Martyrdom, Emotion and the Work of Ritual in R. Mordecai Joseph Leiner's Mei Ha-Shiloah

AJS Review

Volumn 27, Issue 2, 2003, Pages 253-279

  Seeman, Don ^a  

^a Boston and the Pardes Institute   (United States)

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EID: 85012558596     PISSN: 03640094     EISSN: 14754541     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0364009403000096     Document Type: Article

References (78)

1. Joseph Weiss, “A Late Jewish Utopia of Religious Freedom,” in David Goldstein, ed., Studies in Eastern European Jewish Mysticism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 211. Along similar lines, see Rivka Schatz, “Autonomy of the Spirit and the Law of Moses” (Hebrew), Molad 21 (1973-1974), pp. 554-561 and Rachel Elior, “The Innovations in Polish Hasidism” (Hebrew), Tarbiz 62 (1993), pp. 381-432. This position has already been moderated to some extent in Morris M. Faierstein, All is in the Hands of Heaven: The Teachings of Rabbi Mordecai Joseph Leiner of Izbica (New York: Ktav, 1989). Other works on R. Mordecai Joseph include Jerome Gellman, Fear and Trembling, and the Fire (Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1994) and Shaul Magid, “Hasidism and Existentialism? A Review Essay,” Modern Judaism 15 (1995) pp. 279-294.
2. Weiss, A Late Jewish Utopia, p. 245.
3. See Talal Asad, Genealogies of Religion (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993) and Byron J. Good, Medicine, Rationality and Experience (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), each of which treats the difficulty associated with “belief” as an analytic category in the study of culture and religion. Moshe Idel's Hasidism Between Ecstasy and Magic (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995) provides a welcome correction to the doctrinal focus in Hasidic studies, but the specific ritual models he describes (i.e. ecstasy and magic) are inadequate to R. Mordecai Joseph's oeuvre.
4. Victor Turner, The Forest of Symbols (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1967). An influential statement on the role of ritual in promoting religious dispositions can be found in Clifford Geertz, “Religion as a Cultural System,” The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973). For a critique of Geertz with special reference to Hasidic sources, see Don Seeman, “Ritual, Emotion and ‘Useless Suffering’ in the Warsaw Ghetto” (in press).
5. Faierstein, All is in the Hands of Heaven, pp. 69-75. Also see Elior, “Innovations in Polish Hasidism,” p. 408 n. 51.
6. A. J. Heschel, Kotsk: In Gerangel far Emisdikeit 2 volumes (Tel Aviv, 1973) 2: 625-27.
7. R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi, HIggeret ha-qodesh (138b). Translation from Liqutei amarim tanya (Brooklyn: Kehot Publishers, 1981) p. 535. R. Shneur Zalman insists that although the damage caused by a violent person or by a thief has been decreed by heaven, the aggressor is nevertheless “guilty according to the laws of man and the laws of Heaven for having chosen evil.”
8. Tif Heret Yosef, Vayelekh, 7a (pp.18-19), emphasis added. Also see Liqutei MH I, 1b (p. 208).
9. On the temporary or illusory quality of anger in the world, see MH I, Ki Tisa, 30a (p.94), Liqutei MH II, 58a-58b (pp. 186-187). Further elaboration of this idea is undertaken by R. Mordecai Joseph's student, R. S. adoq Ha-Cohen of Lublin, Taqanat ha-shavin (Pietrikov, 1926) 49b, chapter 10:39. On the future annulment of the commandments see MH I, Ki Tisa, 30b (p. 96), and Weiss, “A Late Jewish Utopia.”
10. MH I, Ki Tavo, 63a (p. 192).
11. MH I, Shoftim, 61a (p. 187).
12. MH I.
13. The hierarchical relationship between these typologies of human service is stated explicitly in MH I, Shoftim, 60a (p. 184). “A scholar precedes a king, even though the king is greater, because a king is initially appointed only by the Sanhedrin [i.e. council of scholars]. But once a king has been appointed he precedes a scholar, because everything that comes from his mouth are the words of God. ”
14. MH II, Mishpatim, 17a (p. 55). Also see MH II, Ki Tissa, 20a-20b (p. 65).
15. MH I, ReHeh, 59b-60a (pp. 182-183).
16. MH I.
17. Rivka Schatz, “The Autonomy of the Spirit and the Law of Moses.”
18. Rivka Schatz-Uffenheimer, ed., Maggid devarav le-YaGaqob (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, [1781] 1990), pp. 329-331, paragraph 205. Also see pp. 204-209, paragraph 153. The latter passage may also presage R. Mordecai Joseph's specific identification of the king with hitpashtut.
