WHasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism, is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contemporary Western Ukraine during the 18th century, and spread rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most affiliates reside in Israel and the United States.
WA Baal Shem was a historical Jewish practitioner of Practical Kabbalah and supposed miracle worker. Employing the names of God, angels, Satan and other spirits, Baal Shem are claimed to heal, enact miracles, perform exorcisms, treat various health issues, curb epidemics, protect people from disaster due to fire, robbery or the evil eye, foresee the future, decipher dreams, and bless those who sought his powers.
WBoychiks in the Hood is a 1995 memoir by Robert Eisenberg that chronicles Eisenberg's travels around the world visiting different Hasidic communities. Einsenberg wrote the memoir as a way to explore communities where Yiddish was the first language spoken among all generations. It is widely recognized as a reputable source for information on Hasidic life.
WMartin Buber was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism centered on the distinction between the I–Thou relationship and the I–It relationship. Born in Vienna, Buber came from a family of observant Jews, but broke with Jewish custom to pursue secular studies in philosophy. In 1902, he became the editor of the weekly Die Welt, the central organ of the Zionist movement, although he later withdrew from organizational work in Zionism. In 1923, Buber wrote his famous essay on existence, Ich und Du, and in 1925, he began translating the Hebrew Bible into the German language reflecting the patterns of the Hebrew language.
WAcademic-historical research into Jewish mysticism is a modern multi-discipline university branch of Jewish studies. It studies the texts and historical contexts of Judaic mysticism using objective historical-critical methods of Religious studies, such as Philology, History of ideas, Social history and Phenomenology. The historical development of Jewish mysticism under study covers the range of phases, forms and expressions, from early Rabbinic Merkabah mysticism, through Medieval Hasidei Ashkenaz and Classical Kabbalah, early-modern Safed Kabbalah and Sabbateanism, to modern Hasidism and 20th century expressions. It is often seen as a parallel field to academic research into rationalist Jewish philosophy, though some scholars contribute in both areas. In Israel both subjects, together with Ethical literature, share the umbrella department of Jewish thought.
WKeter Shem Tov, was the first published work of the teachings of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism. The book was published in Zalkevo, 1794, more than thirty years after Rabbi Israel's passing. The book contains numerous, but brief, Hasidic interpretations of the Torah.
WMenashe Klein (1924–2011), also known as the Ungvarer Rav, was a Hasidic Rebbe and posek. He authored 18 volumes of responsa, spanning over 50 years, entitled Mishneh Halachos. Additionally, he authored some 25 other seforim, including a commentary on Simeon Kayyara's BeHag. Toward the end of his life, he relocated from Brooklyn, New York to Jerusalem.
WKvitel refers to a practice developed by Hasidic Judaism in which a Hasid writes a note with a petitionary prayer and gives it to a Rebbe in order to receive the latter's blessing. This prayer may be a general request for health, livelihood, or success, or a specific request such as recovery from illness, the ability to bear children, a wedding match, etc.
WBernard Lawrence Madoff was an American fraudster and financier who ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange. He advanced the proliferation of electronic trading platforms and the concept of payment for order flow, which has been described as a "legal kickback".
WMedzhybizh, previously known as Mezhybozhe, population 1731, is an urban-type settlement in Khmelnytskyi Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in Khmelnytskyi Raion (district), 25 kilometres from Khmelnytskyi on the main highway between Khmelnytskyi and Vinnytsia at the confluence of the Southern Buh and Buzhok rivers. Medzhybizh was once a prominent town in the former Podolia Province. Its name is derived from "mezhbuzhye", which means "between the Buzhenka Rivers". It is known as the birthplace of the Jewish Hasidic mystical religious movement. Medzhybizh hosts the administration of Medzhybizh settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Current population: 1,276
WPayot is the Hebrew term for sidelocks or sideburns. Payot are worn by some men and boys in the Orthodox Jewish community based on an interpretation of the Tenach injunction against shaving the "sides" of one's head. Literally, pe'ah means "corner, side, edge". There are different styles of payot among Haredi or Hasidic, Yemenite, and Chardal Jews. Yemenite Jews call their sidelocks simanim, literally, "signs", because their long-curled sidelocks served as a distinguishing feature in the Yemenite society.
WHaviv Pedaya is an Israeli poet, author, cultural researcher, and professor of Jewish history at Ben-Gurion University, where she is head of the Elyachar Center for Studies in Sephardi Heritage.
WGershom Scholem, was a German-born Israeli philosopher and historian. He is widely regarded as the founder of the modern, academic study of Kabbalah. He was the first professor of Jewish Mysticism at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His close friends included Theodore Adorno, Hannah Arendt, Walter Benjamin and Leo Strauss, and selected letters from his correspondence with those philosophers have been published. He was also friendly with the author Shai Agnon and the Talmudic scholar Saul Lieberman.
WShiur is a lesson on any Torah topic, such as Gemara, Mishnah, halakha, Tanakh, etc.
WA tische is a Shabbat or holidays gathering for Hasidic Jews around their Rabbi or "Rebbe". In Chabad, a tische is called hitveadut (התועדות). It may consist of speeches on Torah subjects, singing of melodies known as niggunim and zemirot ("hymns"), with refreshments being served. Hasidim see it as a moment of great holiness.
WFriedrich Weinreb was a Jewish Hassidic economist and narrative author.
WElie Wiesel was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a Jewish prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.