GRANDEUR AND HUMILITYIN THE WRITINGS OF

R. SIMHAH BUNIM OF PRZYSUCHAALAN BRILL

The path of R. Simhah Bunim of Przysucha (1765-1827), a phar-Itur<:ist turned Hasidic rebbe, was considered a sufficient break withlllclitional Hasidic ways to arouse opposition from other Hasidic lead-rrri. Indeed, his opponents went as far as to attempt to ostracize hislollowers. This antagonism was eventually quelled by the senior rebbeul'lhe time, R. AbrahamJoshua Heschel of Apt, at a great weddingrttr:nded by the many Hasidic leaders at Uschillig (Ustilla).t Most studiesnl I lasidism consider the thought of Polish Hasidism of the schools of

| ()n R. Simhah Bunim of Przysucha, see Z. M. Rabinowicz, Rabbi Simhah Bunimf*lt l'twsucha (Tel Aviv, 1945); Yekutiel Kamelhar, Dor Deah (Bilgorai, 1933) 276-280.Il. Sirnhah Bunim died without leaving behind much written work; we have only the*ur)utrt.s left by his students. The basic text cited by later generations is Kol Simhah{ltrt'crlter cited as KS) written by a student of R. Simhah Bunim, R. Zusha of Plozker{ lrt erlition, Breslau, 1859), reprinted with interpolated additions by R. Ahron Walden( l{l(}3) and recently reprinted in a Hasidic-critical edition by Yehudah Menahem Boim,{liturunah, 1992) (hereafter cited as KSN).

l'lrorrgh we do not have R. Simhah Bunim's own written account of his ideas,ll lr lxrssible to veriq, the authenticity of R. Zusha's reports by comparing parallellurlltkrns by other disciples. Their references to Kol Simhah often contain critiques.'l1try writ.e that the passage cited was not complete, or out of context, or that there is anlllrlrrut.ive tradition; sometimes these yield vastly different interpretations. I contenddtrl wlrorever there are two or more parallel traditions of nineteenth-century citations,lltey turr be accepted as reflective of the image of R. Simhah Bunim. Even if thesellndltLrrrs rlo not provide proof that R. Bunim made the statements, and the traditions$F lurient,ed through the prisms of Kotzk, Izbicha, Gur, and Kuzmir, they have a

th*t rrrnvergence in their presentation. In all the accounts, R. Simhah Bunim delayed

fttrlrr, rtrrrlied medieval theology, wrote of the need for humility, required love andlFrr ol ( kxl, dis<:ussed sin, and rejected the life of the Hasidic court for an approach of

419

420 AI,AN BRILL

Przysucha, Kock, Izbicha, Gur, and their students as a continuation ofearly Hasidism. Yet its social world and ideas are strikingly differentfrom those of early Hasidism.

This paper will investigate R. Simhah Bunim's inner-directed, ratio-nal approach to spirituality, emphasizing his differences from earlierHasidism, and his own original Hasidic path. Many of his ideas are thcresult of his reading of earlierJewish philosophic texts as experientidirectives. R. Simhah Bunim's spiritual path emphasizes the needarouse oneself from the slumbers of ordinary life and dedicateto God. This is done by developing a sense of awe before the digrandeur, external to oneself and overwhelming one's senses.

submits to the will of the divine with humility and self-sacrifice. Tstudy, prayer, repentance, and entrance into the modern city areunique expressions of this humility and submission to the divinedone in order to experience the divine grandeur.

God's Presence and Awe of the Diuine

The Hasidic notion of finding God in all creation is given a

reformulation in R. Simhah Bunim's thought. It becomes a doctrincwhich the unity of the hidden divine will stands behind all the

self-perfection. The best volume of early collected traditions is R. Shemuel of(Shinaver), Ramataim Zofim, (Warsaw, 1882) (hereafter cited as RZ). It is

in that R. Shemuel did not seek to collect traditions about a single person,himself to stretch the material. Rather, the book is a collection of statement!various members of the school treated as a whole, in which the differencesapproaches become apparent. It also is based on the traditions of the lectures R,

gave on Tanhuma and Tanna Debei Eliyahu.A second period of oral transmission is reflected by citations from

his disciples; these reflect the changing reality of urban Poland. The bestis that of R. Israel Berger, Simhat Israel (Piotrkow, 1911) which indicates itland sometimes furnishes a full chain of tradition. It is divided into storieo,(Maamarei Simhah, hereafter cited as MS), and Torah (Torat Simhah, hereafterTS). Later works such as Y. K. K. Rokotz, Siah Sarfei HaKodesh (Lodz/Piotrkow, Iare reflective ofthe ongoing strength ofPrzysucha ideas in early twentiPoland. The tone has become more conservative and has been integrated wlth rnGur approach toward Hasidism. There are many statements which are

authentic.

GRANDEURAND HUMILITY 427

manifestations of nature. God's will is to be discovered both in nature,which was directly created by God, and in man's actions, which aregoverned by God's providence. God's presence in nature demonstratesHis providential dominion over the world. The world is not an illusion,or filled with divine sparks, but is a manifestation of the divine will thatmanifests the divine glory.

God created the world in order that the world allow His creation andprovidence to be recognized. Therefore, everything was created withthe great intention that through this creation one could recognize Hisblessed Glory (Keaodo). After He [God] saw [through] reflection that thisworld and its creations are sufficient to recognize His glory, He said, "itis sufficient (shedai)."2

The glory of God, revealed through creation and providence, wasdesigned to allow the divine will to manifest itself in the world.

According to R. Simhah Bunim, the experience of the divine inordinary life, as portrayed by the Baal Shem Tov, finds its medievalphilosophic base in the celestial hierarchy of Maimonides and lbn Ezra.Maimonides' requirement to fear God attains a vivid Hasidic sense oftrepidation, while his stress on the philosophical knowledge of Godobtained by studying creation is transformed into the soul's sensing ofGod's presence in creation.3 An experience of the divine as trernendumis attained by the individual developing his sense of awe and fear ofGod's grandeur. It is interesting to note that the Neoplatonism of IbnEzra was considered as fulfilling this requirement.4

2 T.S. 90; KSN 1; R. Zadok develops this statement of R. Simhah into the metaphorol' the book of nature which can be read to find God. Creation is the lower bookrrf God's wisdom, and Torah is the higher book of God's wisdom. R. Zadok's ZidkatHaZaddih, sec. 216; Lihhute Maamarim, 79; R. Mordekhai Yosef Leiner, Mei hashiloahlikhutei haShas 2la.

8 This idea is also to be found in the circle of Rabbi Moses Cordovero, Ohr Ne'araa,port 2 chapter l; Eliyahu de Vidas (l6th cent.), Reshit Hohhmah, Gate of Awe, chap.ll and in Habad. See Roman Foxbrunner, Habad (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabamal'rers, 1992) chap l.

a On Ibn Ezra, see Isadore Twersky andJay M.Harrts, Rabbi. Abraham Ibn Ezra: Studies

)n lha Writings of a Twelfth-CenturyJewish Polymath (Cambidge: Harvard University Press,

109$). Thcre is no academic essay on the traditionalist uses and reactions to Ibn Ezra

444 ALAN BRILL

From Rural Mezhi,rech to Urban Pnysucha

R. Simhah Bunim's world was the urban, nontraditional one ofthe rising middle class. He accepted the modern world as part ofGod's will. R. Simhah Bunim internalized Hasidic piety into a this-worldly asceticism by preaching an elite doctrine of personal self-perfection that sought to awaken his followers from the slumber of theirroutine business life. The Hasidic doctrines of the Maggid of Mezhirechand his followers were characterized by sensing divine vitality in theworld, tending toward a panentheistic nonduality, and the doctrine ofthe zaddik, striving for deaekut, along with the need to fight foreignthoughts. The Hasidic doctrines of Poland no longer maintained anyof these elements. Why, then, was it still considered Hasidic?

First, Polish Hasidism still holds that there is no place devoid,of God's divinity. R. Gershon Henoch writes that R. Simhah Bunimperfected the doctrine of the Baal Shem Tov.ez For the Baal Shem Tovthe earth was filled with divine vitality as an immanent divine essencwhile for R. Simhah Bunim the modern world in its manifest pluraliis filled with the transcendent grandeur of God and the immdivine will. God can be experienced as a mental presence, and behincall the varied manifestations of the modern world, including evil,can consciously find the hidden will of the divine.

Second, Polish Hasidism still considered itself true to itsbecause it was socially linked to early Hasidism. The social identiwith early Hasidism allowed the founders of Polish Hasidism toand transform the role of the zaddik. R. Simhah Bunim ofwas a Hasidic leader Sving sermons, advice, and offering charisleadership. He claimed the power of mind-reading and of knowingthat a person had done in his life. It is reported that he saidhimselt "I am a miracle worker and possessor of the holy spirit(ruahhodesh)."s2 He rejected, however, the collective life of the zaddik'sand the role of the zaddik as intermediary before the divine. InPolish Hasidism transformed the zaddik into a spiritual guideteacher who aided the individual quest for a religious self-per

92 Gershon Henokh, Petihah aeHahdamat4 included in recent reprint ofLeiner, Beit Yaahou on Genesis (Brooklyn, 1978).

e3 RZ 3.

