THE NEW CHASSIDISM.
The Alliance of Reason with Mysticism--Israel Baalshem, his
Career and Reputation--Movement against Rabbinism--The
"Zaddik"--Beer Mizricz, his Arrogance and Deceptions--
The Devotional Methods of the Chassidim--Their Liturgy--
Dissolution of the Synods "of the Four Countries"--Cossack
Massacres in Poland--Elijah Wilna, his Character and Method of
Research--The Mizricz and Karlin Chassidim--Circumstances
prove Favorable to the Spread of the New Sect--Vigorous
Proceedings against them in Wilna--Death of Beer Mizricz--
Progress of Chassidism despite the Persecution of its Opponents.
1750-1786 C. E.
As soon as an historical work has performed its service, and is to
undergo a change, new phenomena arise from various sides, and assume
a hostile attitude, either to alter or destroy it. It might have
been foreseen that the rejuvenescence of the Jewish race, for which
Mendelssohn had leveled the way, would produce a transformation and
decomposition of religious habits among Jews. The innovators desired
this, and hoped, and strove for it; the old orthodox party suspected
and dreaded it. The process of dissolution was brought about also in
another way, upon another scene, under entirely different conditions,
and by other means, and this could not have been foreseen. There arose
in Poland a new Essenism, with forms similar to those of the ancient
cult, with ablutions and baths, white garments, miraculous cures, and
prophetic visions. Like the old movement, it originated in ultra-piety,
but soon turned against its own parent, and perhaps hides within itself
germs of a peculiar kind, which, being in course of development, cannot
be defined. It seems remarkable that, at the time when Mendelssohn
declared rational thought to be the essence of Judaism, and founded,
as it were, a widely-extended order of enlightened men, another
banner was unfurled, the adherents of which announced the grossest
superstition to be the fundamental principle of Judaism, and formed
an order of wonder-seeking confederates. Both these new bodies took
up a hostile position to traditional Judaism, and created a rupture.
History in its generative power is as manifold and puzzling as nature.
It produces in close proximity healing herbs and poisonous plants,
lovely flowers and hideous parasites. Reason and unreason seemed to
have entered into a covenant to shatter the gigantic structure of
Talmudic Judaism. The attempt once before made by history, to subvert
Judaism by the contemporaneous existence of Spinoza and Sabbataï Zevi,
was now repeated by the simultaneous attacks of representatives of
reason and unreason. Enlightenment and Kabbalistic mysticism joined
hands to commence the work of destruction. Mendelssohn and Israel
Baalshem, what contrasts! Yet both unconsciously undermined the basis
of Talmudic Judaism. The origin of the new Chassidim, who had already
become numerous, and who sprang up very rapidly, is not so clear as
the movement started by Mendelssohn. The new sect, a daughter of
darkness, was born in gloom, and even to-day proceeds stealthily on its
mysterious way. Only a few circumstances which contributed to its rise
and propagation are known.
The founders of the new Chassidism were Israel of Miedziboz (born about
1698; died 1759) and Beer of Mizricz (born about 1700; died 1772).
The former received, alike from his admirers and his antagonists, the
surname of "The Wonderworker by means of Invocations in the Name of
God," Baalshem, or Baal-Shemtob, in the customary abbreviated form,
Besht. As ugly as the name, Besht, was the form of the founder and
the order that he called into existence. The Graces did not sit by his
cradle, but the spirit of belief in wonderworking, and his brain was
so filled with fantastic images that he could not distinguish them
from real, tangible beings. The experiences of Israel's youth are
unknown. So much, however, is certain; he was left an orphan, poor
and neglected, early in life, and passed a great portion of his youth
in the forests and caves of the Carpathian mountains. The spurs of
the Carpathian hills were his teachers. Here he learnt what he would
not have acquired in the dark, narrow, dirty hovels called schools
in Poland--namely, to understand the tongue which nature speaks.
