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| The Pledge of Allegiance between the students of the Ari zal (as found in the Stolin Geniza) |
Introduction
This article—based extensively on the research by Rabbi Dr Zvi Leshem[1]—examines several secret mystical societies from biblical times to pre-war Europe, with a particular focus on the secretive group established by R. Kalonymus Kalmish (Kalman) Shapira of Piasecnzo (Piasetzna) (1889-1943).
Secret mystical circles and societies are not well-known in Judaism, but they have always existed.
Biblical times
The Torah describes the Benei haNevi’im (Sons of the Prophets) who were groups of disciples of prophets like Samuel, Eliyahu and Elisha (see 2 Kings 2:3, 4:1, 6:1 for example). These groups, while not necessarily secretive, played a significant role in preserving prophetic traditions and maintaining spiritual teachings during times of idolatry and apostasy. They used mystical techniques including meditation and even music to train in prophetic inspiration (Leshem 2021:112).
Talmudic times
In Talmudic times, we read about the four sages who entered the Pardes (mystical ‘Orchard’). Ben Azzai gazed and died; Ben Zoma gazed and was mentally affected; Acher "cut the plantings," meaning he became a heretic; but only R. Akiva (50-135 CE) entered in peace and left in peace.
Zoharic times
Without going into the controversy over the authorship of the Zohar, it only emerged for the first time around 1290 in Spain in the time of R. Moshe de León (1240-1305). Many scholars including some notable rabbis believe the Zohar is R. Moshe de León’s own work, although he claimed he had found the original manuscript by R. Shimon bar Yochai from one thousand years earlier. The Zohar describes the existence of the Chevraya Kedosha (Mystical or Holy Fraternities) of the second-century R. Shimon bar Yochai and his students. According to Yehuda Liebes, these Chevraya Kedosha:
“may in fact have mirrored an actual mystical fraternity active in late thirteenth-century Spain, centered around the personality of R. Moshe de Leon. This circle…may have authored the Zohar, spiritually or imaginatively transplanting themselves in the land of Israel of the second century” (Lesherm 2021:112).
Early Modern Period
R. David ben Zimra (Radbaz) (1479-1573)
The Stolin Geniza also held another similar and
secretive contract signed in the same year, 1565, but this time in Egypt. It
was between the eleven students of Radbaz and they too pledged strict
confidentiality to the teachings of their Master.
R. Yitzchak Luria (Ari zal) (1534-1572)
During the sixteenth century, the Kabbalists of Safed had also formed secretive mystical circles particularly the group centred around R. Yitzchak Luria, also known as the Ari. The famous Stolin Geniza housed a contract between the students of the Ari and R. Chaim Vital which was signed in 157(or 6?)5 (see: Kotzk Blog: 307) SEFER HATZOREF AND THE STORY OF THE ‘LOST’ STOLIN GENIZA:). In it, they pledge to serve G-d and study Torah only as taught by R. Chaim Vital and they agree not to reveal his mystical teachings to those outside the group without permission.
"We the undersigned have pledged ourselves to form a single company to worship the Divine Name and study His Law day and night, as we shall be instructed by the perfect and divine Sage, the Rav and Teacher, R. Hayyim Vital (may his light shine forth!), and we shall learn with him the true wisdom and be faithful in spirit, concealing all that he shall tell us, and we shall not trouble him by pressing him too much for things that he does not wish to reveal to us, and we shall not reveal to others any secret of all that we shall hear spoken in truth by his mouth, nor of all that he taught us in the past, nor even of what he taught us in the lifetime of our Teacher, the great Rav, R. Yitshak Luria Ashkenazi (of blessed memory) during all that time; and even what we heard from the lips of our Teacher, the above-named Rav (of blessed memory), we shall not be able to reveal without his permission, since we should not understand these things if he had not explained them to us. This pledge, taken under solemn oath in the Name of the Lord, concerns our Teacher, the above mentioned Rav, R. Hayyim (may his light shine forth!); and the duration of this pledge is from today for ten consecutive years. Today is the second day of the week, the 25th Menahem Av, 5335 of the creation [1575], here in Tsfath (Safed] (may it be built and established speedily in our days!); and all these words are clear and valid" (Stolin Geniza).
R. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal) (1707-1746).