GRANDEUR AND HUMILITY 445

I'lrir self-perfection was based. on dedication to intellectual ralmud::,, 1 1 1 r concepruali zed by med ievar rarionarisric thought and Maharar.It. ,$ir,hah Bunim's.for]owers artempted to achieve Expe.i.n.es thatlt'llt'tt.cd the rabbinic descriptiorrr ofGod,. presence u.ra,rr. sacredlinr. trf rabbinic ritual. These changes in social trg anizationand HasidicrLr'r'ine are reflective of a change from traditional rural life to that oftrrlrirrr life and thought. To undirstand why R. Simhah Bunim made!lrrs<. <:hoices one must look at his own life.

l{' simhah Bunim was part of the generation of the initial migrationr, tlr. cities of congress poland. In Warsaw, he worked. for the wearthyxlrirk.wer-Bergson faSily (whose converted grandson was the philoso-;rlr.r Ilenri Bergson).ea He travered with rapiJry assimilating coworkersl' rLr l;usiness in rhe modern cities of Dinzig and Leipzig. He wentI* lrlrirrmacy school and rived in the newly set"tled ,o*r, ofp.rysucha,;rlrrr irrg him near his teacher R. yaakov yitzhak of przysuchu.ru sr"u.r,l,l1rP.r'stein points out that the immigration to the cities of Easternl',r,rP. already began the breakdown-of traditionar life.e6 przysuchaI l*rrirlisrn was part of the social climate of the decline of the traditionalrlr i;rl lif'e.

.l'lr. challenge of the sociar changes of the nineteenth century,Ilr lrrlirr5; the rise of factories and citiei, which generated a quickened;rrlr. .l li{'e, hindered traditional devotion, as is-evident in the pietistic;rr.r.r'iPrions of R. simhah Bunim. A disenchantment, as desciibed by

rrl ( hr rlre Zbitkower family and its rore in the formation of theJewish communityrrl wrr'urw, see Emmanuer Ringelblum, "samuel Zbitkower,,, zlo"'s ttgigl 246_266,817 ltlrS .f acob Shatzkv, Di Geshikte fun yidn in varshe,3 volumes (New york, rg47-bg).* lirrrlr;rlr l]unim worked for one of Zbitkower's sons, Ber (Berek) sonnenberg, andIth rvilr'l'arnar (Temerer), who were still observant and supported Hasidim.,t' l'lrr:r. has been littre research on przysucha itself. Its'synagog,r. *;, rornded asl*te *x 1777 seeJoram Kagen, potand.'sJewish Heritage (New yori<:ftippocrene nooh,Itlll'J)

.l l!. (). the province of Radom, which containi the town of rrzysucha, see Adam

FnrrL,rll;r, "'['he socio-cultural Integration of theJewish population in the province oft*irltrrrr, lull-r-1862," polin, vol. g (i9gg) 214-2gi.In the suburbs of Radom, residenceI* f:'wr w:rs banned in 1746 ahd then ailowed only to those with a profession. rn r76b,lfr.rr wrrr' 07.)ews in the entire region. The hehitiahof Radom was founded in lgl4 tolFlv. ir ('(lrrrrrrnity of 413; see william Glicksman, ,.Radom,,'

Encyclopaed,iaJudaica lz,Ifilr{r Il''0L

- rrr slrv.rr

.f . Zipperstein, The Jews of od,essa: A curturar History, rzg4-rggl (stanford:tlcrrLrrr! tlrrivcrsity fress, 1985j, t5-iO.

442 AI.AN BRILL

The editor's Shabbat of Repentance experience explains why thesethemes formed the central patterns in the collection.8l The awakeningof religious consciousness produces a theory'of sacred time in whichone experiences the ontic dimensions of the Sabbath as the sourceof divine vitality in the world.82 Similar teachings are contained in R.Simhah Bunim's Rosh Hashanah letter of 1825, in which he exhortshis students to attain 'Joy and fear hidden by dread . and forunderstanding to grow from action because the secret of action is thelight of understanding; both are one."83 One needs to cultivate anexternal dread by means of thought and action in order to achievean internal joy and fear; without the external dread there can be nointernal understanding.

The passage on repentance which most influenced R. SimhahBunim's students concerns the contrasting actions ofJoseph andJudah.

Jacob andJoseph are portrayed by the Midrash as ascetics serving Godby means of fasting and sackcloth, whileJudah is exemplified as bringingthe Messiah by his taking Tamar as a wife. "In human eyes, [Jacob's and

Joseph's] actions were oriented toward God, while [Judah] was busywith his own marriage. Nevertheless, the Midrash states that humans donot know the thoughts hidden in the heart of man, but God saw moroinJudah's action." Among the many (at least eight) interpretationsthis passage, which tone down its individualistic conclusions, arecomments of R. Ahron Walden in the name of R. Menahem Mendclof Kock. He explains that the positive intentions ofJudah's marriage,as his undertaking a new start after dashed dreams and despondencyfor a future, lead to humility, a broken heart, and submission to thcdivine.sa

Based on Maharal, R. Simhah Bunim writes that God willa sinner in proportion to his lowliness because growth only

8r See TS 77, quoting Beit Yaahoa Pinhas. These teaching on repentance are foundboth R. Zadok and R. Gershon Flenoch as heard from R. Mordechai Yosefofwho heard them from R. Simhah Bunim himself.

, 82 TS 2, MS 15.83 Printed with variants and commentaries in the back of both Kol Simhah

Ramatayim Zotim. There is a commentary from manuscript by R. Israel of Pilov innewedition of KolSimhah (Rananah, 1992) 160-184.

84 KSN 55-56 #8. KS, Ahron Walden edition, p. 26. compare KSN 68 #3 onas personifying "depth of the heart and essence of the soul."

GRANDEURAND HUMILITY 443

flr, ir prior deficiency.s He develops the idea that only acceptancellrrrrrrgh repentance and humility, ind the understurdirrg that sinlrrrririns inherent to huma.n nature, can lead to true undJrstandingtl ( l.d's grandeur and plan for the worrd. Rather than a hindrancelrt tt'aching God, sin advances the process of growth.86 However, in*lrr l'lrrd of Days there will be an inirease of he"resy and rebellion, sollut in comparison to today's wicked, the wicked of the past would belrglrrled as righteous.sT This increase of heresy is Godt will becauseHllr. gr:matria of Yaakov and satan equals Israel.i'That is to say, to trulytlelrlrt Esau,Jacob needs to "incorporate [Esau'sJ power into himself.,'8bItr integration of evil within thi complete pirson as part of God,s

[ilurr.is not_developed here, but it is developld in the ihought of R.

Mrrrtlt'r:hai Leiner of Izbicha.'l'lris world is an illusion compared to rhe world as willed by the

lllvlrrt'" "Revealing the end [of the exile] means knowing that there willbe arr .nd ro exile because the fexile] is only a hiding][of the divine]fltr(l n()r an independent force."Se The redemption frJm exile and sinlilv'lvt's the realization of their illusionary nature. A similar sentimentlt fururrrl in the writings of Maharal, where knowledge of the messianic*gr lrrrsists of a centering to attain the true nature of reality.e, whileItlr tlr. individual, true repentance can turn sins into merits throughll etnlorrning oneself to reach a different level.el

Hi lS {Xi, 97; RS 20b.Hlr wlrcrcas for calvin some cannot avoid sin but it does not have a positive role in

dlrhrr lrrstilication. R. simhah Bunim's view is similar to the Anabaptists, in that there15 6 r*ntirrtrity between justification through grace (or..p..rtrrr..y and the diflicultF,l],:, nirrrctification through overcoming sin. on the Gabaptisis and calvin, see

t4. tltrdut'Nttist spiriluality: -selected

writings, rrans., edited, and introduction by Daniellkglrrv (N<'w York: Paulist Press, lgg4).

H, l's 1",.

*r l's t00, r45; RZ 'gb;

Kor simhah, walden edition only, p. 24. KSN deretes rhisFaf*|",

'1,'lris is also linked to the method of Biblical exegesis in polish Hasidism whichftftlxlr* tl:(. i::p?:?nce of the Biblical sinners, including Cain, Korach, the spies, andtfrrtl'lr. scc'l's 2ll, where the comments of R. yonatan Eybeschutz on cain are usedp llte rtnr ting poinr for R. Simhah Bunim,s exegesis.

ffi ls 175; Setat Emet, yayehi lZB.

- HtMulurr:rl, Nctzah Israel" chap. 2; Rivka shatz, "Existence and Eschatology in thetl* lrlrig* ot rhe Maharal (part If),', Immanuet lb (i982-83) 6Z-i;.rl I s l ()4 , ?g0; MS 47 . The norion of sins into merirs occurs ar T.B. yoma 26b.

440 At/,N BRrLL

righteous (zaddihim gemurim). He would rejoice greatly, because his soulhas gone out from darkness to great light.

But this is not shown to him until he sees the results of sin. [Otherwise,]free will would be obliterated for him. He would detach himself fromthis world . . . because even good deeds would not count for him. . . .75

God in His mercy wanrs man to be in this world, "Thy thoughts arevery deep; that no outcast is banished from him" (Psalms 92:6, 2 Sam.14:14).76 [Therefore, God] does not show him [His greatness],instead, he encourages the penitent through greatly strengthen"ing, and rejoicing in good deeds done, and increases compassion,contrition, and trust in His abundant mercies.TT

The true, divine nature of reality is kept from mankind in order to giveman the choice of recognizing God or ignoring Him. Those who thinkthat they are banished from God are not really, if they realize that theirperceived distance from God is only psychological. In hindsight, evensin plays a role in the development of the person from sinner to trulyrighteous. From this perspective, which integrates good and evil, on€can find the actual presence of God in his heart, if one seeks it.