The spirits of the mountains and the fountains whispered secrets
to him. Here he also learned, probably from the peasant women who
gathered herbs on the mountain-tops and on the edges of rivers, the
use of plants as remedies. As they did not trust to the healing power
of nature, but added conjurations and invocations to good and evil
spirits, Israel also accustomed himself to this method of cure. He
became a miracle-doctor. Necessity, too, was his teacher; it taught
him to pray. How often, in his forsaken and orphaned condition, may he
have suffered from want even of dry bread, how often may he have been
surrounded by real or imaginary dangers! In his distress he prayed in
the usual forms of the synagogue; but he spoke his words with fervor
and intense devotion, or cried them aloud in the solitude of the
mountains. His audible prayer awakened the echoes of the mountains,
which appeared as an answer to his supplications. He seems to have been
often in a state of rapture, and to have induced this condition by
frantic movements of the whole body while praying. This agitation drove
the blood to his head, made his eyes glitter, and wrought both body and
soul into such a condition of over-excitement that he felt a deadly
weakness come over him. Was this magnetic tension of the soul caused by
the motions and the shouting, singing, and praying?
Israel Baalshem asserted that, in consequence of these bodily
agitations and this intense devotion, he often caught a glimpse of
infinity. His soul soared upward to the world of light, heard and
saw Divine secrets and revelations, entered into conversation with
sublime spirits, and by their intervention could secure the grace of
God and prosperity, and especially avert impending calamities. Israel
Miedziboz also boasted that he could see into the future, as secrets
were unveiled to him. Was this a deliberate boast, self-deception, or
merely an over-estimation of morbid feelings? There are persons, times,
and places, in which the line of demarcation between trickery and
self-delusion cannot be distinguished. In Poland, in Baalshem's time,
with the terrible mental strain created by the Kabbala in connection
with the Sabbatian fraud, the feverish expectation of imminent
Messianic redemption, everything was possible and everything credible.
In that land the fancy of both Jews and Christians moved among
extraordinary and supernatural phenomena as in its natural element.
Israel steadfastly and firmly believed in the visions seen when he
was under mental and physical excitement; he believed in the power of
his prayers. In his delusion he blasphemously declared that prayer is
a kind of marriage union (Zivug) of man with the Godhead (Shechina),
upon which he must enter whilst in a state of excitement. Equipped with
alleged higher knowledge of secret remedies and the spirit world, to
which he thought he had attained through Divine grace, Israel entered
the society of men to prove his higher gifts. It must be acknowledged
to his credit that he never misused these talents. He did not make a
trade of them, nor seek to earn his livelihood with them. At first he
followed the humble occupation of a wagoner, afterwards he dealt in
horses, and when his means permitted it he kept a tavern.
Occasionally, when specially requested, he employed his miraculous
remedies, and thereby gained so great a reputation that he was
consulted even by Polish nobles. He became conspicuous by his noisy,
delirious praying, which must have so transfigured him that men did not
recognize the wagoner or horse-dealer whom they knew. He was admired
for his revelation of secrets. In Poland not only the unlearned and the
Jews considered such gifts and miracles possible; the Jesuits and the
Kabbalists had stultified the Christians and the Jews of their country,
and plunged them into a state of primitive barbarism.
It would have been a remarkable thing if such a wonder-doctor, who
appeared to have intercourse with the spirit world, had not found
adherents, but he can hardly have designed the formation of a new sect.
He was joined by persons of a similar disposition to his own, who felt
a religious impulse, which could not be satisfied, they thought, by a
rigorous, penitential life, or by mechanical repetition of prescribed
prayers. They joined Israel, in Miedziboz, to pray with devotion,
_i. e._, in a sing-song tune, clapping their hands, bowing, jumping,
gesticulating, and uttering cries. At almost the same time there
arose, in Wales, a Christian sect called "the Jumpers," who resorted
to similar movements during prayer, and induced trances and mesmeric
dreams. At the same time there was established, in North America, the
sect of the Shakers, by an Irish girl, Johanna Lee, who likewise in the
delirium of prayer pursued mystic Messianic phantoms. Israel need not
have been a trickster to obtain followers. Mysticism and madness are
contagious. He particularly attracted men who desired to lead a free
and merry life, at the same time hoping to reach a lofty aim, and to
live assured of the nearness of God in serenity and calmness, and to
advance the Messianic future. They did not need to pore over Talmudical
folios in order to attain to higher piety.