During the early eighteenth century, in Padua, Italy, R Moshe Chaim Luzzatto also maintained secretive study circles.
R. Shalom Sharabi (Rashash) (1720-1777)
Also in the eighteenth century, the Yemenite rabbi, Shalom Sharabi and his group signed a secretive fraternal document (Shtar Hitkashrut) at Yeshivat Bet El in the Old City of Jerusalem. This document was signed in 1754 and 1758. The secretive society went by the name Ahavat Shalom (Lovers of Peace and perhaps Lovers of R. Shalom, whose name means peace as well). The members of this fraternity were known as Mechavnim (those with mystical Intentionality). They focused on the Kavvanot (mystical Intentions) of the Ari zal and R. Chaim Vital but specifically through a Sefaradic lens.
They signed a pact of friendship and made use of certain types of melody. According to Ariel Bension (the son of one of the last members of the group):
“under the magic of these tunes, mekhavnim and listeners, animate and inanimate objects, became one in the true pantheistic sense” (Bension 1930).[2]
Initially, there were twelve signatories (including the Chida, R. Chaim David Azulai), corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel and they pledged their affinity to each other with great love, and their bonds of friendship were to extend even into the world to come. According to their manifesto (apparently written in the hand of the Chida) they undertook to:
“love each other with great love, both spiritual and physical…the twelve of us will be as one man…Each of us will rebuke his associate when, God forbid, he hears of any sin the latter has committed… [We pledge] never to praise one another even if it is clear to everyone that one associate is superior… None of us will rise fully to his feet before any other associate… We shall conduct ourselves as if we were one man, no part of whom is superior to any other part… We further take upon ourselves the obligation never to reveal to any creature that we have resolved to do these things” (see Meir Benayahu, 1995, Shtare Hitkashrut she-le-mekubale Yerushalayim, Asufot 9:16).
R. Shalom Sharabi encouraged his group to separate from the regular synagogues and only pray at his Bet El where they focused on Lurianic Kavanot (mystical intentions). This was distinct from the group of R. Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira—as we shall soon see—where the individual members of his group were encouraged to remain within their particular communities. Another difference was that in the signed fraternal contract of Bet El, the brotherly connections ‘remained’ even after the death of member of the group. A further difference was that Bet El adopted the mode of stern rebuke among its elite membership, whereas R. Shapira advocated a gentler approach involving coaching and peer counselling (Leshem 2021:118).
R. Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk (c.1730-1788) and R.
Avraham Kalisk (1741-1810)
R. Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk and R. Avraham Kalisk were third-generation Chassidic Rebbes being disciples of the Maggid of Mezeritch (the successor to the Baal Shem Tov). The former led a Chassidic aliya to Safed and Tiberius in 1777. Both Rebbes established Chassidic circles in Tiberius and maintained tight control over their followers. Their inner teachings were reserved only for a selected few.
These secretive Chassidic groups emphasised, among other virtues, the importance of up-frontness and confession between friends. This marked a break or development from the usual communal confession before G-d, which has always been a characteristic of traditional Judaism. In some Chassidic circles, like Breslov, the notion of confession was turned to confession before the Tzadik (i.e., R. Nachman). This was akin to an initiation rite in Breslov. However, in the group of R. Avraham of Lalisk, the notion of confession evolved to confession between equals and became a daily ritual:
“Let him hold converse with them every day for about half an hour, and engage in self-reproof for the evil ways he sees in himself. His companion should do likewise” (Letter of R. Avraham of Kalisk).
One of the differences between the Tiberius Chassidic groups and R. Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira was that according to R. Avraham of Kalisk, one could use the spiritual energy of one’s fellow in the group as a stepping stone for one’s own Deveikut (spiritual clinging to G-d). This was absent in R. Shapira’s system where the spiritual energies of the individuals were not seen to ‘merge,’ although he still maintained that:
“the individual cannot achieve alone what he is capable of achieving within the group” (Shapira, Benei Machshava Tova, 8).
We glean much information about the more secretive enterprises of these Tiberius groups of Chassidim from a series of letters that were first published in the early nineteenth century. Leshem suggests that these letters and their content would have been known to R. Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira, through his father-in-law, R. Yerahmiel Moshe Hapstein of Kozhnits, who was familiar with the inner workings of the Chassidic courts.
