Hillel Zeitlin: The Foundations of Hasidism

Translator’s Introduction Hillel Zeitlin (1871-1942), journalist, political activist, poet, and mystical author, was born and raised in the village of Korma in White Russia, within a traditional Jewish milieu. His mother came from a prominent Hasidic (Habad-Lubavitch) family, and his father, a businessman, received a fine Mitnaggedic (Lithuanian-style) education. As a young man Zeitlin worked as an itinerant Jewish teacher in the Pale of Settlement. His travels provided him with exposure to modern Jewish and Enlightenment culture. Fascinated by philosophy, literature, and politics, Zeitlin left behind the religious lifestyle of his youth for a time. Among his early publications were monographs on Spinoza (1900) and Nietzsche (1905). Settling in Warsaw in 1906, Zeitlin made a gradual return to a life of strict religious observance, inspired by his re-engagement with Jewish mysticism. However, he remained an independent and unconventional thinker, seeking to recast the teachings of Kabbalah and Hasidism into an attractive idiom for young secular Jews. Zeitlin’s home became a meeting place for socialists, occultists, Hebraists, and religious seekers. Among the people that passed through Zeitlin’s Neo-Hasidic court was the young Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972). Long before the outbreak of Nazism, Zeitlin began experiencing apocalyptic visions in which he foresaw the destruction of European Jewry. As the Holocaust drew nearer, he called upon his community to repent and sought to organize groups of mekhuvanim (“intentional ones”) to pray and study together. According to legend, Zeitlin was murdered by the Nazis on the way to Treblinka wrapped in tallit (prayer shawl) and t’fillin (phylacteries), carrying a copy of the Zohar (the crowning work of medieval Kabbalah) under his arm. The following are brief excerpts from Zeitlin’s Hebrew essay, “The Foundations of Hasidism” (1910) in English translation. This section of the article is titled “Elevating the Divine Attributes” and deals with Hasidic notions of unity and duality, good and evil, and the potential for spiritual growth and transformation. Although written close to a century ago, “The Foundations of Hasidism” remains among the most incisive treatments of classical Hasidic thought. I wish to thank my teacher, Dr. Arthur Green (himself a student of Heschel), for introducing me to Zeitlin’s writings several years ago. Dr. Green and I are now (slowly) working on the publication of a collection of Zeitlin’s Hebrew and Yiddish writings for English readers. This translation is dedicated to Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi: Architect of a New Yavneh. – O.N.R.

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Elevating the Divine Attributes

Hasidism, like the Kabbalah, sees duality in everything: good and evil, purity and impurity, truth and falsehood, holy and demonic spheres. Hasidism, like the Kabbalah, returns in almost every teaching to the same phrase, “God created this side by side with that”… However, this duality is only apparent and not an inner reality. What I mean to say is that the concept of dualism does not emerge from the essence of Hasidism, from the depths of its soul.

Regarding the subject of evil… the students of the Ba’al Shem Tov [Besht] taught us explicitly in their master’s name that evil is only a lower form of good [Keter Shem Tov, u’Pharoh hikriv] and when it is repaired evil is transformed into complete goodness. Meaning, good and evil are not opposites, but are of one essence; when this essence is in the lower rungs it is called “evil,” and when it is in the upper rungs, it is called “good”….

Since the Hasidim see no difference between natural and moral forms of good and evil, and the “good” is simply that which is close to God and “evil” that which is distant from Him, the Besht can rightfully state that the entire issue of holiness and of the demonic (a subject which the Hasidim and the Kabbalists give much thought to) is, in reality, only an allegory. However, because this allegory has been repeated for thousands of years, because its surface meaning points to an absolute duality in creation, and not every one understands its true depth, many people mistakenly believe that the dualistic interpretation is the true message of the allegory.

Therefore, even in Hasidic texts you find many places where holiness and the demonic are spoken of as two opposing forces, as two entities created by the one unique God, which constantly do battle and will continue to do so until in the end of time, when holiness will finally triumph ….