It became the fashion in neo-Chassidean circles to scoff at the
Talmudists. Because the latter mocked at the unlearned chief of the
new order, who had a following without belonging to the guild of
Talmudists, without having been initiated into the Talmud and its
appendages, the Chassidim depreciated the study of the Talmud, avowing
that it was not able to promote a truly godly life. Covert war existed
between the neo-Chassidim and the Rabbanites; the latter could not,
however, harm their opponents so long as Israel's adherents did not
depart from existing Judaism. After the death of the founder, when
barbarism and degeneracy increased, the feud grew into a complete
rupture under Beer of Mizricz.
Dob Beer (or Berish) was no visionary like Israel, but possessed the
faculty of clear insight into the condition of men's minds. He was
thus able to render the mind and will of others subservient to him.
Although he joined the new movement only a short time before Israel's
death, yet, whether at his suggestion or not, Israel's son and
sons-in-law were passed over, and Beer was made Israel's successor in
the leadership of the neo-Chassidean community. Beer, who transferred
the center to Mizricz--a village in Volhynia--was superior to his
master in many points. He was well read in Talmudical and Kabbalistic
writings, was a fluent preacher (Maggid), who, to further his purpose,
could make the most far-fetched biblical verses, as also Agadic and
Zoharic expressions, harmonize, and thus surprise his audience.
He removed from the Chassidim the stigma of ignorance, especially
disgraceful in Poland, and secured an accession of supporters. He had
a commanding appearance, did not mingle with the people, but lived
the whole week secluded in a small room--only accessible to his
confidants--and thus acquired the renown of mysterious intercourse
with the heavenly world. Only on the Sabbath did he show himself to
all who longed to be favored with his sight. On this day he appeared
splendidly attired in satin, his outer garment, his shoes, and even his
snuff-box being white, the color signifying grace in the Kabbalistic
language. On this day, in accordance with the custom introduced by
Israel Besht, he offered up prayers together with his friends, with the
strangers who had made a pilgrimage to him, with the new members, and
those curious to see the Kabbalistic saint and wonderworker. To produce
the joyous state of mind necessary to devout prayer, Beer indulged in
vulgar jokes, whereby the merriment of the bystanders was aroused; for
instance, he would joke with one of the circle, and throw him down. In
the midst of this child's play he would suddenly cry out, "Now serve
the Lord with gladness."
Under Beer's guidance, the constitution of Chassidism remained
apparently in the same form as under his predecessor: fervent,
convulsive praying, inspiration (Hithlahabuth), miraculous cures,
and revelations of the future. But as these actions did not, as with
Israel, flow from a peculiar or abnormal state of mind, they could only
be imitated--artifice or illusion had to supply what nature withheld.
It was an accepted fact that the Chassidean leader, or Zaddik, the
perfectly pious man, had to be enthusiastic in prayer, had to have
ecstatic dreams and visions. How can a clever plotter appear inspired?
Alcohol, so much liked in Poland, now had to take the place of the
inspiring demon. Beer had not the knowledge of remedial herbs, which
his teacher had obtained in the Carpathian mountains. He, therefore,
devoted himself to medicine, and if his remedies did not avail, then
the sick person died of his sinfulness. To predict the future was a
more difficult task, yet it had to be accomplished; his reputation
as a thaumaturgist depended upon it. Beer was equal to the emergency.
Among his intimates were expert spies, worthy of serving in the secret
police. They discovered many secrets, and told them to their leader;
thus he was enabled to assume an appearance of omniscience. Or his
emissaries committed robberies; if the victims came to the "Saint" in
his hermitage to find them out, he was able to indicate the exact spot
where the missing articles were lying. If strangers, attracted by his
fame, came to see him, they were not admitted, as mentioned, until the
following Saturday, to take part in the Chassidean witches' Sabbath.
Meantime his spies, by artful questions and other means, gleaned a
knowledge of the affairs and secret desires of these strangers, and
communicated them to the Zaddik. In the first interview Beer, in a
seemingly casual manner, was able, in a skillfully arranged discourse,
to bring in allusions to these strangers, whereby they would be
convinced that he had looked into their hearts, and knew their past.
By these and similar contrivances, he succeeded in asserting himself
as omniscient, and increasing the number of his followers. Every new
convert testified to his Divine inspiration, and induced others to join.
