Hasidic Judaism

The Kaliver Rebbe, Holocaust survivor, inspiring his court on the festival of Sukkot

Kvitel requests for blessing piled on the graves of the last Lubavitcher Rebbes

Hasidic family in Borough Park, Brooklyn. The man is wearing a shtreimel, and either a bekishe or a rekel. The woman is wearing a wig, called a sheitel, as she is forbidden to show her hair in public.

Rabbi Moshe Leib Rabinovich, Munkacser Rebbe, wearing a kolpik

The Dorohoi Rebbe in his traditional rabbinical Sabbath garb

Sculpture of the Hasidic movement's celebration of spirituality on the Knesset Menorah

Shivchei HaBesht (Praises of the Baal Shem Tov), the first compilation of Hasidic hagiographic storytelling, was printed from manuscripts in 1815

Palace of the Ruzhin dynasty, known for its "royal" mannerism, in Sadhora.

Belzer Rebbe Aharon Rokeach (depicted 1934), who was hidden from the Nazis and smuggled out of Europe.

Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contemporary Western Ukraine during the 18th century, and spread rapidly throughout Eastern Europe.

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Kabbalah

Esoteric method, discipline, and school of thought in Jewish mysticism.

Jewish Kabbalists portrayed in 1641; woodcut on paper. Saxon University Library, Dresden.

Kabbalistic prayer book from Italy, 1803. Jewish Museum of Switzerland, Basel.

Latin translation of Gikatilla's Shaarei Ora

The Ark of the Covenant in Solomon's Temple was the seat for God's presence. Ezekiel and Isaiah had prophetic visions of the angelic heavenly Chariot and Divine Throne

Grave of Rabbi Akiva in Tiberias. He features in Hekhalot mystical literature, and as one of the four who entered the Pardes

The grave of Shimon bar Yochai in Meron before 1899. A Talmudic Tanna, he is the mystical teacher in the central Kabbalistic work, the Zohar

The 13th-century eminence of Nachmanides, a classic rabbinic figure, gave Kabbalah mainstream acceptance through his Torah commentary

The leading scholars of Safed in 16th-century invigorated mainstream Judaism through new legal, liturgical, exegetical and Lurianic-mythological developments.

Synagogue Beit El Jerusalem. Oriental Judaism has its own chain of Kabbalah

The 16th-century Maharal of Prague articulated a mystical exegesis in philosophical language

Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, a leading Italian kabbalist, also wrote secular works, which the Haskalah see as the start of modern Hebrew literature

The Vilna Gaon, 18th-century leader of rabbinic opposition to Hasidism—a Kabbalist who opposed Hasidic doctrinal and practical innovations

Synagogue of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism, in Medzhybizh (Ukraine). It gave a new phase to Jewish mysticism, seeking its popularisation through internal correspondence.

The Kabbalist (c. 1910–1920), portrait of an Hasidic man in Jewish religious clothing performed by the Austro-Hungarian Jewish painter Isidor Kaufmann (Jewish Museum, New York)

Metaphorical scheme of emanated spiritual worlds within the Ein Sof

Scheme of descending Sephirot in three columns, as a tree with roots above and branches below

In the 16–17th centuries Kabbalah was popularised through a new genre of ethical literature, related to Kabbalistic meditation

Amulet from the 15th century. Theosophical kabbalists, especially Luria, censored contemporary Practical Kabbalah, but allowed amulets by Sages

Joseph Karo's role as both legalist and mystic underscores Kabbalah's spiritualisation of normative Jewish observance

Building on Kabbalah's conception of the soul, Abraham Abulafia's meditations included the "inner illumination of" the human form

16th-century graves of Safed, Galilee. The messianic focus of its mystical renaissance culminated in Lurianic thought.

Title page of first printed edition of the Zohar, main sourcebook of Kabbalah, from Mantua, Italy in 1558

Golden age of Spanish Judaism on the Knesset Menorah, Maimonides holding Aristotle's work

Kabbalah mysticism on the Knesset Menorah, which shared some similarities of theory with Jewish Neoplatonists

Tikkun for reading through the night of Shavuot, a popular Jewish custom from the Safed Kabbalists

A version of Lekhah Dodi song to welcome the Shabbat, a cross denomination Jewish custom from Kabbalah

Isaac Luria is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah; Lurianic Kabbalah was popularised in the form of Hasidic Judaism from the 18th century onwards.

Tzadik

Title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters.

Correspondences; Yesod-Foundation: 9th sefirah, Tzadik, Covenant, channels Heaven to 10th sefirah: Kingship, Earth, Shekhinah, Israelites.

Since the late 17th century, in Hasidic Judaism, the institution of the mystical tzadik as a divine channel assumed central importance, combining popularization of (hands-on) Jewish mysticism with social movement for the first time.

Hasid

Jewish honorific, frequently used as a term of exceptional respect in the Talmudic and early medieval periods.

The first page of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a. The center column contains the Talmud text, beginning with a section of Mishnah. The Gemara begins 14 lines down with the abbreviation גמ (gimmel-mem) in larger type. Mishnah and Gemara sections alternate throughout the Talmud. The blocks of text on either side are the Rashi and Tosafot commentaries, printed in Rashi script. Other notes and cross references are in the margins.

The 18th-century Vilna Gaon, for instance, at that time the chief opponent of the new Jewish mystical movement that became known as "Hasidism", was renowned for his righteous life.

Lurianic Kabbalah

School of kabbalah named after Isaac Luria , the Jewish rabbi who developed it.

