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notes Introduction (pp. – –) . See Immanuel Etkes, “The Study of Hasidism: Past Trends and New Directions”; in Hasidism Reappraised, ed. Ada Rapoport-Albert, (London, ), pp. –. . See appendix III. . See Moshe Rosman, “Miedzybóz and Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov,” in Essential Papers on Hasidism, ed. G. D. Hundert (New York, ). . See Immanuel Etkes, “The Historical Besht, Reconstruction or Deconstruction?” Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry (): –. Chapter One: Magic and Baalei Shem in the Days of the Baal Shem Tov (pp. – –) . See Shimon Dubnow, Toldot Hahasidut [History of Hasidism] (Tel Aviv, –) pp. –, ; Joseph Weiss, “Beginnings of Hassidism,” Zion (): – (Weiss asserts, inter alia, that R. Yaakov Yosef forged a Midrashic text as a way of supporting the case for the baalei shem. This charge was disproved by Haim Liberman; see Ohel Rahel [Rachel’s tent], (New York, ), : –.) See also Joseph Weiss, Studies in Eastern European Jewish Mysticism (Oxford, ), pp. –. It appears that Ben Zion Dinur too could not shake free of his disapproval of the baalei shem: in his comprehensive and detailed article, “The Beginnings of Hasidism” Dinur ignores the Besht’s occupation; Dinur, Ben Zion, “The Beginnings of Hasidism and its Social and Messianic Foundations,” in: Bemifneh Hadorot, Mehkarim Veiyunim Bereshitam Shel Hazmanim Hahadashim Betoldot Israel [At the change of generations : studies and research on the beginings of the Modern Era in Jewish history] (Jerusalem, ), pp. –. For Dinur, the Besht’s essential significance is that he paved a new path toward Redemption; from this perspective, to delve into his metier as a baal shem would be to demean him and the subject is best avoided. . For a discussion of the origins of this conception in nineteenth-century Haskalah literature , see appendix I. . On Haskalic satire and the role it played in the battle against Hasidism, see Shmuel Werses, “Hasidism as Viewed In Haskalah Literature—From the Debates of the Galicean Maskilim,” in Megamot Vetzurot Besifrut Hahaskalah [Trends and forms in Haskalah literature ] (Jerusalem, ), pp. –. For a detailed discussion of the attitude of Haskalah literature toward magic and its identification with Hasidism, see appendix I. . See op. cit., for examples. . Gershom Scholem, “The Historical Figure of R. Israel Baal Shem Tov,” in his Dvarim Bego (Tel Aviv, ), pp. –. . Mendel Piekarz, in The Beginning of Hasidism [The beginning of Hasidism—ideological trends in Derush and Musar literature] (Jerusalem, ), pp. –, seems to have been the first to comment on the distortion in the reputation of the baalei shem. One may now also see Rosman, Founder of Hasidism: A Quest for the Historical Ba’al Shem Tov (Berkeley, ), pp. –. The conclusions Rosman reaches as to the status of the etkes.qxp 11/23/2004 3:31 PM Page 289 baalei shem in the society in which the Besht lived and acted are similar to those suggested in this chapter. . For a discussion of the evolution of the concept of magic in the two strands of Kabbalist thought, from the end of the fifteenth century through the eighteeenth century, see Moshe Idel, “Jewish Magic from the Renaissance Period to Early Hasidism,” in Religion, Science and Magic, ed. J. Neusner, E. S. Frerichs, and P. V. M. Flesher (New York, ), pp. –. . For a general survey of magic in Western culture, see Richard Cavendish, A History of Magic (London, ). On the development of magic in Christian Europe in the early Middle Ages, see Valerie I. J. Flint, The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe (Princeton, ). On the place of magic in Christian culture in the early modern era, see Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (London, ). On magic in medieval Jewish society, see Joshua Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition (New York, ). On amulets in Hebrew, see Theodore Schrire, Hebrew Amulets (London, ). . On books of charms in the eighteenth century, see Hagit Matras, Hebrew Charm Books: Contents and Origins (Based On Books Printed in Europe During the th Century) (Ph.D. diss., Hebrew University, ). . Repellent or attractive lights. . Menahot Yaakov Solet, by R. Yaakov b. R. Moshe Katz of Yanov (Willhelmsdorf, ), p. b. . Toldot Adam (Zolkiew, ), sec. . . Op. cit., sec. . Details about R. Eliyahu of Chelm appear below. . See ibid, secs. , , , , , and others. . Op. cit., sec. ; see as well secs. , , , , and others. . Op cit., secs. –. . Op cit., secs. , , , –, and others. . Mifalot Elokim [God’s deeds] (Zolkiew, ), sec. . . Zvi Hirsch Kaidanover, Sefer Kav Hayashar [The book of righteous measure], (Jerusalem, ), chap. . . Ibid. For a detailed discussion of this story, see Sara Zfatman, Nisuei Adam Ve’sheda [The marriage of a mortal man and a she-demon] (Jerusalem...
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