Hasidic philosophy or Hasidism (), alternatively transliterated as Hasidut or Chassidus, consists of the teachings of the Hasidic movement, which are the teachings of the Hasidic rebbes, often in the form of commentary on the Torah (the Five books of Moses) and Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). Hasidism deals with a range of spiritual concepts such as God, the soul, and the Torah, dealing with esoteric matters but often making them understandable, applicable and finding practical expressions.
With the spread of Hasidism throughout Ukraine, Galicia, Poland, and Russia, divergent schools emerged within Hasidism. Most if not all schools of Hasidic Judaism stress the central role of the Tzadik, or spiritual and communal leader, in the life of the individual
Etymologically, the term, hasid is a title used for various pious individuals and by various Jewish groups since biblical times, and an earlier movement, the Hasidei Ashkenaz of medieval Germany was also called by this name. Today, the terms hasidut and hasid generally connote Hasidic philosophy and the followers of the Hasidic movement.
Background
Hasidic philosophy begins with the teachings of Yisroel ben Eliezer known as the Baal Shem Tov and his successors (most notably Dov Ber the Maggid of Mezeritch and his students). These teachings consist of new interpretations of Judaism, but are especially built upon the Jewish mystical tradition, the Kabbalah. While the Jewish mystical tradition had long been reserved for a scholarly elite, Hasidic teachings are unique in their popular access, being aimed at the masses. Hasidism is thought to be a union of three different currents in Judaism: 1) Jewish law or halacha; 2) Jewish legend and saying, the aggadah; and 3) Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah.Friedman, Maurice S. Martin Buber: The Life of Dialogue. Harper & Row Publishers. 1955. Pages 16-23. Hasidic teachings, often termed exegesis, are seen as having a similar method to that of the Midrash (the rabbinic homiletic literature).The Encyclopedia of Hasidism. Jason Aronson, 1996. Page 122. Hasidic exegesis differs from Kabbalistic schools as it focuses somewhat less on the sefirot and partzufim and more on binary types of oppositions (e.g. body and soul). On the other hand, Louis Jacobs stated that Hasidic teachings should not be described as exegesis as during the course of interpretation texts are taken completely out of context to yield desired conclusions, grammar and syntax are ignored, and ideas are read into the texts that they cannot possibly mean.
The teachings of the Baal Shem Tov are founded on two key ideas: 1) religious pantheism (or panentheism), or the omnipresence of God, and 2) the idea of communion between God and man. The doctrines of the Baal Shem Tov include the teaching of the individual's duty to serve God in every aspect of his or her daily life, the concept of divine providence as extending to every individual and even to each particular in the inanimate world, the doctrine of Continuous Creation that the true reality of all things is the "word" of God brought all things into being and continuously keeps them in existence.Mindel, Nissan. Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi: Philosophy of Chabad. Vol 1. Chabad Research Center - Kehot Publication Society. 1969. Pages 14-15.
In line with the Kabbalah, the Baal Shem Tov taught that the end of worship of God is attachment to God (devekut), which primarily is the service of the heart rather than the mind. The Baal Shem Tov emphasized the rabbinic teaching "God desires the heart" as the obligation of intention of the heart (kavanah) in the fulfilment of the mitzvot. Where the Baal Shem Tov departs from Kabbalah is his notion that devekut may be attained through even the sincere recitation of prayers and psalms.
Hasidic schools of thought Some Hasidic "courts", and not a few individual prominent masters, developed distinct philosophies with particular accentuation of various themes in the movement's general teachings. Several of these Hasidic schools had lasting influence over many dynasties, while others died with their proponents. In the doctrinal sphere, the dynasties may be divided along many lines. Some are characterized by rebbes who are predominantly Torah scholars and decisors, deriving their authority much like ordinary non-Hasidic rabbis do. Such "courts" place great emphasis on strict observance and study, and are among the most meticulous in the Orthodox world in practice. Prominent examples are the House of Sanz and its scions, such as Satmar, or Belz. Other sects, like Vizhnitz, espouse a charismatic-populist line, centered on the admiration of the masses for the Righteous, his effervescent style of prayer and conduct and his purported miracle-working capabilities. Fewer still retain a high proportion of the mystical-spiritualist themes of early Hasidism, and encourage members to study much kabbalistic literature and (carefully) engage in the field. The various Ziditchover dynasties mostly adhere to this philosophy.Benjamin Brown, The Two Faces of Religious Radicalism - Orthodox Zealotry and Holy Sinning in Nineteenth Century Hasidism in Hungary and Galicia.Stephen Sharot, Hasidism and the Routinization of Charisma, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1980 Others still focus on contemplation and achieving inner perfection. No dynasty is wholly devoted to a single approach of the above, and all offer some combination with differing emphasis on each of those.
