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MYSTICISM IN YIDDISH CULTURE

MYSTICISM IN YIDDISH CULTURE. Hasidim, Kabbalists , and The Dybbuk. Hasidic beliefs and way of living. Study of the “inner,” mystic aspects of the Torah rather than scholarly interpretation. Follow a dynastic rabbi who holds a “court.”

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MYSTICISM IN YIDDISH CULTURE

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  1. MYSTICISM IN YIDDISH CULTURE Hasidim, Kabbalists, and The Dybbuk

  2. Hasidic beliefs and way of living • Study of the “inner,” mystic aspects of the Torah rather than scholarly interpretation. • Follow a dynastic rabbi who holds a “court.” • Intense interest for the supernatural (spirits, dybbuks*, demons). • Fervent worship. Religious ecstasy as the highest form of prayer. • Music and dancing as a form of expressing devotion.

  3. *Dybbuk • Restless soul; • Often, the soul of a sinner; • Wanders among people; • Can enter and possess any living thing, from a human being to a plant; • Should be exorcised.

  4. Misnagdim • Literally, “the opponents” (named so by the hasidim). • An intellectual branch of Judaism concentrating on scholarly interpretation of the holy writ and logical reasoning. • Led by the Vilna Gaon (Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna) in the 18th cent. Authority in both religious and secular knowledge; wrote corrective notes on innumerable Judaic ancient texts, as well as books on mathematics and grammar. • Promoted formalization of Jewish education (later called “Yeshiva movement”).

  5. I.L.Perets (1852-1915) • Transcended differences between Misnagdim and Hasidim. • Had respect for both. • Integrated folklore in his writings. • Wrote rationally about spirituality and romantically about reality.

  6. Mysticism in Perets’s “hasidic” stories • What do we learn about Hassidic spirituality and mysticism from “The Kabbalists”? • How are differences between the two branches of Judaism presented in “Teachings of the Hasidim”? • What aspects of Hasidic culture are evoked in “The Rebbe’s Pipe” and in “Teachings of the Hasidim”?

  7. Mysticism in Perets’s “hasidic” stories • How do rationalism and mysticism interplay in “If Not Higher”? • What differences are discussed in “Between Two Mountains,” and to what effect?

  8. DerDibuk(1937) • Directed by MichałWaszyński. • Starring: LiliLiliana and Leon Liebgold. • Based on a 1914 play by Solomon An-sky. • Relies on Hasidic folklore and mysticism. • Filmed on location in Poland. • Authentic choreography. • Influenced by Expressionism.

  9. The court of Rabbi of Miropole in DerDibuk

  10. Der Dibuk • Misusing the Kabbalah • Mysticism: the Messenger • Grotesque stressing non-realism • Symbolism • Music as the means of spiritual communication • Cinematic techniques: montage and chiaroscuro (play on contrasts between light and dark for dramatic effects).

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