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HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND

CHAPTER VI: THE INNER LIFE OF POLISH JEWRY DURING THE PERIOD OF DECLINE 1

1. JEWISH SELF-GOVERNMENT

The fact that the Jews of Poland, despite the general disintegration
of the country, where right was supplanted by
privilege and liberty by license, were yet able to hold their own
as an organized social unit, was principally due to that vast
scheme of communal self-government which had become an
integral part of Polish-Jewish life during the preceding period.
Surrounded by enemies, ostracized by all other estates and
social groups, Polish Jewry, guided by the instillct of sel£-
preservation, endeavorell to close its ranks and gather sufficient
inner strength to offer effective resistance to the hostile non-
Jewish world. One of the appeals issued in 1676 by the central
organ of Polish Jewry, the "Council of the Four Lands,"
begins with these characteristic words:
Gravely have we sinned before the Lord. The unrest grows
from day to day. It becomes more and more difficult to live.
Our people has no standing whatsoever among the nations. Indeed,
it is a miMcle that in spite of all misfortunes we are still
alive. The only thing len for us to do is to unite ourselves in one
league, held together by the spirit of strict obedience to the commandmen~
of God and to the precepts of our pious teachers and
leaders.
These sentences are followed by a set of paragraphs calling
upon the Jews of Poland to obey without murmuring
the mandates of their Kahals, to refrain from farming state
taxes, from accepting the stewardship of Shlakhta estates,
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 189
and entering into business partnership with non-Jews without
the permission of the Kahals, for the reason that such enterprises
are bound to result in conflicts with the Christian population
and in complaints on their part about the Jews. The
Council also forbids "intrusting Jewish goods to strange
hands," resorting to the intervention of the Polish authorities
for purposes injurious to the interests of the community, generating
schisms and party strife among Jews, and similar
actions.
The rabbinical Kahal administration endeavored to impose
its will upon every single member of the community by regulating
his economic and spiritual life, and to prevent as far as
possible his coming in contact with the outside world. The
greatest assistance in this endeavor came from the Polish Government.
Attaching great value to the Kahal as a convenient
tool for the collection of Jewish taxes, the Government bestowed
upon it vast administrative and judicial powers. The Government
found it to its interest to deal with the Jewish communities
rather than with individual Jews. The Kahal was
held responsible by the Government for the action of every one
of its members or for any inaccuracy of the latter in the payment
of taxes. The Kahal extended its influence in proportion
to its responsibility. This tutelage of the Kahal
resulted in strengthening the social organization of the Jews,
while it curbed at the same time the personal liberty of its
members to a greater extent than was demanded even by the
strictest social discipline.
As far as the Polish Government was concerned, the Kahal
was particularly valued as a responsible collecting agency
among the Jews on behalf of the exchequer. At the sessions of
the Waads, the wholesale amount of the Jewish head-tax (desig190
THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
nated 8S gulgoleth in the Jewish sources) was periodically
fixed and apportioned among the Kahal districts. Within these
Kahal districts as well as in the individual communities the
apportionment of the taxes was the function of the local Kahal
elders, who were in charge of the tax collection, .and were held
responsible for its being accurately remitted to the exchequer.
In 1672 the King bestowed upon the Kahal elders of Lithuania
the right of excluding from the community or of punishing
by other measures those recalcitrant members of their Kahals
who by their acts were likely to arouse the resentment of the
Christian population against the Jews, 'l'en years later the
Starosta of Brest issued a rescript forbidding the pans to lend
money to private persons among the Jews without the knowledge
of the Kahal elders. This was done in compliance with the
request of these elders themselves, since they were held responsible
for the insolvent debtors of their respective districts. On
a previous occasion, at a conference of the representatives of the
Lithuanian communities held in 1670, it was decided to prosecute
every .Jew who borrowed m~ney from the pans or priests
without the knowledge of their Kahal. 'rhe Voyevoda of Lemberg
in 1692 forbade letting the collection of various state
imposts, such as the excise on distilleries and retail sale of
spirits, to Jews unless they produced a certific!lte of the Kahal
elders testifying to their good conduct. The right of owning
real estate or exploiting articles of revenue (leases and landrent)
was granted to private persons only with the permission
of the Kahal (hazaka). Without this license and the payment
of a special tax (hezlcath yishub) no Jew was allowed
to settle in a given locality or to enroll his name in the
community.
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 191
The limits of Jewish communal autonomy were not precisely
laid down by the law of the state. They were enlarged
or contracted in accordance with the will of the provincial
administration, the voyevodas and starostas,' and the agreements
between these officials and the Kahals concerning their
respective spheres of influence. The model of a free communal
constitution may be found in the statute granted by the
Voyevoda of Red Russia (Galicia) in 1692 to the central Kahal
of Lemberg. This statute authorizes the Jewish community
to hold periodic elections, to choose its elders "in accordance
with its customs and rights," without the slightest
interference on the part of the local administration. The
chosen elders are recognized as the lawful officials and judges
of their coreligionists in a given locality. Disputes and litigation
between Jew and Jew are in the first instance to be settled
exclusively by the Kahal court (beth-din), consisting of rabbis
and elders, the latter acting as a jury. Cases between Jews
and non-Jews as well as appeals from the decisions of the
Beth-Din are to be tried by the voyevoda court and the special
" Jewish judge" attached to it, the latter being a Christian
official especially appointed for such cases. This judge is to be
selected by the voyevodafrom two candidates nominated by the
Jewish elders. His function is to settle disputes and complaints
"in a definite place near the synagogue" (in the
"Kahal chamber"), in the presence of the Kahal elders. In
his verdicts the" Jewish judge" is to be guided not only by the
general laws of the state, but also by the Jewish common law.
The regular sessions of the court are to take place twice a week.
In special cases extra sessions may be arranged for on any day
with the exception of the Jewish holidays. Subpoenas are
[' See p. 46. n. 1, and p. 60, n. l.}
13
192 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
issued through the synagogue beadle, or shamash.' The
protocols of the court are to be kept in the Kahal chamber near
the synagogue. The appeals from the judgments of this court
are to be submitted to the voyevoda himself.
The elections of the various grades of Kahal elders' were
held, as in former years, annually during the intermediate
days of Passover. This custom had legal sanction, and was
enforced by the local authorities. When, in 1719, the elders
of the Kahal of Brest, prompted by personal considerations,
were, in spite of the approach of Passover, delaying the
holding of new elections, the Lithuanian hetman I sent an order
from Vilna branding the act of the Kahal of Brest as illegal,
on the ground that, "though obliged by law and custom to hold
new elections of elders every Passover, they have not done so,
delaying the elections for their own personal benefit."
The elections ~ere indirect, taking place through a limited
number of electors, and only persons of fairly high financial
standing, such as house-owners or large tax-payers, were
allowed to be candidates. As a matter of fact, intellectual
qualifications were no less valued than financial standing,
scholars occupying an honorable place in the communal
council.
The Kahal administration was thus oligarchic in character.
The lower and poorer classes had no representation in it, and,
as a result, their interests frequently suffered. In the eighteenth
century complaints, coming from the Jewish rank and
file, are constantly heard about the oppression of the Kahal
[' Generally pronounced shammes.]
I See p. 1'7.
[" I. e. mi~itary co~mander. Originally the title is found among
the Cossacks; see p. 143. n. 1.]
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 193
"bosses," about the inequitable apportionment of taxes, and
similar abuses.
During the same period litigation between individual Kahals
frequently arose concerning the boundaries of their respective
districts. This litigation was due to the fact that the Jewish
residents of the townlets and villages were subject to the jurisdiction
of the nearest Kahal, whose income they helped to
swell. Since, however, the Kahal districts had never been
officially delimited, several Kahals would occasionally lay
claim to the control of the neighboring townlets and settlements
(called in Hebrew sebibolh and yishubim, and in the
officiallanguage prikahalki 1). Cases of this kind were brought
either before the conferences of the District ICahals or the
two central parliamentary institutions of Polish Jewry, the
" Council of the Four Lands" and the " Council of the Principal
Communities of Lithuania."
The centralization of Jewish self-government in these two
Councils-that of the Crown and of Lithuania-was one of the
main factors in stabilizing Jewish -";onomy during that
period of instability and disintegratil The meetings or
Diets of these Councils, which were atte 1by the representati
ves of the Kahals and the rabbinate, \ rded a regular opportunity
for discussing the questions ~cting the general
welfare of the Polish Jews and for estI' shing well-defined
relations with the Government and the ts of the country.
Attached to the Waads were special.' 'cates (shtadlans,
designated as "general syndics" in the .t"olish documents),
who went to Warsaw during the sessions of the Polish Chamber
for the purpose of submitting the necessary applications in
defense of Jewish rights or of presenting the taxation lists of
[' See p. 108, n. 1.]
194 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
the Jewish communities. '1'he Waad of the Crown continued
to meet periodically in Lublin, and Yaroslav (in Galicia), and
occasionally in other places, while the Lithuanian Council
assembled in different towns in Lithuania.
The activity of these central agencies of self-government
was particularly intensified in the latter part of the seventeenth
century, when the state of communal affairs, sorel)'
shaken during the preceding period of unrest, had to be
restored. 'fhe Government upheld the authority of the Waads
in the eyes of the Jewish population, finding it more convenient
to maintain relations with one or two central organizations
than to deal with a large number of local agencies. In 1687 the
" Jewish Elders of the Crown" (of Poland proper), acting
on behalf of the Council at Yaroslav, lodged a complaint with
King Sobieski, declaring themselves unable to assume the
responsibility for the collection of the Jewish head-tax to the
amount fixed by the preceding Polish Diet, owing to the fact
that many Jews in the cities and villages, benefiting by the protection
of the pans and even the royal ~fficials, refused to
acknowledge the jurisdiction of the "Elders of the Crown"
and shirked their duty as tax-payers. In view of this, the King
issued a decree condemning in strong terms" such interference
and disorder," and enjoining the individual Kahals to submit
to the apportionment of taxes by the Elders of the Crown, and
altogether to acknowledge their jurisdiction in general Jewish
affairs, under the pain of severe fines for the disobedient.
'fhe gradual deterioration of social and economic conditions
in Poland rendered the activities of the Waads more complicated.
The Waads were now called upon to regulate also the
inner affairs of the communities as well as their relations to the
Government and the urban estates, the magistracies and guilds.
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 195
It cannot be said that the Waads exhibited on all occasions all
adequate understanding of the political situation, or that they
did full justice to the far-reaching demands of a truly popular
representation. 'l'hey were too little democratic in their composition
to accomplish so large a task. The delegates to the
Waads were not elected by the communities with this end in
view, but were recruited from among the rabbis and elders of
the principal communities, the notables and" influential men."
However, in spite of their inadequate, oligarchic organization,
the Waads were largely instrumental in unifying communal
Jewish life and in enhancing discipline in Polish-Lithuanian
Jewry.
One of the m important duties of the Waads was the
maintenance of J h public schools, the Talmud Torahs and
yeshibahs, which communal expense imparted religious
instruction primb to poor children and youths. From
the minutes of th,· thuanian Waad which have come down
to us we learn of \ fact that every one of its conferences
placed at the head 01 lts enactments a number of clauses providing
for the obligatory instruction of the young in yeshibahs
throughout the country, for the maintenance of the students
by the various communities in cash and in kind, and for the
formulation of the curricula and the statutes of all these institutions
of learning. No wonder that the endeavors of the Wand
were crowned with success, and that the intellectual level of the
Jews of Lithuania was very high. It must be owned, however,
that their mental horizon was not large, inasmuch as the whole
course of study, even in the highest schools, was limited to the
Talmud and rabbinic literature.
Furthermore, the Council of the Four Lands established a
control over the books issued by the printing-presses of Cracow
196 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
and Lublin, or imported from abroad. Only such books were
allowed to circulate as were supplied with a printed approbation,
or haskama, of the Waad or some authoritative rabbis.
Very frequently the Waad also intervened in the struggle of
parties and sects which, as will be seen later: followed the rise
of the Sabbatian movement .
. Many public functions which lay outside the sphere of
activity of the central Waads were discharged by the local
District conventions, or" Dietines" (waade medinah, or waade
galil), the latter acting as the agencies of the Kahal federations
of the given region. In official language these District federations
were often designated as "synagogues." Especially
prominent during this period were the "Volhynian Synagogue,"
i. e. the federation of the Kahals of Volhynia, and
the "White Russian Synagogue," composed of the federated
communities of the present Government of Moghilev. The
former sent its representatives to the Council of the Four
Lands, while the latter was affiliated with the Waad of Lithuania.
The periodic conventiolls of these two" synagogues"
not only decided the allotment of taxes within the Kahal districts,
but also took up questions of a general character, such
as the sending of advocates to the general Polish Diet, the
instructions to be given to the deputies of the central Waads,
the problem of Jewish education, the rabbinate, etc. Less
noticeable.was the activity of the Kahal federations of the three
" Crown provinces": Little Poland with the central community
of Cracow, Great Poland with Posen, and Red Russia
with Lemberg. We know, however, that they too assembled
periodically, either at the initiative of the Kahals themselves
or by order of the voyevoda of a given province. These
1 See pp. 204 et seq.
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 197
conventions or " Dietines" had their" floor leaders" or "marshals,"
after the pattern of the provincial Polish Diets. At
least such was the insistent demand of the voyevodas, who
preferred to transact their official business with the responsible
leaders of the conferences. The interference of the administration
in the affairs of the Jewish autonomous organization
became particularly frequent in the first part of the eighteenth
century, when political anarchy in Poland reached its climax.
The whole Kahal organization received a severe blow at the
hands of the Polish Government in 1764. The General Confederacy
which preceded the election of King Stanislav
Augustus, having framed a new" constitution," decided to
change fundamentally the system of Jewish taxation. Instead
of the former procedure of fixing the amount of the head-tax
in toto, and leaving its allotment to the Districts and individual
communities to the conferences of the elders and Kahals, the
Diet passed a resolution imposing a nniform tax of two gulden
on every registered Jewish soul of either sex, beginning
with the first year after birth. This change was justified on the
ground that, in the opinion of the Government, the previous
wholesale system of taxation enabled the Kahals to collect from
the tax-payers a much larger sum than originally determined
upon. Moreover, simultaneously with the head-tax other imposts
were levied by the Kahals. This resulted in burdening
the Jewish population and in hiding its true tax-paying capacity
from the Government, while according to the new system
the exchequer was likely to receive a much larger revenue.
To secure the accurate collection of the head-tax, a general
registration of the Jewish population in the whole country
wasordered. The taxes of each community were to be remitted
by its Kahal elders to the nearest state treasury. In COll191
THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
sequence, the functions of the Kahals;as far as the apportionment
of the taxes was concerned, were officially discontinued,
and the Kahal elders became mere go-betweens, who handed
over the tax revenues to the exchequer. The Government ceased
to recognize the role of the Kahal as a fiscal agent, which it
had formerly valued so greatly, and no more considered it
necessary to uphold the authority of this autonomous organization.
The whole machinery of Jewish self-government, all
these Diets and Dietines, the Waads and District conferences,
suddenly became superfluous, if not injurious, in the eyes of
the Government. No wonder then that the same Diet of 1764
passed a resolution forbidding henceforth the holding of conventions
of District elders for the fixation or distribution of
any tax collections or for any other purpose.
'rhis limitation of the activities of the Kahals and the entire I
abolition of the central agencies of Jewish autonomy took place
on the eve of the abolition of political independence in Poland
itself, eight years before its first partition. We shall see later
that the subsequent period of unrest, marked by the transfer
of the greater part of Polish territory to the dominion
of Russia, introduced even greater disorder into the once so
firmly consolidated autonomous organization of the Jews, and
robbed the Jewish people of one of the mainstays of its
national existence.

