Exploring their roots in classical texts of Kabbalah, including the Zohar and works of Safed Kabbalah, Sachs-Shmueli demonstrates how early Hasidic masters like the Baal Shem Tov, the circle of the Maggid of Mezhrich, Shneur Zalman of Liadi, and R. Nachman of Bratslav deliberately cultivated a tense emotional culture through the mental guidelines in their texts. Through an emphasis on God-fearing and the fear of sin, they motivated followers of the new movement to attain the mystical ideal while simultaneously fostering a social community devoted to divine worship according to Jewish law, in the face of persecution and secularization.
For readers interested in Jewish mysticism and Hasidism, Sacred Emotions argues that negative emotions serve as crucial catalysts for intensifying religious devotion and shaped the rise and cohesion of the Hasidic movement.
Exploring their roots in classical texts of Kabbalah, including the Zohar and works of Safed Kabbalah, Sachs-Shmueli demonstrates how early Hasidic masters like the Baal Shem Tov, the circle of the Maggid of Mezhrich, Shneur Zalman of Liadi, and R. Nachman of Bratslav deliberately cultivated a tense emotional culture through the mental guidelines in their texts. Through an emphasis on God-fearing and the fear of sin, they motivated followers of the new movement to attain the mystical ideal while simultaneously fostering a social community devoted to divine worship according to Jewish law, in the face of persecution and secularization.
For readers interested in Jewish mysticism and Hasidism, Sacred Emotions argues that negative emotions serve as crucial catalysts for intensifying religious devotion and shaped the rise and cohesion of the Hasidic movement.

Sacred Emotions: Fear of Sin in Early Hasidism
260
Sacred Emotions: Fear of Sin in Early Hasidism
260Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781503641716 |
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Publisher: | Stanford University Press |
Publication date: | 05/13/2025 |
Series: | Stanford Studies in Jewish Mysticism |
Pages: | 260 |
Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d) |