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THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

and joins himself to the eternal being of God. Such a state produces a species of indescribable joy (nnDE>), which is a necessary ingredient of the true worship of God. It is remarkable that Besht, whose starting-point was the same as that of Luria's Cabala, arrived at exactly opposite results. His conception of God

was

while the school of Luria laid the upon the principle of Opposition emanation. Besht's fight against aspantheistic



greatest stress

to Luria's Cabala.

ccticism was directed more against the school from which it sprang than against pure Talmudism. His teachings concerning nntDC ("joy ") were especially opposed to asceticism. The followers of Luria considered weeping an indispensable accompaniment to prayer while Besht considered weeping and feelings of sorrow to be wholly objectionable. The sinner who repents of his sin should not sorrow over the past, but should rejoice over the Heavenly Voice, over the Divine Power, working within him and enabling him to recognize the true in admitting his sin. The function of joy in prayer is paralleled by

glowing enthusiasm and ecstasy (TVD!"6nn ="to

come inflamed

be-

Fear of in every act of worship. God is only an initiatory step to real worship, which must spring from a love of God and a surrender of self to Him. In his enthusiasm man will not think ")

either of this life (ntn oi'iy) or of the next: the feeling of union with God is in itself a means and an Enthusiasm, however, demands progress, not end. the mere fulfilment of the Law's precepts in a daily routine which becomes deadening true religion con:

an ever-growing recognition of God. The later developments of Hasidism are unintelligible without consideration of Besht's opinion concerning man's proper relation with the universe. True worship of God, as above explained, consists in mp'ai, the cleaving to, and the unification with, God. To use his own words, " the ideal of man is to be a revelation himself, clearly to recognize himself as a manifestation of God." Mysticism, he said, is not the Cabala, which every one may learn but that sists in



sense of true oneness, which

usually as strange, unintelligible, and incomprehensible to mankind as dancing is to a dove. The man, however, who is capable of this feeling is endowed with a genuine and it is the perception of such a man intuition which is called prophecy, or " bat kol, " according to the degree of his insight. Prom this Idea of the it results, in the first place, that the " zaddik, " the ideal man, may lay claim Zaddik. to authority equal, in a certain sense, A second and to the authority of the Prophets. more important result of the doctrine is that the zaddik, through his oneness with God, forms a connecting-link between the Creator and creation. Thus, slightly modifying the Bible verse, Hab. ii. 4, Besht said " The righteous can vivify by his faith. Besht's followers enlarged upon this idea, and consistently deduced from it that the zaddik is the source of divine mercy, of blessings, of life and that therefore, if one love him, one may partake of God's is







mercy.

Though Besht may

not be held responsible for the later conception of the zaddik, there is no doubt II.— 25

Ba'al Shem-Tob

that his self-reliance was an important factor in winning adherents. It may, in fact, be said of Hasidism that, with the exception of Jesus and the JudffioChristians, there is no other Jewish sect in which the founder is as important as his doctrines. Besht himself is still the real center for the Hasidim; his teachings have almost sunk in oblivion. As Sehechter ("Studies in Judaism," p. 4) finely observes: "To the Hasidim, Ba'al-Shem [Besht] was the incarnation of a theory, and his whole life the reve.

.

lation of a system.

Besht did not combat the practise of rabbinical Judaism; this seemed harmless to him it was the spirit of the practise which he opposed. His teaching being the result not of speculation, Charbut of a deep, religious temperament, acteristics. he laid stress upon a religious spirit, and not upon the forms of religion. Though he considered the Law to be holy and in:

held that one's entire life should be a and that this would constitute true worship of Him. Since every act in life is a manifestation of God, and must perforce be divine, it is man's duty so to live that the tilings called " earthly " maj' also become noble and pure, that is, divine. violable,

lie

service of God,

Besht tried to realize his ideal in his own career. His life provided the best example for his disciples; and his intercourse with the innkeepers, a class of people who nearly corresponded to the publicans of the time of Jesus (a number of whom he raised to a higher level), furnished a silent but effective protest against the practise of the rabbis, who, in their inexorable sense of strict righteousness, would have no dealings with people fallen morally. The Hasidim tell of a woman whom her relatives sought to kill on account of her shameful life, but who was saved in

body and soul by Besht. but

it is

The

story

may be

a

myth

characteristic of Besht's activity in healing

those in greatest need of relief. More important to friendly intercourse with sinners; though the former constituted an essential The story of Besht's factor in the religious life. career affords many examples of unselfishness and high-minded benevolence. And while these qualities equally characterize a number of the rabbis of his day, his distinguishing traits were a merciful

him than prayer was

combined with disand a boundless joy in life. Moreover, Besht's methods of teaching differed essentially from those of his opponents, and contributed not a little to his success. He was certainly not a scholar; that is, his knowledge of rabbinical literature, especially of the Talmud and the Midrashim, was only that of an average "lamdan." He was still less gifted as a speaker. But the lack of scholarship and oratory was supplied by fine satire and inventiveness in telling parables. There are many satirical remarks directed against his opponents, an especially characteristic one being his designation of the typical Talmudist of his day as " a man who through sheer study of the Law has no

judgment

of others, fearlessness

like of strife,

time to think about God." Besht illustrated his views of asceticism by the following parable:

"A thief once tried to break into a house, the owner of which, crying out, frightened the thief away. The same thief soon afterward broke into the house of a very strong man, who, on