Ḥassidus is a religious revivalist movement which began in Central and Eastern Europe during the eighteenth century. At its outset it captured the imagination of both the masses and the scholarly. Based both on esoteric kabbalistic principles and simple ideals of piety, Ḥassidus became one of the most influential forces in Eastern European Jewry throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century. At the onset of World War II and the Shoah, although the movement was in decline, large communities of…

Ḥassidus is a religious revivalist movement which began in Central and Eastern Europe during the eighteenth century. At its outset it captured the imagination of both the masses and the scholarly. Based both on esoteric kabbalistic principles and simple ideals of piety, Ḥassidus became one of the most influential forces in Eastern European Jewry throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century. At the onset of World War II and the Shoah, although the movement was in decline, large communities of…