The Hasidic Parable

Glossary of Terms and Personalities

Glossary of Terms and Personalities acosmic-a worldview in which, ultimately, God is the only reality. ayin-"nothingness," but only in the sense of being noncorporeal and hence a nonentity only from a physical criterion in terms of what can be known through the senses and measured and investigated empirically. From a higher perspective, ayin is the most real. Corporeality, however, acquires its (relative) reality only through the presence of the ayin within it and underlying it. Baal Shem Tov-the "Master of the Good Name," Yisra'el ben Eliezer, the central figure in early Hasidism. He died in Mezebov in 1760. Though he left virtually no writings, he is quoted extensively in hasidic texts that appeared after his lifetime. Beit Hillel-the students of Hillel, a sage who taught in Jerusalem during the latter part of the first century B.C.E. In talmudic law, the traditions and legal decisions of Beit Hillel were, in most cases, accepted over those of its rival school, Beit Shammai. Beit Shammai-the students of Shammai, a contemporary of Hillel. Besht-acronym for the Baal Shem Tov. contraction-see tzimtzum. Cordovero, Moshe-a leading kabbalistic thinker who, through important kabbalistic ethical works that his teaching inspired, was a major influence upon hasidic thought. He died in Safed in 1570. devekut-an uninterrupted, inner awareness and mental attachment to God; the major goal of hasidic spirituality. Divine Wisdom-the higher transcendent state of the Torah, which is one with God. ecstatics-mystics who experience intense ecstasy and display signs of ecstatic enthusiasm in their behavior. Ein Sof-the completely unbounded, undefined, formless, and infinite state of the Divine, beyond the reach of human thought or language. 179 Glossary of TerIns and Personalities acosmic-a worldview in which, ultimately, God is the only reality. ayin-"nothingness," but only in the sense of being noncorporeal and hence a nonentity only from a physical criterion in terms of what can be known through the senses and measured and investigated empirically. From a higher perspective, ayin is the most real. Corporeality, however, acquires its (relative) reality only through the presence of the ayin within it and underlying it. Baal Shem Tov-the "Master of the Good Name," Yisra'el ben Eliezer, the central figure in early Hasidism. He died in Mezebov in 1760. Though he left virtually no writings, he is quoted extensively in hasidic texts that appeared after his lifetime. Beit Hillel-the students of Hillel, a sage who taught in Jerusalem during the latter part of the first century B.C.E. In talmudic law, the traditions and legal decisions of Beit Hillel were, in most cases, accepted over those of its rival school, Beit Shammai. Beit Shammai-the students of Shammai, a contemporary of Hillel. Besht-acronym for the Baal Shem Tov. contraction-see tzimtzum. Cordovero, Moshe-a leading kabbalistic thinker who, through important kabbalistic ethical works that his teaching inspired, was a major influence upon hasidic thought. He died in Safed in 1570. devehut-an uninterrupted, inner awareness and mental attachment to God; the major goal of hasidic spirituality. Divine Wisdom-the higher transcendent state of the Torah, which is one with God. ecstatics-mystics who experience intense ecstasy and display signs of ecstatic enthusiasm in their behavior. Ein Sof-the completely unbounded, undefined, formless, and infinite state of the Divine, beyond the reach of human thought or language. 179 180 THE ttAflDIC PA~ABLE Evil Inclination-the rabbinic concept of a natural propensity within each human being for selfishness, evil, ego, and material striving. The Evil Inclination is coupled with a Good Inclination, the cultivation of which requires education and character training. Giving of the Torah-the rabbinic concept of the Revelation; the scene of the Revelation at Sinai, which included the giving of both the written and oral teachings to Moses and Israel, as well as all later interpretations of the Torah. Gnosticism-the name given to religious currents in the ancient world that veered toward a dualistic worldview. Gnosticism was not limited to any particular religious tradition. Hasid-a person of ~esed (lovingkindness) and faithfulness. The word came to signify a person of pronounced spirituality, and with the appearance of hasidic communities in the latter part of the eighteenth century the term came to refer to the followers of a tzaddik. Haskalah-the movement aspiring to bring European life and culture to Jews and to widen the intellectual horizons of Jews to include secular knowledge. After its earlier significant expressions in...