2. RABBINICAL AND MYSTICAL LITERATURE

The social and economic decline of the Polish Jews, which set
in after 1648, was not conducive to widening the Jewish mental
horizon, which had been sharply defined during the preceding
epoch. Even at the timc when Polish-Jewish culture was
passing through its zenith, Rabbinism reigned supreme in
:I'HE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 199
school and literature. Needless to say there was no chance
for any broader intellectual currents to contest this supremacy
during the ensuing period of decline. The only rival of Rabbinism,
whose attitude was now peaceful and now warlike,
was Mysticism, which was nurtured by the mournful disposition
of a life-worn people, and grew into maturity in the
unwholesome atmosphere of Polish decadence.
The intensive Talmudic culturc, which had been fostered by
many generations of rabbis and rosh-yeshibahs was not dif'-
tributed evenly. In those parts of the country which had suffered
most from the horrors of the" terrible decade" (1648-
1658), in the Polish Ukraina, Podolia, and Volhynia, the intellectual
level of the Jewish masses sank lower and lower.
Talmudic learning, which was formerly widespread among
the Jews of those provinces, now became the possession of a
narrow circle of scholars, while the lower classes were stagnating
in ignorance and superstition. A firmer position was still
held by Rabbinism in Lithuania and in the original provinces
of Poland. But here too the intellectual activity became pettier
and poorer, not so much in quantity as in quality. It is still
possible to enumerate a large number of names of great Talmudists
and rabbis, who commanded the respect and admiration
not only of the Jews oT Poland but also of those outside
of it. But in the domain of literary productivity these scholars
did not leave so profound an impress on posterity as their
predecessors, Solomon Luria, Moses Isserles, Mordecai Jaffe,
and Melr of Lublin.
Even within the narrow sphere of the rabbinic literary output
originality was sadly missing. The" stars" of Rabbinism
who were engaged in learned correspondence (Shaaloth
u-Teshuboth) with one another were, as a rule, immersed in
200 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
fruitless controversies about complicated and petty cases of
religious and legal practice, frequently degenerating into the
discussion of questions which do not arise in real life. Others
wrote diffuse hair-splitting commentaries and novellae (hiddushim)
on various tractates of the Talmud, including those
vhich had long lost all legal significance. Thus Aaron
Samuel Kaidanover, Rabbi of Cracow, who had narrowly
escaped the massacres of ] 648, commented on the section dealing
with the sacrifices and the ancient ritual of the temple in
Jerusalem (Birkhath ha-Zebah '). Still others wrote annotations
and supplements to the Shulhan Arulch: Lithuania, in
particular, excelled by the number of its celebrities in the field
of rabbinic scholasticism, all men who refused to acknowlcdge
any branch of secular and even religious knowledge outside the
domain of Talmudic dialectics.
A rare exception among these scholars was J ehiel Halperin
(ab. 1670-1746), rabbi of Minsk, who wrote an extensive historic
chronicle under the name of Seder ha-Doroth, "The Order
of the Generations." Halperin's work, which is divided into
three parts, narrates in the first the events of Jewish history
from Biblical times down to the year 1696. The second part
enumerates, in alphabetical order, the names of all the Tannaim
and Amoraim: and cites the opinions and sayings attributed to
each of them in the Talmud. The third part contains a list of
authors and books of the post-Talmudic period. The ori-
[1" Blessing of the Sacrifice," allusion to I Sam. ix. 13.]
• Compare Be'er ha-Gola, •• "/ell of the Exiles," by Moses Rivkes,
who fled from Vilna during the massacre of 1655; Magen Abraham,
"Shield of Abraham" [allusion to Gen. xv. 1], by Abel Gumbiner,
Rosh-Yeshibah in Kalish, whose parents perished during the tine
of unrest, and many others.
["Tannaim are the Talmudic authorities before 200 c. E.;
Amoraim are those between that date and the conclusion of the
Talmud, in 500 c. E.)
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 201
ginal contribution of Halperin consists in his having systematized
the extremely complicated material, and rendered
it available for a characterization of the Talmudic rabbis. In
all else he merely copied earlier chroniclers, particularly
David Gans,' without any attempt at a critical analysis. He
even fails to render account of such important events of his
own time as the Messianic movement of Sabbatai Zevi. The
essence of history to him is identical with the genealogies of
scholars, saints, and rabbis; the only reason for existence which
in his judgment historiography may claim is to serve as the
handmaid of Rabbinism. Even this outlook upon history,
narrow though it be, was entirely foreign to Halperin's contemporaries.
Side by side with the scholastic literature of Rabbinism
flourished popular ethical literature (musar 2). Its originators
were the preachers (darshanim), some of whom occupied permanent
posts attached to synagogues, while others wandered
about from town to town. The synagogue sermons of that
period, which have come down to us in various collections: consist
of a long string of Haggadic and Cabalistic quotations, by
means of which the Biblical texts are given an entirely perverted
meaning. The preachers were evidently less anxious
to instruct their audience than to exhibit their enormous
erudition in theological literature. Some of these preachers en-
[1 Died 1613. Author of the Hebrew chronicle Tzemah David.
" Branch of David."]
["The word originally means" chastisement" (generally by the
father). It then signifies instruction, particularly ethical instruction.]
I Such as 'Amudeha Shiv'ah [" Her Seven Pillars," allusion to
Provo ix. 1], by Bezalel of Kobrin, 1666; Maor ha·katon [" The
Lesser Light," allusion to Gen. 1. 16], by Meir of Tarnopol, 1697;
Nethib ha-Yashar. "The Right Path," by Naphtali of Minsk, 1712,
and many others.
202 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
deavored in particular to foist upon the people the notions
of the "Practical Cabala." 1 'r'hc" secret" writings of
Ari 2 and his school were circulated in Poland in manuscript
copies, which went from hand to hand. The ideas embodied in
the Cabalistic doctrine of Ari were popularized in the shape
of " gruesome stories" concerning life after death, the tortures
of the sinners in hell, the transmigration of souls, and the
exploits of demons.
The books which endeavored to inculcate piety among the
masses by means of these stories became rapidly popular.
'l'owards the end of the seventeenth century, the Cabalist
Joseph Dubno wrote a work in this spirit under the title
Yesod Y oseph, " Foundation of Joseph." Prior to its publication,
Dubno's work was utilized by Hirsch Kaidanover, a son
of the above-mentioned rabbi of Cracow, Aaron Samuel
Kaidanover: and issued by him in an improved and amplified.
version in Frankfort-on-the-Main, in 1705, under the name
Kab h~Yashar, "'l'he Just Measure." A few years later the
book was published also in the Yiddish vernacular, and became
a great favorite among the lower classes as well as among
women.
The Kab h~Yashar breathes a spirit of gloomy asceticism,
and is expressive of a funereal frame of mind. "0 man,"-the
author exclaims-" wert thou to know how many demons
thirst for thy blood, thou wouldst abandon thyself entirely,
with heart and soul, to Almighty Goel!" The air, according
to the doctl'ine preached in this book, is filled with the invisible
spirits of the dead who can find no rest in the other world,
and teems with the wandering shadows of sinners and demons,
[' See p. 134. n. 3.]
[' See p. 134. n. 4.]
• See p. 200.
THE INNER LIF.I!J DURING THE DECLINE 203
who frequently slip into living beings and force them to rage
like madmen. Scores of " reliable" stories are quoted, telling
of the conflicts between men and demons and of the exploits of
miracle-workers who have exorcised the evil spirits by means of
incantations.
Prominent among these stories is an account of the expulsion
of devils from a house in Posen, which produced a great
sensation at the time. Evil spirits had been constantly haunting
the inhabitants of the house. At first they sought advice
of the local Jesuit priests. When the remedy employed
by the latter proved of no avail, the inhabitants invitcd thc
famous magician and miracle-worker Joel Baal-Shem' from
Zamoshch.' The miracle-worker subjected the demons to a
regular cross-examination, demanding an explanation why
they refused to abandon the ill-fated house. At the crossexamination
the demons argued that the house was theirs by
inheritance, inasmuch as they were the legitimate children
of the former owner of the house, a Jewish artisan who had
had relations with a female devil. As a result, a conference of
the rabbis of Posen was held in the presence of the abovementioned
miracle-worker, and their verdict was that the
demons had no claim to immovable property in places populated
by human beings, but were limited in their right of
residence to forests and deserts.
Such was the spiritual pabulum on which the Jewish masses
were fed by their leaders. A writer of the beginning of the
eighteenth century makes the observation, that" there is no
country where the Jews are so much given to mystical fancies,
devil hunting, talismans, and exorcism of evil spirits, as they
[' On the meaning cf the name see p. 223. n. 1.]
[' In Polish, .'lamolic!, a town in the region of Lublin.]
204 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
are in Poland." The demand b1'011ghtforth a supply, and
even the celebrated rabbis frequently devoted themselves to
Cabalistic exercises. One of these was the Rabbi of Ostrog and
Posen, Naphtali Cohen (1640-1719), of whom the following
curious incident is related. After settling in Frankfort-onthe-
Main, he made the people believe that he had discovered a
magic formula against fire. As luck would have it, a fire broke
out in his own house, and destroyed a considerable part of the
Jewish quarter. The ill-fated Cabalist was sent .to jail on the
charge of careless handling of fire during his pyrotechnic
experiments (1711). After his release from prison Naphtali
Cohen led the life of a wanderer, entering into suspicious relations
with Hayyun, the notorious emissary of the Sabbatian
sect, though afterwards, when Hayyun's heresy had been unmasked
in Amsterdam, he renounced all connection with the
heretic. During the contest which for many years was waged
by Emden against Eibeshiitz and his mysterious talismans,' the
majority of Polish rabbis sided with Eibeshiitz. Evidently
they found nothing objectionable in the attempt to cure dis·
eases by means of cabalistically inscribed talismans.