Joseph Karo synagogue in Safed. The 1538 Safed attempt by Jacob Berab to restore traditional Semikhah (Rabbinic organisation), reelected the community's Messianic focus. Karo, author of the normative Shulkhan Arukh (Code of Law) was one appointed

The old cemetery in Safed where its pre-eminent 16th century mystical and legal figures are buried, including Yosef Karo, Shlomo Alkabetz, Moshe Alshich, Moshe Cordovero and the Ari. After the Expulsion from Spain the Safed circle held a national Messianic responsibility, mirrored in Lurianic scheme

Scheme of the Five Worlds forming within the Khalal Vacuum (Outer Circle) through the illumination of the Kav Ray (Vertical Line). Concepts are non-spatial. Sephirot shown in the scheme of Iggulim ("Circles")

The sephirot in the scheme of Yosher ("Upright"), from which the partzufim develop

The soul of Adam included all future human souls, while the 613 Mitzvot relate to 613 spiritual "limbs" in the configuration of the soul

Kabbalistic chart of Divine names in Ari synagogue. Traditional Lurianic prayer method involved esoteric kavanot meditations on specific Divine letter permutations related to each prayer

Mikveh of Isaac Luria on the hillside below Safed in the Galilee, fed by a cold spring

The later Hasidic and Mitnagdic movements diverged over implications of Lurianic Kabbalah, and its social role in popular mysticism.

Misnagdim

An anathema against the Hasidim, signed by the Gaon of Vilna and other community officials. August 1781.

Misnagdim (, "Opponents"; Sephardi pronunciation: Mitnagdim; singular misnaged/mitnaged) was a religious movement among the Jews of Eastern Europe which resisted the rise of Hasidism in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Baal Shem Tov

Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (c.

Exterior of the Baal Shem Tov's synagogue in Medzhybizh, circa 1915. This shul no longer exists, having been destroyed by the Nazis. However, an exact replica was erected on its original site as a museum.

The Baal Shem Tov's personal Siddur (now in Chabad library archive #1994)

1758 Polish tax census of Medzhybizh showing "Baal Shem" as occupying house #95

A well outside Medzhybizh thought to be hand-dug by the Baal Shem Tov that still contains fresh water.

A portrait of Hayyim Samuel Jacob Falk (the Baal Shem of London), and not Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (the Baal Shem Tov)

Baal Shem Tov’s shul reconstructed (as a museum); August 4, 2008

New guesthouse and synagogue next to Ohel of Baal Shem Tov (work in progress); August 4, 2008

undefined 1698 – 22 May 1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov (בעל שם טוב, ) or as the Besht, was a Jewish mystic and healer from Poland who is regarded as the founder of Hasidic Judaism.

Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)

The main Satmar synagogue in Kiryas Joel, New York

Joel Teitelbaum bowing before King Carol II of Romania, 1936

The book Vayoel Moshe, where Teitelbaum lays out his opposition to Zionism.

Rejection of Israel is expressed in a ban of voting or affiliating with the state's institutions. 1955 poster against Israel's Knesset elections.

Entrance of the Satmar Yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York

Satmar (סאַטמאַר; סאטמר; Szatmár; Satmar) is a Hasidic group originating from the city of Satu Mare, Romania, where it was founded in 1905 by Joel Teitelbaum.

Shneur Zalman of Liadi

Writing sample from the Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia (1906–1913)

Kozienice Synagogue in Poland. Some Polish Hasidic leaders supported Napoleon

Petropavlovski fortress in St. Petersburg

The Tanya, a classic text of Hasidic philosophy

1875 edition of the Shulchan Aruch HaRav

Shneur Zalman of Liadi (שניאור זלמן מליאדי, September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 O.S. / 18 Elul 5505 – 24 Tevet 5573), was an influential rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi in the Russian Empire.

Haredi Judaism

Haredi Judaism (יהדות חֲרֵדִית , ; also spelled Charedi in English; plural Haredim or Charedim) consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to halakha (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to modern values and practices.

Haredi Jewish men during a Torah reading.

Haredi Jews from Galicia at the in Vienna's second district, Leopoldstadt, 1915

Haredi Jewish women and girls in Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, 2013

Gender-separate beach in Israel. To accommodate Haredi and other Orthodox Jews, many coastal resorts in Israel have a designated area for sex-separate bathing.

The Bais Yaakov graduating class of 1934 in Łódź, Poland

Tziporah Heller, a weekly columnist for Hamodia

Members of Neturei Karta protest against Israel (Washington, 2005)

Haredi demonstration against the conscription of yeshiva pupils

Hasidim walk to the synagogue, Rehovot, Israel.

Haredi Rabbis and students writing a Torah scroll (Haredi settlement of Beitar Illit, Gush Etzion)

Hasidic family on the street in Borough Park, Brooklyn

It was dominated by the Hasidic rebbes and Lithuanian rabbis and roshei yeshiva (deans).

Chabad

For other uses of "Chabad", see Chabad (disambiguation).

Group picture in Crown Heights, Brooklyn

A Lag BaOmer parade in front of Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York, in 1987

President Ronald Reagan receives menorah from the "American Friends of Lubavitch," White House, 1984

Map of countries with Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries

Russia's Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar (left) speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 28 December 2016

Chabad Lubavitch Mitzvah tank in Golders Green, London

Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (חב"ד), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups and Jewish religious organizations in the world. Unlike most ultra-Orthodox groups, which are self-segregating, Chabad operates mainly in the wider world and caters to secularized Jews.