Repentance cannot be achieved by a fixed routine, despite itiincorporation into the regular prayers. The meaning of repentance

is to recognize that one is not worthy of any benefice, rather one isof punishments and difficult suffering. One should accepr in truththe suffering of the world and direct one's self and soul to thecreator. There in His blessed will (rezono), He will treat [the peniwith absolute love. He should not think of returning to his Istage. When one is on this level, a new light will be sent to himGod's will, fulfilling [the prayer] "God, creare for me a clean heart.[He receives the new light] because he made himself nothing(ayinand has thus justified God's judgement.?e

75 ". . . as by angels." They do things as obedience and not for reward.76 The first half of the verse from Psalms is combined with the end of the verse

Samuel.77 TS 209, RZ 88.78 See Ps. 51:5, "For I know my transgression, and my sin is ever before me ."7e TS 291, RZ24.ln TS 293 and RZ 118; the need ro contemplar.e the effect of tho

is quoted from a student of Cordovero, R. Abraham ben Mordekhai Galantepart of the sixteenth century) in his commentary on Lamentations 3:40, "Let usand try our ways, and return to the Lord," Kinat Setaritn in Kol Bohhirn (Venice, I

Nrr lrrescribed act of repentance is a substitute for the punishment thattrrr. cleserves. when one realizes and accepts this, and follows it upwlllr a conversionary return to the divine, one receives absorute love6rrrl lrn illumination. 'fr,r. love of God. comes only from the humility*tul rcsponsibility for having sinned before God,s grand.eur.'l'lrc author of Ramatayim Zofim writes that he-heard this presenta-ll,rr .l'repentance on the friday night of the shabbat of Repentance.I Ir w.ites that the words of R. Simhih Bunim so affected him that

irll shabbat evening these matters burned in my heart until on Shabbat<lay, when I prayed, I did not rurn my mind from these matrers. Afterl)r'ayer I went to his room, and he asked, "who is there?" I gave nry name.I Ie said, "come crose." He asked me, "what were you doiig today? withr"ach and every page of my prayers, you appeared ro me [li"t. standing].,,I le repeated this and then alowed *. to i.ur.. when the peopte whowcre there that [Friday] night heard this, they directed their hearts inrlrc outpouring of the sour like water. In this there was an immeasurablvglcatjoy, and ir was appropriateness to call him rebbi.80

tl.rr', Poignantly described., is the image of R. Simhah Bunim and hislrrrrr lrcld by the editor of one of the major collections of R. simhahlltrrrirrr's thought.

L 'l'Si 2l I and RZ 106, the need to accept one's punishment is quoted in rhe namerrl l{ }'rrratan Eybeschutz, yaarot Deuash (Vienna, tsts) ana from *re Lurianic customI, sllirrrr (lod's kingship during the recitarion of the shema by accepting the deathpetr,rltlr.s upon oneself as a restitution for one,s sins.

irrr 'l'ri '()l, RZ 24.|n the passage folrowing he srates that the word ,,rebbe,, is related

t+r rlrr rrxrl "draw a bow" (roueh heshet), thatl rebbe like this can shoot arrows againsthrll (klr) r() save the souls that hear him. I assume the autobiographical account toha li ,,rrr l{. samuel of Sieniawa. compare rhe nore in Marc sh"p;.;,';s;;iie and thelfrrr lil r,r C.rnc," AJS Reaiew 1g/z (tggz) 2br, citing Ha.peres a (roosy 47, in which R.

Illslrlr l,('wi.srein claims that he wrote the work, rather than R. Samuel of sieniawa.i I rwtrsr('in writes that for "hidden reasons I did not place my name upon it.,, on R.ftuelrlr l,rwirrsrein (b. lB40) as a rradirionalist scholar oibiogruphi.ul ani genealogicallltltllrr, ree l',/ vol. 11, col. l7b. Anonymous editorial work"by'mashilirz oi traditionalTlrlr prrlrlisltccl in Warsaw and Vilna was common.

GRANDEUR AND I{UMILITY 441

438 AI-AN BRILL

The requirement to testify to the truth is explained in anotherpassage.

The seal of God (HKB'II) is truth.66 Why did God choose [to describe]His Torah specifically as "truti"? This was in order that no person shouldbe able to counterfeit the seal. If it is counterfeit, then it is not "truth"but complete falsehood. It is a mystical secret [lit. and words from themouth of the wise are graceful].67

Truth is by definition the one thing that cannot be false or adulterated.The truth required during prayer is that there be no false thoughts andemotions in one's mind, only the prayer itself. In true prayer, thereexists an identity of thought and heart between God and man.

Prayer requires the intellect and the heart to be together; prayer springsfrom the heart and soul, and shoots like an arrow from all the senseg

without any work or effort. Effort is exerted only before prayer. If one isnot on this level and nevertheless forces himself with all the strength ofhis psychological energies (kohot ha-nefesh) and [still] does not reach thiilevel, he should know that with each and every word he redeems hifrom a divine death penalty.68

This passage brings together the need for unity of the heart andmind with the need for truth. Prayer is a passive activity in that ohas already perfected the self, allowing the truth of the divine toknown.6e One who prays untruthfully is liable to death, just as onebrings an improper sacrifice is; yet the wholehearted self-sacrificehis effort in attempting to pray truthfully makes atonement.

An alternative justification for the delay in prayer, based on afor a structural completeness, is also given.

One time he answered an inquirer regarding the delay of the timcprayer by his teacher the Yehudi HaKadosh of blessed memorfrthere are limbs in the body which even if the person is awake, aresleeping. It is written "all my limbs shall proclaim, etc." (Psalms 35:

66 TB Shabbat 55a, Yoma 69b, Sanhedrin 64a.67 MS 25.68 TS 226, quoted from RZ 6.6e This passivity is also found in R. Zadok, Ked,ushat Shabbat, chap 2,

GRANDEURAND HUMILITY 439

all the limbs need to praise God. Therefore, one waits until all one'slimbs awaken.To

'l'lrc purpose of waitiug is for an identification of one's limbs withllrr divine. "When a person waits and stills himself a while beforeper lirrming a commandment, Torah, or worship, he is able to fulfill{ltl ls God commanded."7l Stilling the mind allows the act to truly ben rllviue act and not an act of human intention.

Repentance and Sin

'l'lrc same relationship of humility with sensing the divine grandeurh lrrrrrrd in R. Simhah Bunim's doctrine of repentance. "At first glance,tlu. Itiblical requirement of repentance is an easy matter, becausetlrrrrrglrt alone is sufficient. Furrher, the methods (tikhunei) of repen-lnttrr cxplained in the holy books and Tanya are well known."72 Theflletlru<ls of achieving repentance, even the extreme requirements off lerirl<'i Ashkenaz and Luria, were already set out in many works.FNr.vrrlheless, know that repentance is a sensation in the broken soulllrrl lrr:rrt, similar to a person who fell from a building, breaking hish*tllnr li'<lm head to toe."73 "Certainly his pain is great," because helFer ;rrul realizes the degree from which he fell and into what he hasilllar,7'l 'fhe one who repents must completely break his will and heartItl rrtrllr lo experience an agonized regret for his descent into sin.

t{ Sirnhah Bunim defines sin as a psychological distance from God,*ll! lr rrr,cds to be overcome by repentance.

Wr rrrld that the penitent (baal teshuua) saw how through his very thoughtsul lcpentance his soul stands in the same grandeur as the completely

. trt Mli 2,1; M. Iclel, Neu Perspectiues 146-153. In the earlier sources, the identity of theftllt ert,l tlrc divine is accomplished by the ritual action of the limbs, while here the

f,fihr *tn prlsonitied as conscious selves requiring alertness. In TS 322, quoted froml*tlel M, rrcn, Ni[taot Hadashor 4, R. Simhah Bunim rebuked his son for delaying prayer..fifu r,,rt .r,r**,...1 that only David as portrayed in the Zohar is able to arise and pray,lh*nn. rrtltms itre not ready at all times.

tl 't'tl I ttt tiol Simtmh, R. Ahron Walden edition, l4a, 24a.ll lt ?l:t, t{z lo8.il l'x rrl:t, r{z lo8.rr ln'lrl, t{z t2$.

436 AI-AN BRILL

This method influenced the entire school of Polish Hasidism, includingthe son-in-law of R. Menahem Mendel of Kock, R. Abraham Borenstein

of Sochaczew (1839-1906), R. YehudahAryeh Leib of Gur (1847-1905),

and R. zadok HaKohen of Lublin (1823-1900). Suffering is felt only

when one is far from God; if one is humble and close to God, suffering

is all part of God's design. The greater the knowledge one has of God,

the less one has free will, because one realizes that all is determined

by God.60 Suffering, therefore, comes from not studying the Torah,

because if one studies, one realizes one's distance from God, that one

has not fulfilled one's obligations toward God, and that everything iS

part of God's design.Gl

Praryer as ldentifi,cation wi,th the Di,aine

since God may be directly experienced in prayer by prior seclusion,

humility, and the perception of God's grandeur, one is required to work

on attaining the experience. Those seeking an experience of God willdelay their !.uy... in order to attain a revelatory kauanah. This delay ofprayer is one of the distinguishing social features of the followers of 8,,

3i*t ut Bunim of przysucha. In the beginning ot'Siah Sarfai Kodesh,

the editor places an excerpt from a responsum by RaDBaZ (David i

Solomon ibn Abi Zimra,1573-7573) on not attending synagogue ifother congregants' talking is found distracting.6z Based on the rabbi

requirement for intention (hauanah) as codified by Maimonides,

p.iron should not pray in a place that distracts his mind or at a tiihat hinders his intention," the followers of Polish Hasidism exten(

this delay into a positive procedure of preparation for prayer and riperformance.

