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| The Grand Synagogue of R. Yisrael of Ruzhin (der heiliger Ruzhiner) in Sadigur. |
Introduction
This article, drawn extensively from the research by Professor Benjamin Brown, looks at how Chassidism, which started out as a mystical movement, slowly redefined its mysticism and, over time, replaced it with various substitutes.[1]
From what began as a small movement in the eighteenth
century with relatively common mystical ideas, the nineteenth century brought
with it:
“deep ideological transformation…the vast majority of which were not mystical” (Brown 2017:247).
The mystical fervour of the early generations soon dissipated and became ‘neutralised’ by Chassidic substitutes. We shall look at a number of such examples.
