The Hasidic movement is pretty famous. But few are aware of its deep mystical teachings and connections with Kabbalah. In this episode, we explore the early history of the Hasidim.

This episode was written by Seth Weprin and co-written by me (Filip Holm).

Sources/Suggested Reading:

Idel, Moshe (1995). "Hasidism: Between Ecstacy and Magic". SUNY Press.

Idel, Moshe. “Modes of Cleaving to the Letters in the Teachings of Israel Baal

Shem Tov: A Sample Analysis.” Jewish History 27 (2013): 299-317.

Jacobson-Maisels, James. “My Aid Will Come from Nothingness: The Practice of Negative Theology in Maggid Devarav Le-Ya’akov.” In Michael Fagenblat Negative Theology As Jewish Modernity. New Jewish Philosophy and Thought. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2017.

Krassen, Mosheh Aaron. “Introduction: Rabbi Israel Ba’al Shem Tov: Prophet of a New

Paradigm.” In Israel ben Eliezer. Pillar of Prayer. Translated by Menachem Kallus. Louisville, KY: Fons Vitae, 2010.

Magid, Shaul. “The Intolerance of Tolerance: Mahaloket (Controversy) and Redemption in Early

Hasidism.” Jewish Studies Quarterly 8, no. 4 (2001): 326-368.

Nadler, Allan. The Faith of the Mithnagdim: Rabbinic Responses to Hasidic Rapture. Baltimore:

Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.

Scholem, Gershom. “The Neutralization of the Messianic Element in Early Hasidism.” In The

Messianic Idea in Judaism. New York: Schocken Books, 1995 [1971].

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