In order to strengthen respect for him, Beer propounded a theory,
which in its logical application is calculated to promote most harmful
consequences. Supported by the Kabbalistic formula, that "the righteous
or the pious man is the foundation of the world," he magnified the
importance of the Zaddik, or the Chassidean chief, to such an extent
that it became blasphemy. "A Zaddik is not alone the most perfect and
sinless human being, he is not alone Moses, but the representative of
God and His image." All and everything that the Zaddik does and thinks
has a decided influence upon the upper and lower worlds. The Deity
reveals Himself especially in the acts of the Zaddik; even his most
trifling deeds are to be considered important. The way he wears his
clothes, ties his shoes, smokes his pipe, whether he delivers profound
addresses, or indulges in silly jokes--everything bears a close
relation to the Deity, and is of as much moment as the fulfillment of
a religious duty. Even when drawing inspiration from the bottle, he
is swaying the upper and nether worlds. All these absurd fancies owed
their origin to the superstitious doctrines of the Kabbala, which, in
spite of the unspeakable confusion they had wrought through Sabbataï
Zevi and Frank, in spite of the opposition which their chief exponent,
the Zohar, had encountered at about this time at the hands of Jacob
Emden, still clouded the brains of the Polish Jews. According to this
theory, the Zaddik, _i. e._, Berish Mizricz, was the embodiment of
power and splendor upon earth. In his "Stübel," or "Hermitage,"
_i. e._, in his dirty little retired chamber, he considered himself as
great as the papal vicar of God upon earth in his magnificent palace.
The Zaddik was also to bear himself proudly towards men; all this was
"for the glory of God." It was a sort of Catholicism within Judaism.
Beer's idea, however, was not meant to remain idle and unfruitful, but
to bring him honor and revenue. While the Zaddik cared for the conduct
of the world, for the obtaining of heavenly grace, and especially for
Israel's preservation and glorification, his adherents had to cultivate
three kinds of virtues. It was their duty to draw nigh to him, to enjoy
the sight of him, and from time to time to make pilgrimages to him.
Further, they were to confess their sins to him. By these means alone
could they hope for pardon of their iniquities. Finally, they had to
bring him presents, rich gifts, which he knew how to employ to the best
advantage. It was also incumbent upon them to attend to his personal
wants. It seems like a return to the days of the priests of Baal,
so vulgar and disgusting do these perversities appear. The saddest
part of all is that this teaching, worthy of a fetish worshiping
people, met with approbation in Poland, the country distinguished by
cumbersome knowledge of Jewish literature. It was just this excess,
this over-activity of the spiritual digestive apparatus, that produced
such lamentable phenomena. The intellect of the Polish Jews had been so
over-excited, that the coarsest things were more pleasing to them than
what was refined.
Beer despatched abroad as his apostles bombastic preachers who seasoned
his injurious teachings with distorted citations from the Scriptures.
Simple-minded men, rogues, and idlers, of whom there were so many
in Poland, attached themselves to the new Chassidim; the first from
inclination to enthusiasm and belief in miracles; the cunning, in order
to procure money in an easy way, and lead a pleasant existence; and the
idlers, because in the court of the Zaddik they found occupation, and
gratified their curiosity. If such idlers were asked what they were
thinking of, as they strolled about pipe in mouth, they would reply
with seriousness, "We are meditating upon God." The simple people,
however, who hoped to win bliss through the Chassidean discipline,
engaged continually in prayer, until through exhaustion they dropped
unconscious.
Neo-Chassidism was favored by two circumstances, the fraternization
of the members and the dryness and fossilized character of Talmudic
study as carried on in Poland for more than a century. At the outset
the Chassidim formed a kind of brotherhood, not indeed with a common
purse, as among their prototypes, the Essenes and the Judæo-Christians,
but having regard to the wants of needy members. Owing to the closeness
of their union, their spying system, and their energy, it was easy
for them to provide for those who lacked employment or food. On New
Year and the Day of Atonement people, even those who dwelt at long
distances, undertook pilgrimages to the Zaddik, as formerly to the
Temple, and left their wives and children to pass the so-called holy
days in the company of their chief, to be edified by his presence
and actions. Here the Chassidean disciples learned to know one
another, discussed local affairs, and rendered mutual help. Well-to-do
merchants found opportunity at these assemblies, in conversation
with fellow-believers, upon whose fidelity and brotherly attachment
they could rely, to discover fresh sources of income. Fathers of
marriageable daughters sought and easily found husbands for them,
which at that time in Poland was considered a highly important matter.
