Reform Hasidism

A late Habad text attributed to Rabbi Yosef Yitzhak Schneerson (1880–1950) describes the Maskilim (the followers of the so-called Jewish enlightenment) in the following manner: All the Jewish writers who are the students of the Maskilim and their students' students seize every available opportunity to disparage the honor of Hasidic teachings and the honor of its princes [that is, Habad] and to emphasize the minute proportions of their value and service to the ethical and economic good of the Jewish people.1 This is one example of Yosef Yitzhak Schneerson’s polemical writings against what he perceived as the Haskalah, although it appears that even this simple claim does not fit with the historical reality. While some Maskilim indeed regarded Habad as a particularly dangerous and terrible form of Hasidism, it is difficult to accept the supposition advanced by Habad historiography that the Maskilim discerned only the negative elements of this group. In fact, many Maskilim presented Habad in a decidedly positive light—as unique and exceptional—even if this depiction was motivated by their own interests. The portrayal of Habad figures in maskilic literature is significant on three counts: first, because these figures commanded a central place within the maskilic self-consciousness over different periods; second, because the Hasidic movement itself adopted certain elements of these maskilic portrayals; and third, because these portrayals influenced—and continue to influence—scholarly understandings of Hasidism. I will briefly discuss a number of the Habad characters who appear frequently in maskilic literature throughout the nineteenth century

Aesthetics · Art · Depiction · Enlightenment · Haskalah · Historiography · Honor · Jewish studies · Judaism · Literature · Theology · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Jewish Identity and Society · History · Philosophy · Religious Studies

• Yedidyah Ha-Alexandri and the Crisis of the Modern Jewish Age

  Open Access•Ze’ev Strau, Ze’ev Strauss•Religions•2021

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