19. Maggid devarav le-YaGaqob., pp. 43-44, paragraph 26. Schatz-Uffenheimer argues that this usage does not appear in earlier Lurianic writings.
20. Schatz, “Autonomy of the Spirit,” p. 555; Faierstein, All is in the Hands of Heaven, p. 41.
21. See Liqutei MH II, 49a (p. 188) and 60a-60b (p. 193). Compare R. Gershon Hanokh's discussion of ritual efficacy in his introduction to Bet YaGaqob, 21b-22a (pp. 144-146).
22. For a striking expression of this theme, see MH I, Vayigash, 16a-b (pp. 55-56), wherein the exile itself is described as illusory. Also see MH II, ReHeh, 36a (p.115), wherein the biblical “abominations” are described as treasures belonging to God.
23. MH II, Bereshit, 5a (p.15), also see MH I, Mattot, 55a (p. 167).
24. Claude Levi-Strauss, The Savage Mind (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973).
25. MH II, Shoftim, 36b-37a (p. 118).
26. MH I, Tazria, 35b (p.111). Also see Liqutei MH II, 49a (p.1 47), on the relationship between “a good eye” and the principle of divine glory.
27. MH II, Shela, 30a (p. 98).
28. Liqutei MH II, 60a (p. 193). Also see MH II, Shoftim, 36b (p.117) and MH I, HEmor, 41a (p. 127).
29. See Mordecai Pachter, “Circles and Straight Lines: The History of an Idea” (Hebrew), DaGat 18 (1987): pp. 60-90.
30. See the explicit statement to this effect in Liqutei MH II, 54a (p. 173).
31. Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Temurah 4:13.
32. Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot DeGot 1:4. On Maimonides’ “straight path,” see Isadore Twersky, Introduction to the Code of Maimonides (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980), pp. 459-464.
33. The quote is from Twersky, Introduction to the Code of Maimonides, p. 416.
34. See Israel Yahaqob Dienstag, “The Guide for the Perplexed and the Book of Knowledge in Hasidic Literature” (Hebrew), in Samuel Belkin editor, The Abraham Weiss Jubilee Volume (New York: Shulsinger Brothers, 1964); Raphael Mahler, “Hasidism and the Jewish Enlightenment,” in Gershon David Hundert editor, Essential Papers on Hasidism (New York: New York University Press, 1991) pp. 468-472; and Faierstein, “Personal Redemption in Hasidism.” R. Gershon Hanokh argues in his introduction to Bet YaGaqob (7a [p.48]) that Maimonides enjoyed a degree of prophecy similar to that of Abraham, and second only to Moses.
35. See Liqutei MH II, 65a (p. 208), wherein Maimonides’ concept of the mean is cited obliquely from “books,” but R. Isaac Luria is mentioned by name. Despite his extensive focus on Maimonides in the introduction to Bet YaGaqob (7a [p. 50]), even R. Gershon Hanoh protests that he does not identify with Maimonides overmuch. See Dienstag, “The Guide for the Perplexed and the Book of Knowledge in Hasidic Literature.”
36. For the former, see MHI, Emor, 40b (p. 125). For the latter, see MHII, Ki Tavo, 38b (p. 124).
37. MH I, Mishpatim, 27a (p. 75).
38. Liqutei MH II, 51a (p. 164).
39. Liqutei MH II, 55a (p. 176). The ideal of the hasid who deviates from the mean seems to be disallowed in this passage. See however Liqutei MH II, 53b-54a (p. 172).
40. MH II, Ki Tavo, 38a (p.121).
41. Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot Tefillah 4:15. Also see MH II., Hilkhot qeriyat shema 4:7. On the importance of yishub ha-da'at for Torah study and intellectual attainment, see Hilkhot Talmud Torah 1:2 and 4:6.
42. Hilkhot Tefillah., Hilkhot Sanhedrin 13:1.
43. Hilkhot Tefillah., Hilkhot MaHakhalot HAsurot, 14:14 and Hilkhot DeGot 2:3 respectively. Also see Hilkhot DeGot 4:2, 4:17 and 5:4, where the term yishub ha-nefesh is applied.
44. See Mendel Piekarz, The Hasidic Leadership [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1999) pp. 283-292, and Ideological Trends of Hasidim in Poland During the Interwar Period and the Holocaust [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1990), pp. 157-160. In the latter, Piekarz describes the polemic on emotion in Kotzk within the context of a debate on the nature of Hasidic leadership between the successors of Przysucha (including R. Menahem Mendl) and the extravagant school of Ruzhin.
45. Gershom G. Scholem, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (New York: Schoken, 1961), p. 345.
46. MH II, Shoftim, 37a (p. 119). Also see Liqutei MH II, 43a (p. 169).
47. Faierstein, All is in the Hands of Heaven, p. 70. Passages in which yishub ha-daGat appears as a corrective to lust include MHI, Shemini, 34a (p. 106), Qedoshim, 37b (p. 116), BehaGalotekha, 48a-48b (p. 148), and Liqutei MH II, 49b (p.158).