The common meals on the afternoons of Saturdays and the holidays
strengthened the bonds of loyalty and affection among them. How could
meals for so many guests be provided? The wealthy Chassidim regarded it
as a duty to support the Zaddik liberally. A special source of income
was the superstitious belief prevalent among the Chassidim that the
Zaddik for certain sums (Pidion, Redemption) could ward off threatening
perils and cure deadly diseases. Pressure was brought to bear upon
wealthy but weak-minded persons, and they were terrified into believing
that they could escape impending calamities only by rich gifts. Whoever
desired to enter upon a hazardous transaction consulted the Zaddik as
an oracle, and had to pay for his counsel. The cunning Chassidim knew
everything, were ready with counsel in any emergency, and by their
craftiness were able to afford real assistance. The Zaddik, however
miserly he might be, had to assist the poor and distressed with his
revenues. Thus every member received help here. Full of enthusiasm
they returned home from their journey; the feeling that they belonged
to a brotherhood elevated them, and they ardently looked forward to the
return of the holy time. The poor and forsaken, the fanatical and the
unprincipled, could not do better than join this union, this easy-going
yet religious order.
Earnest men, also, desirous of satisfying their spiritual wants, felt
themselves attracted to the Chassidim. Rabbinical Judaism, as known
in Poland, offered no sort of religious comfort. Its representatives
placed the highest value upon the dialectic, artificial exposition of
the Talmud and its commentaries. Actual necessity had besides caused
that portion of the Talmud which treated of civil law to be closely
studied, as the rabbis exercised civil jurisdiction over their flocks.
Fine-spun decisions of new, complicated legal points occupied the
doctors of the Talmud day and night. Moreover, this hair-splitting was
considered sublimest piety, and superseded everything else. If any
one solved an intricate Talmudic question, or discovered something
new, called Torah, he felt self-satisfied, and assured of his felicity
hereafter. All other objects, the impulse to devotion, prayer, and
emotion, or interest in the moral condition of the community, were
secondary matters, to which scarcely any attention was paid. The
mental exercise of making logical deductions from the Talmud, or
more correctly from the laws of Mine and Thine, choked all other
intellectual pursuits in Poland. Religious ceremonies had degenerated,
both amongst Talmudists and the unlearned, into meaningless usages,
and prayer into mere lip-service. To men of feeling this aridity of
Talmudic study, together with the love of debate, and the dogmatism and
pride of the rabbis arising from it, were repellent, and they flung
themselves into the arms of the new order, which allowed so much play
for the fancy and the emotions. Especially preachers, semi-Talmudists
who were looked upon and treated by erudite rabbi-Talmudists as
inferior and contemptible, who eked out a wretched living, or almost
starved, leagued themselves with the neo-Chassidim, because among
them their talents of preaching were appreciated, and they could
obtain an honorable position, and be secured against need. By the
accession of such elements the circle of neo-Chassidim became daily
augmented. Almost in every town lived followers of the new school, who
occasionally had intercourse with their brother-members and their chief.
With advancing strength the antipathy of the neo-Chassidim to the
rabbis and Talmudists increased. Without being aware of it they formed
a new sect, which scorned intercourse with the Talmud Jews. With Beer
at their head, they felt themselves strong enough to introduce an
innovation, which would naturally bring down the anger of the rabbis
upon them. Since prayer and the rites of Divine service were the chief
consideration for them, they did not trouble themselves about the
prescriptions of the ritual law as to how many prayers should be said,
nor at what time the different services should commence and terminate,
but were entirely guided by the feeling of the moment. Through their
daily ablutions, baths, and other preparations for public worship they
were seldom ready for prayer at the prescribed time, but began later,
prolonged it by the movements of their bodies and their intoning,
and suddenly came to an end after omitting several portions. They
were especially averse to the harsh interpolations in the Sabbath and
festival prayers (the Piyutim). These insertions interrupt the most
important and suggestive portions of the service. To abolish these at
a blow, Beer Mizricz introduced the prayer-book of the arch-Kabbalist,
Isaac Lurya, which for the greater part conforms to the Portuguese
ritual, and does not contain poetical (poetanic) additions. In the
eyes of the ultra-orthodox this innovation was an enormous, or rather
a double crime, permitting, as it did, the omission of interpolations
hallowed by custom, and the exchange of the German ritual for the
Sephardic.
