Dov Ber of Mezeritch

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Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezeritch (דוב בער ממזריטש‎) (1704/1710(?) – 1772-12-04 OS) was a disciple of Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidic Judaism, and largely seen as his successor. Rabbi Dov Ber is regarded as the first proponent and exponent of Hasidism and one of its most important propagators.[1]

His teachings appear in the volume, Magid Devarav L'Yaakov. He had an inner circle of disciples known as the Chevraia Kadisha ("Holy Brotherhood") that included Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev, Rabbi Aharon (HaGadol) of Karlin, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi.

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[edit] Name

The most common transliterations are DovBer or Dov Ber; rarely used forms are Dob Baer or Dobh Baer which often depend on the region in Eastern Europe where Jews resided and hence the influence of the local Yiddish dialects. "Dov" literally means "bear" in Hebrew and "Ber" means the same thing (i.e. "bear") in Yiddish, a type of "double-barrelled name" used by Jews when giving a name of an animal to a child whereby both the Hebrew and Yiddish versions of the name are combined into one.

He was known as the Maggid — "Preacher" or literally "Sayer," one who rebukes and admonishes to go in God's ways — of Mezritsh after being the Maggid of the town of Rovne.

[edit] Early life

Rabbi Dov Ber was born in Volhynia in 1710, according to the Jewish Encyclopedia,[1] though other sources say his year of birth is unknown.[2] Little is known about him before he became a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov. A Hasidic legend states that, when he was five years old, his family home burst into flames. On hearing his mother weeping, he asked: "Mother, do we have to be so unhappy because we have lost a house?" She replied that she was mourning the family tree, which was destroyed, and had begun with Rabbi Yohanan, the sandle-maker and master in the Talmud. The boy replied: "And what does that matter! I shall get you a new family tree which begins with me!"[3]

When he was young, he reportedly lived in great poverty with his wife. When a child was born, they had no money to pay the midwife. His wife complained and the Maggid went outside to "curse" Israel. He went outside and said: "O children of Israel, may abundant blessings come upon you!" When his wife complained a second time, he went outside again and cried: "Let all happiness come to the children of Israel — but they shall give their money to thorn bushes and stones!" The baby was too weak to cry, and the Maggid sighed rather than "cursing". Immediately the answer came, and a voice said: "You have lost your share in the coming world." The Maggid replied: "Well, then, the reward has been done away with. Now I can begin to serve in good earnest."[3]

[edit] His visit to the Baal Shem Tov

Dov Ber later became an admirer of Rabbi Isaac Luria's system of Kabbalah, which was becoming popular at that time and was aware of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, whose writings, then only in manuscript, were well known among the Polish mystics of the period. Dov Ber followed the Lurian school, living the life of an ascetic, fasting a great deal, praying intensely, and living in poverty. He is reported to have become a cripple as a result of poor nourishment.

It was in part because of his poor health that he sought out the Baal Shem Tov, although as a scholar well versed in the Gemara (Talmud) and Kabbalah, he also wanted to find out whether his reputation as a wise man was justified.[3]

He arrived at the Baal Shem Tov's house, expecting to hear stories about profound mysteries, but instead was told stories of the latter's everyday life. Hearing only similar stories at each subsequent visit, Rabbi Dov Ber decided to return home. Just as he was about to leave, he was summoned again to the Baal Shem Tov's house. The Baal Shem Tov opened a "Pri Eitz Chaim" of Rabbi Chaim Vital (Rabbi Isaac Luria's chief disciple), and asked Rabbi Dov Ber to elucidate a certain passage. The latter did so to the best of his ability, but the Baal Shem Tov declared that Rabbi Dov Ber did not understand the real meaning of the passage, and proceeded to explain. The legend states that, as he spoke, the darkness suddenly gave way to light, and angels appeared and listened to the Baal Shem Tov's words. "Your explanations," he said to Rabbi Dov Ber, "were correct, but your deductions were thoughts without any soul in them."[1] This experience persuaded Rabbi Dov Ber to stay with the Baal Shem Tov.[citation needed]

Rabbi Dov Ber is reported to have learned from the Baal Shem Tov to value everyday things and events, and to emphasize the proper attitude with which to study Torah. Under the guidance of the Baal Shem Tov, Dov Ber abandoned his ascetic lifestyle, and recovered his health.

[edit] As leader of the Hasidim

Immediately after the death of the Baal Shem Tov in 1760, his son Rabbi Tsvi became the next rebbe. After only a year he gave up this position and the Maggid assumed the leadership of Hasidim. He appointed disciples to spread his teachings, including Rabbi Jacob Joseph ha-Kohen; the brothers, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk and Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli; and Rabbi Nachum of Chernobyl. They traveled from place to place spreading Hasidism. The Maggid himself persuaded many Talmudists to do likewise, such as the brothers Horowitz, Rabbi Phineas and Rabbi Shmelke of Nikolsburg; Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (founder of Chabad-Lubavitch) and Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk. The Maggid served as rebbe in Rovne and Mezritsh.

In contrast to the Baal Shem Tov, the man of the people, who is reported to have walked about, pipe in mouth, chatting to those he met, the Maggid never relinquished the habits of a Polish Talmudist. Solomon Maimon states in his memoirs that the Maggid passed the entire week in his room, permitting only a few confidants to enter. He appeared in public only on Shabbat, dressed in white satin. On those occasions he prayed with people, and kept open house for anyone who wanted to dine with him.

