The Hasidim: Spiritual Jews of Eighteenth Century Poland
Abstract:
Within eighteenth century Poland, a new religious movement was formed amongst Polish Jewry. This movement, called Hasidism, embraced an ecstatic and joyous view of life and prayer, and quickly spread to the regions of Poland that had been massacred a century prior. Polish Jewry were in rapid decline, and, without the rabbis, they began to search for new answers of spiritual fulfilment and physical normalcy. Hasidism was that answer for many of the Jews in southern Poland, and, after a century of opposition and development, Hasidism was able to secure itself and thrive for the next two centuries.