This innovation would probably have been severely visited upon the
neo-Chassidim, but that at this time, when the political power of
Poland lay crushed, the firm political connection of the Polish Jews
had also been dissolved. Poland was distracted by civil war. "In
this country," as the Primate of Gnesen complained at the opening of
the Reichstag, March, 1764, "freedom is oppressed, the laws are not
obeyed, justice cannot be obtained, trade is utterly ruined, districts
and villages are devastated, the treasury is empty, and the coin of
the realm has no value." It had been enfeebled by the Jesuits, and
was already regarded by Russia as a sure prey. Its king--Stanislaus
Augustus Poniatowski--was a weakling, the plaything of internal
factions and external foes (September, 1764). In the first year of his
reign, Poniatowski among other laws issued a regulation which destroyed
the communal union of the Polish Jews. The synod of the Four Countries,
composed of delegates, rabbis and laymen (Parnassim), with authority
to pronounce interdicts and levy fines, was not permitted to assemble,
pass resolutions, or execute them.
The dissolution of the synod was very fortunate for the neo-Chassidim.
They could not be excommunicated by the representatives of the Polish
Jewish world, but each individual congregation had to proceed against
them and forbid their meetings. Even this step was not taken at once,
as the terrible death-struggle in which Poland engaged before its first
partition was severely felt by the wealthy Jews, who trembled for their
lives. The Confederation War broke out, which made many districts
a desert; Poland was punished by eternal Justice in the same way as
it had sinned. In the name of the pope and the Jesuits it had always
persecuted dissenters, and excluded them from public offices, and, in
the name of the dissenters, Catherine plunged the land into fratricidal
war. The Russians, for the second time, let loose against Poland the
Zaporogian Cossacks--the savage Haidamaks--who inflicted death, by
every known method, upon the Polish nobles, the clergy, and the Jews.
The Haidamaks hung up together a nobleman, a Jew, a monk, and a dog,
with the mocking inscription, "All are equal." Most inhuman cruelties
were inflicted upon captives and the defenseless. In addition came the
Turks, who, in the guise of saviours of Poland, murdered and plundered
on every side. The Ukraine, Podolia, in general the southern provinces
of Poland, were turned into deserts.
These misfortunes were more advantageous than injurious to the
neo-Chassidim. They spread in the north, and whilst hitherto they had
been able to carry on their cult only in small, comparatively young
communities, from this time they gained ground in the large and old
congregations. Their numbers had already grown to such an extent that
they formed two branches--the Mizriczians and the Karlinians--the
former called after their original home, the latter after the village
of Karlin, near Pinsk. The Karlinians spread as far as Wilna and Brody.
At first they proceeded cautiously. As soon as at least ten persons had
assembled, they looked for a room (Stübel) in which to conduct their
services; there they practiced the rites of their creed, and sought to
gain new adherents; but all this was skillfully done, so that nothing
came to light before they had secured a firm foothold. In Lithuania
their system was not yet known, and thus at first they aroused no
suspicion.
The first violent attack upon them was made by a man whose influence
was blessed during his lifetime, and even after death, and who, in a
more favorable environment, might, like Mendelssohn, have effected
much for the moral advancement of his co-religionists. Elijah Wilna
(born 1720; died 1797), whose name, with the title of "Gaon," is
still mentioned by the Lithuanian Jews with reverence and love, was
a rare exception among the mass of the Polish Jews. He was of the
purest character, and possessed high talents, which he did not put
to perverted uses. It suffices to say of his character that in spite
of his comprehensive and profound Talmudical erudition, he refused
a post as rabbi, in contrast to most scholars in Poland, who were
office-seekers, and obtained rabbinates by artifice. In spite of the
marvelous fertility of his pen in many domains of Jewish literature,
he allowed nothing to be published during his lifetime, again in
contradistinction to contemporary students, who, in order to make a
name and to see their ideas in print, scarcely waited till the ink of
their compositions was dry. In his disinterestedness, Elijah Wilna
realized the ideal of the Talmud, that a teacher of Judaism "should
use the Law neither as a crown to adorn himself therewith, nor as a
spade to dig therewith." In spite of the superiority of his knowledge
and the full and general recognition accorded him, he modestly and
conscientiously avoided asserting himself. The gratification that
results from research, from the seeking of knowledge, completely
satisfied him. His intellectual method corresponded in its unaffected
simplicity with his character and life. As a matter of course, the
Talmud and all the branches connected with or dependent on it filled
his mind. But he disliked the corrupt method of his countrymen, who
indulged in hair-splitting, casuistry, and subtleties. His sole aim
was to penetrate to the simple sense of the text; he even made an
attempt at the critical examination and emendation of texts, and by his
undistorted explanations he blew down the houses of cards which the
subtle Talmudists had erected upon quicksand.