After the meal he would reportedly begin to chant, and placing his hand upon his forehead, would ask those present to quote any verse from the Bible. These served as texts for the Maggid's subsequent sermon. Solomon Maimon wrote: "He was such a master in his craft that he combined these disjointed verses into an harmonious whole."[4]

[edit] Opposition of the rabbis

Hasidism spread rapidly as a result of Dov Ber's powerful personality, gaining footholds in Volhynia, Lithuania, and Little Russia. The dissolution of the "Four-Lands" synod in 1764 proved favorable to its spread. The local rabbis were annoyed by the growth of the movement, but could not easily do anything about it. The Gaon of Vilna was the only rabbi whose reputation extended beyond the borders of Lithuania. When Hasidism appeared in Vilna, the Vilna Gaon enacted the first major excommunication against Hasidism, which was issued on April 11, 1772. The Vilna Gaon believed the movement was antagonistic to Talmudic rabbinism and was suspicious that it was a remnant of the recent Sabbatean movement. See Hasidim and Mitnagdim.

The Maggid's envoys, his pupils Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, were not received by the Vilna Gaon, who declined to meet them. Legend has it that had the Gaon met with these two rabbis, the Moshiach would have come.

The ban issued at Vilna drew the eyes of the world toward Hasidism. Rabbi Dov Ber ignored the opposition, but it is blamed in part for his death in Mezritsh on December 15, 1772.[1]

[edit] His views

[edit] Published words

The Maggid left no writings of his own. The two works, "MaggiD DebarO le-Ya'akoV" (the last letters of which title spell "Dov"), known also under the title of Likkutei Amarim ("Collected Sayings"), published at Korets in 1780, and frequently reprinted; and Likkutei Yesharim ("Collected Gem"), published at Lemberg in or around 1790, are the only ones known to exist. They consist of excerpts from his sermons, transcribed and compiled by his relative, Rabbi Solomon ben Abraham of Lutzk, who, as he himself confessed, was often ignorant of their meaning.[1]

[edit] His view of God

For the Maggid, God manifests Himself in creation, which is only one aspect of His activity, and which is therefore in reality a self-limitation. Just as God in His goodness limited Himself, and thus descended to the level of the world and man, so it is the duty of the latter to strive to unite with God. The removal of the outer shell of mundane things, or "the ascension of the [divine] spark,"[1] being a recognition of the presence of God in all earthly things, it is the duty of man, should he experience pleasure, to receive it as a divine manifestation, for God is the source of all pleasure.[1]

[edit] On the ecstasy of prayer

Rabbi Dov Ber's view of prayer was that it is the purpose of the life on earth to advance until the perfect union with God is attained. Thus the vegetable kingdom serves as food for the animal kingdom, in order that the lower manifestation of divinity, existing in the former, may be developed into a higher one. Man being the highest manifestation has a duty to attain the highest pinnacle in order to be united with God. The way to achieve this, he argued, is through prayer, in which man forgets himself and his surroundings, and concentrates all his thought and feeling upon union with God.[1]

Like the Neo-Platonists, he said that when a man becomes so absorbed in the contemplation of an object that his whole power of thought is concentrated upon one point, his self becomes unified with that point. So prayer in such a state of real ecstasy, effecting a union between God and man, is extremely important, and may even be able to overcome the laws of nature.[1]

[edit] The role of the tzadik

Rabbi Dov Ber taught that only the tzadik is able to remove all his thoughts from earthly things and concentrate completely on God. Because of his union with God, he is the connecting link between God and creation, and thus the channel of blessing and mercy. The love that men have for the tzadik provides a path to God. The duty of the ordinary mortal is therefore to love the tzadik and be subservient to him.[1] In this connection Hasidim cite the classical Jewish teaching[5] that Scripture considers one who serves Torah scholars to be cleaving to the Almighty Himself. Many Jews outside Hasidic circles argued that there can be no intermediaries between man and God,and this was one of the reasons that some non-Hasidic rabbis objected to Hasidism (see Misnagdim). Hasidim believe that the root cause of this disagreement, as of all disagreements on questions of Torah, is lack of diligence in investigation.[6] Eventually, many learned non-Hasidic rabbis accepted and even emulated this path.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Dubnow, Voskhod, ix. Nos. 9-11;
  • Grätz, Gesch. der Juden, xi.98 et seq. and note 22;
  • Kohan, in Ha-Shaḥar, v.634-639;
  • Ruderman, ib. vi.93 et seq.;
  • Lobel, in Sulamith, ii.315;
  • Rodkinsohn, Toledot 'Ammude ha-ChaBad, 1876, pp. 7-23.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kaufmann Kohler & Louis Ginzberg. "Baer (Dob) of Meseritz", Jewish Encyclopedia, retrieved May 20, 2006
  2. ^ "The Journeyman/Ascetic", Chabad.org, retrieved May 20, 2006
  3. ^ a b c Martin Buber. Tales of the Hasidim, Schocken 1947; this edition 1991, p. 98-99. ISBN 0-8052-0995-6
  4. ^ Solomon Maimon. "Selbstbiographie," i. 231 et seq. in Kaufmann Kohler & Louis Ginzberg. "Baer (Dob) of Meseritz", Jewish Encyclopedia, retrieved May 20, 2006
  5. ^ Ketubot 111b
  6. ^ Sanhedrin 88b; Sotah 47b; Maimonides in the introduction to his Mishnah commentary. See also Rambam on Mishnayot Sanhedrin s.v. Harishonah.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Rebbe Baal Shem Tov		 Hasidic Rebbes
1760-1772		 Succeeded by
Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, Rebbe Aharon HaGadol of Karlin, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev, Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk