Language:
English
Year of publication:
2020
Titel der Quelle:
Shofar; an Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
38,3 (2020) 217-241
Keywords:
Abraham ben Alexander Katz,
;
Shneur Zalman,
;
Hasidism
;
Hasidim Correspondence
;
Faith (Judaism)
Abstract:
Recent scholarship has tended to see the dispute between Rabbi Avraham Kalisker and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liady in terms framed by the latter, whereby the founder of Habad Hasidism emerges as a champion of the intellectual approach to God, while the Kalisker is characterized as following a path of simple faith and extreme emotionalism. However, a careful reading of the letters and discourses of the Kalisker reveals a complex and deeply challenging figure. Emunah [faith] is indeed a key term for the Kalisker, and while it may be "simple," it is anything but easily accessible or conventional. Emunah is a state of total integration of one's being such that all levels—embodied physicality, emotions and affect, psychological dispositions, intellect, personal soul, and transpersonal spirit—are integrated, in alignment, in beneficent communication, and in mutual exchange. Analogously, all members of the hasidic community derive wisdom and guidance from each other, realizing that the keys to one's own spiritual growth are in the hands of one's fellows. This is a horizontal model that looks for inspiration in the community itself and is less focused on the singular qualities of one exceptional leader. The Kalisker's vision was more appropriate in the social setting of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, where a small, tightly knit, and intense group of hasidic devotees could flourish.
DOI:
10.1353/sho.2020.0033
URL:
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