Volume II Part 9 (1/2)

[Footnote 1: See Maimonides' exposition of the dogma of the divine origin of the Torah in his Mishnah Commentary, _Sanhedrin_, chapter X.]

Withal, the leaders of the Northern Hasidim were, comparatively speaking, ”men of the world,” and were ready here and there to make concessions to the demands of the age. Quite different were the Tzaddiks of the South-west. They were horrified by the mere thought of such concessions. They were surrounded by immense throngs of Hasidim, unenlightened, ecstatic, wors.h.i.+pping saints during their lifetime.

The most honored among these hasidic dynasties was that of Chern.o.byl.

[1] It was founded in the Ukraina toward the end of the eighteenth century by an itinerant preacher, or Maggid, called Nahum. [2] His son Mordecai, known under the endearing name ”Rabbi Motele” (died in 1837), attracted to Chern.o.byl enormous numbers of pilgrims who brought with them ransom money, or _pidyons_. [3] Mordecai's ”Empire” fell asunder after his death. His eight sons divided among themselves the whole territory of the Kiev and Volhynia province.

[Footnote 1: A townlet in the government of Kiev.]

[Footnote 2: See Vol. I, p. 382.]

[Footnote 3: The term is used in the Bible to denote a sum of money which ”redeems” or ”ransoms” a man from death, as in the case of a person guilty of manslaughter (Ex. 22. 30) or that of the first-born son (Ex. 13. 13; 34. 20). The Hasidim designate by this term the contributions made to the Tzaddik, in the belief that such contributions have the power of averting from the contributor impending death or misfortune.]

Aside from the original center in Chern.o.byl, seats of Tzaddiks were established in the townlets of Korostyshev, Cherka.s.sy, Makarov, Turisk, Talno, Skvir and Rakhmistrovka. This resulted in a disgraceful rivalry among the brothers, and still more so among their hasidic adherents.

Every Hasid was convinced that reverence was due only to his own ”Rebbe,” [1] and he brushed aside the claims of the other Tzaddiks.

Whenever the adherents of the various Tzaddiks met, they invariably engaged in pa.s.sionate ”party” quarrels, which on occasions, especially after the customary hasidic drinking bouts, ended in physical violence.

[Footnote 1: Popular p.r.o.nunciation of the word ”rabbi,” A hasidic Tzaddik is designated as ”Rebbe,” in distinction from the rabbi proper, or the _Rav_ (in Russia generally p.r.o.nounced _Rov_), who discharges the rabbinical functions within the community.]

The whole Chern.o.byl dynasty found a dangerous rival in the person of the Tzaddik Israel Ruzhiner (of Ruzhin), the great-grandson of Rabbi Baer, the apostle of Hasidism, known as the ”Mezhiricher Maggid.” [1] Rabbi Israel settled in Ruzhin, a townlet in the government of Kiev, about 1815, and rapidly gained fame as a saint and miracle-worker. His magnificent ”court” at Ruzhin was always crowded with throngs of Hasidim. Their onrush was checked by special ”gentlemen in waiting,” the so-called _gabba'im,_ who were very fastidious in admitting the people into the presence of the Tzaddik--dependent upon the size of the proffered gifts. Israel drove out in a gorgeous carriage, surrounded by a guard of honor. The gubernatorial administration of Kiev, presided over by the ferocious Governor-General Bibikov, received intimations to the effect ”that the Tzaddik of Ruzhin wielded almost the power of a Tzar” among his adherents, who did not stir with out his advice. The police began to watch the Tzaddik, and at length found an occasion for a ”frame-up.”

[Footnote 1: On Rabbi Baer see Vol. I, p. 229 et seq.]

When, in 1838, the Kahal of Us.h.i.+tza, in the government of Podolia, was implicated in the murder of an informer, [1] Rabbi Israel of Ruzhin was arrested on the charge of abetting the murder. The hasidic ”Tzar”

languished in prison for twenty-two months. He was finally set free and placed under police surveillance. But he soon escaped to Austria, and settled in 1841 in the Bukovina, in the townlet of Sadagora, near Chernovitz, where he established his new ”court.” Many Hasidim in Russia now made their pilgrimage abroad to their beloved Tzaddik; in addition, new partisans were won among the hasidic ma.s.ses of Galicia and the Bukovina. Rabbi Israel died in 1850, but the ”Sadagora dynasty” branched out rapidly, and proved a serious handicap to modern progress during the stormy epoch of emanc.i.p.ation which followed in Austria soon afterwards.

[Footnote 1: See above, p. 84 et seq.]

Another hot-bed of the Tzaddik cult was Podolia, the cradle of Hasidism.

In the old residence of Besht, [1] in Medzhibozh, the sceptre was held by Rabbi Joshua h.e.s.h.el Apter, who succeeded Besht's grandson, Rabbi Borukh of Tulchyn. [2] For a number of years, between 1810 and 1830, the aged Joshua h.e.s.h.el was revered as the nestor of Tzaddikism, the haughty Israel of Ruzhin being the only one who refused to acknowledge his supremacy. h.e.s.h.el's successor was Rabbi Moyshe Savranski, who established a regular hasidic ”court,” after the pattern of Chern.o.byl and Ruzhin.

[Footnote 1: See Vol. I, p. 222 et seq.]

[Footnote 2: See Vol. I, p. 384.]

The only Tzaddik to whom it was not given to be the founder of a dynasty was the somewhat eccentric Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav, [1] a great-grandson of Besht. After his death, the Bratzlav Hasidim, who followed the lead of his disciple Rabbi Nathan, suffered cruel persecutions at the hands of the other hasidic factions. The ”Bratzlavers” adopted the custom of visiting once a year, during the High Holidays, the grave of their founder in the city of Uman, in the government of Kiev, and subsequently erected a house of prayer near his tomb. During these pilgrimages they were often the target of the local Hasidim who reviled and often maltreated them. The ”Bratzlavers” were the Cinderella among the Hasidim, lacking the powerful patronage of a living Tzaddik. Their heavenly patron, Rabbi Nahman, could not hold his own against his living rivals, the earthly Tzaddiks--all too earthly perhaps, in spite of their saintliness.

[Footnote 1: A town in Podolia. See Vol. I, p. 382 et seq.]

The Tzaddik cult was equally diffused in the Kingdom of Poland. The place of Rabbi Israel of Kozhenitz and Rabbi Jacob-Isaac of Lublin, who together marshalled the hasidic forces during the time of the Varsovian duchy, was taken by founders and representatives of new Tzaddik dynasties. The most popular among these were the dynasty of Kotzk, [1]

established by Rabbi Mendel Kotzker (1827-1859), and that of Goora Kalvaria, [2] or Gher, [3] founded by Rabbi Isaac Meier Alter [4] (about 1830-1866). The former reigned supreme in the provinces, the latter in the capital of Poland, in Warsaw, which down to this day has remained loyal to the Gher dynasty.

[Footnote 1: A town not far from Warsaw. Comp. Vol. I, p. 303, n. 1.]

[Footnote 2: In Polish, _Gora Kalwarya_, a town on the left bank of the Vistula, not far from Warsaw.]

[Footnote 3: This form of the name is used by the Jews.]