3. THE SABBATIAN MOVEMENT

'1'he mystical and sectarian tendencies which were in vogue
among the masses of Polish Jewry were the outcome of the
Messianic movement, which, originated by Sabbatai Zevi in
1648, spread like wildfire throughout the whole Jewish world.
The movement made a particularly deep impression in Poland,
where the mystical frame of mind of the Polish-Jewish
masses offered a favorable soil for it. It was more than a
[' See on this controversy Gratz's History. English translation, v.
257 f.)
'fHE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 205
mere coincidence that one and the same year, 1648, was marked
by the wholesale murder of the Jews of the Ukraina and the
first public appearance of Sabbatai Zevi in Smyrna. The
thousands of Jewish captives, who in the summer of that
terrible year had been carried to Turkey by the Tatar allies
of Khmelnitzki and ransomed there by their coreligionists,
conveyed to the minds of the Oriental Jews an appalling
impression of the destruction of the great Jewish center in
Poland. There can be no doubt that the descriptions of
this catastrophe deeply affected the impressionable mind of
Sabbatai, and prepared the soil for the success of the propaganda
he carried on during his wanderings in Turkey, Palestine,
and Egypt.
When, in the year 1666, the whole Jewish world resounded
with the fame of Sabbatai Zevi as the Messianic liberator of
the Jewish people, the Jews of Poland responded with particularly
keen, almost morbid sensitiveness.
The Jews-says the contemporary Ukrainian writer Galatov·
ski-triumphed. Some abandoned tlteir houses and property, reo
fusing to do any work and claiming that the Messiah would soon
arrive and carry them on a cloud to Jerusalem. Others fasted for
days, denying food even to their little ones, and during that severe
winter bathed in Ice·holes, at the same time reciting a recently·
composed prayer. Faint·hearted and destitute Christians, hearing
the stories of the miracles performed by the false Messiah and
beholding the boundless arrogance of the Jews, began to doubt
Christ.
From the South, the Sabbatian agitation penetrated to the
North, to distant White Russia. We are informed by a
contemporary monastic chronicler, that on the walls of the
churches in Moghilev on the Dnieper mysterious inscriptions
appeared proclaiming the Jewish Messiah" Sapsai."
206 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
In the course of the eventful year in which the whole Jewish
world raved about the coming of the Messiah and deputations
arrived from all over the Jewish world at the "Castle of
Splendor," Sabbatai's residence in Abydos, near Constantinople,
a delegation was also dispatched by the Jews of
Poland. In this delegation were included Isaiah, the son of
David Halevi, the famous rabbi of Lemberg, author of the
Taz,' and the grandson of another celebrity, Joel Sirkis.' The
Polish delegates were sent, as it were, on a scouting expedition,
being instructed to investigate on the spot the correctness
of the rumors concerning the Messianic claims of Sabbatai.
When, in the summer of 1666, they were presented to Sabbatai
at Abydos, they were deeply impressed by the sight of the
thousands of enthusiastic admirers who had come from all
possible countries to render homage to him. Sabbatai handed
the Polish delegates an enigmatic letter, addressed to the Rabbi
of Lemberg:
On the sixth day after the resuscitation of my spirit and light,
on the twenty-second of Tammuz . . . . I herewith send a gift to
the man of faith, the venerable old man, Rabbi David of the house
of Levi, the author of Ture Zahab-may he flourish in his old age
in strength and freshness! Soon will I avenge you and comfort
you, even as a mother comforteth her son, and recompense you a
hundredfold [for the sufferings endured by you]. The day of revenge
is in my heart, and the year of redemption hath arrived.
Thus speaketh David, the son of Jesse, the head of all the kings of
the earth . . . . the Messiah of the God of Jacob, the Lion of the
mountain recesses, Sabbatai Zevi.
The gift referred to in the letter consisted of a shirt which
Sabbatai handed over to Habbi David's son, with the instruc-
[' See p. 130.]
[' Ibid.]
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 207
tion to put it on his aged and feeble father and recite at the
same time the words, "May thy youth be renewed like that of
the eagle!"
Having learned from the delegates that a Cabalistic propagandist,
by the name of Nehemiah Oohen, who predicted the
coming of the Messiah, had appeared in Poland, Sabbatai
added a postscript to his letter in which he asked that this
"prophet," being the forerunner of the Messiah, be sent to
him speedily. The omniscient :Messiahfailed to foresee that
this invitation spelled ruin for him. It is generally conceded
that the interview between Nehemiah, the Cabalistic fanatic,
and Sabbatai was one of the causes that accelerated the downfall
of the Messiah. After a Cabalistic argument with Sabbatai,
which lasted three days, Nehemiah refused to acknowledge
him as the expected Messiah. While in Adrianople he
revealed Sabbatai's plans to the Turkish authorities, and this
led to the arrest of the pseudo-Messiah and his feigned conversion
to Islam.
The news of the hideous desertion of Judaism by the redeemer
of the Jewish people was slow in reaching the Jews
of Poland, anfl when it did reach them, only a part of his
adherents felt it their duty to abandon him. The more
credulous rank and file remained steadfast in their loyalty,
hoping for further miracles, to be performed by the mysterious
savior of Judaism, who had" put on the turban" temporarily
in order to gain the confidence of the Sultan and afterwards to
dethrone him. When Sabbatai died, Poland witnessed the
same transformation of political into mystical Messianism
which was taking place at the time in Western Europe.
The proximity to Turkey and to the city of Saloniki. the
headquarters of the Sabbatiau sect, lent particular intensity to
14
208 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
the sectarian movement in Poland, fomenting a spiritual agitation
in the Jewish ~ from the end of the seventeenth
down to the end of the.teenth century. The main center
of the movement came to be in Podolia, part of which had been
annexed by Turkey, after the Polish-Turkish War of 1672, and
was returned to Poland only in 1699 by the Peace Treaty of
Carlowitz.
The agitators and originators of these sects were recruited
partly from among the obscure masses, partly from among the
Cabalists whose. minds were befogged. At the end of the
seventeenth century, a Lithuanian Jew by the name of Zadok,
a plain, ignorant man, who had been an innkeeper, began to
prophesy that the Messiah would appear in 1695. About the
same time a more serious propagandist of the Messianic idea
appeared in the person of the Cabalist Hayyim Malakh. Having
resided in 'l'urkey, where he had been in contact with the
Sabbatian circle in Saloniki, Malakh returned to Poland and
began to muddle the heads of the Jews. He secretly preached
that Sabbatai Zevi was the Messiah, and that, like Moses,
who had kept the Israelites in the desert for forty years before
bringing them to the borders of the Promised Land, he would
rise from the dead and redeem the Jewish people in 1706, forty
years after his conversion.
Malakh's propaganda proved successful, particularly among
the ignorant masses of Podolia and Galicia. Malakh was soon
joined by another agitator, Judah Rasid, from Shidlovitz or
Shedletz" Having studied Practical Cabala in Italy, Judah
Rasid returned to his native land and began to initiate the
[' In Hebrew the two names are not clearly distinguishable. The
formel" town, in Polish, SZ1ldlowiec, is near Radom. The latter, in
Polish, Siedlce, Is the capital of the present Russian Government
of the same name, not far from Warsaw.]
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 209
studious Polish youths into this hidden wisdom. The circle of
his pupils and adherents grew larger and larger, and became
consolidated in a special sect, which called itself" the Pious,"
or Hasidim. The members of this sect engaged in ascetic exercises;
in anticipation of the Messiah, they made public confession
of their sins and inserted mystical prayers in their
liturgy. Hayyim Malakh joined the circle of Judah Rasid,
and brought over to it his Sabbatian followers. The number
of " the Pious" grew so large that the Orthodox rabbis became
alarmed and began to persecute them. Under the effect of
these persecutions the leaders of the sect started a propaganda
for a mass-emigration to Palestine, there to welcomein triumph
the approaching Messiah.
Many Jews were carried away by this propaganda. In the
beginning of 1700, a troop of one hundred and twenty pilgrims
started on their way, under the joint leadership of Judah
Rasid and Rayyim Malakh. 'fhe emigrants traveled in
groups, by way of Germany, Austria, and Italy, stopping in
various cities, where their leaders, dressed, after the manner of
penitent sinners, in white shrouds, delivered fiery exhortations,
in which they announced the speedy arrival of the Messiah.
The lower classes and the women were particularly impressed
by the speeches of the rigorously ascetic Judah Rasid. On
the road the Polish wanderers were joined by other groups of
Jews desirous of visiting the Holy Land, so that the number of
the travelers reached 1300 souls. One party of emigrants, led
by Rayyim Malakh, was dispatched, with the help of charitable
Jews of Vienna, from that city to Constantinople. Another
party, headed by Judah Hasid, traveled to Palestine by way
of Venice.

