哈西德主义

犹太教的一个虔修派和神秘运动,18世纪起源於波兰犹太人。他们反抗严格的律法主义和塔木德(律法)学术,而赞成以一种较欢乐的崇拜方式让普通人得到精神慰藉。美名大师托夫开始宣扬哈西德主义的教义,他认为上帝是无所不在的,对神虔敬比作学问来得重要,他的门徒被称为哈西德派(即忠诚派)。约在1710年多夫.波尔(Dov Baer)创立第一个哈西德教团,不久在波兰、俄罗斯、立陶宛和巴勒斯坦也纷纷成立了许多小社团,每个分社由一个义人(tzaddiq或zaddik)领导。其共同的礼拜仪式包括大声呼叫、纵情歌舞以达到狂喜入神状态。1772年正统派犹太教把他们逐出教会,但哈西德派继续蓬勃发展。到了19世纪,哈西德主义已变成一种极端保守的运动。在大屠杀中,大批哈西德派信徒罹难,但残存者在以色列和美国仍积极活动。卢巴维彻派以纽约布鲁克林为基地,信徒人数约有二十万。

Hasidism

Pietistic and mystical movement in Judaism that originated in 18th-century Poland. It was a reaction against rigid legalism and Talmudic learning in favor of a joyful form of worship that served as a spiritual outlet for the common people. Hasidism began with the preaching of the man later known as the Baal Shem Tov. Teaching that God was immanent in all things and that piety was more important than scholarship, he won followers known as Hasidim (“loyalists”). Dov Baer founded the first Hasidic community c. 1710, and countless small communities soon sprang up in Poland, Russia, Lithuania, and Palestine, each led by a zaddik. Communal services were marked by dancing, shouting, and singing, through which participants reached a state of spiritual ecstasy. Though excommunicated from Orthodox Judaism in 1772, the Hasidim continued to flourish. By the 19th century Hasidism had become an ultraconservative movement. Huge numbers of Hasidim fell victim to the Holocaust, but their survivors established vital movements in Israel and the U.S. The Lubavitcher sect, based in Brooklyn, N.Y., numbers about 200,000.