We now turn to the main focus of this study, the secret handbook of R. Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira.
R. Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira (1889-1943)
Around 1920, R. Kalonymus Kalmish (Kalman) Shapira produced a secret handbook for his mystical group, titled Benei Machshava Tova (Sons of Good Thought). The book presented guidelines for how the secret group was to conduct itself and also expounded on an assortment of mystical techniques and meditative exercises for “expanding consciousness and achieving prophetic inspiration” (Leshem 2021:107). R. Shapira referenced this work in his later writings which indicates that, over time, it had lost its initial secretive status.
In terms of historical context, it is significant that R. Shapira’s twentieth-century “plan for renewal” (Leshem 2021:108) of the Chassidic movement emerged after a period of deterioration of the movement:
“In his opinion, certain aspects of Hasidic life had fallen into disregard, including the crucial institution of Hasidic fellowship, the Hevraya qadisha, which first appears in the context of the Zohar. Drastic educational reform and spiritual revolution were needed. As part of his program, he strove to reinstitute spiritual societies…” (Leshem 2021:109).
R. Shapira’s secret handbook, Benei Machshava Tova, was directed towards the elite members of the Chassidic movement. He attempted:
“to empower an elite cadre of Hasidic avreikhim (advanced students) as part of his attempt to strengthen Hasidic society and fortify it against the corrosive influences of secular modernity” (Leshem 2021:124).
He wanted to establish small fraternities of like-minded soul searchers within the movement. Each of the souls in the group would “melt” together. His secret handbook would serve as a practical guide to the exclusive and secret participants and show them how to achieve:
“a heightened state of consciousness that went beyond special times of prayer or Torah study. It was meant to be a total revolution in the religious persona of the individual, who would learn to think constantly of God, living in a state of intense concentration and powerful emotion bordering on prophecy” (Leshem 2021:109).
The members of the secret society would be taught how to attain Machshava Tova (good thought) and enter into a state of expanded consciousness. In a break from the Chassidic norm—where the individual would serve the Rebbe and the group—now the group would serve the individual.
The secret society was controlled very tightly with a set of internal ‘bylaws.’ Each group was to keep its own records with its lists of members. This was, after all, a holy society and, therefore, the writing was to be in the specific script as found in Torah scrolls. The records were to contain the Nusach haKabbalah which was the signed document whereby the new member agreed to abide by the code of the group. The agreement read as follows:
“In free will and volition, in alignment with the deepest desire of my heart, life, psyche, and soul, I take it upon myself to become a member of this devoted group… to clean and clear my body and mind and to offer them in holiness to the holy God. I devote to God’s holy purposes my intentions, thoughts, speech, and deeds, in a binding and immutable commitment… I stand before God and declare myself holy and devoted—body, heart, and mind—I am his… May his holiness enter my being. At every moment and at every level, wherever I may be, there may I be surrounded by God. May the glory of his presence encompass me from this moment on through eternity. I pray to God with all my heart and soul: If my urges overpower me… if I stray from the will of God in my intentions, in my awareness, in my speech or deeds, please God, for the sake of your great mercy, do not despise me… I know your holy hand is always open wide to accept the strays who return—accept me, for my remorse is sincere. When you are in my heart, I am whole… I go forth to enter the presence of God. I commit my 248 organs and limbs to the 248 positive commandments. I accept the 365 negative commandments in my sinews and my flesh. By this declaration, I accept upon myself to carefully observe every aspect of my behavior, intentions, and speech, in a manner appropriate for a person who has made a commitment to holiness and elevation… I know that the Holy One will support me with his unflinching righteousness and guide me on his holy path… Amen (Shapira, Benei Machsahva Tova: 54-55).
The proposed secret societies are to remain neutral politically and have no affiliations to any specific Chassidic dynasties. No one in the group is its leader and there is no hierarchy of power. This may have been R. Shapira’s way of expressing opposition to the common and typical manifestations of the various Chassidic sects with their very strict hierarchies of structure.