It required extraordinary mental force to swim against the high tide
of custom and rise above the aberrations into which all the sons of
the Talmud in Poland had fallen. In point of fact Elijah Wilna stood
isolated in his time. It seemed as though from his youth he had been
afraid of following the errors of his compatriots, for he attached
himself to no special school, but, strange to say, was his own teacher
in the Talmud. Talmudical studies did not exclusively occupy his mind.
Elijah Wilna devoted great attention to the Bible--a rarity in his
circle--and, what was still more unusual, he acquainted himself with
the grammar of the Hebrew language. Unlike his compatriots, he by no
means despised a knowledge of extra-Talmudic subjects, but studied
mathematics, and wrote a book upon geometry, algebra, and mathematical
astronomy. He exhorted his disciples and friends to interest themselves
in profane sciences, and openly expressed his conviction that Judaism
would be the gainer from such studies. Only his scrupulous piety, his
immaculate conduct, his unselfishness, and his renunciation of every
office and position of honor, saved him from the charge of heresy on
account of his pursuing extra-Talmudical branches of knowledge.
Elijah Wilna, above all, implanted a good spirit in the Lithuanian
Jews. He taught his sons and disciples to seek simplicity and avoid
the casuistry of the Polish method. In Elijah Wilna the beautiful
Talmudical saying was exemplified, "He who flees from honors is sought
out by them." At an early age he was recognized, even outside of
Poland, as an authority and a man of truth. Yet even Elijah was subject
to the delusion that the hateful Kabbala was a true daughter of
Judaism, and contained true elements. He deeply lamented the moral ruin
wrought by the Kabbala among Podolian and Galician Jews, through the
rascally Frank, who had driven them into the arms of the Church, and
made them enemies to the Synagogue; yet he could not free himself from
it. Even when the danger of these false doctrines was brought home to
him by the rise of the Chassidim, and he was compelled openly to oppose
them, he could not relinquish his blind fondness for the Kabbala.
The neo-Chassidim, or Karlinians, had crept into Wilna, and had
established a secret "Stübel" for their noisy conventicles. A trusty
friend of their leader, and an emissary sent by him, had stealthily
introduced their cult into the town, and won over several members of
the Wilna community. Their meetings, their proceedings, and their
derision of the Talmudists, were betrayed. The whole congregation
were greatly excited at this. They were indignant that the Karlinians
impudently asserted of the respected Elijah Wilna, that, like his
occupation and his belief, his life was a lie. The elders and rabbis
forthwith took counsel. The Chassidic conventicles were straightway
attacked, investigations set on foot, and trials instituted. Writings
were found among the Chassidim, which contained the principle that
all sadness was to be avoided, even in the repentance for sins. But
greatest uneasiness was aroused by the alterations in the liturgy
and the disrespectful utterances against the rabbis. Elijah Wilna,
who, although he filled no official position, was always invited to
the council meetings, and had an important voice in its decisions,
took a very serious view of the matter. He beheld in the Chassidic
aberration a continuation of Frank's excesses and corrupting influence.
The otherwise gentle and meek man became a veritable fanatic. The
rabbis and the chiefs of the community, together with Elijah Wilna,
addressed a letter to all the large communities, directing them
to keep a sharp eye upon the Chassidim, and to excommunicate them
until they abandoned their erroneous views. Several congregations
immediately obeyed this injunction. In Brody, during the fair, in the
presence of many strangers, the ban was published against all those
who prayed noisily, deviated from the German synagogue ritual, wore
white robes on Sabbath and the festivals, and were guilty of other
strange customs and innovations. Elijah Wilna's circle launched a
vigorous denunciatory pamphlet against the offenders. This was the
first blow that the Chassidim experienced. In addition, their leader,
Beer Mizricz, died in the same year (1772)--the rabbis imagined in
consequence of the excommunication--and thus they felt themselves
utterly deserted. Owing to the weakness of the king, and the greed
of the neighboring nations, the kingdom of Poland was dismembered.
