The Mystical Origins of Hasidism

This very accessible introduction to hasidism as a movement opens a new window on its mystical underpinnings. It discusses the origins and dissemination of hasidism and the literature that facilitated this; the theological basis of hasidism and the mystical significance of the tsadik; the major figures of hasidism; and the complex links to kabbalah and Shabbateanism. The discussion of the intellectual and social implications highlights the eighteenth century as a key period in modern Jewish history.
1 The Origins of Hasidism
2 The Hasidic Library
3 Mystical Societies and the Spread of Hasidism: Internalizing and Reviving the Kabbalistic Myth
4 The Hasidic Concept of Language: The Window in the Word
5 Israel Ba´al Shem Tov´s Uniqueness: Myth, Bibliography, Facts, and Image
6 The Hasidic Revolution
7 Hasidism in the Context of its Time
8 The Unity of Opposites: Being and Nothingness
9 ‘For indeed all is null and void´: The Transcendence from Being to Nothingness
10 The Doctrine of the Tsadik
11 Mystical Spirituality and Autonomous Leadership
12 Israel Ba´al Shem Tov and Jacob Frank: Hasidism and Shabateanism
13 Scholarship on Hasidism: Changing
Perspectives
14 Summary

Glossary
Recommended Reading
Bibliography
Index