Founder of Hasidism (original) (raw)
Moshe Rosman
Founder of Hasidism
A Quest for the Historical Ba'al Shem Tov
Contraversions: Critical Studies in Jewish Literature, Culture, and Society, 5
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$50.00, �32.50 978-0-520-20191-0In stock--ships in 2-3 days Categories: History; Judaism
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Description | Awards | About the Author | Related Books
"Rosman's painstakingly lucid investigation of the movement's putative founder ultimately and ironically deepens the movement's mystery. . . . Rosman's greatest innovation is his use of the kinds of archival materials--tax rolls, land registers, communal ordinances, and the like--usually overlooked by historians of theology. Through careful examination of the extant evidence, and a thorough investigation of the precise contours of the time and place of Besht's life and milieu, he arrives at the surprising, but compelling conclusion that the Besht, rather than being the rebel he is universally thought of, was in fact an established member of this community in Medzhibozh."--Jerusalem Report
"A model of sober scholarship that combines detective work and careful reasoning in quest of the man behind centuries of accumulated legends. Thanks to Rosman's careful historical analysis, we can now attach a recognizable biography to Israel ben Eliezer Miedzydoz and situate the man within his times."--Jewish Book World
"In this quest for the historical Ba'al Shem Tov, Mr. Rosman has brilliantly re-created a chapter of this alien world of our ancestors."--Forward
"The only scholarly book, in any language, that deals with the figure of the Besht in a detailed, profound, and very documented manner. Dr. Rosman has mapped the background of the life and activity of the Besht, using unknown material, penetrating analysis, and a broader perspective regarding Jewish history in Poland. . . . A very remarkable achievement."--Moshe Idel, Hebrew University
"The subject is crucial; the approach is bold and brilliantly chosen. The result is a persuasive revision of a fundamental chapter in the Jewish experience."--Gershon Hundert, McGill University
DESCRIPTION (back to top)
This book goes farther than any previous work in uncovering the historical Israel ben Eliezer--known as the Ba'al Shem Tov, or the Besht--the eighteenth-century Polish-Jewish mystic who profoundly influenced the shape of modern Judaism. As the progenitor of Hasidism, the Ba'al Shem Tov is one of the key figures in Jewish history; to understand him is to understand an essential element of modern Jewish life and religion.
Because evidence about his life is scanty and equivocal, the Besht has long eluded historians and biographers. Much of what is believed about him is based on stories compiled more than a generation after his death, many of which serve to mythologize rather than describe their subject. Rosman's study casts a bright new light on the traditional stories about the Besht, confirming and augmenting some, challenging others. By concentrating on accounts attributable directly to the Besht or to contemporary eyewitnesses, Rosman provides a portrait drawn from life rather than myth. In addition, documents in Polish and Hebrew discovered by Rosman during the research for this book enable him to give the first detailed description of the cultural, social, economic, and political context of the Ba'al Shem Tov's life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (back to top)
Moshe Rosman teaches Jewish History at Bar Ilan University and is the author of The Lords' Jews: Magnate-Jewish Relations in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1990), among other works.
AWARDS (back to top)
1996 National Jewish Book Award in the category of Jewish History, The Jewish Book Council
RELATED BOOKS(back to top)
Jews in Poland-Lithuania in the Eighteenth Century: A Genealogy of Modernity, by Gershon David Hundert
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The Jews of Britain, 1656 to 2000, by Todd M. Endelman
Shylock's Children: Economics and Jewish Identity in Modern Europe, by Derek J. Penslar
Languages of Community: The Jewish Experience in the Czech Lands, by Hillel J. Kieval
The Jews of Modern France, by Paula E. Hyman