It is my claim, however, that Hasidism does not recognize any duality in creation, just as it does not recognize any duality in the Creator. Hasidism recognizes only one unique divine power that vitalizes and sustains evil and good equally. It is just that when the divine light descends from the “Secret of all Secrets” [God’s primordial depths] from rung to rung, it thickens and takes on a material form. And when it finally arrives at the lowest of all rungs, it is barely visible…

When we reflect upon these lower rungs, from which the brilliance of the divine light is hidden, we call them “evil,” and we call a person who cleaves only to the outer manifestations of the light an “evildoer” or a “sinner.” However, when a person leaves this lowly rung and cleaves to higher ones, or begins to see the divinity that is present in the lower rungs, he repairs and elevates the evil [to its original divine source]. In other words, he elevates the divinity that is hidden in the heavy fog of corporeality, and thus returns it to its source.

According to this [theory] there is no real difference between good and evil attributes. Therefore, all human attributes are called “evil” when they are sunken in vulgarity and pettiness, but are called “good” when they are purified and uplifted.

All that is found in [the souls of] the students of the evil Balaam is also found in the [souls of the] students of Abraham our Father. The only difference is that with Abraham’s students it takes a holy form, and in the students of Balaam it is impure.

As I see it, the depth of this statement is that both [groups] possess great and exalted souls. However, Balaam’s students are only conscious of themselves and their own pleasures. As great as their souls may be, they are limited, shrunken and drowning in vulgarity (because when man’s little world is separated from the depth, richness, and beauty of the life of Ein Sof – the All – it is like pond water, muddied and putrid). Because Abraham’s students join the greatness of their souls to the greatness of Ein Sof [Infinity or the Infinite], they transform themselves into temples for the Shekhinah [the Indwelling Divine Presence] – their little worlds become vessels for divinity, the small stream flows into the universal ocean….

The Hasidic theory of attributes is a theory of the alchemy of the soul. Just as the alchemists worked to transform metal into gold, so the Hasidim work to transform human attributes into divine attributes; and the Hasidim reveal to us the inner workings of their sacred science. They do not know of just one path for raising all of the attributes; [rather, they believe that] there are many different paths [leading to spiritual transformation]. It all depends on the nature, character, and depth of each attribute and on the character and temperament of each individual…

The remainder of this chapter is dedicated to a discussion of Hasidic techniques for spiritual transformation, for “elevating the divine attributes.” In these pages Zeitlin writes about various forms of visualization and contemplation.

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How does visualization work?

The soul, the princess, is taken from the throne of glory and is placed in a physical body, which has many desires. [Once in the body,] the soul follows after the body and forgets about her father on high. However, when the sky, stars, sun, and moon are shown to her and it is explained that she was created in the very same place as they were, she raises herself upward [to the heavenly expanse].

This is one form of visualization. Here is a second: a person sees the complete “image of God” – the true tzaddik [“holy man,” Hasidic master], his light, kindness, deeds, and customs. One sees before him a symbol of wholeness, beauty, and exaltedness, and this sight causes the individual to repair and elevate his own soul.

The soul rests upon every limb… that a person uses to fulfill a mitzvah or some other holy deed. And when the soul rests on that limb, the limb begins to vibrate from the soul’s power… That is why the movements of the tzaddikim are so pleasant to look at: the power of their movements comes from their souls; and the soul is a part of divinity above, the source of all goodness [Noam Elimelekh, Kedoshim].

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It is said of one tzaddik, that “there was no one that saw his holy dance and did not repent, because he caused the hearts of all those who saw him to weep and rejoice simultaneously” [Sipurei Tzaddikim].

There is yet a third form of visualization: A person sees the light of Torah and the mitzvot that shines through the letters of the Torah, and he cleaves to the letters and to the holiness enveloped by them…

When a person reads from the Torah and sees the light of each letter, even if he doesn’t read it properly God does not scrutinize him, because he reads with great love and enthusiasm. It is like the love of a father for his young child. When the child asks his father for something but mispronounces the words, the father still feels great joy… So it is when a person says words of Torah with love. The Holy Blessed One loves the person so much that He does not scrutinize the person to see if he is reading correctly [Likutei Yekarim, Shemot].

The Torah is filled with letters, punctuation marks, and trope symbols, but the Torah’s inner light, which is from Ayin, is superior to all of these things. The light is the foundation upon which the Torah is built, because the light is the Creator, may He be blessed – God and the Torah are one. And everyone who engages in Torah study must cleave to this light, which is called Ayin [Divine Nothingness], and then the light will certainly turn him to the good. When one cleaves to the inner light of the Torah, he is transformed into a throne for God’s dwelling and emanation… [Me’or Einayim, Hukat ].