Mysticism of R. Zadok HaKohen of Lublin" (Ph.D. Dissertation, Fordham

1994).60 RZ 8, 13. Determinism is seen as proportional to divine knowledge; see R'

Horowitz, shenei Luhot HaBerit, shaar Habehirah, who combines the Maimonidean

Lurianic positions. Compare R. Zadok, Zidkat HaZadd,ik, sec' b2'61 TS 7, frornTorat Emet.62 Y. K. K. Rokotz, Siah Sarfai Kodesh (Lod2,1928-31;New York, 1954) p' 7;

Responsa (New York, 1967) part 3 #472.

GRANDEUR,AND HUMILITY 437

'rhe reason for the delay is not to focus one's emotions; instead,Inlcntion (kauanah) is defined as truth (emet), meaning to identi$ withtl r. divine words. To pray in truth is to sense, by means of the words ofllliryer, God's greatness and rnan's smallness, and thereby to identi$,with the divine grandeur. one gains the proper love and fear of therlivine, which leads to a pure knowledge of the divine. The quest is forrirr<:crity, in its original sense of unadulterated and pure content, andrlot lhe modern sense of pure motives and individual authenticity.63

't'he delay will allow for distractions to cease, and allow time to focuslrr the divine grandeur. The wait does not allow a deeper personalr,x1rr:rience, but rather allows the prayer to be a "true,,partaking of therllvine grandeur.

When the holy Rabbi R. Meir of Apta, of blessed memory, asked abourthe delay of the prayers, [R. Simhah Bunim] answered him that it iswritten, "A person should always fear God privately and publicly, andtcstify to the truth," and "awaken and say [pruy].,, One who has all theserlualities . . . is able ro pray upon arising. It is a mystical secret [lit. andwords from the mouth of the wise are graceful].6a

I''r';rl iurd humility enable the subjugation of the self to the divine. prayerlllrornes a form of contemplation of the infinite divine grandeur andlrrirrr's insignificance before it. The two Hasidic concepts of expandedr r rr rr+r'irrusne ss (rnohin dcgadlut) and constricted consciousness (mohindaku,ltr,ut), which usually refer to times of psychological readiness forw,rrhip and illumination, and times of unreadiness. R. simhah Bunimilrilvt:r'led the two terms into synonyms for the illumination itselfHr tlrt' expanded consciousness, and the prerequisite humility as theurrnlrir:ted consciousness. If one constricts oneself through humility,( iorl will expand one's mind in an illumination.6s

rrr ( )rr ilre use of the term "sincerity," see Lionel rrilling, sincerity and Authenticity{l iortrlrr itlgc: Harvard University Press, 1972).

rt'l MS 2:t. "A person should"-daily prayer book. This is a tradition in the name offl rvl Yelrczkel Michaelson of Plonsk (1868-1942). see N. Shemen, Di Biogra\hie n* i'ut*hottr llov ha-Rou Zai Yehezhel Michaehon (Montreal, lg48). He heard (or read it)hrlrt l{, Moshe of sochachew. who heard from R. Isaac Meir of Gur, who heard it fromE Ilrrrlurlr lluninr.

nn'l'ti l$2,210; RZ 106, 146.

434 AI,AN BRII,I,

Bunim as paradigmatic of the need for humility, awe, and self-sacrifice."If they do not accept [the Torah] with a complete (shalern) heart,they would not be exempt from death by means of Torah." It teachesthat the great and awesome obligations of the Torah dwarf humancapabilities, making one worthy of death if one does not fulfill them.5oThis condemnation to death is associated with forgetting God, lossof continuous awe, and not accepting Torah properly. These extremerequirements of a continuous consciousness hidden in the heart helpaccount for the relentlessly extreme behavior associated with PolishHasidut.5l

The stating of "we will do" before "we will listen" at Mount Sinaiimplies that theJews will need to perform the divine laws before theycan listen through personally responding. Man can act only becausehis self-sacrifice to divine law cultivates the soul. Stringencies in law aregood if they are indicative of devotion, and not mere traditionalism.

Judaism requires fulfilling the maxim of "The Merciful One requiresthe heart" (Rahhmana liba ba'i), but the heart required is not Buber'sHasidism or the ordinary Hasidic concept of the pintele yi.d. Accordingto R. Simhah Bunim, the heart required by God is an awareness thatone stands before the awe-inspiring law.52 Torah functions as the sourceof the awe, humility, and self-sacrifice to the lav,, and simultaneouslyTorah is the revelation in the heart of identity with the divine will.sS

The Hasidic approach of identifying with the divine will inherentwithin the world is also found in the Polish approach to incorporatingreligious experience within intellectual Torah study. Torah containsthe divine will; therefore "even though one does not intend to rear:hthrough study the mystical (sod), study [of halakhah] neverthelcureaches the mystical aspect of halakhah. [This is] due to wearyirrg

50 KSN 98 * 1; TS 49; TB Shabbat 88b; Maharal, Tiferet Israel94.5r Raphael Mahler, Hasidism and the Jewish Enlightenment (Philadelphia: Jewislr l'rrlr

lication Society, 1985) 291, 299.sr TS g8; on stringencies, see TS 48, MS 21.53 It is not the creative aspect of Torah study as much as the mastery of a fixcrl trxl,

R. Simhah Bunim's ideal was the Hungarian model of Talmud study, not the Litlrrr;rrrlfltlone. Sochachew and Gur have a Lithuanian formulation of the need lbr cllirr I nldinnovation in Talmud study. R. Bunim studied at the yeshiva of Mattersdorf urrrlrr E,

Jeremiah b. Isaac (d. lB05) and at the yeshiva of Nikolsberg under R. Mordcch:ri lluttFl(1753-1829).

GRANDEURAND HUMILITY 4!\tt

"rr.s.lf to reach the truth."ba The mystical aspect of study involvt:s rrr' \l)('r'icntial level attained through selflessnesi and identifying with tlrr.rlr'rrrt^ will. Some parts of the Torah do not have a literalLea,irgtl','tltrtr,), but can only be understood as an allusion(remez)to the higlrt.rr' 'rlrrs, comprehensibre through experience.5s To interpret the rr.xtlr1 rrr<'rtns of allusion (remez), o.r. r..d, to be a zaddik, crose to (i.rr,l':r'r .r.SC allusion can only be used among those who have'experienr:t:s ,rrlr,'rlivine and are therefore close to Hi;. R. simhah Bunim writes rrrrrtlr.' rt'striction needs to be publicized in Galicia, in order to limit tlrr.lr.r' rrsc of kabbalistic associations in the homilies of the contemp()l.ir.yll.r'.irlic preachers.s. R. simhah Bunim said about himself that .,r rrrrrr, rr .rlrlc to learn Kabbarah, since the study of the Kabbalah requir-.s rrrr.'

1 ,; ,r r.lrcnsion of the holy lights.57

, lrr .vo.iding explicit discussion of the Kabbalah and Hasidut ,rrrrlrrrrrrirrg himself to Talmud, rate mysticar midrashim, medieval thrlr-rglrr,rr,l M.haral, R. simhah Bunim developed an intelrectual raln.rrritl,r,r ()l Hasidism. [n a statement attribuied to R. Simhah Bunim,s srr-'lr rrr' ll' Menahem Mender Morgenstern of Kock (Kotzk) ltzsz-tsr-r9;,t I rr,, r.x1;clisntial learning is formulated.

Ir is written in the.Zohar "to be busy in the Torah," meaning a <rt,sir.t.l,r' T'orah in the depth of the heart, to be cleaving (dauah) t. ,rirr.rrrrrrrrd God, ro be one flesh. This level of creaving whili i.arnirrg'Iir.:rrr is:rr.ornprished by learning Torah for its own sike (rishmah), btx.arrsr. rrrr.srrrls of Israel are a part of God, and by means of the Torarr r'is irrrrr.rpoint!,S is awakened and cleaves to God.5e

''t IS 274.,'. ts 207, RZ 82.',, I S t(;4, RZ 62b."r ":\s it is written in the Zohar, .Come and see,,,; III:152a;f{2227."'r ( )il rlrc inner point, the pintere fid, see Mender piekarz, ,,The .Inncr l,oirrr, .r rlrr.lJ't"t', ,l (lur and Arexander as a Reflection of rheir Ability to Adiust t. (rurrrgirrtr.

I trrr' '." ll l<:[rrew], in studies in Jeuish Mysticism presented, to isaiah T].rlr.ry 0,.r-rrsrrrr.rrr,i|illl,)

"" l{ \'<'lrrrrlah AryehLerb,,sefat Em.et,_Devarim, p. r56. 'rhis rhenrc is ars. <l<.vr^r.|rrrlri tlrr'srr, irr-l:rw,l'the Kotzker in his Introductiln to the Egrci ?h/ (rri.rrk,w, r!x)r;l' r'r'rr('(l wirh r:orrecti.ns, rgSr). on Kotzk and rorah studf, sec.]. r,cvi,[r,r., ,.rrrrr,,rlf r, ,rr(,r slrCl I IaRcbbi miKorzk," Tarbizblt (lglrti), pp. l0r)_l3l-r; irti.rn, ,,.t.tr<l',1i.:r.lrirrtrqs

"l tlrr l(.lzkt't'llcbht:Ar:c.rdilrgtollis(lranrlsonR.Sanruclllon:nstcirrol s<x-lrrlrlrcw,,,

f ll'l'r.wf lhrhizltlt (lt)ll(i) PP. 4l:l-432. On R. Zarkrk, scc A. llrill,,,,l.lr(. l.t(.ll(.(tr;rl

432 AI-AN BRILL

After an afternoon nap I was told to read before him sefer Hasidim.

