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Links: An Annotated Internet Guide to Hasidic Stories
compiled by Debbie Rittner
Updated August 19, 2001
Table of Contents:
- Background Information
- People
- Organizations
- Books Published by Jason Aronson
- Other Stories
TOP OF PAGE
Background Information
The Shamash Jewish Internet Consortium
Shamash is one of the largest and best known of the Jewishly oriented
services available throughout the Internet, or anywhere online. You can
find background information on Hasidism (also spelled Hassidism,
Chasidism, Chassidism) here.
soc.culture.jewish faq
This page addresses the question of "What is Chassidism and
how does it differ from other Orthodox groups?" This one-page summary is
an interesting read and makes you want to know more...hence, the reading
list:
Chassidism reading list
The reading list and the one-page summary about Chasidism were both
written by Chabad, or the Lubavitch movement of Hasidism, whose
headquarters are in Brooklyn. All the recommended books about Chasidism
are published by 2 Lubavitch publishers, Kehot and Sichos.
Other Sources of Background Information
Israel Faxx
Calling itself "A free Israeli and Middle Eastern news roundup (in Acrobat PDF format), as well as a searchable full text database dating to March 1994)," Israel Faxx features a large collection of links to Jewish web sites on a variety of subjects.
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People
www.baalshemtov.com WEB site
This is an entire WEB site devoted to the Baal Shem Tov. It is being
created by Tzvi Meir Cohn, a Lubavitcher Hasid. The WEB site contains
many attractive color photos, including a group photo of a visit to the
grave of the Besht. At the home page, click on "legends" for 5 Baal
Shem Tov stories. Clicking on "bibliography" provides the user with
some interesting source material.
Breslov Research Institute
There is an entire WEB site devoted to Rebbe Nachman, great-grandson of
the Baal Shem Tov. It includes his bio, his teachings, and how to
become a follower of the rebbe.
Shlomo Carlebach's unofficial WEB site
While this is not the only Shlomo Carlebach WEB site, this is the only
one where you will find modern-day Hasidic stories that often cite the
Baal Shem Tov or Rebbe Nachman of Bratslav. (This site is now apparently maintained by Shamash.)
Rabbi Gedaliah Fleer's WEB site
Rabbi Fleer is a world-renowned authority on Jewish mysticism and the
teachings of Rebbe Nachman.
He is the author of 2 books, Rabbi
Nachman's Fire and Rabbi Nachman's Foundation, as well as several
articles. Fleer was the first person from the West, in recent
generations, to travel to Uman, Russia to visit Rabbi Nachman's grave.
Gedaliah Fleer is a master teacher and storyteller of Kabbalah and
Hasidism and its many applications to everyday life.
Recent lecture
topics have included:
- "Healing in Kabbalistic Tradition,"
- "The Healing Power of Forgiveness," and
- "The Power of Jewish Storytelling."
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Organizations
Jewish
Jewish Communication Network (JCN)
JCN is a hub of electronic communications for the Jewish world with
links everywhere and with subject matter ranging from food to holidays
to Israel. The JCN WEB site hs several
interesting documents containing Hasidic stories.
Hasidic Tales for Hanukkah
Scroll down to the heading "A Hasidic Hanukkah" and choose from among 4
very short tales:
"The Cantor and the Righteous Man"
This is a fascinating Russian Hasidic tale retold by Yori Yanover.
Virtual Yeshiva
Rabbi Rami Shapiro of Miami, Florida has created a WEB site for people
who want to be part of the Jewish renewal movement. It is especially
for individuals who are drawn to Reconstructionist Judaism, or who are
seeking an alternative concept of G-d or deity.
The Virtual Yeshiva WEB site allows users to:
- link up with well-known rabbis like Zalman Schachter Shalomi and Arthur Waskow,
- join a virtual minyan, or
- peruse course material on the book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes).
And, by clicking on Talebearers, you will find several Hasidic stories,
including 2 Baal Shem Tov tales.
People living in the Miami area can
also access a local phone number for TorahTales, a 24-hour a day
telephone learning service which focuses on Hasidic stories.
Havienu L'Shalom WEB site
This site was set up to be a "virtual" congregation led by Rabbi Meilech
Leib DuBrow, a follower of the Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel
Schneerson. Throughout the site one can find excerpts of teachings of
the Baal Shem Tov. Browsers can send email to the Rabbi who lives in
St. Louis.
"http://www.tzivos-hashem.org/">The Storyteller" at Tzivos Hashem WEB site
Tzivos Hashem is an international Jewish children's organization formed
with the backing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1980. Tzivos Hashem
reaches out to Jewish children using the media that appeal most to kids,
including the Internet.
"Tzivos Hashem" literally means "the Army of G-d." Their WEB writer
describes it as "an army in which rank is earned through the performance
of mitzvot."
"The Storyteller" contains 40 Jewish short stories selected from the
Lubavitch monthly educational magazine for children, "Talks and Tales,"
by its editor, Nissan Mindel. There are lots of Hasidic stories here.
Bas Ayin
Shema Yisrael Torah Network is a Jewish site on the Internet that was
created so that Hasidic Jews living in Israel and elsewhere could safely
explore the Internet without fear of being exposed to "indecent or
immoral sites." Bas Ayin is an occasional periodical, with excerpts
available on the Internet, that includes some Hasidic stories of Rebbe
Nachman as well as modern-day Hasidic tales.
Jewish Storytelling Coalition
Founded in 1989, the Jewish Storytelling Coalition is the voice of Jewsh
storytelling in New England. On their home page you will find a very
abridged version of the story that Doug Lipman calls The Soul of Hope.