210 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
After much suffering and many losses on the journey, during
which several hundred died or remained behind, one thousand
reached Jerusalem. On arriving at their destination the newcomers
experienced severe disappointment. One of the leaders,
.Tudah Hasid, died shortly after their arrival in the Holy City.
His adherents were cooped up in some courtyard, and depended
on the gifts of charitable Jews. - The destitute inhabitants of
Jerusalem, themselves living on the charity of their European
brethren, were not in a position to support the pilgrims, who
soon found themselves without means of subsistence. Disillusioned
and discouraged, the sectarians rapidly dispersed
in all directions. Some joined the ranks of the 'I'urkish Sabbatians,
who posed as Mohammedans. Others returned to
Western Europe and Poland, mystifying credulous people with
all kinds of wild tales. Still others in their despair let themselves
be persuaded by German missionaries to embrace Christianity.
Hayyim Malakh; the second leader of the pilgrims,
remained in J erusalern for some time with a handful of his
adherents. In this circle symbolic services, patterned after the
ritual of the Sabbatians, were secretly held, and, as rumor had
it, the sectarians performed dances before a wooden image of
Sabbatai Zevi. Having been forced to leave Jerusalem, the
dangerous heretic traveled about in 'I'm'key, where he maintained
relations with sectarian circles. After being banished
from Constantinople by the rabbis, Hayyim Malakh returned to
his native country, and renewed his propaganda in Podolia and
Galicia. He died about 1720.
The ill success of the" Hasidim " failed to check the spread
of sectarianism in Poland. In Galicia and Podolia, the conventicles
of " Secret Sabbatians," dubbed by 'the people "Shahsi'tzvinnikes
" (from the name of Sabbatai Zevi), or, in abbreviTHE
INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 211
ated form, " Shehsen," continued as before. rfhese Sabbatians
neglected many ceremonies, among them the fast of the Ninth
of Ab, which, because of its being the birthday of Sabbatai,
had been transformed by them from a day of mourning into a
festival. 'I.'heir cult contained elements both of asceticism and
libertinism. While some gave themselves over to repentance,
self-torture, and mourning for Zion, others indulged in
debaucheries and excesses of all kinds. Alarmed by this dangerous
heresy, the rabbis at last resorted to energetic measures.
In the summer of 1722, a number' of rabbis, coming from
various communities, assembled in Lemberg, and, with solemn
ceremonies, proclaimed the herem (excommunication) against
all Sabbatians who should fail to renounce their errors and
return to the path of Orthodoxy within a given time.
The measure was partly successful. Many sectarians
publicly confessed their sins, and submitted to severe penances.
In most cases, however, the "Shebsen" clung stubbornly to
their heresy, and in 1725 the rabbis were forced to launch a
second herem against them. By the new act of excommunication
every Orthodox Jew was called upon to report to the rabbinical
authorities all the secret sectarians known to him. The
act of excommunication was sent out to many communities, and
publicly recited in the synagogues. But even these persecutions
failed to wipe out the heresy. Secret Sabbatianism continued
to linger in the nooks and corners of Podolia and
Galicia, and finally degenerated into the dangerous movement
known as Frankism.