I took the Sefer Hasidim, asking him where [I should] start. He told me

to open the book and to read before him in the place that it was opened

to. "ih.m I did, and thus I read before him and found there these words

[on Balaam] that I said that morning. He said not to read further, that

the author of the Sefer Hasidim had come to him in a dream during his

afternoon nap, telling me to read his book. I did not know why' Now Iunderstand. Il is suffrcient to be understood.42

R. Simhah Bunim taught his followers that in order not to rBalaam's sin, one needs to adapt a determined perspective in whichone's actions are meaningful as part of God's manifestation. Based

the Maharal's thought, one submits to the divine in order to identi

with God's will.a3 One's volition and sense of self are limited to choosi

the onticly true divine path which contains God's will for the world.One's actions arejudged as manifestations of this divine will; they

evaluated not on the quantity and quality of Torah studied or mr

performed, but rather on the amount of self- sacrifice and devotion th

went into rhe act. This self-sacrifice (mesirat nefesh) R. Simhah Buni

considered a mystical secret (diurei, pi hakham hen)because self-sacri

allows one to identify with the divine. While this is comparable toideas of Habad, as presented by Naftali Lowenthal, in which activi

and self-sacrifice are a means of nullifying the self,aa R. Simhah

self-sacrifice is a need for humility in order to experience the awe

God. The mystical secret is that the more self:sacrifice one exerts,

more one consciously identifies with the divine will. "A person

gazes on the exalted divine grandeur needs to use all parts of his

divesting himself completely from everythirg . . . not even knowingvision."45

42TS 117, RZ27b, KSN 2; Sefer Hasidim (|erusalem: Mosad ha-Rav Kook, I

668. The idea of the divine will in Hasidei Ashkenaz does not seem to be either

cause or a major influence on the notion of divine will in R. Simhah Bunim'a3 Beza)el Safran, "Maharal and Early Hasidism," in Hasidism: Conti'nuity or

tion?, ed. Bezalel Safran (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988) 47-91.44 TS 41, 43, 44; Naftali Lowenthal, Cornmunicati,ng the Infi'nite: The Emerganct $

Habad, School (Chicago: University ofChicago Press, 1990).45 KSN 76 #9.

GRANDEURAND HUMILITY

Intentionality is required in daily life, as shown in his statement that"tlrr principal intention of eating is to chew well."a6 one needs to still*ucrcll'psychologically, and perform one's actions without a separaterlrrsr:iousness from the act itself. Yet the identification with the actllrrll'allows one to partake of the divinity inherent in the act. Everydayn. tivilies done with a inner-worldly ascetic dedication and total focusIrn'orne the religious goal. Eating as a devotional act does not facilitatellrr. r'tising of sparks by means of worship through corporeality, or ofrhinlqyi,hudim. One eats in order to eat, walks in order to walk, and actsI* ,rrlcr to act. This world is infused with the divine presence so thathy thring actions without the distractions of the mind one can identi$rslllr lhe divine.aT

'l'ltc varied needs and experiences of life are to be accepted wither;rr;rrrirnity. "'When one wants tranquility, toward everything he shouldrlrr rw ircceptance (saulan), spontaneously acceptance brings tranquility,*trrl w<rrds from the mouth of the wise are graceful (diurei pi hakhamfirr1."'ttt'fhe goal is not the overcoming of the illusionary nature of the*,r hl, ;rs it is in early Hasidism. The equanimity achieved is intended** lrr irrg the emotional tranquility that shows that one's actions are intltr lrlrnds of heaven. The phrase "words from the mouth of the wiseBt t, glir<:eful" (divrei pi hakham hen) is indicative of the realization thatevr.rylhing is from the divine, and that centering on the self throughlrerrr,rrrl striving is nonproductive. Ultimately, such striving takes oneawrry l)'om experiencing the divine within everything.ae

'l'lrt. rabbinic statement rhar at the giving of the Torah at Mounrfllrr'ri ( bd held the mountain over the Israelites and threatened tottttrlr llrern if they did not accepr the Torah, is taken by R. Simhah

lir'f 'S 4 ficrrn the Torat Emet, Shatuot; cf. R. Mordechai Leiner, Mei HaShiloahT4.A rltrrllll aPproach is found in the writings of R. Pinhas of Koretz, who states that theFltrrr'r{lrf il (lmaanah) of immersion in a ritual bath is to be doing that activity." Abraham

fr.rrlrrr,r Il.stlrcl, "Rabbi Pinhas of Korzec," in The circle of the-Baal shem Toa (chicago:

lltrlrlrtity ol (Jhicago Press, 1985) l-43.{' l'lrr I t:ligious purpose of eating is to sustain the body. If one is well fed, one has

t*g ltmrlorn to serve God by means of rorah. Physical comfort is seen as a prerequisiteItt tlr*,rlrhitrral lif'e. TS 39,24b.

ts'l'ti li. lrr thc name of the Torat Emet of Leibele Eigar.{r I'S fll-r, While this passage alone might be seen as a detached equanimity, in the

Flel*lrlryricrl lncl spiritual context it is a living in the moment.

433

430 AI-AN BRILL

moment's interruption. This is the attribute of Nothing (Eyz), in which

one joins the lower world to the higher world without interruption. 36

Zaddikim alternate between the pre-fall state of union with the divine

and the state of living in this world of good and evil. Sin and exile

are due to Adam's sin of having a will of his own which thereby

created good and evil. They will not be undone until the coming ofthe Messiah, who will be able to live in this world and identiff withthe divine at the same time.37 Solomon wanted to restore (tikkun) theworld, unredeemed from Adam's fall, and to gather the fallen sparkCI

in the physical world by marrying foreign wives. However, before the

messianic age, this was not yet possible. One serves God in the varied

ways of this world, not by freely gathering sparks, but by submittingordinary actions to God's will.38 Here R. Simhah Bunim differs in hirunderstanding of the concept of finding God in creation from that inearly Hasidism. He interprets finding God in all creation as the need tO

relaie to evil as the necessary polarity of goodness. King Solomon had

to marry foreign wives in order to show that everything is governed by

the divine will and thereby to restore the original state of Adam.If everything manifests God's presence, then evil (even if un

also contains elements of the divine presence. Again, if everything

governed by God's will, evil may be considered an unwilled privatiof tt. divine. Combining his sources, R. Simhah Bunim assurnes tl

everything expresses both God's will and the goodness of God,therefore evil ultimately issues from God's goodness and is willedGod.3e This combination of will and vitality creates a tension bet

36 TS 118; RZ 2, based on TB Taanit 31a.37 TS 155, RZ77a, KSN 5.38 TS 30.3e R. Simhah Bunim's determinism was directly influenced by his reading of

Maharal and his association with ttre Maggid of Kozienice (Israel ben Shabbatai

ca. 1733-7874), whose writings integrated Kabbalah with Hasidut and Maharal,

God's will in M. H. Luzzatto's thought, see Rivka Shatz' "Moshe HalyimThought Against the Background of Theodicy Literature," itJusti'ce and

ed. Yair Hoffman and H. G. Reventlow, JSOT supplement series (Sheffield:

Academic Press, 1992); on the theological issues, see Norman Bell, Loae Theorl i,n

Hanbalite Islam (Albany: SUNY Press, 1979), chaPter 4. Bell presents the phi

issues of holding simultaneously that everything is God's will, and thereforeand the position that everything is God's desire for His glory or our benefit, in

GRANDEURAND HUMILITY 431

tlrt'clivine will, found onry in Torah, and the divine good.ness, found inull *ctions. In a messianic perspective, one rearizes lhat everything is arlivir-re manifestation of God,s will.a0

'l'he relationship of humility and the sensation of the divinewill seems to contain much which is similar to the discussion oflrlc'ty (hasiduf) found.in the writings of R. Mose, H"ri; LDZZatto11707'1747).a1 Both view humility ai the acceptance that ail evenrs oftlrix world including evil are God's pran for the best of ail possibrew'r'lds. A comprehensive theology of determinism, similar to thoselrrrrrd in larer porish Hasidism, is dimcult to piece i"g.,h;. from hisri!rl(:rnents. Among his students, however, R. Simhah B"unim,s goal forrr .rnnection to the div,ine gave the worthy few an omnisigiificantvlrw .f themselves in which their lives were regarded as due to thenrirrrilbstation of the divine will.

