Dow Bear von Mesritsch

Autograph (from February 26th 1767)

Rabbi Dow Bär von Mesritsch (* around 1710 near Rowno , Poland ; † around December 15, 1772, probably in Mesritsch , Volhynia , east of Rivne , today Ukraine ), called the Maggid von Mesritsch or the great Maggid , was a rabbi and after Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov the second leader of the Hasidic movement . Instead of Mesritsch, Meseritz is also used in the name.

Life

Dow Bear was born in a small Volhyn town near Rovno in the early 18th century , but his date of birth is not known. As a youth he received a traditional religious education in the yeshiva from Jakob Josua Falk . He taught in Tortschyn , later in Korets and in nearby Rovno, then settled in Mesritsch in Volhynia, which became the center of the Hasidic movement, and moved to Annopol towards the end of his life . He became a learned Talmudist and also undertook studies of the Kabbalistic system established by Isaac Luria . After undergoing numerous ascetic exercises, he became bedridden and, according to tradition, sought healing from Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov . Dow Bear became one of his greatest disciples, and after the death of Baal Shem Tov in 1760, Dow Bear was widely regarded as his successor in the leadership of Hasidism, although his authority was initially contested by some. In contrast to his predecessor, Dow Bear was not a "man of the people" and his illness made it difficult for him to deal with his students. However, he was an eloquent preacher and teacher, and his charismatic abilities, which were also expressed in everyday chores, were admired by many. Salomon Maimon , who visited him as a teenager, admired his intellectual abilities, and other students are said to have visited Dow Bear "to see how he put on his shoes and tied his shoelaces". Hasidism, which was initially limited to the Podolia region , now spread to Ukraine , Lithuania and many parts of Poland . Towards the end of his life, Dow Bear encountered bitter resistance from Orthodox rabbis, especially the Gaon of Vilna . Above all, they turned against the ecstatic body movements that became common in Hasidic worship services, and against the supposed neglect of Torah studies by young students who flocked to Mesritsch to meet their master there. Finally, in 1772 , the Vilna Gaon pronounced a ban on the Hasidim. A short time later, Dow Bear passed away. Dow Bear's teachings and reflections were not written down by himself, but are preserved in the works of his numerous students. These include Pinchas and Samuel Horowitz , Elimelech von Lyschansk , Levi Jizchak von Berditschew , Israel Hapstein von Koschnitz and Schneur Salman von Ljadi .

His teachings

At the center of Dow Bear's teaching is the concept of Dewekut ( Hebrew "devotion"). This is a panentheistic perception of God and the world, according to which the essence of God encompasses all existence: "The whole earth is the Holy One, praised be he, and the world stands within the Creator". From this concept follows Bär's understanding of the human being, which is based on an increased appreciation of the metaphysical realm. Through inner reflection and contemplation, the divine emanation enables a close and direct relationship with the root of being, and the tzaddik thus becomes a medium that makes direct contact with God. But according to Dow Bär's theory, everyone can make contact with the divine, and so the charismatic figure of the zaddik loses its function as a mediator between man and God. The aim of man is to overcome the concrete cosmic reality and to return to the mystical nothingness (Hebrew Ajin ) that existed before creation (“God created existence out of nothing, and he creates nothing out of existence”). So human existence is understood as a descent that must be followed by an ascent. The soul descends from the heights in order to raise material existence through its spiritual exaltation and thus to restore the unity which had been disturbed by the work of creation.

literature

• J. Immanuel Schochet: The Great Maggid. The Life and Teachings of Rabbi Dovber of Mezhirech , New York 1990, ISBN 0-8266-0414-5
• Encyclopaedia Judaica , Volume 6. pp. 180-184.
• Kaufmann Kohler , Louis Ginzberg :  "Baer (Dob) of Meseritz". In: Isidore Singer (Ed.): Jewish Encyclopedia . Funk and Wagnalls, New York 1901-1906.
• Graetz : History of the Jews, Volume XI, p. 98 ff. And Note 22
• Fabian Freises: Studies on Hasidism - The Maggid von Mesritsch , Writings on Religious Studies, Volume 8, Hamburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-8300-9448-7
• Norman Solomon: The A to Z of Judaism , Scarecrow Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-8108-5555-7 , pages 99 and 100

Remarks

1. ↑ Information on place and date of death after JE, as year of birth chabad.org also gives the period around 1700. In any case, the information is not considered to be reliable.