Hasidism Reappraised

Ada Rapoport-Albert, who died in 2020, was Professor of Jewish Studies and head of the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College London.

• Notes on contributorsIntroduction - ADA RAPOPORT-ALBERTPart I Joseph G. Weiss as a Student of Hasidism1 Joseph G. Weiss: A Personal Appraisal - JACOB KATZ2 Joseph Weiss: Letters to Ora - SARA ORA HELLER WILENSKYPart II Towards a New Social History of Hasidism3 The Conditions in Jewish Society in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Middle Decades of the Eighteenth Century - GERSHON DAVID HUNDERT4 Social Conflicts in Miedzyboz in the Generation of the Besht - MOSHE J. ROSMAN5 Hasidism and the Kahal in Eastern Europe - SHMUEL ETTINGER6 Hasidism after 1772: Structural Continuity and Change - ADA RAPOPORT- ALBERT7 The Hasidic Managing Editor as an Agent of Culture - ZEEV GRIESPart III The Social Function of Mystical Ideals in Hasidism8 The Zaddik: The Interrelationship between religious Doctrine and Social Organization - IMMANUEL ETKES9 The Paradigms of Yesh and Ayin in Hasidic Thought - RACHEL ELIOR10 Walking as a Sacred Duty: Theological Transformation of Social Reality in Early Hasidism - ELLIOT R. WOLFSON11 Hasidism and the Dogma of the Decline of the Generations - LOUIS JACOBS12 Personal Redemption in Hasidism - MORRIS M. FAIERSTEIN13 Hasidism as a Socio-religious Movement on the Evidence of Devekut - MENDEL PIEKARZPart IV Distinctive Outlooks and Schools of Thought within Hasidism14 The Influence of Reshit hokhmah on the Teachings of the Maggid of Mezhirech - BRACHA SACK15 Torah lishmah as a Central Concept in the Degel mahaneh Efrayim of Moses Hayyim Ephraim of Sudylkow - ROLAND GOETSCHEL16 The Teachings of R. Menahem Mendel of Vitebsk - MOSHE HALLAMISH17 Habad Approaches to Contemplative Prayer, 1790-1920 - NAFTALI LOEWENTHAL18 The Fluidity of Categories in Hasidism: Averah lishmah in the Teachings of R. Zevi Elimelekh of Dynow - YEHOSHUA MONDSHINE19 R. Naphtali Zevi of Ropczyce (the 'Ropshitser') as a Hasidic Leader - YOSEPH SALMONPart V The Hasidic Tale20 New Light on the Hasidic Tale and its Sources - GEDALIAH NIGAL21 The Source Value of the Basic Recensions of Shivhei haBesht - KARL ERICH GRA-ZINGERPart VI The History of Hasidic Historiography22 The Imprint of Haskalah Literature on the Historiography of Hasidism - ISRAEL BARTAL23 The Historiography of the Hasidic Immigration to Erets Yisrael - JACOB BARNAI24 Martin Buber and Gershom Scholem on Hasidism: A Critical Appraisal - MOSHE IDEL25 Yitzhak Schiper's Study of Hasidism in Poland - CHONE SHMERUKPart VII Contemporary Hasidism26 Hasidism: The Third Century - JOSEPH DAN27 Differences in Attitudes to Study and Work between Present-day Hasidism and Mitnaggedim: A Sociological View - DANIEL MEIJERSPart VIII The Present State of Research on Hasidism: An Overview28 Early Hasidism: Some Old/New Questions - ARTHUR GREEN29 The Study of Hasidism: past Trends and New Directions - IMMANUEL ETKESBibliographyIndex

'Ce fort volume ... Cet ouvrage represente sans conteste une etape importante pour la connaissance du hasidisme.'- Jacques Gutwirth, Archives des Sciences Sociales des Religions'A magnificent account of that phenomenon from the Jewish past-Hasidism. Not only is it a consummate work of scholarship, but the editor has drawn together some of the personal relationships between scholars to show how this has also been the yeast in the splendid lekakh. Before all else, a word of praise for the editor ... to be read as well as to be dipped into and also to have as a major reference work. Trawling the index alone kept me fascinated for many evenings. Some wealthy Jews build synagogues, Jewish centres, but Louis Thomas Sidney Littman, who founded the Littman Library for the love of God and in memory of his father, gave us the wisest gift of all. Our richest past. His memory for a blessing. Ada Rapoport-Albert is an Israeli lecturer at University College, London. She is a considerable editor, writer, and scholar, and by all personal accounts an inspired teacher.'- Alex Auswaks, Jerusalem Post'Probably the most important analytical study of the Hasidic movement to have appeared in the English language, and it can be read with profit by anyone seriously interested in Jewish history.'- Edgar Samuel, Jewish Historical Studies'Undoubtedly of great value for our knowledge of hasidism.'- Jacques Gutwirth, Jewish Journal of Sociology'An opportunity to encounter virtually all the most important trends in the study of Hasidism and to move beyond the approaches and theories that have until now constituted conventional wisdom ... It is a volume that will be essential for anyone with a serious interest in Hasidism and indeed for any Judaica collection.'- Miles Krassen, Journal of Jewish Studies'Handsome collection of twenty-eight essays by world-ranking scholars ... comprehensive indeed, and profound, articulate, often gripping, and frequently counter to conventional wisdom ... amply rewarded by the superb job of translating, editing and reducing to easily readable length ... a reflection of major watersheds in the study of Hasidism.'- Lewis Glinert, Le'ela