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Session Eight
Hasidism
This sense of everything being alive has practical consequences.
The plants, animals and objects that we come into contact with
have a deep connection with us. They can bless us, and we can
bless them. Otherwise, they wouldn't be in our lives at all. If
you lose something or it leaves your life and becomes part of
somebody else's, that's because its connection with your soul
has brought all the blessings that are possible, in both directions,
and now it's time for it to connect with somebody else. (See Krassen,
p. 60, quoting from Tsava'at haRivash)
is Alive
One of the fascinations of Hasidism is that it is a modern movement
in Judaism which originated (in the 1740s) before Eastern European
Jews had really entered the modern world; and because the movement
has never consciously rejected the past, it preserves things which
may not be specifically Hasidic but which are hard to find in
other Jewish circles today. One of these aspects is "animism"
(not a term Hasidim would ever use) -- the sense that everything
has a soul or is alive. This is not a major point of Hasidic teachings
but it is taken for granted in a variety of teachings and stories.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov observed: Satan isn't strong enough to
kill bodies and souls by himself, so he has assistants. The assistants
for killing bodies are known as doctors, and the assistants for
killing souls are known as rabbis.
Here is an example: a story told by Hasidim today about a holy
woman who died 150 years ago, Malke of Belz:
The following story is regularly told of Malke. She used to serve
'kashe' (porridge) to the Hasidim. Once while serving she saw
a Hasid mumble a blessing and then gulp down the kashe. She reproached
him for his blessing, pointing out how many prayers had gone into
this kashe. The seed prayed when it was planted that it should
be fertilized, once it started to grow the sprout prayed for rain
that it should grow, the fully grown ears of corn then prayed
that they should be harvested and so on down the food chain till
the final product prayed that it should reach a Jew who would
make a proper blessing on it. 'And now with your half-hearted
blessing you have wasted all those prayers'.
(From Dovid Herskovic, a Belzer Hasid in London, England)
This story is a rare example of a teaching from a holy woman which
has been passed on through the generations. When I first came
across it, I thought that "the prayers that had gone into this
kashe" would refer to Malke's own prayers. I find the idea that
the seeds themselves, and so on, were praying the whole time to
be rich and delightful.
Some other examples:
Malke's husband, Rebbe Sholom of Belz, was away on a journey and
sent a messenger asking her permission to stay away longer than
planned to visit Hasidim in another town. Malke said to the messenger,
"How can I give permission? The clock on the wall is yearning
for Sholom to come home. The tables, the chairs, the curtains
in the windows -- all of them are missing him and longing for
him to return..." When Reb Sholom heard this, he cut his trip
short and hurried home sooner than planned. (From the book Admore Belz by Yisroel Yaakov Klapholts)
Yitzhok of Drohovitch, the father of Rebbe Yechiel Michel of Zlotshov,
was a great Kabbalist. Once he got lost in the forest. He knew
how to meditate on Divine names in order to bless the spirit of
the forest -- and when he did, the forest guided him safely home.
(Quoted from the book M'vaser Tsedek, in Miles Krassen, Uniter of Heaven and Earth: Rabbi Meshullam Feibush Heller of
Zbarazh, State University of New York Press, 1998, p. 24)
A Hasid [disciple] said to his Rebbe [spiritual master]: "Rebbe!
I dreamed I was a Rebbe! What does it mean?" The Rebbe answered:
"If you dream you're a Rebbe, it means bubkes [nothing]. If Hasidim
dream you're a Rebbe -- you're a Rebbe."