. l'irr an explicit discussion of determinism, R. simhah Bunim usesllrr ;r<:tions of Balaam, whose sin was the nonrecognition of this deter-Inlrrism.

l, parashat Barak, fthe sratemenr of Balaam] ',I sinned because I did notk'ow" (Numbers 22:24) is difficult, because according to his words ont lre conrrary, rhere was no sin at all. This itself is tne si"n, that he did notk.ow and did not understand the cause of what occurred thrice, that(iod's will (ratzon Hashem) was rhar he should not go *itn tr,.m.

r d*' t'v.rything is filred with God. If one holds both at the same time, then everythingh lr*tlr willed and divine good, and rhereiore even evil is willed uy coat g;oa.att ll'/, 40b-4ra R. Ahron warden nores rhe conrrasring views of R. simhah Bunimnl*l l{. Mcnahem Mendel of Kock on the sin of yehudah. R. simhah Bunim ailows afi*'inl*rrit perspective, while Menahem Mender thinks that one can never trust oneserf*H lrr uilainment. This messianic role for yehudah is further a.r.top.Ji' tte schoorsll lrlrL ir and Gur.

tt het Me.r,rat yesharim, chapter 1g (fear and humility, the glory of nitzaot,rove, joy,**rl r rrrrrrrrrrnion), and chaprers 2g,24, 2b,26 (humility before the grandeur of God).I lrr l,rrrzirrto's view of the divine will, see his Daar Teaunot leene ne?a( isi+;. vo.u*f*rrrlrrrrrr,"'l'oratHaHanhagahshelRamhalveZikatahleToratHaKabbalah shero,, Italial*lau 'r t ( I 9{}9) 27-46; yoief Avivi, ,,Historiah Zorekh Gevohah,,, Sjn Uoyorrt UAouldwil&ltui llnnt'cr Yor.2, ed. Moshe Bar Asher g..r.rr.m, 1gg2) 7og-?71. some ofllrerr lrler* irre also to be found in R. yonatan Elbes.hutz (d. rz64), Tiferet yehonatan{fa rlr,rlrrrr, l()86).

428 AI-AN BRILL

Amidah, ,,God open our mouths" (adonai sefatai tiftach), because God

is overwhelmingly beyond human praise'

It would certainly be impossible, because of the magnitude of awe and

fear to approach in thanks, and praise the Exalted and Holy one. But,,the righieous shall praise," through the power of Torah we have license

and pe"rmission and are able to tay n.fo.. Him songs and praises'30

However, this experiential recognition of God's greatness and man's

lowliness represents the very state of prayer in "truth" in which God

reveals his grandeur.In this case the veracity of the experience is self-validating in that it

does not come from one's own mind, but actually from the divine.

The mystic needs to know that this experience is not from [his] intellect

alone. If not for the grace of the Creator, the person [would not] remainS

alive because God . . . used the person's faculties, his spirit, soul, and

limbs. . . . one who is worthy of this knows, and it is impossible to explain

further.3l

The experience described consists of a sense of identification with thC

divine, occurring within the limitations of human faculties. R. Simhah

Bunim cannot explain how, but he knows that there is a mechanisrn

that keeps man alive during the experience.

HumilitY and God's Will

The feeling of awe before the divine leads both to an awarenetl

of humility baied on human limitations and a simultaneous realizatiOtll

of one's grearness in the ability to identiff with the divine. "Ifone instant in his life fear of God leaves the bones of a persotls

all of Gehinnom is not sufficient to repay him."32 Fear of God

30 TS 140, RZ 55b. "The righteous" is a paraphrase of"I will declare thy righ

(Isaiah 57:12).3r TS 204, RS 80b. Kol Simhah Hashalem, ed. R. Ahron Walden, Beha'alotekha'32TS 220, TS 103 citing RZ 115; fear is replaced by deaehut. The equating of;

and d.euehut is also found in R. Mordekhai Yosef Leiner of Izbicha, Mei Hashilnah

where d.eaehut is defined as acting in accordance with the divine will. TS 306 has a

of R. Bunim dropping a cup of wine due to fear'

GRANDEURAND HUMILITY 429

.rrltivated as an experience of man's sensing his own smallness beforellr. grandeur of God. R. simhah Bunim is often recorded as citing therlrbbinic statement that one is to consider oneself simultaneously ,:I amrlrsr. and ashes" and "for me the world was created.,'33 According toIri*r, one does not oscillate between these opposite attitudes, but iirey.,.stitute a two-step process. First one u...pii hrr*ility as a conversionl, sensing the divine presence, and then one evaluates decisions inrt'lirrence to one's sensing the divine in ord.er to realize one,s truelrrrcntial. If one can realize one's insignificance and passivity beforetlr. divine, then one may activery achileve an influx from the divine.{ )rrr: becomes both humble and elite, rike "the patriarchs who werevrsscls to receive the blessed divinity.,,s+3rewish society consists of threeHr

(),ps: the simple believers, the humble erite scrupulousry folowingllrt'.legal requirements, and the few who can experience the divine.35

l)ue to Adam's fall from his original oneness with the divine whenl*' was without a sense of self, man needs to overcome his ordinaryr otrsr:iousness of the separation of this world from God.

Ilefore the sin, 19u* was so great in his continuous cleaving to theapprehension of the divine that he did not know and sense that hek,ew and sensed. A, of his vitality and senses were crorhed in [divinity]r:ontinuously without any interruption.

Despite [the fall], the entire worship of zad.dikim is to reach this levelirrrermittently. This level is, in truth, the attribute of Nothing (Eyn). Afterthe sin, [Adam] fen from this [lever] and sensed that he r..ri.a.

In the world to come, a person wil not be able to take out hisvcssels and eat, meaning [there is no] physicality, [because] the eternallif'e is spirituar. yer there is a mixture oi good'and evil. ihe uessiahwill function on this level as before the fall. . . . zaddikim cannot be onrhe two levels ar once, but the Messiah will act on both levels without a

t't'lli lg3; MS 12, 66; RZ 25.1r KsN 42 #b.

, :1 l': l{. Goodenou gh, The pslchology of Religious Experiences (New york: Basic Books,ltltrt) | 17,.r33, disting,ishes between 'isub"*and ..rup.." orthodox religious actions.l'lrr rrrlr,r(hodox simple believer does not live up the erite,s orthodox stindard, whilelltr nrrlrrr.rthodox are able to transcend the standard and achieve

" hd;;. religiouskft.,rl.

426

for his own situation.26 TS 198 in *re name of RS 68.

AI-AN BRILL

as an invaluable aid in reaching God; following revelation, however,

Torah becomes the preferred path to God. The idea of the heart as an

organ of divine experience resembles its function in the thought of the

Miharal, and R. Simhah Bunim combines this with Maimonides'idea

of man's natural connection to God through the contemplation of the

world and philosoPhy.23The divine pr...r." found in the world and in the soul remains

hidden, yet "a person needs to accept (lehaamin) that God is in the

midst foithe individual souls] of Israei even though it appears hidden."

This takes much effort, because even the hiddenness is hidden in

order that "a person not be able to understand that it is hidden." The

hidden hiddenness of God does not reveal itself and allow one to find

God externally. The only way to find this hiddenness is to reach into'

the depths of the soul and dnd God in the internality of the heart.2{

Przysucha Hasidim advised hiding one's piety and personal worshipi

one worked on internal ,tut.t oi the heart and hid one's externAl

practices.25R. Simhah Bunim develops the experience of learning Torah ar

an emotional experience that cannot be confused with any sensory

experiences.

The Torah of his God is in his heart (Psalms 37:31). There is no senaQ

with which to perceive the Holy Torah excePt through the heart. Man'l

senses are for perceiving [the world], but for [perceivingl the holy Torah

and His blessed divinity there is no sense except the heart. Specifically

rhe secrets of the Torah which are called the divine Torah (torat Elohiml

are perceived by the heart. Therefore one should not make a mistak6n

God forbid.26

23 Yoram Jacobson, "The Image of God as the Source of Man's Evil According

the Maharal" [Hebrew], Daat 19 (1987) 103-136'2a TS 180; quoted in Sefot Emet on Deut', Nitzavim 60b'25 TS 194,

.228; RZ 8a; Milin Hadetin Korach; Shabbat teshuva 80a. Bahye

pakudah, Horot Haleuauot, Shaar Yihud Hamaaseh, chap. 5 mentions this approach

hiding piety to avoid hubris and corruption from social pressures, but Bahye fears li, t

lead ['laxness. The Sufr writer Sharafuddin Maneri, The Hundred Letters trans"

and notes, PaulJackson (New York: Paulist Press, 1980) letter 95 and passim, ex1

both views of hiiing and not one 's piety, and leaves the reader to decide which is

GRANDEURAND HUMILITY 427

It' tiimhah Bunim warns against confusing this sensation of the divinewitlt emotional, self-generated sensations of God.27

An experience of God thar remains hidden in the heart while one1xr'lakes of the secrets of the Torah raises the modern prontem ol. a1r.r'sonal subjective experience that cannot give knowledge and is pronet, lre misreug by rhe unprepared. R. simhah Bunim #., , need ftrr* r rrtinizing the validity of the experience; once it has been examined,Ir,wever, ole may be sure that it is true. He cites Maimonides as ilurl)l)ort for his position.