4. THE FRANKIST SECT

Jacob Frank was born about 1726 in a town of Podolia. His
father Judah Leib belonged to the lower Jewish clergy, among
whom all kinds of perverted mystical notions were particularly
212 'l'HE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
in vogue. Judah Leib fell under SIll;piclonas an adherent
of Sabbatianislll, and was expelled from the community, which
he had served as rabbi or preacher. He settled in Wallachia,
where little Jacob grew up in an atmosphere filled with mystic
and Messianic fancies and marked by superstition and moral
laxity. From his early youth he showed repugnance to
study, and remained, as he later called himself, an ignoramus.
While living with his parents in Wallachia, he first
served as clerk in a shop, and afterwards became a traveling
salesman, peddling jewelry and notions through the towns
and villages. Occasionally young Jacob traveled with his
goods to adjoining Turkey, where he lived for some time in
Saloniki and Smyrna, the centers of the Sabbatian sect. Here,
it seems, Jacob received his nickname Frank, or Frenk, a designation
applied in the East to all Europeans. Between 1752
and 1755 he lived alternately in Smyrna and Saloniki, and
came in contact with the Sabbatians, participating ill their
symbolic, semi-Mohammedan cult. It was then and there
that Jacob Frank was struck by the idea of returning to Poland
and playing the role of prophet and leader among the local
secret Sabbatians, who were oppressed and disorganized. It
was selfish ambition and the spirit of adventure rather than
mystical enthusiasm that pushed him in that direction.
In 1755 Frank made his appearance in Podolia and, joining
hands with the leaders of the local "Shebsen," began to
initiate them into the doctrines he had Imported from Turkey.
The sectarians arranged secret meetings, at which the religious
mysteries centering around the Sabbatian "Trinity" (God,
the Messiah, and a female hypostasis of God, the Shekhinah)
were enunciated. Frank was evidently regarded as tIle second
person of the Trinity and as a reincarnation of Sabbatai Zevi,
THlll INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 213
being designated as S. S., i. e. Santo Senior,s " the Holy Lord."
One of these assemblies ended in a scandal, and turned the
attention of the rabbis to this new agitation.
During the fair held in Lantzkorona: Frank and two score
of his followers, consisting of men and women, had assembled
in an inn to hold their mystical services. They sang their
hymns, exciting themselves to the point of ecstasy by merrymaking
and dancing. Inquisitive outsiders managed to catch
a glimpse of the assembly, and afterwards related that the
sectarians danced around a nude woman, who may possibly
have represented the Shekhinah, or Matronitha: the third
person of the Trinity. The Orthodox Jews on the marketplace,
who were not used to such orgies, were profoundly disgusted
by the conduct of the sectarians. They informed the
local Polish authorities that a Turkish subject was exciting
the people and propagating a new religion. rfhe gay company
was arrested, Frank, being a foreigner, was banished to Turkey,
and his followers were delivered into the hands of the rabbis
and the Kahal authorities (1756).
A conference of rabbis was held in the town of Satal1ov: and
scores of men and women, who had formerly belonged to the
Sabbatian sect, presented themselves to confess their sins and
to repent. The sectarians owned to having committed acts
which were subversive not only of the Jewish religion but also
of the fundamental principles of morality and chastity. The
women admitted that they had violated their conjugal fidelity,
[' The Turkish Sabbatlans, from whom this Spanish title was
borrowed, spoke the Judea-Spanish dialect. On the abbreviation
S. S., see Gritz, GeBchichte tler Jutlen, x', 379, n. 1.]
[' In Polish, Lanckorona, a town in Podolia.]
[. Literally, ••the Lady," a Cabalistic term for the Divine
Presence.]
[' In Podolia.]
214 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
and told of the sexual excesses in vogue among the sectarians,
which were justified by mystical speculations. On the basis of
all this evidence, the conference of rabbis in Brody, which
met during the sessions of the Council of the Four Lands, proclaimed
a strict herem against all heretics who had failed to
repent, and forbade all contact with them. They also prohibited
the study of the Zohar before the age of thirty and of
the Cabalistic writings of Ari,' which were circulated during
that period in manuscript form, before the age of forty in
order to avoid the snares of mystical heterodoxy.
It was then that the excommunicated and persecuted Podolian
sectarians., prompted by their leaders, resorted to a counsel
of despair. 'l'heir representatives appeared in the city of
Kamenetz-Podolsk before the Catholic Bishop Dembovski, and
declared that the Jewish sect of which they were members
rejected the Talmud as a false and harmful work, that they
only acknowledged the Zohar, the sacred book of the Cabala,
and believed that God was one in three persons, of whom the
Messianic Redeemer was one. This declaration aroused in
Bishop Dembovski the hope of converting the sectarians to
Christianity, notwithstanding the fact that by the" Messianic
Redeemer" they understood Sabbatai Zevi, or his reincarnation,
Jacob Frank. The Bishop ordered the publication of the
ambiguous confession of faith of the" Contra-Talmudists" or
"Zoharists "-as the sectarians designated themselves-and
decided to arrange a religious disputation between the lh-ankists
and the rabbis. The Podolian rabbis received strict orders
from the Bishop to send delegates from their midst to participate
in the proposed disputation. Their failure to appear
was to be punished by fines and the burning of the Talmud.
[' See p. 134, n. 4.]
THE INNEl't LIFE DURINQ THlil DEQLINE 213
After considerable preparations, the disputation between the
leaders of the Contra-Talmudists and a number of rabbis took
place in Kamenetz, in the summer of 1757, in the presence of
Bishop Dembovski and representatives of the Catholic clergy.
'rhe contest lasted seven days. The discussions centered
around certain peculiar utterances in the Talmudic Haggada,
which the Frankists cited as evigence of the" blasphemous"
character of the Talmud. The rabbis retorted feebly, hampered
by their inadequate mastery of the Polish language;
moreover, when the dispute turned on the fundamental dogmas
of Judaism, they refused to discuss them in the presence of
Catholic priests. The Bishop received the impression that the
Talmudists had been defeated. In the autumn of 1757 he
issued a rescript imposing a fine upon the 'ralmudists, to be
paid out to their opponents, for having insulted them at the
fair of Lantzkorona, and ordering that all Talmud copies
found in the diocese of Podolia be taken away from their
owners and delivered to the flames.
The revolting scenes of the time of Louis IX., of France, and
Pope Paul IV. were re-enacted. Thousands of Talmud copies
Wtlretaken away from the Jews and carried to Kamenetz, where
they were publicly burned on the market-place. The sectarians
witnessed their revenge on their persecutors and triumphed. It
is difficult to say how this triumph would have ended, had not
Bishop Dembovski suddenly died, in November, 1757. The sectarians
were deprived of their mainstay, and became again the
target of the Kahal authorities. In 1758 they finally succeeded
in obtaining a safe-conduct from King Augustus III., but even
this could not rescue them from the uncomfortable position
peculiar to those who, having forfeited the sympathies of their
own, have not yet been able to gain the confidence of strangers.
216 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
At that critical juncture the sectarians decided to recall
Jacob Frank, their leader, from Turkey. The latter immediately
appeared in Podolia with a new plan, which, he hoped,
would at once rid him and his adherents of all opponents.
In the discourses delivered before his followers Frank dwelt
a great deal on his exalted mission and on the divine revelations
which commanded him to follow in the footsteps or
Sabbatai Zevi. Just as Sabbatai had been compelled to embrace
the Mohammedan faith temporarily, so he and his
adherents were predestined from above to adopt the Christian
religion as a mere disguise and as a stepping-stone to the" faith
of the true Messiah." Filled with thirst for revenge, the
sectarians hit upon the fiendish thought of lendi.ng the weight
of their testimony to the hideous ritual murder accusation,
which was agitating the whole of Poland at that time, claiming
many a victim in the Jewish ranks.
In 1759 the Frankists were busily engaged in negotiations
with the highest representatives of the Polish Church concerning
their proposed conversion to Christianity. They requested
at the same time that they be allowed to hold a public disputation
with the rabbis, whom they hoped to expose before
the non-J ews. The Primate of the Polish Church Lubinski
and the Papal Nuncio Serra received the advances of the Frankists
with considerable skepticism. But the temporary administrator
of the diocese of Lemberg, Canon Mikolski, insisted that
their request be complied with. A second religious disputation
between the Talmudists and the Frankists, presided over
by Mikolski, was held in Lemberg, and took up eleven sessions
(July-August, 1759). At this disputation the Orthodox Jews
were represented by a number of Talmudists, headed by the
Rabbi of Lemberg, Hayyim Rapoport, while the cause of the
THE INNER LIFE. DURING THE DECLINE 2-1~
sectarians was championed by Solomon Shorr and Leib Krysa,
the principal associates of Frank, as well as several learned
CathoVc theologians.
The sectarians advanced seven theses as a basis for discussion.
Six dealt with the Messianic belief and the dogma
of the Trinity, the latter having been practically adopted by
them in its Christian formulation. The seventh asserted that
"the Talmud considers the use of Christian blood obligatory."
The discussion about the first six clauses was rather tame and
conventional, largely owing to the fact that the rabbis, who
were afraid of offending the religious susceptibilities of the
Christians, declined in many cases to state their views. Only
when it came to the last point, the malicious accusation of
ritual murder, were the rabbis energetic in refuting it, protest.
ing vehemently against the Frankists, who openly appeared as
the enemies of their people.
When the disputation was over, the sectarians were called
upon to prove their devotion to Christianity by immediate
action. The conversion of the Frankists began. The' baptismal
ceremony was performed with great solemnity in the
churches of Lemberg, members of the Polish nobility acting
as sponsors. The neophytes assumed the family names and
titles of their godfathers, and in this way received admission
into the ranks of the Polish nobility. In Lemberg alone 514
men and women, among them Leib Krysa, Solomon Shorr, and
the other fellow-workers of Frank, were converted in the
course of 1759 and 1760. Frank entered Lemberg with great
pomp, riding in a carriage drawn by six horses and surrounded
by a large body-guard. Here he submitted to a preliminary
baptism, desiring to complete the ceremony with greater
solemnity in Warsaw. Having arrived in the Polish capital,
218 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
Prank petitioned King Augustus III. to act as his godfather.
'fhe King consented, and the conversion of the sectarian chief
to Catholicism took place in November, 1'159, with extraordinary
splendor, in the presence of the royal family and the
court dignitaries. At his baptism Jacob Prank assumed the
name .Joseph.
However, the attitude of the Polish clergy towards the
newly-converted sectarians remained as skeptical as theretofore.
Frank's obscure past, his strange manner of living, the rever·
ence accorded to him by his followers, who styled him the
" Holy Lord "-all this was bound to arouse the suspicion of
the ecclesiastic authorities. The indiscretion of some Frank·
ists, or perhaps a secret denunciation, confirmed the clergy in
their suspicions. They learned that the conversion of the sectarians
had been an act of hypocrisy, that Frank continued to
pose among them as Messiah and" Holy Lord," and that the
Trinity professed by them had very little in common with the
corresponding Christian dogma. 'l'hey decided to investigate
the matter, and, in case their suspicion should prove true, to
indict the leaders of the sect before the ecclesiastic courts.
In January, 1760, Prank was arrested in Warsaw by order of
the highest Church authorities, and subjected to a searching
cross-examination. With all his astuteness, the chief of the
Frankists failed to convince the judges of his Christian Orthodoxy.
Many of the depositions made by his disciples or by
himself only strengthened the case against him. The ecclesiastic
court, having previously ascertained the attitude of Rome
through the Papal Nuncio, sentenced Frank to imprisonment
in the citadel of Chenstokhov and to detention in the local
monastery, so as to prevent all contact with his followers.
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 219
Thirteen years (1760-1772) Frank remained in the citadel,
but the Catholic clergy failed in its purpose. The Frankists
continued their relations with the "Holy Lord," who as a
suffering Messiah was now surrounded in their eyes with a new
halo. They even managed to penetrate into Chenstokhov
itself, and settled in large numbers on the outskirts of the
town, which, in accordance w:ith old Messianic notions, they
designated as " the gates of Rome.'" They beheld in Frank's
fate a repetition of the destiny of Sabbatai Zevi, who had been
equally kept prisoner in the castle of Abydos, near the capital
of Turkey. They were inspired by Frank's mystical discourses
and epistles, the gist of which was that their only salvation lay
in the" holy religion of Edom," a term by which he understood
a strange medley of Christian and Sabbatian ideas. The new
religion was devoid of any truly religious or moral element, and
the same applies to the life of Frank, who cynically expressed
himself to his followers: "I have come to rid the world of aU
the laws and statutes which have been in existence hitherto."
There was nothing reminding one of an apostle about the conduct
of the "Holy Lord," based as it was on mystification
and on the endeavor to accommodate oneself to the environment.
The first partition of Poland put an end to Frank's imprisonment
in the monastery. He was released by the commander
of the Russian troops which occupied Chenstokhov towards the
end of 1772. After a brief stay in Warsaw, where he managed
to re-establish direct relations with the sectarians, Frank,
accompanied by his family and a large retinue, left the boundaries
of Poland and settled in Brlinn, in Moravia (1773).
1Tara ae·Rl1me, the legendary dwell1ng-place of the Messiah.
[Compo Sanhedrin 98a.]
220 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
The further exploits of this adventurer were performed ill a
new field, in Western Europe. In Catholic Austria, Frank
assumed the role of a Christian missionary among the Jews,
and even succeeded in gaining the favor of the Court in Vienna.
However, his past soon became known, and he had to leave
Austria. Frank settled in Germany, in Offenbach, near Ji'rankforl-
on-the-Main, where he arrogated to himself the title of
I( Baron of Offenbach." In his new place of residence, 'Frank,
assisted by his daughter Eve, or the" Holy Lady," stood at the
head of a secret circle of sectarians, and, supported by his
Polish and Moravian partisans, led a life of ease and luxury.
After the death of Frank, which occurred in 1791, his sect
began to disintegrate, and the flow of gifts for the benefit of
the Offenbach Society gradually ceased. After unsuccessful
endeavors to attract sectarians, Frank's successor, Eve, found
herself entangled in debts, and, pursued by her creditors, died
in 1816 in Offenbach. The Frankists who had stayed in
Poland, though outwardly Catholics, remained loyal to the
" Holy Lord" down to the day of his death. For a long time
they intermarried among themselves, and were known in
Poland under the name of "Neophytes." But by and by they
were merged with the Catholic population, gradually losing
the character of a sect, and were at last completely absorbed by
their Polish environment.

