Persistence and Flexibility: Anthropological Perspectives on the American Jewish Experience

9. The Hasidim of North America: A Review of the Literature

9 The Hasidim of North America: A Review of the Literature Janet S. Belcove-Shalin In this review article. Janet 8elcove-Shalin shows how many of the problems found in the social scientific study of American Jews are recapitulated in the smaller area of Hasidic studies. She stresses that most social scientists have tended either to underline the changes which have occurred in North American Hasidic life or to look for continuities between the East European shtetl and the "Rabbivilles" of our suburbs. She correctly stresses that there is a dynamic relationship between continuity and persistence on the one hand and change and discontinuity on the other. The Hasidim have reconstituted their once-rural communities in North American metropolitan areas after the destruction and desolation caused by Sovietization and the Nazi genocide. They have skillfully mobilized their limited resources tCJ build new frameworks in an environment which has led others toward assimilation. A burgeoning Hasidic movement electrified Eastern Europe in the latter half of the eighteenth century, uncovering what A. J. Heschel called "the ineffable delight of being a Jew" (Heschel 1949:75). Although its original momentum languished after the 1860s, its special place in the modem history of Judaism was firmly established. Ever since, Hasidism has been the subject of numerous historical explorations , philosophical disquisitions, and popular accounts. In the academic world, the study of Hasidism was cultivated chiefly by humanistic scholars, whose interest in the subject dates back to the nineteenth century tradition of Wissenschaft des Judentums. The social scientific study of Hasidim, by contrast, is of a relatively recent origin. It was not until the last two decades that social scientists began to pay more than perfunctory attention to Hasidic communities of the New World, or for that matter, to the whole area of Jewish studies.I In the last two decades, ethnographic studies of Hasidic life in North America have definitely reached a take-off point. The yield so far has been comparatively small, but it is encouragingly diverse, and it increasingly reflects the methods, theories, and themes of contemporary social science. The following review does not pretend 183 184 The Hasidim of North America to be exhaustive. However, I hope that it is representative of the emerging trends in the field. I begin with the review of the theoretical and methodological premises underlying contemporary Hasidic studies . Next, I examine five substantive areas of research: charismatic leadership, recruitment practices, cultural performance, self-identity, and tradition and social change. This paper concludes with an agenda for future research. Methodology The methods most often used by researchers studying Hasidim are participant observation, personal interviews (both structured and unstructured), visual materials, and life histories. The specific application of these methods reflects the peculiarities of fieldwork among Hasidim. "Hanging out" at the yeshivas, synagogues, and other locales where Jewish men frequently congregate is one way of establishing contacts and securing future informants (Shaffir 1974, 1978; Mintz 1968). Access is greatly facilitated by the ethnographer's identity. In the Hungarian community of Williamsburg where most of the early studies were conducted, all researchers were men, which is understandable given the fact that only male ethnographers had the luxury of idling about in exclusively male domains. The same behavior would be judged immodest and unseemly for a woman. Furthermore, all researchers were Jewish. Given the insulated nature of the Williamsburg Hasidic community, it is unlikely that the Hasidim would have allowed a Gentile to mingle among them. In fact, the main reason Hasidim would associate with the Jewish ethnographer at all was their hope to intensify his faith. Contrary to common wisdom, an appreciable number of researchers were not the grandchildren of immigrants, fully secure in their American identity, but first generation -born Americans and new immigrants. Having come from a similar religious and ethnic background, these people had far more in common with their subjects of research than most ethnographers. Although they were not Hasidim, and therefore not native to the way of life they were studying, their orthodox roots suggested that they were not altogether strangers. Shared languages and customs, no doubt, stimulated entree into a seemingly impenetrable community . Having too much in common with the members of a Hasidic community under study, however, often proved to be an impediment (Poll 1962), while full-scale membership could effectively preclude the researcher's ability to gather data (Belcove-Shalin 1988). It should II. Arenas of Jewish Life 185 be...