Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), p. 511. First published in Zolkiev in 1793, it is attributed to the Besht. R. Shneur Zalman of Liady writes, “The truth is that this is not his ethical will, and that he made no such will before he departed this life. It…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 499-500. Truth (emet) in hasidic thought is more a moral than an intellectual virtue, denoting especially self-knowledge; lack of sham and hypocrisy in religious life; and complete sincerity in the service of God without any ulterior motives (piniyot, lit., “turnings aside,” i.e.,…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 496-7. The legends told about the Besht speak of his long pipe, the lulke, over which, it is said by some sources, he would even recite a benediction. Many of the hasidic masters similarly were tobacco smokers. The hasidic fondness for this…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), p. 482. The hasidim, like all other Orthodox Jews, attach great significance to the wearing of tefillin, but the special hasidic emphasis on this mitzvah is seen in the mystical intentions, based on the Kabbalah, that hasidim have in mind when wearing tefillin and…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 472-4. The mitnaggedim accused the hasidim of being indifferent to the study of the Torah and of despising talmudic scholars, but the revolutionary nature of hasidic attitudes toward study consisted far more in difference of aim and emphasis than in any neglect of…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 471-2. The curious doctrine of the elevation of strange thoughts occupied, to the dismay of the mitnaggedim, a prominent place in early hasidic life and thought, though it was generally abandoned in the third generation as suitable only for the greatest of saints…....

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 469-70. There are two kinds of hasidic stories (maasiyot). The first of these is the tale told by the tzaddik himself either in the form of a mashal (parable) or in the form of an apparently trivial account of mundane affairs but containing,…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 453-4. According to the Shivhei HaBesht, one of the occupations the Besht followed before he became renowned was that of shohet. A legend tells of how the Besht, grieving over the fowl he was obliged to slaughter, would whet his knife not with…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 402-3. Hasidic teachings on repentance differ from earlier Jewish teachings only in mood and emphasis. The motive for repentance, according to the hasidic masters, should be far less the fear of punishment than the love and fear of God, the latter being generally…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), p. 402. As Orthodox Jews the hasidim were opposed to any idea that Judaism should or could be “reformed.” Nor is it correct to see Hasidism itself, at least on the conscious level, as a “reformist” movement, despite the numerous innovations for which it…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 399-400. The title given from the earliest days of the movement to the hasidic master, probably in order to distinguish him from the rav, the traditional rabbinic leader. Although the term “tzaddik” is used in the hasidic literature for the holy guide and…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 375–77. In the traditional rabbinic scheme, prayer, for all its significance, yields to the study of the Torah as the supreme religious obligation. In Hasidism, however, there is a marked tendency to give priority to prayer. The early hasidic text Keter Shem Tov…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), p. 357. The identification of the all with God. Hasidic thought has frequently been described as pantheistic in that it tends to see God as the only ultimate reality, so that He is “in” all things. However, Hasidism, for all its stress on the…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 316-18. In every version of Hasidism it is believed that the tzaddik, as the channel through which the divine grace flows, has the power to perform miracles, the miracle (mofet) being conceived of as a supernatural intervention by means of which the laws…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 314-15. The high spiritual value connected to frequent immersion in the ritual bath (mikveh) is stressed in Hasidism from its early beginnings and in every branch of the movement, though there is a hasidic tradition that, because of an infirmity, the Maggid of…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 311-12. In his famous letter to his brother-in-law—Gershom of Kutov (printed at the end of Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye’s Ben Porat Yosef)—the Besht describes a meeting he had with the Messiah during an ascent of soul. On the Besht’s requesting the Messiah to…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), p. 275. A halakhic authority of universal recognition, Landau was a determined opponent of Hasidism, considering the claim made for the hasidic tzaddik as a “seer” (ro’eh) gifted with prophetic powers to be a serious departure from the rabbinic norm. His particular opposition was…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 265-6. Klippot are shells or husks, the name given in the Kabbalah to the demonic forces. The klippot are nourished by the good and holy but seek to destroy them or, at least, to encroach on their domain. The Shekhinah is especially prone…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 259-60. Intention, or concentration, especially during prayer. The concept of kavvanah (lit., directing, i.e., the mind) has had a long and complicated history, The Talmud frequently urges the worshiper to maintain kavvanah during prayers, where the meaning of kavvanah is twofold: having God…...

Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 249-52. Although a number of the hasidic masters—the Maggid of Kozienice, Barukh of Kossov, Tzvi Hirsch of Zydaczov, Yitzhak Eizig of Komarno and his son Elazer Tzvi, the tzaddikim of Munkacs, and all the Habad leaders—were expert in the Kabbalah, Hasidism generally places…...