5. THE RISE OF HASIDISM AND ISRAEL BAAL-SHEM-TOB

Frankism proved the grave of Sabbatiallism, by turning its
dreamy mysticism into mystification, and its lofty Messianism
into the selfish desire to escape Jewish suffering through disloyalty
to Judaism. It was a grossly negative, materialistic
movement, which disregarded the noblest strivings and the
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 221
most genuine longings of the Jewish soul. 'rhe need for a
deepened religious consciousness, which the formalities of
Rabbinism had failed to satisfy, remained as alive as ever
among the Jewish masses. This need was bound to give rise
to a positive religious movement, which was in harmony with
the traditional ideas of the Jewish people.
In the spiritual life of Polish Jewry the distinction between
its two ethnographic groups, the northwestern, the Lithuanian
and White Russian, and the southwestern, the Polish
and Ukrainian, became more and more accentuated. In the
northwest rabbinic scholasticism reigned supreme, and the
caste of scholars, petrified in the ideas of Talmudic Babylonia,
was the determining factor in public life.
Talmudic scholarship-remarks a contemporary Lithuanian
Jew, the sUhsequently tamous philosopher Solomon Maimonconstitutes
the principal object ot education among us. Wealth,
physical attractions, or endowments ot any kind, though appreciated
by the people, do not, in its estimation, compare with the
dignity ot a good Talmudist. The Talmudist has the first claim
on all omces and honorary posts in the community. Whenever he
appears at an assembly, all rise before him, and conduct him to the
foremost place. He is the confidant, the counselor, the legislator,
and the judge of the plain man.
Matters, however, were different in Podolia, Galicia, Vol·
hynia, and in the whole southwestern region in general. Here
the Jewish masses were much further removed from the
sources of rabbinic learning, having emancipated themselves
from the influence of the Talmudic scholar. While in Lithuania
dry book-learni:agwas inseparable from a godly life, in
Podolia and Volhynia it failed to satisfy the religious cravings
of the common man. The latter was in need of beliefs
easier of understanding and making an appeal to the heart
222 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
rather than to the mind. He found these belieft; in the
Cabala, in mystic and Messianic doctrines, in Sabbatianism.
He even let himself be carried away by teachings which ultimately
proved heterodox and subversive of the spirit of
Judaism. With the downfall of secret Sabbatianism, which
had been utterly compromised by the Frilnkists, disappeared
the last will-o'-the-wisp of Messianism, which had beckoned
to the groping Jewish masses. It was necessary to fill the
mental void thus created, and provide new food for the unsatisfied
religious longings. This task was undertaken by
the new Hasidism (" Doctrine of Piety"), originated by
Besht, a product of obscure Podoliall Jewry.
Israel Baal-Shem-Tob (in abbreviated form BeSHT) was
born about 1700 on the border line of Podolia and Wallachia of
a poor Jewish family. Having lost his parents at an early age,
he was cared for by some charitable townsmen of his, who sent
him to a Jewish school, or heder, to study the Talmud. The
heder-Iearning did not attract the boy, endowed as he waR
with an impressionable and dreamy disposition. Israel frequently
played the truant, and was more than once discovered
in the neighboring forest lost in thought. The boy was finally
given up as a bad case, and expelled from school. At the age
of twelve, Israel, confronted by the necessity of earning a
livelihood, became a behelfer, an assistant teacher, and, a
little later, obtained the post of a synagogue beadle. In his
new dignity, Besht conducted himself rather oddly. In daytime
he slept, or pretended to sleep, but at night, when all
alone in the synagogue, he prayed fervently, or read soulsaving
books. Those around him looked upon him as an eccentric
or maniac. He nevertheless persisted in his course. He
delved more and more deeply in the mysteries of the PracTHE
INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 223
tical Cabala, studied the "Ari manuscripts," which were
circulated from hand to hand, and acquainted himself with the
art of performing miracles by means of Cabalistic incantations.
When about twenty years of age, Israel settled in Brody,
one of the principal cities of Galicia, and married the sister
of the well-known rabbi and Cabalist of the town, Gershon
Kutover. Kutover at first tried to interest his brother-inlaw
in the study of the Talmud, but, finding him entirely
indifferent to this kind of mental occupation, the proud rabbi,
abashed by his relationship with such an ignoramus, advised
Israel to leave Brody. Beaht followed the advice, and removed
with his wife to a village between the towns of Kuty and Kosovo.
He frequently retired to the neighboring Carpathian mountains,
where in strict solitude he fasted, prayed, and lost
himself in religious speculation. He eked out an existence for
himself and his wife by digging clay in the mountains, which
his wife carried into the city for sale. According to the Hasidic
legend, Israel Besht led this kind of life for seven years. It
was a period of preparation for his subsequent calling. At
the end of his mystical exploits in the Carpathian mountains,
Besht lived in the Galician town of Tlusta, where he occupied
minor ecclesiastic positions, acting in succession as melammed,
shohet, and cantor of a synagogue. He W8S universally
regarded 8S an ignoramus, no one being aware of his inner·
most cravings.
At last, after reaching the age of thirty-six, Besht decided,
-by inspiration from above, as the Hasidim believe,-that the
time had come "to reveal himself to the world." He began
to practice as a Baal-Shem/ i. e. as a magician and Cabalist
f'Literally ••• Master of the Name," a man able to perform
miracles through the Name of God.]
15
224 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
and to cure diseases by means of secret incantiltions, amulets
(kameoth), and medicinal herbs. The figure of a wandering
Baal-Shem was not unusual among the Polish Jew,s of the
time, and Besht chose this career, for it subsequently proved
a convenient medium for his religious propaganda. He traveled
about the towns and villages of Volhynia and Podolia,
curing with his herbs and incantations not only Jews, but also
peasants and even pans, who had great faith in magic remedies.
He won the reputation of a miracle-worker, and was nicknaTllPd
the" good Baal-Shem" (in Hebrew, Baal-Shem-Tob). 'rile
Jewish masses felt that he was not the ordinary type of conjurer,
but a man of righteousness and saintliness. Besht W!loR
frequently called upon to foretell the future, and, opening at
random the Zohar before him, made predictions as suggested
by the holy book. In curing the sick, he resorted not only to
herbs and incantations, but also to prayer. While praying, he
often fell into ecstasy and gesticulated violently.
Besht became the favorite of the masses. Warm-hearted
and simple in disposition, he managed to get close to the
people and find out their spiritual wants. Originally a healer
of the body, he imperceptibly grew to be a teacher of religion.
He taught that true salvation lies not in 'l'almudic learning,
but in whole-hearted devotion to God, in unsophisticated faith
and fervent prayer. When he encountered men of learning,
Besht endeavored to convince them of the correctness of his
views by arguments from the Cabala. But he did not recognize
that ascetic form of Cabala which enjoined upon the Jew
to foster a mournful frame of mind, to kill the flesh, and strive
after the expiation of sin in order to accelerate the coming of
the Messiah. He rather had in mind that Cabala which seeks
to establish an intimate communion between man and God,
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 223
cheering the human soul by the belief in the goodness of God,
encouraging and comforting the poor, the persecuted, and the
suffering. Besht preached that the plain man, imbued with
naIve faIth, and able to pray fervently and whole-heartedly,
was dearer and nearer to God than the learned formalist spending
his whole life in the study of the Talmud. Not to speculate
in religious matters, but to believe blindly and devotedly, such
was the motto of Besht. This simplified formula of Judaism
appealed to the Jewish masses and to those democratically
inclined scholars who were satisfied neither with rabbinic
scholasticism nor with the ascetic Cabala of the school of Ari.
About 1740 Besht chose for his permanent residence the
small Podolian town of Medzhibozh. Th~ role of sorcerer
and miracle-worker gradually moved to the background, and
Besht emerged as a full-fledged teacher of religion. He
placed himself at the head of his large circle of disciples and
followers, who were initiated by him into the mysteries of the
new doctrine, not by way of systematic exposition, but rather
in the form of sayings and parables. These sayings have been
preserved by his nearest disciples, Besht himself having left
nothing in writing.
'fwo ideas lie at the bottom of the" Doctrine of Piety," or
the Hasidism, of Besht: the idea of Pantheism, of the Omnipresence
of God, and the idea of the interaction of the
lower and upper worlds. The former may be approximately
defined by the following utterances of Besht:
It is necessary for man constantly to bear in mind that God is
with him always and everywhere; that He is, so to speak, the
finest kind of matter, which is poured out everywhere; that He is
the master of all that happens in the Universe. . . . Let man
226 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
realize that when he looks at things material he beholds in
reality the Divine Countenance, which Is present everywhere.
Keeping this in mind, man will find It possible to serve the Lord
at all times. even In trlfies.
The second fundamental idea is borrowed from the Cabala,
and signifies that there is a constant interaction between the
world of the Divine and the human world, so that not only
does the Deity influence human actions, but the latter exert a
similar influence on the will and the disposition of the Deity.
The further elements of the Besht doctrine follow logically
from these premises. Communion with God is and must be
the principal endeavor of every truly religious man. This
communion may be attained by concentrating one's thoughts
upon God, and attributing to Him all happenings in life. The
essence of faith lies in the emotions, not in the intellect; the
more profound the emotions, the nearer man is to God. Prayer
is the most important medium through which man can
attain communion with God. To render this communion perfect,
prayer must be ecstatic and fervent, so that he who prays
may, as it were, throw off his material film. To attain to this
ecstatic condition, recourse may be had to mechanical contrivances,
such as violent motions of the body, shouts, shaking,
and so on. The study of Jewish religious legislation is of
secondary importance, and is useful only when it succeeds in
arousing an exalted religious disposition. From this point
of view the reading of ethical books is preferable to the study
of Talmudic casuistry and rabbinical folios.
Contrary to the fundamental precept of the Practical Cabala,
Besht insists that excessive fasting, the killing of the flesh,
and ascetic exercises in general, are injurious and sinful, and
that a lively and cheerful disposition is more acceptable to God.
What is most important in religion is the frame of l1l,indand
THB INNER LIFE DURING 'I'HE DEOI..lNE 221
not the external ceremonies: excessive mi1llUteness of religious
obse"vance is harmful. The pious, or Hasid, should serve God
not only by observing the established ceremonies, but also in
his everyday affairs and even in his thoughts. By means of
constnnt spiritual communion with God, man may attain to
the gift of clairvoyance, prophecy, and miracle-working. The
Righteous, or Tzaddik, is he who lives up to the precepts of
Hasidism in the highest measure attainable, and is on account
of it nearer and dearer to God than anyone else. The
function of the Tzaddik is to serve as mediator between God
and the common people. The 'rzaddik enables man to attain
to perfect purity of soul and to every earthly and heavenly
blessing. The 'l'zaddik ought to be revered and looked up to
as God's messenger and favorite.
In this way the doctrine preached by Besht undermined not
only scholastic and ceremonial Rabbinism, but also the ascetic
Cabala, emphasizing in their stead the principle of blind faith
in Providence, of fervent and inspiring prayer, and, last but
not least, the dogma of attaining salvation through the
medium of the miracle-working Tzaddik. The last-mentioned
article of faith was of immense consequence for the
further development of Hasidism, and subsequently oversha,
dowed the cardinal principles of the new movement.
As a matter of fact, the personality of Besht as the first
Tzaddik impressed the people far more than his doctrine,
which could be fully grasped only by his nearest associates
and disciples. Among these the following were particularly
prominent: Jacob Joseph Cohen, who occupied the post of
rabbi successively in Shargorod, Niemirov, and Polonnoye;
Baer of Mezherich, a Volhynian preacher and Cabalist; Nahman
of Horodno, Nahman of Koso\'o, Phineas of K,oJ'etz,all of
Even the
had once
ha-Aretz, ,
228 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
whom frequently visited Besht in Medzhibozh.
former Rabbi of Brody, Gershon Kutover, who
looked down on his brother-in-law as an Am
acknowledged his religious mission.
About 1750, Besht sent to his brother-in-law Kutover,
who had in the meantime settled in the Holy Land, a kind of
prophetic manifesto, telling of his miraculous vision, or~-
tion. In it Besht asserted that on the day of the Jewi~cw
Year his soul had been lifted up to heaven, where he beheld the
Messiah and many souls of the dead. In reply to the petition
of Besht, "Let me know, my Master, when thou wilt appear
on earth," the Messiah said:
This shall be a sign unto thee: when thy doctrine shall become
known. and the fountains of thy wisdom shall be poured forth.
when all other men shall have the power of performing the same
mysteries as thyself, then shall disappear all the hosts of impurity,
and the time of great favor and salvation shall arrive.
Revelations of this kind were greatly in vogue at the time.
and had a profound effect upon mystically inclined minds.
'rhe notion spread that Besht was in contact with the prophet
Elijah, and that his "teacher" was the Biblical seer Ahijah
of Shilo. As far as the common people are concerned, they believed
in Besht as a miracle-worker, and loved him as a religious
teacher who made no distinction between the educated
and the ordinary Jew. The scholars and Cabalists
were fascinated by his wise discourses and parables, in which
the most abstract tenets of the Cabala were concretely
illustrated, reduced to popular lauguage, and applied to the
experiences of everyday life. Besht's circle in Medzhibozh
grew constantly in number. Shortly before his death, Besht
witnessed the agitation conducted by the Frankists in Podolia
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 229
and their subsequent wholesale baptism. The Polish rabbis
rejoiced in the conversion of the sectarians to Catholicism,
since it rid the Jewish people of dangerous heretics. But
when Besht learned of the fact, he exclaimed: "I heard the
Lord cry and say: As long as the diseasedlimb is joined to the
body, there is hope that it may be cured in time; but when it
has been cut off, it is lost forever." There is reason to believe
that Besht was one of the rabbis who had been invited to
participate in the Frankist disputation in Lemberg, in 1759.
In the spring of the following year, Besht breathed his last,
surrounded by his disciples.