"And testify to rh€ truth and speak truth in the heart.', The explanati'rrof "to the truth" is that due totruth arone does one testify to the trutrr,'I'o "speak (dober)

_ftruthl" implies a complere acr. one should lead thetruth ro his hearr from his intellect, to protuce a unity (yihud) of interer.;rnd heart.28

l'lr. rruth obtained by a union of the heart and mind embodies therlivirrc itself and therefore is not subject to skepticism. The experiencelc rr.r conceptualizert as a personar inumination from God to the selt,l,,lllcr it is presented as an experience of the otherness and grandeur,r.tl* rlivine presence based on-prior preparation. si*il"rt, f;iescribestl* ;rwareness of an externar revelition as ,,the revearirig of

'ui, u**,

tttrity, and glorious kingship, overwhelming the senses .". . and wrratglr.ittcr joy is there than this?,,2s

It. Simhah Bunim requires one to prepare oneself for prayerllllrrrgh the development of awe, love, urrd holi.r..s. when one begins

'r rrr'ily, one senses fear and shame before the grandeur, as a puirryr r.iirrlre who stands with little, insignificant knowi-edge. This awe leaver*

'rrr rrnable to pray except for th6 petition at the "start

of the silent

. e / see r he more gradual approach of Dov Baer schneersohn, on Ecstasy, trans. Louis

frrrrlx (ohappaqua, N.y: Rosier Books, 1963), who develops a continuum fr.m the|ull Hrncrated experiences o_f the emotion, to th. ontic divine .*p..r*rr.*u oi the mind.

lj': ;:Il, :::'*'-11'ff I ll l; l'*l* Bunim is # i;;ii;,;;i:ilffi J*TJili!';xljl::,.J::::1, !:, !::":{!,:nt .lary.et

in st to.hn 6,n, [,"*i{,i,iri"i,ii"d,",,if,1i',ill,j3::,:::r,:-{}Y1::\

paurist press, rsdzr, *i. .";;ffffiil ffi:-tl[:'::l:::i:l-,:::Tfl:::lTl,Tl"::,".es with ,i," i"i","J's,;_* **i.",f,Xl1,*iillte.prrlgution during the long nighi of the soul,

vH'll$ 107; RZ 86. Maimonid.J, Mishn.h Torah, Sed,er Hatefi,lot.$r'l'ti ?0fi, Rz tll.

Ii

II

I

424 AI-AN BRILL

this [combination], all hindrances will fall. [The word] "glowing coals"(gehalim) has the gematria of ninety one... (equal to the two [divine]names which have the gematria of ninety-one).15 This mindfulness is

similar to a glowing coal.ra

The experience of God in the mind constitutes a tremendous experi-ence that would be consuming like fire. R. Simhah Bunim questionsthe ability to suwive this experience through allusion to the verse "Canone walk upon hot coals and his feet not get scorched?" (Provertrs6:28). Fear and love of God protect one's feet from burning due to thehot coals of God's presence in the mind. This state of having the twodivine aspects present and unified in the mind can be called a realizedstate of "glowing mind."15

To achieve the state of glowing mind one must sanctify the selfby study, seclusion (because "holiness requires solitude lhitboddcdut]),"and ritual purity.i6 The objective experience of God's presence reflect8a conscious experience, and not an egoless deaehut. The holy spirit(ruah hakodesh) dwells in the midst ofJacob, and all his descendants,Therefore, one can sense God naturally, after one's initial preparationt,by means of an intellectual study which affects the heart. The purifiedheart is the indwelling of God. "There is nothing behind the soul excethe blessed creator."lT If the mirror of the soul is polished fromtarnish of sin and ethical imperfection, then intellectual kallows God to shine from that soul.

The shining of God in the perfected soul displays itself in thatmay sense God even in the hiddenness and distance of creation;philosophic study of creation reveals itself to be the path to God.

13 The sentence in parentheses has been moved from a different part of this14 TS 150. RZ 69b.l5 Compare the description of R. Kook's illumination in Binyamin Ish Shalom,

Aaraham ltzhah HaCohen Kook: Between Rationalism and Mlsticism (Albany: SUNY1993) 217. The "glowing" metaphor of warm light is common in mystical writingc;examples in Jewish texts, see Moshe ldel, The Mystical Experience in Abraham(Albany: SUNY Press, 1988) 77-83.

16 TS 31,242.17 TS 108, RZ I2A, KSN 3.

GRANDEURAND HUMILITY421'r

"But from there you will seek the Lord rhy Gofl.,,ra [The phrase] ,,Irgrrthere" refers to the other prace of philosophical and intel,ectua] invegti.gations ro grasp God.and H_is-unity. But the

""rnlrlir"r lplitosoptryl isthe actual place, the heart. When u p.rro., properly purifies his ethiralrraits as presented by Maimonides in his Hilkhot Deot,then he wilr find i.his heart the blessed divinitv. The finding [of God] ,A;i;;;". ro kn.wthar one has to seek, search, and investifaie with ar yl", Lr.t aner withall your soul.re

when the sour has been moralry cleared, and an interectuar awe (ri.or.lrlrilosophy or from the srudy of Torah) affects the emotions ,,r, [reIr.art, the heart shows its divinity. The verse ,,But from there y.u wiiln.t,k the Lord thy God,' (Deu t. 4:2g) shows thar one .un only reek(,rd by means of the human mind, even though it seems lar lirrrrr('r<l'20 God can be found through ih. irrurioriof rorah study int'rlrt' emorional experience of the ieart. This experi."..

"i cua has it.sfl,rrrce beyond the five senses of vision, hearing, touch, taste, and srnclllry rneans of an emotional philosophic investigation.Intellectuar investigation invorves a contemprative meditation orrtlr<'clivine hierarchy and providence as found in Maimonides, ana irr.,rlrrr medievar and earry modern works. Achieving intellectuar awe ,r.tlrr.clivine is also possible through Talmud study.

"The Torah of his God is in his heart.,,2r rhis refers to the apprehe.si.rr .r.God. may He be bressed. None of the senses has the ability to cx,erri.ru.r(lehargish) the Torah olGo{, except the hearr, fhe source of thc s.ns,l i,rrand experience of the Torah of iod. But before rh" gil;g;i:trr*'riu.urrrhe only way to God by human intellect:nas by pfriior<riitry (hakh,*nt),Bur Moses did nor need this even before the giving or u.,J.tilrit,, *s ir inwritten, "It was good, etc.,, (hi tou\3z

{ }r'iginally, Adam was connected to the divine Torah without thc ncedfir'lruman intelrect, and Moses courd reach this hidden light cvcrrIrrlirrc rhe reveration at Sinai. After the r"rr,-ir,.Ir;;;h;tljtr *.,r.alH l)crrt.4:29.r!r 'l's 133, RZ 46b.flr ,l'!r 108, RZ I2a.,l I,:t. 37:3,l;oldJpS translatcs as..The Law.,,'/7'tls t33, RZ 46b.

7

422 AI-AN BRILL

In the name of R. Simhah Bunim it is said: From R. Abraham Ibn Ezra's

great fear of heaven and awe, he [R. Simhah Bunim] cannot understandhow Ibn Ezra's vitality abided in his body. However, in truth Israel isgiven this power to hold all this in its midst, to perceive these sensationsand, in its midst, to contain them.s

Maimonides is also presented as the source for this fear of God. R.

Simhah Bunim said:

in the name of his holy teacher R. Moses Leib Sasov U745-18071 . , ,

Each person is required at each second to consider the grandeur of Godas it is written "lift up your eyes on high" (Isaiah 40:26).. . . One needsto know the grandeur of the world of action, the middle world, andthe higher world . . . and also the world of angels is included becaussthe intellect reaches there. Through this one can come to a little fearofheaven fbecause] one can exert effort and know the grandeur ofthecreator. If one does not know the grandeur of the world, it will be slightin his eyes. . . . Therefore, Maimonides opened his work to let us knowa drop in the ocean of these matters. This was in order to reach fear ofGod, and he [Maimonides] writes there how to proceed with love andfear of God.6

This continuous experience of the fear of God constitutes the chiefgoal in religious life. "A person should cleave to his Creator and notcease literally for an instant. One who ceases an instant . . . all ofGehinnom is not sufficient for him."7

Awe of God as experienced in creation exists at the point at whichMaimonides' and the Baal Shem Tov's discoveries of God in the worldconverge.

It is known that one needs continuously to combine the two [divinolnames, the Tetragrammaton and A-D-N-Y. To know with strong faith(emunat omen) that he sustains all existence. As Maimonides writes in thl

in Eastern Europe; it does seem that his work was accepted in a manner simlluMaimonides' writings.

5 T.S. 191.6 T.S. 310, RZ 73; Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Yesodei HaToraft chapters 2-$,7 T.s. lo3. RZ 5.

GRANDEURAND HUMILITY 423

introduction ,".hr.:.*:,.k ,,the.basic principle of all basic principles,,,s al-luding [in the initiar letters.] ro rh; r.tiug.u*-ri;nliurttrermorehe wrires thar this exisrenie "is rhe rorE of rh;;;rrd, master ofthe earth."e rhis is the actual combination in the mind of alr Israel.r0

'l'he Tetragrammaton refers to God as first principle of creation, as,lluded to in the first statement of Maimonides, and A-D-N-Y refers to( i.d as providential master of the world, as discussed in the second$ I lltement of Maimonides.

Both divine creation and divine providence are required in orderlirr man to have the experience of aivinity because t '

with [the creator aspect of God alone], one could not sustain the fear ancllove that are needed toexperience the grandeur of the King of Kings, theHoly one, blessed be He, that sustains ill the worlds and is"not separatedfrom this world even an instant. He is connec ted, (mithabber) with peoplein order to give rgward and punishment according to the Torah. This isthe combination that brings fear and love, and thir is comprete faith.ll

( I.ution and providence are the two aspects of divinity needed to attain,rwr'.r2 God's ongoing connection to th; world by means of reward andlrrrrrishment ailows

rurr_t_o develop the fear, love, and complete faithrrt'r'<led to contemplate His grandlur in creation. As noted above, It.fiirrrlrah Bunim descritres the experience of God as sensed in the mindi*rrl

'ot in the world itself. oni cultivates the mind to sense the awe'rrrrl

wonder of God's will behind nature and the externar worrd.'l'he continuous divine creation and providence is parailel to ma,,sr*t'tl fbr continuous experience of the diuirr. manifest through God'nr l'lrtive and providential power.