48. MH I, Beshalah, 24a (pp. 75-76).
49. Liqutei MH I, 5b (p. 220). Compare Schatz-Uffenheimer, Maggid Devarav Le-YaGaqob, pp. 328-329 (para. 204).
50. Liqutei MH II, 56b-57a (p. 180).
51. MH I, Vayigash, 16b-17a (pp. 56-57).
52. MH I, Beha'alotekha, 48a (p. 148). According to MH I, Qedoshim, 38a-38b (p. 118), even ostensibly prophetic utterances are subject to this ritual vetting or “clarification” before they can be accepted.
53. Compare this statement from an important historian of science: “The research worker gropes but everything recedes, and nowhere is there a firm support. Everything seems to be an artificial effect inspired by his own personal will. Every formulation melts away at the next test. He looks for that resistance and thought constraint in the face of which he could feel passive.” Ludwig Fleck, Origin and Genesis of a Scientific Fact (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1935] 1979), p. 94, emphasis added.
54. See Louis Jacobs, Tract on Ecstasy (London, 1963). Rachel Elior (“Innovations in Polish Hasidism”) suggests that an emphasis on emotionalism led R. Mordecai Joseph's early teacher, the Seer of Lublin, to portray yishub ha-daGat as the opposite of Hasidic spirituality.
55. Also see R. Shneur Zalman's Liqutei amarim tanya, chapters 29 and 42.
56. For an excellent overview, see Naftali Loewenthal, Communicating the Infinite: The Emergence of the Habad School (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990). Also Rachel Elior, “HaBaD: The Contemplative Ascent to God,” in Arthur Green, ed., Jewish Spirituality: from the Sixteenth-Century Revival to the Present (New York: Crossroad, 1987); Roman A. Foxbrunner, Habad: The Hasidism of R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi (Northvale New Jersey: Jason Aronson, 1992) p. 114.
57. Pierkarz, The Hasidic Leadership, p. 288, my translation; Levinger, “The Teachings of the Kotzker Rebbe,” pp. 422-423. Where the term bitul does appear in sayings attributed to R. Menahem Mendl, it usually signifies obedience to the commandments rather than mystical self-abnegation.
58. MH II, Behar, 27a (p. 87).
59. Foxbrunner, Habad, p. 114.
60. R. Shelomoh of Radomsk, Tif Heret Shelomoh vol. 1, Qorah (Jerusalem: 1992 [1869]), p. 274, or 95a in the 1973 Jerusalem edition. It is worth noting that R. Shelomoh was counted among the opponents of R. Menahem Mendl of Kotzk. See Piekarz, The Hasidic Leadership, pp. 264-280.
61. On the contemplation of martyrdom as a spiritual exercise, see Michael Fishbane, The Exegetical Imagination (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998), pp. 136-150.
62. See Sifre to Deuteronomy 18:22 and Hilkhot Gabodah zarah 6:6 of Maimonides.
63. MH I, Shoftim, 61a (p. 186).
64. Mishneh Torah, Hilkhot yesode ha-torah 5:1.
65. Liqutei MH II, (p.177-178). For limitations to the principle of yishub ha-daGat, see MH I Qedoshim, 38a (pp. 117-118), Liqutei MH I, 3a (pp. 212-213), MH II ReHeh (p. 116), and Liqutei MH II, 50b-51a (p. 162-163).
66. MH II, Shoftim, 36b-37a (p. 118).
67. Translation from Liqutei amarim tanya (23a), pp. 76-77.
68. See for instance Liqutei amarim tanya 24a (pp.77-78), 78a (pp. 293-294).
69. This teaching is cited in several passages in Bet YaHaqob, including Noah, 26b-27a, 34a (sections 3 and 19), and is included by Goldhaber and Spiegelman in their edition of Liqutei MH II, p. 265. Also see MH I, Ve-zot ha-berakhah, 66a-66b (p. 202) and MH II, Ve-zot ha-berakhah, 41a (p. 132), where a similar theme is at stake. For earlier use of the candle metaphor, see Schatz-Uffenheimer, Maggid devarav le-Y Gaqob, p. 97 (par. 61).
70. MH I HaHazinu, 65b (p. 200).
71. Mahler, Hasidism and the Jewish Enlightenment, pp. 476-477.
72. Emet ve-Emunah, p. 39. See also p. 26.
73. Emet ve-Emunah., p. 12. Also recorded by R. Samuel of Sochatchow in Shem mi-Shemuel, Debarim, 28b. For a lengthy discussion of moderation and yishub ha-daHat as Hasidic virtues, see the 1917 essay in Shem mi-Shemuel, Vayigash, pp. 295a-298a.
74. See MHI, Naso, 47b (p. 145). Also Liqutei MH II, 56b-57a (p.182), and Mishnah Berakhot 9: 7.
75. See Faierstein, “Personal Redemption in Hasidism,” pp. 219-220.
76. Piekarz, Between Ideology and Reality, p. 130, describes a similar transposition of martyrdom on the part of an earlier writer, R. Neta of Chelm (d. 1812).
77. MH II, Behar, 27a (p. 87). The Talmudic quote is from Megillah 22b.
78. Also see Liqutei MH II, 43a (pp. 138-139).