Through this disorganization the union of the Chassidim was broken, and
the separated members became dependent upon the legislature, or the
arbitrary treatment, of various governments.
However, this storm did not crush them; they remained firm, and did
not display the slightest sign of submitting to their opponents
(Mithnagdim). On the contrary, the struggle made them more active and
energetic. They were not deeply moved by the ban under which they had
been placed; this weapon, blunted since the contest for and against
Jonathan Eibeschütz, could no longer inflict wounds. The Chassidim,
grown to the number of fifty or sixty thousand, formed themselves
into small groups, each with a leader, called Rebbe. Their itinerant
preachers encouraged the individual communities to persevere in their
tenets, and to accept persecution as a salutary trial. The connection
of the groups with one another was maintained in this way; a chief
from the family of Beer Mizricz was placed at the head as the supreme
Zaddik, to whom the various Rebbe were subordinate, and for whose use
they were to set aside a portion of their income. The possible apostasy
of members through the onslaughts from Wilna was met by the order that
the Chassidim might read no work that had not received the approval of
the Chassidic authorities. Obedience towards their leaders had taken so
deep a root in the minds of the Chassidim that they never transgressed
this prohibition. Their chiefs distributed among them the sermons
or collections of sayings supposed to have been written by Israel
Baalshem, or Beer Mizricz, which emphasized the high importance of the
Zaddik, of the Chassidic life, and of scorn for the Talmudists--vile
writings, which were nevertheless read with admiration by the members,
who were kept in a constant state of intoxication. What had hitherto
been optional and individual was raised by these writings to the rank
of statutes and stringent laws.
After Beer's death, two men chiefly contributed to the exaltation of
Chassidism, one through his unbounded enthusiasm, the other by his
scholarship. These men, neither of whom is open to suspicion, were
Israel of Kozieniza (north of Radom) and Salman of Liadi, both Beer's
disciples.
So strong did the Chassidim again become, that a second interdict
had to be fulminated against them. This time also the persecution
originated in Wilna, and was instigated by Elijah Wilna. The Chassidim
were declared to be heretics, with whom no pious Jew might intermarry
(summer of 1781). Two messengers were sent from Wilna to the Lithuanian
congregations to induce them to support the ban. In consequence of
this, the collections of Chassidic sermons and other writings, although
they contained sentences from Holy Writ, were publicly burnt in Brody
and Cracow. In Selvia, near Slonim, during the fair, in the presence
of large numbers of Jews, the ban was publicly promulgated against the
Chassidim and their writings (August 21, 1781); but these obsolete
methods were of little use. In the Austrian Polish provinces (Galicia)
other means were employed by the disciples of the Mendelssohn school
against the stultifying system of the Chassidim. The decree of Joseph
II, that schools for instruction in German and elementary subjects be
established in all Jewish communities, encountered vigorous resistance
from all Jews, but especially from Chassidim. In the belief that
culture would improve the demoralized and barbarous state of the
people, a small body of men, Mendelssohn's admirers, strove zealously
to oppose them. Among the most ardent workers for the enlightenment
of the Galician Jews was Alexander Kaller. Kaller and his associates
probably obtained a decree from the court at Vienna, commanding that
no Chassidic or Kabbalistic writings be admitted into Galicia (1785).
After the second partition of Poland, denunciations were also leveled
against the Chassidim in Russian Poland as dangerous to the state.
Salman of Liadi was dragged in chains to St. Petersburg. Elijah Wilna
is said to have been the instigator of this charge, too; indeed, he
persecuted the sect as long as he lived. After his death the Chassidim
took vengeance upon him by dancing upon his grave, and celebrating
the day of his decease as a holiday, with shouting and drunkenness.
All efforts made to suppress the Chassidim were in vain, because
in a measure they represented a just principle, that of opposing
the excesses of Talmudism. Before the end of the eighteenth century
they had increased to 100,000 souls. At the present day they rule
in congregations where they were formerly persecuted, and they are
spreading on all sides.