The 18th century saw Kabbalah largely put on a shelf, at best the province of the few. In Middle Eastern lands, it is still treasured, but with the constant fear of another charlatan coming to pervert it.
A positive outcome of the Sabbatean debacle, however, was that Kabbalah had become, in most places, part of the common consciousness of the Jewish people. It permeated the thoughts and even the folklore. Ideas like reincarnation were spoken about even by unlearned people. Concepts like the nature of the soul, fallen sparks, the mitzvot (commandments) not seen as symbols or just laws, but as actively effecting a tikkun-a rectification of the Universe, became pervasive. The vocabulary of the East European Jew now included numerous Kabbalistic ideas. But they were not organized. It remained lore. It was as if a great tool was in their midst, but few knew how to use it! The "mainstream" rabbis were preaching either a soulless emphasis on the study of legal texts, or worse, were expounding on the Aristotelian approach of RAMBAM's "Guide", while having themselves little understanding of that work. This was about to change. Change did come, although not aall thought that the it was for the better. This is still a controversy in the Orthodox community.
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the Master of the Good Name (1698-1760) appeared on the scene of history at this time. There are so many legends, that it is difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. One early 20th century historian even concluded that he was a totally legendary figure! However, since the fall of the Iron Curtain, scholars have had access to old Russian and Ukrainian records, which have cast a great deal of light on the man, his ideas and his actions. He lived in Medzhibuzh, now in Ukraine, but at one time on the border of Poland and the Russian Empire. I have visited there many times. There is an old fortress, now a museum, which commemorates Jewish, Polish and Ukrainian cultures in that town. There has been a long standing controversy if Rabbi Israel was a scholar or not. Many documents have come to light in the last few years that show that indeed he was. Books of legal material frequently quoted him, and rabbis made their rulings contingent on his approval. The stories of local opposition have been proven false, with evidence that he was loved by both Jew and Gentile. But not here does his greatness lie.
He preached a new kind of Kabbalah. The ideas were not really new, but their application was. The Ari had concentrated on the cosmic effects of the mitzvot and Torah life; the macrocosm. Rabbi Israel turned that around. if we are effecting the macrocosm, and Man is in G-d's image, we can and should effect the microcosm. Our Jewishness should make us happier; calm our fears, give a sense of belonging to something far greater, seeing significance everywhere, in every thing. He emphasized the "magic" in our lives. G-d is everywhere, nothing is by accident, everything has meaning; not just for the Universe, but for you and me! He set up two tiers of followers. The first was an inner circle of spiritual leaders, who would go out and teach others how to feel the imminence of G-d, and serve Him with joy. He had also a much larger outer circle; the common people, downtrodden and impoverished. He taught them that G-d desires our hearts, more than our intellectual achievements. He could be served with a song, with a dance, or even by directing our everyday activities to thoughts of Him. Kabbalistic ideas, already popular, were used to further each man and woman's spirituality. The idea of a future redemption was by no means abandoned, but the emphasis was now on an internal transformation.
In the course of the next 50 years, the new movement, called Chassidism (from the Hebrew word meaning "pious") spread throughout Ukraine, White Russia, Poland, Hungary, and even into Lithuania, where it ran into great opposition from the scholarly community of the great Lithuanian Yeshivot. The scholars were very uncomfortable about the new mass movement. Where would it lead? If the emphasis was on the emotional life, would it stay within the confines of Torah? Fears of a new Sabbateanism were expressed. The opponents of the new movement were known as "mitnagdim". The strife within the Jewish community was fierce until the mid 19th century, but still exists, to some extent, even today.
The students, and students of students of the Baal Shem Tov founded different schools of Chassidism. Some emphasized joy, some contemplation, some love of fellow man, some public service, some ecstatic prayer, some emphasizing personal connection with charismatic spiritual leaders. Today, there are well over 1,000 branches of Chassidism, some with only a few adherents, some with hundreds of thousands. In all, the inner life is the key, joy the tool to come to G-d, to finding ourselves. There was now a Kabbalah that lived where people lived. It might be a superficial Kabbalah for some, but for others, a constant deepening of the understanding, of the realization of G-d, of Life. After three generations, Chassidism fell into a sort of routine. Customs, dress, adherence to a particular dynasty of leaders, became more and more central.
However, two remarkable figures, personal friends but very different from each other, brought new vitality to the movement, and founded unique approaches that still inspire large numbers of people to this day. That will be the next part of our story.
