to analyze its teachings, and to evaluate its wisdom. It is one of the most arresting religious phenomena in modern Jewish history. It originated with Rabbi Israel, Master of the Good Name (The Baal Shem Tov) in a remote hamlet in the Carpathian mountains, and rapidly swept across the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe in the middle of the eighteenth century. Hassidism was a revolt among Jews of Eastern Europe against the excessive legalism of the contemporary scholars who had set themselves up as a select and chosen group. The learned Jews believed that diligent study of the Talmud coupled with strict observance of ritual were all that Judaism asked of man. The approach reached its pinnacle in the man known as Elijah the Gaon of Vilna. He was a scion of a learned family -- born the first of five brothers (in 1720). Early in his youth he proved to be a prodigy, and in later life became the outstanding authority in Jewish law and lore. He lived the life of a recluse, devoting his entire time to study. In order to understand better the teaching of the sages, he acquired knowledge in the sciences, philosophies and mathematics of his day. His approach was direct and he abhorred dialectics. Though he would not accept a rabbinical post and subject himself to its hazards, he gathered about him many pupils and was recognized as the unofficial spiritual leader of Vilna. One of his last acts in this life was the excommunication of the Chassidim -- whom he opposed for their ignorance and adulation of the man whom they called a "Rebbi," which came close to being idolatrous. The Hebrew word "Chassidim" merely means "pious ones." It sought to meet the needs of the simple, untutored Jew who was considered inferior by the scholarly. Dr. Solomon Schechter remarked, in his essay on Chassidism: "It was a protest of an emotional but inadequate people against a one-sided expression of Judaism that made religion almost impossible for them." The founder of the movement was Israel Baal Shem Tov (Israel, the Master of the Good Name). The story of his parentage, birth, and childhood -- the current anecdotes of his subsequent career -- play a considerable part in Chassidic literature. His parents dwelt in Moldavia and reached old age still childless. An angel appeared and informed them that God was to reward them with a son "who was destined to enlighten the eyes of Israel." In due course the promise was fulfilled and the child was called Israel, according to the angel's word "Thou art my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." His parents died in his early youth and Israel became the charge of the townspeople who carefully tended and educated him. He served as a monitor or assistant to the schoolmaster, ushering the children to and from school. At 14 he became the beadle (shamash) in the house of study, and during the night when no one was present he would study. In the daytime he slept so that he was popularly believed to be ignorant and lazy. Finally he left his native village and settled as a teacher in a small town. There he met a wealthy man, Abraham, who recognized the true Israel for what he was and offered his daughter in marriage. Before the match could be consummated, Abraham died, and when Israel presented himself to the son to claim his bride, he was repulsed as being unworthy. However, the dead father's arrangement could not be ignored. The marriage took place and the couple was banished. The appearance of Israel as a teacher and reformer was accompanied and justified by an adequate number of miracles. He became known as the Baal Shem Tov, the Master of the Good Name. He did not figure as a public preacher nor did he leave any written works. He seems rather to have followed the methods of the Greek philosophers, teaching by conversation with his friends and disciples. To one disciple he revealed secrets known to him only by Divine revelation. To another he would pass on an anecdote. On the evidence of Chassidic tales, we learn that when the Baal Shem wanted to cross a stream he need only spread his mantle upon the waters and standing on it he would reach the other side safe and dry. Ghosts evacuated houses at the mere mention of his name. If he was alone in the forest, he need only touch a tree with his fingertips and flames burst forth. The Baal Shem Tov obtained access to Paradise for millions of pining souls, who vainly waited outside. However we are not so much concerned with the Baal Shem Tov as a miracle worker, but as a teacher and reformer. The keynote of the Baal Shem Tov's teachings is the Imminence of God -- his constant living presence in all situations and in all places. Hassidism banished melancholy from the soul and uncovered the joy and delight of being a Jew. God is to be worshipped in the light of song and dance rather than within the gloomy walls of the Bet Hamidrash. Though study was to be encouraged, knowledge does not determine one's proximity to God but rather the fervor, ecstasy, and pious devotion of the heart. This is beautifully illustrated by a well known Chassidic tale: A poor village Jew was in the habit of worshipping during the holy days in Rabbi Israel's synagogue. He had a slow-witted boy who was unable to read the prayer, hence his father would not take him to the synagogue. But when the boy became thirteen he was allowed to accompany his father to the Yom Kippur services. The boy took a reed and made himself a flute. When the congregation chanted the prayer, he asked for permission to play it, but was forbidden by his father to do so. When the Neilah service was in progress, the atmosphere in the synagogue grew tense and warm and the hearts of the worshippers melted. The boy could no longer contain himself, and taking out his flute he sang and played it. The whole congregation stood terrified by this desecration of the service, but the Baal Shem Tov was happy and called out, "The cloud is pierced and broken, and the power of the Evil one is shattered." The few who through the successful persistence with which they sought God and became absorbed in Him are known as Tzaddikim -- the connecting bond between God and His creatures. In the hands of self-seeking demagogues -- Chassidism degenerated -- it became an instrument of greed and hypocrisy. The office of the Tzaddik became a matter of heredity and the occupant a purveyor of magic incantation and amulets. The Baal Shem Tov himself is reported to have foreseen this development when he once told his disciples, "While I plunged into the holy spirit, I saw that in the generations which will precede the Messiah, the Chassidic Rabbeim will multiply like locusts and will delay the redemption, for they will bring about the separation of hearts on groundless hatred." Dr. Schechter wrote in his essay "The Chassidim" that "As an active force for good, Chassidism was short-lived -- but its early purposes were high, its doctrines fairly pure, its aspiration ideal and sublime." It brought joy into the hearts of the poor, light into the souls of the untutored who were deprecated by the intelligentsia, and comfort to a mass, harassed by pillage and pogrom. |
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