Buddhist
The Art of Dying: Talks on Hasidic Stories by Osho
Born in India in 1931, Osho was a world-renowned Buddhist leader whose
unique meditation techniques and insights on religion and contemporary
life drew thousands of followers. At the Osho WEB site one finds a
description of Osho's comments on Hasidic stories originally compiled by
Martin Buber. In these talks Osho helps the reader to face the reality
of death without fear. The WEB site has "on-line shopping" in the event
that browsers want to purchase this, or other tapes.
TOP OF PAGE
Books Published by Jason Aronson
These books contain Hasidic stories and legends, as well as reference
material about Hasidism. Check out the author index on the site.
The Encyclopedia of Hasidism, edited by Rabbi Tzvi Rabinowicz
This English-language reference work, published in 1995 is the first of
its kind and covers all aspects of Hasidism. It includes biographical
entries for the great hasidic leaders of the past two hundred years,
from the Baal Shem Tov to the leaders of the dynasties of the
eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries. Eighty distinguished
scholars from all over the world contributed to this work.
The Great Hasidic Masters
Avraham Yaakov Finkel's book, published in 1996, gives us a glimpse of
the personality and psyche of the rebbe. The table of contents lists 50
tales that begin with the Baal Shem Tov and stretch into the present.
The Hasidic Movement and the Gaon of Vilna
Rabbi Elijah Schochet's 1994 book is for anyone who thinks Hasidism was
always an accepted view of the world. In fact, in 18th century Eastern
Europe, the Gaon of Vilna led the Jewish opposition to this movement.
The WEB site also contains an interesting interview with the author.
The Holy Fire: The Teachings of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmun Shapira, the
Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto
This book, by Rabbi Nehemia Polen, is not a book of Hasidic stories.
But it is a valuable work that allows the reader to see how a 20th
century Hasidic rebbe spiritually struggles and grapples with the
Holocaust.
In Praise of the Baal Shem Tov: The Earliest Collection of Legends about
the Founder of Hasidism
Published in 1993 by Jason Aronson, this important work is co-authored
by Dan Ben-Amos, chairman of the department of Folklore and Folklife and
the University of Pennsylvania, and Jerome R. Mintz, professor of
anthropology and Jewish studies at Indiana University.
Their book is the first complete English translation of Shivhei
ha-Besht, published in Hebrew in 1814, just fifty-four years after the
Baal Shem Tov's death. These stories were originally committed to
writing by Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezeritch who was the son-in-law
of Rabbi Alexander the Shohet, the Baal Shem Tov's scribe.
Legends of the Hasidim: An Introduction to Hasidic Culture and Oral
Tradition in the New World
Jerome R. Mintz's 1995 book, about the Hasidim of New York City,
contains more than 370 tales that range from Napoleonic times to the
Arab-Israeli War of 1967. Mintz, being an anthropologist, explores the
connections between hasidic tales and hasidic law, ritual, values, and
social structure.
Meetings with Remarkable Souls: Legends of the Baal Shem Tov
In his 1995 book, Eliahu Klein has translated a collection of twelve
legends
about the Baal Shem Tov. These are lesser-known stories that Klein has
now made accessible to an English-speaking audience.
Niggun: Stories behind the Chasidic Songs that Inspire Jews
Mordechai Staiman has put together a book of 39 stories about niggunim,
the wordless melodies composed by Hasidic rabbis and their disciples.
These tales range from those of the famous rebbes of Eastern Europe to a
story about the late Leonard Bernstein. Staiman wrote the book because,
at the time, he was living in Brooklyn's Crown Heights and was
fascinated by all the niggunim he kept hearing.
The Prince Who Turned into a Rooster: One Hundred Tales from Hasidic
Tradition
Rabbi Tzvi Rabinowicz, the author of this collection, is a descendant of
famous hasidic and rabbinic families in Poland. This collection
includes stories told by the Baal Shem Tov, and tales of the Baal Shem
Tov and his followers. There is a table of contents at the WEB site
which lists all 100 stories.
Shlomo's Stories: Selected Tales
Published in 1996, this book contains 30 of Shlomo Carlebach's favorite
Hasidic tales. The book's authors are Carlebach and Susan Yael Mesinai.
The WEB site contains a table of contents which lists all the stories.
Souls and Secrets: Hasidic Stories
Raphael Patai has translated 25 Hasidic stories first told by his
father, Joseph Patai, in Hungarian. Through Patai one learns even more
about everyday Hasidic life in Eastern Europe. In most of the tales
there is some unusual event that shook the entire community as well as
an explanation of the event by the Tzaddik, the spiritual leader.
Why the Baal Shem Tov Laughed: Fifty-Two Stories about our Great Hasidic Rabbis
Sterna Citron's book, published in 1993 by Jason Aronson, contains the
stories of Hasidic rebbes from the Baal Shem Tov to the Lubavitcher
rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. The book includes 6 Baal Shem Tov
tales, as well as tales of Dov Baer - the Maggid of Mezeritch, and
rebbes Zusia, Elimelech, and Israel of Rhyzhin - all mentioned in Lipman's "http://soulofhope.net/">The
Soul of Hope."
Many of these stories had never before been translated into English.
Ms. Citron, who grew up in a Hasidic household and is descended from a
long line of rabbis, hunted down these stories. Her book also contains
brief biographies of each of these rebbes.
Hasidic Stories by Sterna Citron
If your computer has audio capability, you can listen to 8 of the
stories from Sterna Citron's above-mentioned book.
The World of a Hasidic Master: Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev
Samuel Dresner's 1994 book is the first, ever, to cover the life and
work of Rebbe Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev. The stories and legends about
this rebbe are the source material of the book.
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Other Stories
www.baalshemtov.com is a site devoted to the teachings, legends, and spiritual practices of the Baal Shem Tov. It is written and operated by a Chabad Chasid. Includes six legends of the Baal Shem Tov.
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