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Judaism: Practices That Shape Religious Identity

Hasidic Judaism

  • 3 things to know
  • Component 1

Overview

An eighteenth-century movement of devotion and joy, the authority of its spiritual masters, and the opposition it provoked.

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Who and when

Who was the Baal Shem Tov?

Key term

What conditions gave rise to Hasidism?

Key term

What did the Baal Shem Tov teach about serving God?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Who was the Baal Shem Tov?

    Model answer

    Israel ben Eliezer, called the Baal Shem Tov, founded Hasidism in eighteenth-century Podolia. The title means master of the good name and points to his reputation as healer and mystic.

  2. 2

    What conditions gave rise to Hasidism?

    Model answer

    Eastern European Jewry was impoverished and shaken by the Chmielnicki massacres and by the collapse of Shabbetai Zvi's messianic movement. Elite Talmud study left ordinary Jews outside religious life.

  3. 3

    What did the Baal Shem Tov teach about serving God?

    Model answer

    The Baal Shem Tov taught that God fills all creation and can be served in every ordinary act. Joy, sincerity and attachment to God matter more than learning.

  4. 4

    What is devekut in Hasidic teaching?

    Model answer

    Devekut means cleaving to God, a constant awareness of God's presence. Hasidism makes devekut available in work, eating and conversation as well as in prayer.

  5. 5

    What is a rebbe?

    Model answer

    A rebbe is the spiritual leader of a Hasidic group, also called a tzaddik or righteous one. Followers seek his blessing, advice and intercession as well as his teaching.

  6. 6

    How does a rebbe differ from a rabbi?

    Model answer

    A rabbi holds ordination and rules on questions of Jewish law. A rebbe leads a community as a spiritual master, and the position usually passes within a dynasty.

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