Hasidim

Hasidim—literally, "the pious" (singular, Hasid)—were originally followers of the teachings of Rabbi Israel Ben Eliezer (1700–1760), the Ba'al Shem Tov ("Master of the Good Name"), a charismatic healer, storyteller, and mystic. His contemplative and ecstatic teachings emphasized concern for ordinary people and perceiving the presence of divinity everywhere. Disciples later attracted followings of their own, which evolved into the Hasidic communities. By the end of the eighteenth century, Hasidic communities had formed throughout Eastern Europe, particularly in Ukraine, Galicia, and Poland. However, in Belarus and Lithuania, Hasidim met with strong resistance for promoting customs that deviated from the Ashkenazi norms and the fear that Hasidic emphasis on devotion, ecstasy, and charisma might lead to heresy and religious anarchy. By the nineteenth century, Hasidim and their opponents joined to make common cause against their mutual enemy, the European enlightenment and the forces of modernization. Hasidim had little interest in the United States before World War II. Most Hasidim who left the great Hasidic communities of Eastern Europe preferred to ascend to the Holy Land of Israel, where Hasidim began to settle in the 1760s. Very few Hasidic rabbis and their followers were among the early waves of Eastern European Jewish immigration to the "Golden Land," which represented secularism and materialism. The Hasidic presence in American history really begins with the Nazi genocide of Eastern European Jewry, of whom a very high percentage were Hasidim. Most of the minority of Hasidim who survived the Holocaust regrouped in New York after the war. These survivors were shepherded by a few major surviving Hasidic rebbes. The most influential were Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe, who united Hungarian and Romanian survivors in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; and Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneersohn, the Rebbe of Lubavitch, whose followers, Chabad Hasidim, formed a community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. In 1950, Schneersohn was succeeded by his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, whose influence continued to guide Chabad Hasidim, even after his death in 1994.

Hasidim were extremely successful in rebuilding their communities and religious institutions in Brooklyn and later in upstate New York. The Rebbes of Satmar and Lubavitch were perceived as rivals, representing differing models for serving God in America during the second half of the twentieth century. The Satmar Rebbe was, on theological grounds, an ardent anti-Zionist. He had a large following in Jerusalem, but opposed secular Jewish government in the Holy Land. Satmar concentrated on rebuilding and developing its own institutions rather than on outreach. Chabad had historically been anti-Zionist, but once the state of Israel was founded, they became strong supporters of Israel and its institutions, gaining considerable influence among Israeli politicians and leaders. Chabad Hasidim were also more integrated and conspicuous among various strata of the American Jewish community.

In the 1960s, Rabbi Schneerson began a vigorous and remarkably successful outreach program, aimed at returning American Jews to a more traditionally observant Jewish way of life. Chabad representatives were sent to communities wherever Jews lived. Emphasis was placed on reaching students at colleges and universities. This program was part of a larger mission to reach Jews in all parts of the world, especially the oppressed Jews in the Soviet Union. The project's success benefited from the strong financial support of members of the non-Hasidic American Jewish community, who were persuaded that Chabad Hasidism represented authentic traditional Judaism. A messianic dimension has always been part of Chabad teaching. However, this interest became increasingly important in Chabad during the 1980s, when many Chabad Hasidim began to publicly proclaim their leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, as the messiah. While never explicitly affirming or denying that he was the messiah, Rabbi Schneerson used messianic anticipation as a means of increasing fervor and dedication among his Hasidim. After his death, many Chabad Hasidim continue to believe in his messiahship, some even expecting his imminent resurrection. Some prominent Chabad leaders and opponents of Chabad in the general American Jewish community condemned these radical beliefs as heretical. While Chabad institutions continued to flourish, the central Chabad communities in Crown Heights and Israel have been rent by schism over the messianic status of their departed rebbe.

See alsoHolocaust; Holy Land; Jewish Identity; Judaism; Messianism; Zionism.

Bibliography

Belcove-Shalin, Janet S. New WorldHasidism: Ethnographic Studies of Hasidic Jews in America. 1995.

Mintz, Jerome R. Hasidic People: APlace in theNewWorld. 1994.

Miles Krassen