Hasidism does not constitute a united movement, but a host of Hasidic dynasties, united by self-understanding of common descent or evolution from the original mystical inspiration of the Baal Shem Tov. Subsequent developments of Jewish history in Eastern Europe, particularly the perceived external secularising threats of Haskalah, assimilation, and late 19th century Jewish political movements like Zionism, added additional political and social views to their theologies, drawn from general Talmudic Judaism, in common reaction with their original traditionalist Rabbinic opponents, the Mitnagdim. However, the Hasidic movement can be divided into major groups and schools in its internal spirituality relationship to Hasidic Jewish mystical thought.
The first two works of Hasidic thought published (Toldot Yaakov Yosef (1780), by Jacob Joseph of Polnoye, and Magid Devarav L'Yaakov (1781), by Dov Ber of Mezeritch, compiled by Shlomo of Lutzk) represent the foundational thought of the Baal Shem Tov, and his successor the Maggid of Mezeritch, who lived before Hasidism became a mass movement. Dov Ber of Mezeritch, the last unifying leader of most of the early elite movement, was the movement's first systematic thinker and architect, who cultivating a stellar Hevrah Kadisha (Holy Group) of disciples who would go on to disseminate Hasidic spirituality to different areas of Eastern Europe among the common masses, beginning the innovation of Hasidism's varying schools of thought.
Popular Tzadikism
Among the disciples of the Maggid of Mezeritch, Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717–1787), who founded Hasidism in Poland-Galicia, wrote the early Hasidic classic work Noam Elimelech (1788), which developed the role of the Hasidic Tzadik into a full training of charismatic theurgic mystical "Popular/Practical Tzadikism". The work so cultivated the innovative social mysticism of leadership that it led to the proliferation of new Hasidic Tzadikim among leading disciples in Galicia and Poland. This populist "Mainstream Hasidism" praised the role of the elite tzadik in extreme formulations, which incurred the censorship of the Mitnagdim. The tzadik was depicted as the divine foundation of existence, whose task was to draw and elevate the common Jewish masses by charismatic appeal and theurgic intercession. He cultivated their faith and emotional deveikut to the divinity that the Tzadik represented on the material plane, as a collective of the divine sparks in each person's soul. Disciples who became the subsequent popular tzadikim leaders of Polish Hasidism include the Chozeh (Seer) of Lublin, the Maggid of Koznitz and Menachem Mendel of Rimanov.
Peshischa
In 1812, a schism occurred between the Seer of Lublin and his prime disciple, the Holy Jew of Przysucha (Peshischa in Yiddish), due to both personal and doctrinal disagreements. The Seer adopted a populist approach, centered on the Righteous' theurgical functions to draw the masses. He was famous for his lavish, enthusiastic conduct during prayer and worship, and extremely charismatic demeanour. He stressed that as tzaddiq, his mission was to influence the common folk by absorbing Divine Light and satisfying their material needs, thus converting them to his cause and elating them. The Holy Jew pursued a more introspective course, maintaining that the rebbes duty was to serve as a spiritual mentor for a more elitist group, helping them to achieve a senseless state of contemplation, aiming to restore man to his oneness with God which Adam supposedly lost when he ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. The Holy Jew and his successors did neither repudiate miracle working, nor did they eschew dramatic conduct; but they were much more restrained in general. The Peshischa School became dominant in Central Poland, while populist Hasidism resembling the Lublin ethos often prevailed in Galicia.Dynner, pp. 29-31. One extreme and renowned philosopher who emerged from the Peshischa School was Menachem Mendel of Kotzk. Adopting an elitist, hard-line attitude, he openly denounced the folkly nature of other tzaddiqim, and rejected financial support. Gathering a small group of devout scholars who sought to attain spiritual perfection, whom he often berated and mocked, he always stressed the importance of both somberness and totality, stating it was better to be fully wicked than only somewhat good.
Chabad
The Chabad school, also called Lubavitch after the village in White Russia where it subsequently settled, was founded by Shneur Zalman of Liadi from among the circle of Dov Ber of Mezeritch, and was elaborated over 7 generations by his successors until the late 20th century. Chabad was originally the more inclusive term, as it also generated a number of short lived offshoots, but hereditary dynasticism defined the main branch, which became publicly prominent for its outreach to the wider Jewish world under the post-war leadership of the last Lubavitcher Rebbe. The term Chabad, an acronym for the intellectual sephirot powers of the soul, defines the thought of the movement, which emphasises the role of inward intellectual and psychological contemplation of Hasidic mysticism, in contrast to mainstream Hasidic emotionalist faith and fervour. Chabad Rebbes, while not eschewing charismatic authority, emphasises their role as teachers and guides for the own internal work at divine contemplation of their followers. Chabad is an offshoot of Hasidism and a movement of its own,The Jewish Religion - A Companion, Louis Jacobs, Oxford University Press 1995, entry: Habad: "Although an offshoot of Hasidism, Habad is essentially a movement of its own, looked at with a degree of indifference and, on occasion, hostility, by the other Hasidic masters who, while admiring Shneur Zalman himself, believed that the Habad understanding of Hasidism is too intellectually oriented and too close to philosophy for comfort" characterised by its own successively articulated orientations, and with its own extensive writings that are typified by the systematic nature of their thought, with their own conceptual language.