Hasidic Judaism

1. Hasidic Judaism

2. Videos • Asher Lev http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juoOTCyzS4Q&feature=related • Wedding • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRAJshdb1GU&feature=related

3. Beginnings of Hasidism • 1700s in Eastern Europe • Founded by Rabbi Israel Ball Shem Tov • Means “pious ones” in Hebrew • Wanted to fill void felt by many average observant Jews • Call to a spiritual renewal and a protest against the prevailing religious establishment and culture • Focuses on the engagement of God through mystical experience

4. Hasidic Communities • Thriving in New York • Tightly-knit communities • Preserve the Yiddish language and many religious traditions of pre-Holocaust Eastern European Judaism • Led by Rebbe (believed to have direct, personal relationship with God), has political and religious authority • Strong traditions of music, dance, and story-telling

5. Hasidic Ideals • To live a life in which every moment reflects a consciousness of God • Many actions of the day are accompanied by a prayer • Derived from mystic Judaism (Kabbalah) • ‘“It means that, as Jews, we will not tweak anything of the religion; we will work our way through the modern world," blending our beliefs with the current age we live in.’ -Yosef Levertov, an observant Hasidic Jew

6. School for Hasids • Yeshivos are the private Jewish schools • Teach standard high school curriculum plus Yiddish, Hebrew, and religious studies • Hebrew - the traditional spoken and written language of Jewish people • Taught in classroom, studied in synagogue • Yiddish - spoken in classroom, home, and synagogue • Strong emphasis on Torah and Talmud

7. Bibliography • http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/Hasidism.html • http://www.pbs.org/alifeapart/intro.html • http://www.patheos.com/Library/Hasidic-Judaism.html • http://www.statesman.com/news/local/hasidic-rabbi-works-to-reach-all-facets-of-170460.html