A manuscript prayer book used by the second leader of the Chassidic movement, Rabbi DovBer of Mezritch (?-1772), will be exhibited this week in Jerusalem, along with other artifacts dating from the movement’s infancy. This manuscript is of particular interest to scholars and to the wider public, as it is privately owned and not normally available for study. Even more interestingly, the manuscript contains two sets of marginal notations. One set has long been attributed to Rabbi Yisrael, the Maggid of Koznitz, but the identity of the author of the second set had long been forgotten.
That is, until now.
In a groundbreaking feat of analysis, Rabbi Yitzchak Yeshaya Weiss of B’nei Brak, Israel—editor of theTzefunot journal—has now conclusively demonstrated that the second set of notes was penned by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad school of Chassidism. While Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s later work on the Chassidic prayer liturgy is well known, this new discovery shows that while still a disciple of Rabbi DovBer of Mezritch, he annotated his master’s prayer book in collaboration with his colleague, Rabbi Yisrael of Koznitz.
One of the defining features of the Chassidic movement, from its very inception, was the adoption of a version of the traditional prayer liturgy that was heavily influenced by the mystical teachings of the Arizal, Rabbi Yitzchak Luria Ashkenazi of Safed (1534-1572). Yet for some 70 years, Chassidim did not actually produce a complete prayer book; instead, they used traditional Ashkenaz prayer books and noted Chassidic variations in the margins. This situation led to all kinds of liturgical and grammatical inaccuracies, and it was this problem that Rabbi Schneur Zalman was the first to comprehensively address.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s prayer book was the first authoritative version of a cohesive Chassidic liturgy. Especially noteworthy was his masterly balance of fidelity to mystical intention and concern for Jewish legal requirements. While the earliest authenticated edition of this prayer book was published in 1803, Rabbi Weiss’s research shows that the foundations of Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s liturgical edifice were already laid more than three decades beforehand.
A Crucial Link Is Strengthened
Commenting on the importance of these discoveries Professor Jonathan Garb, Gershom Scholem Professor of Kabbalah at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said that they “significantly change our understanding of the emergence of the largest mystical movement in the history of Judaism. We can now appreciate the degree of closeness between the founder of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, and his mentor, Rabbi DovBer. This crucial link was contested in the third generation of Hasidism [most notably by Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s contemporary, Rabbi Avraham of Kalisk], and is now rather strengthened. At the same time, we gain additional insight as to the evolution of the “Lurianic” or “Sephardic” version of the prayerbook, which was a key ingredient in the development of Chassidic identity and practice.”
Earlier this year, Rabbi Shalom DovBer Levine, head librarian at the Central Chabad Library in New York, published four pages found in the binding of an old book, arguing that they belonged to an earlier edition of Rabbi Shneur Zalman’s prayer book. But other Chabad scholars raised doubts about his conclusions. Commenting on Rabbi Weiss’s analysis, Rabbi Levine wrote: “When I saw that the handwritten notes were indeed identical to the handwriting of Rabbi Schneur Zalman I was shocked and amazed in one moment. … Though I argued at length that Rabbi Schneur Zalman edited and published a first edition of his prayer book many year earlier than the famous edition published in Shklov in 1803 … it never occurred to me to date this editorial project so far back … ”
According to Rabbi Weiss, a comparative analysis of this manuscript reveals that Rabbi Schneur Zalman actually used it as the basis for his authoritative edition of the prayer book. “In addition to the corrections and notes in the handwriting of Rabbi Schneur Zalman, there are also surprising correlations to unique formulations that are found only in Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s prayer book, for which no similar precedent had been known until now. Now we have discovered their source in the manuscript prayer book of Rabbi DovBer, the Maggid of Mezritch … ”
The manuscript will be on view for women from 10 a.m. on Wednesday to 1 a.m. on Thursday; and for men from 10 a.m. on Thursday to 1 a.m. on Friday, at Israel’s International Convention Center, Binyanei HaUma, in Jerusalem. The exhibit is a highlight of the annual Chassidism Fair—Yerid HaChassidut, at which more than 250,000 books of Chassidic teachings, lore and belief are expected to be sold.
The annual 19 Kislev celebration of the “Chassidic New Year” will take place at the convention center on Thursday evening, and is expected to draw an overflow crowd of more than 10,000 celebrants from all walks of Jewish life. The anniversary marks the day in 1798 when of Rabbi Schneur Zalman was released from a Czarist prison, as well as the passing in 1772 of Rabbi DovBer.
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