The members are to love each other and, additionally, not display animosity to those outside of the group. Their manifesto emphasised that their:
“holy society is based on three principles: the connection of friends, the love between friends, and the cleaving of friends... They must all love each other with powerful love… Each should choose one special friend, before whom he can reveal all of the secrets of his heart, in both spiritual and physical matters, his concerns and his joys, his failures and successes. His friend should then comfort and advise him and cause him to rejoice as much as possible, also in spiritual matters, according to his understanding of the situation, and then they should reverse roles” (Shapira, Benei Machshava Tova, 56-57).
There is even a clause that provides for someone who feels isolated from the group:
“If there is one member for whom no one wishes to be a spiritual discussion partner, the fraternity must provide one for him…”
Meetings within the group must take place as regularly as three times a week. During the meetings, the members must refrain from frivolous chatter. They may choose what to study in any Talmudic works, whether Mishna or Gemara, but at least once a week they must study Chassidic works (including R. Shapira’s Benei Machshava Tova). While studying the Chassidic works, they must discuss among themselves how to practically implement those teachings in their day-to-day lives. If anyone has an innovation regarding any matter, it should be discussed no matter how irrelevant it may seem. However, these gatherings should never be allowed to get out of control as was sometimes the case in other Chassidic circles:
“It is proper for them to occasionally drink together, not to get drunk and act frivolously, God forbid, but in the way of Hasidim to connect with each other, and also to arouse the animal soul from its laziness… After they drink, they should sing a spiritually arousing song… and if they are inspired and wish to dance together, they should dance, so long as they don’t spend all of the time just drinking, singing, and dancing” (Shapira, Benei Machshava Tova, 56–57).
Secrecy remained a key priority for the group:
“Do not discuss or publicize matters of the holy society in the market or the streets; don’t brag about it in front of others. . . . All of Kabbalah is called ‘secret’ (sod); so too, all service involving the revelation of the soul is opposed to publicity, preferring secrecy” (Shapira, Benei Machshava Tova, 56–58).
The martyrdom of R. Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira
R. Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira was killed in the Trawniki concentration camp in Poland in 1943. Members of the Jewish Underground had smuggled themselves into Trawniki, to help the inmates escape. R. Shapira refused to leave as long as there were Jews who remained behind. He had formed a new group where the members pledged their ultimate allegiance to each other even in the death camps. According to Nehemiah Polen:
“The pious hasidic master joined hands with nominally secular figures: political activists, lawyers, intellectuals, artists, and others, sweeping aside all ideological differences in an act of solidarity that reached the core of their shared Jewish identity . . . to turn down a rescue attempt in such circumstances was a compelling act of faith, a concrete articulation of the soul-to-soul binding that he had preached all his life, an ultimate expression of the unity of Israel” (Polen 1994).[3]
In a sadly ironic sense, one could say in Trawniki, surrounded by secular and religious Jews of all persuasions, R. Shapira experienced the:
“highest ideal of ‘Hasidic fellowship’ that we have encountered: commitment to group martyrdom together with one’s fellows” (Leshem 2021:124).
Analysis
Leshem makes an important contribution to the study of Chassidism
by drawing attention to the more secretive aspects of the movement which is
usually characterised as individualistic and promoting a form of
existentialism. Chassidism—especially early Beshtian[4]
Chassidism—is
often understood as emphasising individual existence, freedom, and
personal meaning in a world that seems to lack inherent purpose. Leshem,
however, exposes a core and more private (perhaps secretive) Chassidic
belief in the communal aspects of the movement where the individual’s
boundaries merge with that of the group and remain subsumed within the group. This may be the hidden cement that underpins the structure, essence and ultimate success of the movement.
[1]
Leshem, Z., 2021, ‘Mystical Fraternities: Jerusalem, Tiberius, and Warsaw: A
Comparative Study of Goals, Structures, and Methods,’ in Hasidism,
Suffering, and Renewal: The Prewar and Holocaust Legacy of Rabbi Kalonymus
Kalman Shapira,’ Edited by Don Seeman, Daniel Reiser, and Ariel Evan Mayse,
Suny Press.
[2]
Bension, S., 1930, Sar Shalom Sharabi, Zutot, Jerusalem, 87–91.
[3]
Polen, N., 1994, The Holy Fire: The Teachings of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman
Shapira, the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto, Jason Aronson, Northvale.
[4]
From the Baal Shem Tov (abbreviated as Be
sh t).
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