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On the night of Simhat Torah 5575 [1814], the Seer closeted himself in his room on the second story of his home. The one window overlooking the wide Jewish street was open; it was very near to the…
Contributor:
Urye Kahan
Places:
Odessa, Russian Empire
(Odesa, Ukraine)
Date:
1867
Subjects:
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Public Access
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The Birth of the Ba‘al Shem Tov
One of the greatest phenomena, running like a thread throughout the spiritual history of the Jewish people, is mysticism, a remnant of ancient mythology, which could…
Contributor:
Avraham Kahana
Places:
Zhitomir, Russian Empire
(Zhytomyr, Ukraine)
Date:
1900
Categories:
Public Access
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A. Many great, wise, genius, and righteous men beseeched me to publish in a book that which I received from scribes and…
Contributor:
Yisroel Berger
Places:
Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania
(Bucharest, Romania)
St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
(St. Petersburg, Russia)
Date:
1909
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Contributor:
Shneur Zalman of Liady
Places:
Lyady, Russian Empire
(Lyady, Belarus)
Date:
ca. 1800
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Three Idlers [finish chanting]:
Why, oh why,
Did the soul descend
From the highest height
To the deepest end?
The greatest fall
Contains the upward flight.
[A long pause. All three sit motionless…
Contributor:
S. An-ski
Places:
Date:
1913–1917
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This is no fairy tale, it really happened.
In our shtetl, there was a bright young man named Móyshele. He was as smart as a whip, and also a good-for-nothing. Then all at once he disappeared, and no…
Contributor:
Sonya the Wise Woman (Sonya Naimark)
Places:
Date:
1908
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Now, aside from the fact that it is altogether impossible to interpret the matter of tzimtzum literally, for that would attribute corporeal events to the…
Contributor:
Shneur Zalman of Liady
Places:
Lyady, Russian Empire
(Lyady, Belarus)
Date:
1797
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Indeed, what is necessary is precisely to “cast away the mind,” because it is necessary to cast aside all rational processes and serve God simply. This is because a person’s deeds should outweigh his…
Contributor:
Nachman of Bratslav
Places:
Bratslav, Russian Empire
(Bratslav, Ukraine)
Date:
1809
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Devekut requires that there be no impediment between man and God; only then is devekut possible. As in the parable of the Besht, it is impossible to join silver coins together…
Contributor:
Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk
Places:
Vitebsk, Russian Empire
(Vitebsk, Belarus)
Date:
1814