Holiness and law : Kabbalistic customs and sexual abstinence in Hasidism / Benjamin Brown.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brown, Benjamin, author.

Series:

Studia Judaica (Walter de Gruyter & Co.) ; Bd. 129.

Studia Judaica ; volume 129

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hasidism--Customs and practices.

Hasidism.

Hasidim--Sexual behavior.

Hasidim.

Sexual abstinence--Religious aspects--Judaism.

Sexual abstinence.

Jewish law.

Judaism--Hasidic rite.

Judaism.

Holiness--Judaism--Hasidic rite.

Holiness.

Physical Description:

x, 232 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; Boston : De Gruyter ; Jerusalem : Hebrew University Magnes Press, [2024]

Summary:

'Hasidic groups have myriad customs. While ordinary Jewish law (halakhah) denotes the "bar of holiness" mandated for the ordinary Jew, these customs represent the higher threshold expected of Hasidim, intended to justify their title as hasidim ("pious"). How did the hasidic masters perceive the enactment of these new norms at a time in which the halakhah had already been solidified? How did they explain the normative power of these customs over communities and individuals, and how did they justify customs that diverged from the positive halakhah? This book analyzes the answers given by nineteenth-century hasidic authors. It then examines a test case: kedushah ("holiness"), or sexual abstinence among married men, a particularly restrictive norm enacted by several twentieth-century hasidic groups. Through the use of theoretical tools and historical contextualization, the book elucidates the normative circles of hasidic life, their religious and social sources and their interrelations.' --Provided by publisher

Contents:

Frontmatter

Acknowledgments

Contents

A Note on Interpretation and Transliteration

Introduction: The Normative World of Hasidism as a Historical and Theoretical Question

Part I: Hasidic Custom and Halakhah

Five Self-Perceptions

1 Introduction to Part I

2 Hasidic Custom as a Hyper-Halakhic Voluntary Personal Norm: The Early R. Shneur Zalman of Lyadi and R. Ḥayim of Sanz

3 Hasidic Custom as a Communal Norm: R. Moshe Teitelbaum of Uyhel

4 Hasidic Custom as a Full-Fledged Halakhic Norm: R. Yitzḥak Isaac of Komarno and R. Ya'akov of Keidan

5 Hasidic Custom as Custom: R. Avraham Yitzḥak Sperling and R. Shalom of Koidanov

6 Hasidic Custom As a Legitimate Deviation from Halakhah ('Averah Lishmah): The Seer of Lublin and R. Tzvi Hirsch of Liszka

7 Hasidic Custom and Halakhah: Intermediate Summary

Part II: Kedushah: The Sexual Abstinence of Married Men in Three Contemporary Hasidic Groups

Introduction to Part II

8 Kedushah in Gur: The Ordinances of R. Yisrael Alter, the Beys Yisroel

9 Kedushah in Slonim: A Morality of Aspiration

10 Kedushah in Toldes Aaron: The Milder Version

11 Halakhic and Ethical Background (1): The Duty of 'Onah

12 Halakhic and Ethical Background (2): The Dos and Don'ts of Conjugal Relations

13 Hasidic Background: Sources and Trends from Early Hasidism

14 Kedushah in its Theological Context (1): The Beys Yisroel of Gur

15 Kedushah in its Theological Context (2): The Nesives Sholem of Slonim

16 Kedushah in its Theological Context (3): The Rebbe of Toldes Aaron

17 The Kedushah Polemic

18 Kedushah in its Historical Context: Why the 20th Century?

19 Kedushah and Modern Hasidic Identity: Intermediate Summary and Conclusion

Conclusion: Ethos, Custom-in-the-making, Custom, Halakhah-in-the-making, Halakhah: Normative Categories of Jewish Religiosity

Appendices

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9783111358970

3111358976

OCLC:

1418829422