6. THE HASIDIC PROPAGANDA AND THE GROWTH OF TZADDIKISM

At the time of Besht's death, his doctrine had gained a
considerable number of adherents in Podolia, Galicia, and
Volhynia, whoassumedthe name Hasidim. But the systematic
propaganda of Hasidism began only after the death of Besht,
and was carried on by his successorsand apostles. His first
successorwas the preacher Baer of Mezherich, referred to previously,
under whom the little town of Mezherich becamethe
headquarters of Hasidism in Volhynia, just as Medzhibozh
bad been i.n Podolia. In point of originality and depth of
8elltiment Baer was vastly inferior to his master, but he surpassed
him in erudition. His scholarship insured the success
of the Hasidic propaganda among the learned class, and also
enabled him to become one of the main exponents of the
theory of Hasidism.' In the course of twelve years (1760-
1 An exposition of his doctrines may be found in the book en·
titled Maggid Debarav le·Ya'kob [" Showing His Words unto Jacob"
-allusion to Ps. cxlvii. 19], also called Likkute Amarim. "Collection
of Sayings." It was published after his death. in 1784.
230 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
1772) Baer managed to surround himself with a large number
of prominent Talmudists, who had become enthusiastic converts
to Hasidism; some of them came from arch-rabbinical
Lithuania and White Russia. Baer developed the doctrine of
Besht, laying particular stress upon the principle of Tzaddikism.
He trained a staff of apostles, who eventually became
the founders of Tzaddik dynasties in various parts of Poland
and Lithuania. Tzaddikism served as a bait for the common
people, who, instead of a rational belief in certain religious
truths, preferred to put their blind faith ~n the human exponents
of these truths-in the 'rzaddiks.
The same tendency characterized the activity of another
apostle of Besht, Jacob Joseph Cohen, who paid for his devotion
to Hasidism by having to endure the persecutions of his
rabbinical colleagues. Having lost the post of rabbi in Shargorod,
Cohen, with the aid of Besht, accepted the position of
preacher in Niemirov, and, after the death of his master,
acted as preacher in Polonnoye. Everywhere he was zealously
engaged in propagating the Hasidic doctrine by means of the
spoken and written word. Jacob Joseph Cohen was the first to
attempt a literary exposition of the fundamental principles of
Hasidism. In 1780 he published a collection of sermons,
under the title Toldotk Ya'kob Yosepk..' reproducing numerous
sayings which he had heard from the lips of Besht. While
exalting the importance of the Tzaddiks, who were solicitous
about the salvation of the common people, Jacob Joseph bitterly
assails the arrogant Talmudists, or "pseudo-scholars,"
whose whole religion is limited to book-learning, and whose
attitude towards the masses is one of contempt. Jacob Joseph's
P" History of Jacob Joseph "-a clever allusion to the Hebrew
text of Gen. xxxvii. 2.]
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 231
book laid the foundation of Hasidic literature, which differs
both in content and form not only from rabbinical but also
from the earlier Cabalistic literature.
In the. last decades of the eighteenth century, Hasidism
spread with incredible rapidity among the Jewish masses of
Poland and partly even of Lithuania. Numerous communities
saw the rise of Hasidic congregations and the establishment of
separate houses of prayer, in which services, characterized by
boundless ecstasy, violent shouts, and gestures, were held in
accordance with Besht's prescriptions. The Hasidim adopted
the Cabalistic prayer-book of Ari, which differed from the accepted
liturgy by numerous textual alterations and transpositions.
They neglected the traditional time limit for morning
prayers, changed the ritual of slaughtering animals, and some
of them were in the habit of dressing themselves in white on the
Sabbath. They were fond of whiling away their time in noisy
assemblies, and frequently indulged in merry drinking bouts,
to foster, in accordance with Besht's precept, " a cheerful disposition."
The most characteristic trait of the Hasidim, however, was
their boundless veneration of the "holy" Tzaddiks. Though
logically the outcome of Hasidism, in practice Tzaddikism
was in many cases its forerunner. The appearance of some
miracle-working Tzaddik in a certain neighborhood frequently
~esulted in wholesale conversions to Hasidism. The rrzaddik's
home was overrun by crowds of men and women who in their
credulity hoped to obtain a cure for diseases or a remedy for
the sterility of their women, or who asked for a blessing, for
predictions of the future, or sought advice in practical matters.
If, in one case out of many, the Tzaddik succeeded in helping
one of his clients, or if one of his guesses or predictions proved
~32 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
to be correct, his fame as a miracle-worker was firmly established,
and the population of the neighborhood was sure to be
won over to Hasidism.
'fhe number of Hasidic partisans grew in proportion to the
number of Tzaddiks, of whom there were a great many in the
last two decades of the eighteenth century. 'fhe most authoritative
Tzaddiks came from the circle of Baer of Mezherich.
Everyone of them either laid his own individual impress upon
the doctrine preached by him, or endeavored to adapt himself
to the habits of the population of his district. As a result, the
Hasidic doctrine branched out rapidly, falling into different
varieties. The principal branches of Hasidism were two: that
of Poland and Ukraina, and that of Lithuania and White
Russia.
The former was represented by Elimelech of Lizno, in
Galicia, Levi Itzhok of Berdychev, Nohum of Ohernobyl, and
Borukh of Tulchyn, a grandson of Besht. Elimelech of Lizno,
who died in 1786, carried the doctrine of practical Tzaddikism
to its radical conclusions. He preached that the first duty
of the Hasid consists in reverence for the Tzaddik. The
'l'zaddik is " a middleman between Israel and God." Through
his interccssion God bestows upon the faithful all earthly
blessings-" life, children, and sustenance" 1; if the Tzaddik
wills otherwise, the flow of blessings is stopped. The Hasid is
therefore obliged to have blind faith in the Tzaddik, to look
upon him as his benefactor, and to give him of his means. The
Tzaddik should be supported by donations in cash and in kind,
so that he may devote himself wholly to the service of God and
thereby prove a blessing to mankind.
• Hayye. bane. u-mezone [allusion to a well-known Talmudic
dictum; MO'ed Katan 28"].
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 233
This commercial theory of an exchange or services accomplished
its purpose. The people brought their last pennies
to the Tzaddik, and the Tzaddik in turn was indefatigable
in bestowing blessings, pouring forth divine favors upon earth,
healing the cripples, curing the sterility of women, and so on.
The profitable calling of 'l'zaddik became hereditary, passing
from father to son and grandson. Everywhere petty" dynasties"
of Tzaddiks sprang up, which multiplied rapidly and
endeavored to wrest the supremacy from one another. Such
was the fate of the cult of the Righteous taught by Besht,
which now assumed gross materialistic forms.
It is fair to add, however, that not everywhere did 'l'zaddikism
sink to such low depths. There were 'l'zaddiks who were
idealists, lovers of mankind, and saintly men, however strange
the forms in which these virtues often manifested themselves.
One of these men, to quote one instance, was Levi I tzhok of
Berdychev, who in his youth had been cruelly persecuted by
the Lithuanian rabbis for his devotion to Hasidism. Towards
the end of the eighteenth century he settled in Berdychev as
Tzaddik, and became tremendously popular in his new calling
on account of his saintly life and his fatherly love for the common
people. Speaking generally, however, the Ukrainian,
Podolian, and Galician Tzaddiks had one tendency in common,
that of inculcating in their followers a blind faith in the truths
of Hasidism and shunning all "speculation" as injurious to
religious sentiment.
The development of Hasidism in Lithuania and White Russia
was altogether different. Whereas in the south Hasidism
captured entire communities at one stroke, meeting with feeble
resistance from the dry-as-dust representatives of Rabbinism,
234 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
in the north it was forced to engage ill a bitter struggle for
existence with powerful Rabbinism as represen ted by the Kahal
organization. At the same time it received a special coloring
there. The Hasidism of Besht, having been carried to the
north by the disciples of Baer of Mezherich, Aaron of Karlin,
Mendel of Vitebsk, and Zalman of Ladi, could not help
absorbing many elements of the dominant doctrine of Habbinism.
The principal exponent of this new teaching in the
North, Zalman Shneorsohn 1 (died 1813), of Lozno, and later'
of Ladi, both in the Government. of Moghilev, succeeded in
creating a remarkable system of thought, which may well be
designated as "rational Hasidism." He summed up his
theory in the words: "Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge."
•
While in the main adopting the doctrine of Besht, Zalman
injected into it the method of religious and philosophic investigation.
"Speculation" in matters of faith-within certain
limits, of course-was, in his opinion, not only permissible
but even obligatory. He demanded that the Tzaddik be,
not a miracle-worker, but a religious teacher. He purged
Hasidism of numerous vulgar superstitions, robbing it at the
same time of the childlike natvete which characterized the
original doctrine of Besht. Zalman's own theory was adapted
to the comparatively high intellectual level of the Jewish population
of the Northwest. In the South it was never able to
gain adherents.
P His full name was Shneor Zalman. which Is used by the author
later on. Subsequently he assumed the family name Shneorsohn.]
• In Hebrew, Hokma, Bina. Da·ath. abbreviated to HaBaD,
from which the White Russian Hasldim received the nickname
••Habadnilcs."
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 235