One should look at everything as if the Shekhinah stands before him. In order to do this, he must sharpen his vision so much so that he no longer sees the outer garments of things [only the divine vitality within]. He must become so accustomed to envisioning the Divine presence that he no longer encounters it as something intellectual, abstract, or inspiring, but as something he actually sees…

This is visualization, but what is contemplation? Regarding the issue of raising the attributes there are three kinds of contemplation: (1) Contemplation from the perspective of God and the world. (2) Contemplation from the perspective of the soul. (3) Contemplation from the perspective of the evil inclination.

What is contemplation from the perspective of God and the world? …

“Know Him in all your ways” [Psalms 3:6] – one should be conscious of every action and movement, sight and sound, thought and utterance, so that he knows which [divine] attribute is the source of each of these phenomena. A person should ask himself, “Is this not [a manifestation of] God, for how could it exist without Him?” One must connect everything to God.

And what is contemplation from the perspective of the soul?

… There is an infinite difference between all heavenly creatures—even those angels that were created from Ayin, but are vitalized by a lower attribute (that is, through the divine vitality that flows forth from Ein Sof, may He be blessed, to sustain the worlds) – and the soul of man. For the human soul is drawn from the inner vitality of the Divine [Me’or Einayim, “The Letter on Repentance,” Chapter 4].

…[However] The soul descends to the lowest of all rungs, where we use it for all kinds of lowly and impure purposes. We must pay close attention to the pain and impoverishment of this princess, who is sullied through our crude and vulgar behavior. If you sin, your soul sins with you. It is like a person who captures a king and shoves the monarch into a latrine. When you sin, take pity on the divine spark within – on the name of God that dwells with your sin…

God surrounds all worlds and fills all worlds – He surrounds and fills an infinite number of palaces and worlds, and in every palace and world there are an infinite number of angels. These angels all ask, “Where is the place of His glory?” And they respond, “His glory fills the whole earth” – this is man. While God established all of the upper and lower worlds, He chose man [over all other creations], and brought him close through the attachment of the soul… through the cleaving of the spirit. But man lowers and sullies the divinity [within him]… Let man take pity on God’s beauty and stop sinning.

This is contemplation from the perspective of the soul. How does contemplation from the perspective of the evil urge function? The Besht taught that the Master of the World is hidden within sin. The meaning of this teaching is that the letter “aleph” in the word “sin,” het, [spelled het-tet-aleph] is silent but a part of the root of the word. This alludes to God’s mastery [alupho] over the world. It also hints at the number one [aleph, the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet] and to God – the beginning, middle, and end of all things. God even dwells in sin – within the trickery, seduction, and cunning, of the evil inclination.

The evil inclination carries out God’s wishes, and man must do the same. The evil inclination does God’s bidding; it fulfills its mission with perfect faith, seducing man into sinning and rebelling against God. Man must also fulfill God’s desires by ignoring the seductive call of the [evil] inclination.

“When you wage war against your enemy and you settle his land” [Deuteronomy 5:16]…. One can conquer the evil inclination by making use of its strategies. The evil inclination is zealous in its work to fulfill its divine mission by exposing man to sin. One should learn from this example: he should be equally zealous in his efforts to shut out the evil inclination.

To what can this matter be compared? It is like two people who exchange secret signs of communication: these individuals agree that if one of them should hold up a certain sign that says: “do this,” the other will know not to do it [“The Holy Letter” of R. Abraham Kalisk].

God speaks to the human being through the evil inclination: “Do not succumb to its wishes for you!”

Translator’s Conclusion

How might the contemporary reader integrate Zeitlin’s teachings on hasidism into his or her life? Does this pantheistic vision of reality resonate with your life experience? Do you believe that God is both the transcendent source of creation and the immanent vitalizing force renewing life moment to moment?

And what of the hasidic notion that the difference between good and evil is not definite, but relative? Is God’s goodness present in all people, places and times, even if sullied or muddled? Can one say such a thing after Auschwitz, Cambodia, and Rwanda (and now Darfur)?

Finally, while many of today’s Jewish seekers include various contemplative exercises (mostly adapted from eastern traditions) as a part of their spiritual discipline, do the images and ideas—including the centrality of the tzaddik—outlined by Zeitlin speak to you?

As a student of hasidism, who is actively working on translating (in the broadest sense of the word) the texts and practices of this mystical tradition for contemporary life (like Zeitlin and other “neo-hasidic” authors), I would welcome your comments. I can be reached at orose[at]hebrewcollege[dot]edu.