'l'lris is the thought of which a person needs to be mindful continu.usrywithout a moment,s pause. Ii is called ,,feet,, and by means of

fi M;rinronides, Mishneh Torah, yesodei HaTorah l:1.ff M:rirnonides, Mishneh Torah, yesodei HaTorah Z:Zl0,1,.q. 150.rr 'll5 ll")0, TS l0g.l', ( )rr rlrc two levels of fincling cod in creation and through providence, see KSN r)Z#'1, ttsiN tl | #!), 'I'his is in conrrasr to R. Zadok,s distinction "b.ir..n

the high., aspecrtil r*'vt'l;rri.rr:rnd the lower aspect of creation and providence, see footnote-z.

446 AI-AN BRILL

Max Weber, occurs to the miraculous Hasidic world, with a rejectionof traditional wonder-workers, public comrnunity celebrations, andvoluntary devotional ritual. In its place, R. Simhah Bunim created aninternal religion with a neoscholastic return to classical theologicalissues, moral seriousness, and self-initiative, and, most strikingly, sawthe secular domain as an expression of God's will. The external worldwas now a place of economic advantage, while religion was limited topersonal growth. As opposed to the communal elements of religiouslife, the individual cultivates purity of the heart and acceprs his destinyas willed by the divine.eT

R. Simhah Bunim's thought was a reaction to the breakdown oftraditional piety, parallel to American Puritanism and its tensions intrying to embrace the new prosperity and still achieve salvation. ThePuritans formulated the tension of prosperity and piety as, "the darkerour sanctification is, the cleaner is ourjustification." Instead of advocat-ing a return to premodern religion, both the Puritans and R. SimhahBunim advocated enrering the modern city with a pieristic religion ofmystical inwardness. The Puritans wanted grace; predestination was anassurance of one's status. R. Simhah Bunim wanted to obey God's will;humble submission made it possible. Crediting everything ro the willof God simultaneously invokes a religious feeling of dependence andan assurance that one understands how God's grandeur is found in theworld. One can confidently wait to pray because one has a sense ot'assurance that one can reach God. Entering the modern city requiredfor R. simhah Bunim an acceptance of its unpredictability as divinelywilled. The seemingly injurious qualities of sin, the remptations ol'the city, self-initiative, free enterprise, and disenchantment from themiraculous are, for R. Simhah Bunim, part of God's plan. FindingGod in daily life is transformed from an otherworldly quietism into arr

e7 On the turn to an internal religion and its concurrent disenchantment ol tlremagical as connected to a doctrine of assurance through predestination, see Dew<.y ll,wallace, Puritans and Predcsti.nation (chapel Hill: University of North carolina lrreq,i982) 193-198; Ernst Troeltsch, Protestantism and Progress (New York: G. p. I,ulrr;rr1,1912); B. A. Gerrish, Tradition and the Modern world (chicago: Universiry ot'olrir.;rgrrPress, 1978). While these variants on the Weber thesis discuss Protestantisn), rrr:rrry rrfthe themes can be profitably applied with caution to.fewish history as wcll.

GRANDEUR AND HUMILITY 447

r,rr,'r w.rldly asceticism of self-reliance and inner growth; the city hasll, , r r trirnsformed into a monastery in the mind.g8Ii Simhah Bunim writes that everyone needs a rabbi to teach himl"r'rlr :rrd worship, but if one can find God's will in everything and

'| 'r l(':r'n from all people, even those far from religion, one can relyrrrr,rr.Self and does not need a rabbi at all.ee przylucha Hasidism isIrr"rr"rr lirr its emphasis on living truthfulry in accord. with one,s ownr,,lr'rrlrrality. Yet the truth that is lived up to is to merge with the' lrr r rr. r r uth, and one's individuality must b; a preordain"ipu.t of the,l^rrr. rranifestation. R. simhah Bunim's teachings are intended forrrr .rrrrlir:nce that is willing and able to change its-ways and reach the'r., rr.;rl levels which he advocated. This elitism is similar to the elitisml"rrrrrl i, Safed, a hloiz modered after Safed or the inner circle at the' i ''r | (,1 the Hozeh.l,, A rebbe is someone who can raise people fromrl",, ( r:inarement in the routine pattern of Hasidic religious life to,, rr.,, tlrc divine will in the world around them.

llr. vitalistic and romantic idea of reviving the riving from theirr"r, ',lrrrrrber of observance has been used tolho* the closeness ofl"'lr"lr Il:rsidism to existentialism. However, this idea is not unique to, ', r',ri:rlism and polish Hasidism; it is also found in many religiousr' "r" ll,wever, the purpose of awakening in these religious texts isr" r'i .llil(' lhe perfection of the true nature of one's sour.ihe purpose,'r rlr{ ('r('ouragement of individuality is to lead to individual ipiritual1'1"1qrl1. :rrrd not as a fbrm of existential antinomianism, to live inrl, ,r,)rr('rlt, and against the routine "bad faith" of life.l,l while R."rr,rlr.rlr

llrr.im and his students adhere to an individualistic, vitalistic,r,'l ,,rrr.rirnes situational ethic, these qualities lead. to growth andr 1'rr.rrr'r irlentification with a higher self, not to authenicity to theiill i'l I )ttt( )lls self.

' t)( r\(.!, l). Wallace, puritans and. pred,esfination, ll}_114,193_lgg.'1,,',N l| /t17.

r" ti.rr lrt'l l'lli,r', "The Innovation of polish Hasidism (From Love and Fear to Depth'rr'l \ rr rr rr )" ll l<'b.cwl rr,rbiz62 (lgg3) 3gl-432. There are no studies of the process of',",: ',,,,,,,:,, ,t, ; r. rr r .l l lrc clite circle at the court of the Hozeh or of the process of tecoming

"r r tr'rrlr':' r';trt, wrhing rlp: oucn:onting rhe obstacres to Human potential (Boston:; , !. r, rr l l ,il rr;rr y,.Slr:rrrrllirl:r, l 1)86).

448 ALAN BRILL

R. Simhah Bunim's method initiated a turn to internal religionand metaphysical determinism, a return to medieval philosophy, andseeking God in the modern world. His followers include later Polishthinkers such as R. Mordekhai Yosef of Izbicha, R. Yehudah Leib ofGur, and R. Zadok Hakohen of Lublin. Though R. Simhah Bunim mayhave developed metaphysical doctrines, his ideas remain fragmentarydue to the aphoristic and homiletic nature of the sources in whichthey are found. However, his successors found enough in them todevelop them into fuller theological schemes of determinism, repentance, and revelatory intention. R. Simhah Bunim's internal religionalso influenced the culture of urban Polish Hasidic life, including themany editors of Hasidic stories, in their writings about the early Hasidicmasters, brought to their work their own affinity for the world of PolishHasidism. This caused future readers not to differentiate between thetwo paths of the early Hasidim and Polish Hasidim. In the path ofR. Simhah Bunim, mystical experience of the divine grandeur ocwhen there is a complete identity of wills; so that instead of the Maggidof Mezhirech's emotional experience described as "your word is fire,R. Simhah Bunim's humble experience of the divine grandeurapply be described as "your mind is fire."

R. ISRAEL LIPSHIJTZAND THE MOUSE THAT IS

HALF FLESH AND HALF EARTH:A NOTE ON TORAH U-MADDA

IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURYSID Z. LEIMAN

I

. , A.:Tio,"s passage in the Mishnah reads as follows: ,,A mouse thatlr lr;rlf' flesh and harf earth: if one touches the fleshy f"riior, rr" i.illr( l(.an; if the earthy portion, he is clean.,'lAlready Maimonides saw the need. to defend, even while expressing

tttr pr isc at, the existence of such an unusuar creature. He wrote:

'l'hc spontaneous generation of the mouse specifically from the dust ofth<: earth' so that it is part flesh and part earth or mud, yet its entirel,cly is in motion, is a matter well known. countress p"rrJr* have tordrrr. that they have seen it. Nonetheless, the existence of such a creaturein an astonishing matter, which cannot be explained.2

I M, Ilullin 9:6. See also b. Sanhedrin 9la.| ( ittttrntnLar"j on the Mishnah, ad, roc. Later authorities who defended the existence oflllr rrrrrrr*r'tl .r.utu.. incrude R. pinehas Hurwitz (d. tgzr), nr.rf,il .,1!D (ferusarem, l9g0),l'l+'tl, 1'' ?2?; and R. yekutiel Aryeh Kamelhu. 1a. toaz1, )lni,v"rar.rrn)nn (Lemberg,Itllllt), gr, {)0. C{. the sources cited'below, note 15. ' 't, tu)/'tt \

t|rrrre'irrle.preters of Maimonides understood this passage as essentialy denying thellirtt'rri r-'rr[ rhe mouse rhat is harf flesh and half earth.-s.., Lg., ,r,. "*rrii.faiscussionlft *, Y,nrl l(afih's eelition of Maimonides, nlh ii:rDD (Jerusareir, l9g6), vor.'8, n:u nr:)nIl,I :t, rr. 4,pp.231-232

449