7. RABBINISM, HASIDISM, AND THE FORERUNNERS OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Rabbinism had long been scenting a· dangerous enemy in
Hasidism. rfhe principle proclaimed by Besht, that man is
saved by faith and not by religious knowledge, W8.'3 in violent
contradiction with the fundamental dogma of Rabbinism,
which measured the religious worth of a man by the extent
of his Talmudic learning. The rabbi looked upon the Tzaddik
as a dangerous rival, as a new type of popular priest, who,
feeding on the superstition of the masses, rapidly gained
their confidence. The lower Jewish classes abandoned the
uninspiring Talmudist, whose subtleties they failed to comprehend,
and flocked to the miracle-working Tzaddik, who offered
them, not only his practical advice, but also his blessing, thus
saving soul and body at one and the same time. However,
completely defeated by Hasidism in the South, Rabbinism still
reigned supreme in the North, and finally declared a war of
extermination against its rival.
During the period under discussion, in the latter part of the
eighteenth century, the leader of the Lithuanian rabbis was
Elijah of Vilna (1720-1797), who received the ancient, highsounding
title of Gaon: He was the incarnation of that
power of intellect which was the product of subtle 'falmudic
reasoning. Early in his childhood Elijah displayed phenomenal
ability. At the age of six he managed to read the Talmudic
text without the aid of a teacher. At the age of ten he
participated in difficult 'falmudic discussions, amazing old
rabbis by his erudition. His mind rapidly absorbed everything
that came within its range. Elijah was familiar with the
Cabala, and incidentally picked up enough of mathematics,
, t("·l)M LHagro, abbreviation of Ha-Gaon Rabbi 1!J( :.; = 0) 11a].
236 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
astronomy, and physics, to be able to follow certain discussions
in the Talmud. He lived in Vilna as a recluse, leading the life
of an ascete and burying himself entirely in his books. He took
little nourishment, slept two hours a day, rarely conversed
about secular affairs, his contact with the outside world being
practically limited to the Talmudic lectures which he delivered
before his pupils.
Elijah avoided tlle method of pilpul, which was meant to
exercise the mind by inventing artificial contradictions in the
'falmudic text and subsequently removing them. Knowing
by heart almost the entire 'l'almudic and rabbinic literature,
he had no difficulty in solving the most complicated questions
of Jewish law, and, guided by subtle critical observations,
occasionally allowed himself to emend the text of the Talmud.
Elijah Gaon wrote commentaries and all sorts of
" annotations" to Biblical, Talmudic, and Cabalistic books,
but his style was, as a rule, careless, consisting of hints, references,
and abbreviations, intelligible only to the learned reader.
In his spare moments he occasionally wrote about Hebrew grammar
and mathematical sciences. Rabbinical learning was his
native element, embodying for him the whole meaning of
religion. In questions of religious ceremonialism he was a
J'igorist, adding here and there new restrictions to the multifarious
injunctions of the Shulhan Arukh. He was the idol
of all the learned rabbis of Lithuania and other countries,
but the masses understood him as little as he understood them.
A spiritual aristocrat, he was bound to condemn severely the
" plebeian" doctrine of Hasidism. The latter offended in
him equally the learned Talmudist, the rigorous ascete, and
the strict guardian of ceremonial Judaism, of which cer·
tain minutiae had been modified by the Hasidim after their
own fashion.
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 237
As far back as 1772, when the first Hnsidic societies were
secretly organized in Lithuania, and several of tbeir leaders
were discovered in Vilna, the rabbinical Kahal court of that
city pronounced, with the permission of Elijah Gaon, the
herem against the sectarians. From Vilna circulars were sent
out to the rabbis of other communities, calling upon them to
wage war against the "godless sect." In many towns of
Lithuania the Hasidim became the object of persecution. The
rabbis of Galicia, having been forewarned from Vilna, followed
suit, and at a meeting held in Brody, during the local
fair, issued a most rigorous herem against every Jew following
the Hasidic liturgy, dressing in white on Saturdays and
holidays,' and in general participating in the conventicles of
the Hasidim.
We have already had occasion • to refer to the work of the
Hasidic apostle Jacob Joseph Cohen (Toldoth Ya'kob Yoseph),
which for the first time reproduced the sayings of Besht, and,
by way of comment, indulged in attacks upon the scholastic
"pseudo-wisdom" of the rabbis. Cohen's work, which appeared
in 1780, once more stirred the rabbinical world. From Vilna
the signal was given for a new campaign against the Hasidim.
The rabbis of Lithuania, assembling in 1781 at the fair of
Zelva, in the Government of Grodno, issued appeals to all
Jewish communities, demanding the severest possible penalties
for "the dishonorable followers of Besbt, the destroyer
of Israel." All orthodox Jews were called upon to ostracize the
Hasidim socially, to regard them as infidels, to shun all contact
and avoid intermarriage with them, and to refrain from
1The custom of wearing white garments was adopted. for
certain mystical considerations, by the Tzaddiks and the most
pious of their followers.
I See p. 230.
238 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
burying their dead. The opponents of the Hasldim called
themselves Mithnagdim, "Protestants," and persecuted them
everywhere as dangerous schismatics.
The formation of important Hasidic societies in White
Russia, under the leadership of Zalman Shneorsohn, increased
the agitation of the Mithnagdim. At the rabbinical confer-
~nces held in Moghilev and Shklov severe measures were
adopted against the Hasidim, and their leader was proclaimed
a heretic. In vain did Zalman defend himself, and, in his
epistles to the rabbis, demonstrate his Orthodoxy. In vain did
he travel to Vilna to obtain a personal interview with Elijah
Gaon and remove the stain of heresy from himself and his followers.
The stern Gaon refused even to see the exponent of
heterodoxy. At the very end of the eighteenth century the
strife of parties in Russian Jewry became more and more
accentuated, and finally led, as we shall see later: to the interference
of the Russian Government.
While warring with one another, Rabbinism and Hasidism
found a point of contact in their common hatred of the new
Enlightenment, which proceeded from the Mendelssohn circle
in Berlin. If Rabbinism opposed secular knl)wledge actively,
looking upon it as a competitor who contested its own spiritual
monopoly, Hasidism opposed it passively, with its whole being,
prompted by an irresistible leaning towards mental drowsiness
and "pious fraud." llasidism and its inseparable companion
Tzaddikism, the products of a mystical outlook on life,
were powerless against cold logical reasoning. It stands to
reason that the Tzaddiks were even more hostile towards
secular learning than the rabbis. True, Rabbinism had immersed
the Jewish mind in the stagnant waters of scholas-
1See pp. 377 et seq.
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 239
ticism, but Hasidism, in its further development, endeavored
altogether to lull rational thinking to sleep, and to cultivate,
to an excessive degree, the religious imagination at its expense.
The new cultural movement which had arisen among the Jews
of Germany had no chance of penetrating into this dark realm,
which was g:arded on the one hand by scholasticism and on
the other by mysticism. The few isolated individuals in Polish
J"ewrywho manifested a leaning towards secular culture were
forced to go abroad, primarily to Berlin.
One of these rare fugitives from the realm of darkness was
Solomon Maimon (1754-1800). He was born the son of a
village arendar in Lithuania, near Nesvizh, in the Government
of Minsk, where he received a Talmudic education, and
where, having scarcely reached the age of twelve, he was married
off by his old-fashioned parents. However, unlike thousands
of other Jewish lads, he managed to escape spiritual death
in the mire of everyday life. Endowed with a searching mind,
Solomon Maimon was driven constantly onward in his mental
development. From the Talmud he passed to the Cabala, in
which at one time he was completely absorbed. From the
Cabala he made a sudden leap to the religious philosophy of
Maimonides and other medieval Jewish rationalists. His
youthful intellect was eager for new impressions, and these his
immediate surroundings failed to give him. In 1777 Maimon
left home and family, and went to Germany to acquire secular
culture. He found himself first in Konigsberg, and then proceeded
to Berlin, Posen, Hamburg, and Breslau, enduring all
kinds of suffering, and tasting to the full the bitterness of a
wanderer's life in a strange land. In Berlin he came in contact
with Mendelssohn and his circle, rapidly acquired a knowledge
16
240 THE JEWS IN RUSSIA AND POLAND
of German literature and science, and made a deep study of
philosophy, particularly of the system of Kant.
The sudden transition from rabbinic scholasticism to the
"Critical Philosophy" of Germany, and from the primitive
existence of a Lithuanian Jew to the free life of an educated
European, destroyed Maimon's mental equilibrium. He fell a
prey to skepticism and unbelief, denying the foundations of all
religion and morality, and led a disorderly life, which made
his best friends turn from him. In his philosophic criticism,
Maimon went much further than Kant. In 1790 he published
in German "A Tentative Investigation of Tral1Scendcntal
Philosophy," and this book was followed by'a number of
writings dealing with metaphysics and logic. Kant, on reading
his first book, made the remark: "Noone among my
opponents has grasped the essence of my system as profoundly
as Maimon, nor are there altogether many men endowed
with so refined and penetrating a mind in questions so
abstract and complex." In 1792 Solomon Maimon published
his" Autobiography" (Lebensgeschichte), a remarkable book,
in which he vividly describes the conditions of life and the
ideas prevalent among Polish Lithuanian Jews as well as his
own sad Odyssey. The Autobiography made a profound im-
• pression upon educated Christians, among others on Goethe
and Schiller. The last years of his life Maimon spent ill
Silesia, on the estate of his friend Count Kalkreuth, where
he continued his philosophic studies. He dieu in 1800, and
was buried in Glogau. During the last years of his life Maimon
was completely estranged from Judaism. He contributed neit
to nothing to the enlightenment of his fellow-Jews, the only
work written by him in Hebrew being an uncompleted commentary
on Maimonides' " Guide of the Perplexed." Having
THE INNER LIFE DURING THE DECLINE 2-11
escaped the realm of darkness, he no more returned thither.
,Nor perhaps was he able to do so without risking the same fate
as Uriel Acosta.
The time for cultural rejuvenation had not yet arrived for
the Jews of Poland and Lithuania. Least of all could such a
rejuvenation have been stimulated by the change in their
external, political situation: the transfer of the bulk of the
Jewish population from the power of disintegrating Poland
to that of Hussia, a country even less civilized and built upon
the foundatiolls of autocracy and serfdom.

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