Originally published in Tzvi M. Rabinowicz (ed.), The encyclopedia of Hasidism (1996), pp. 169-71.
The legal side of Judaism, the practice and study of the rules, customs, and observances. There is no doubt, despite occasional accusations to the contrary on the part of the Mitnaggedim, that the hasidim always accepted the complete authority of the halakhah. The hasidim were observant Jews who adhered strictly to the rules laid down in the Talmud and the Codes except in a very few instances. Where Hasidism differed was in interpreting the halakhah not as a supreme end in itself but as a means to an end, that of attachment to God in love and fear (see DEVEKUT).
Typical of the hasidic approach is R. Jacob Joseph of Polonoye’s understanding (Toldot Yaakov Yosef, shelah, ed. Warsaw, 1881, p. 141c) of the term halakhah. Two meanings are given to the term: The first connects it with the root halakh, “to go.” We are expected to progress spiritually in the study and practice of the halakhah so that we proceed from observance based on self-seeking motives to observance based on pure motive.
The second meaning of halakhah is derived, following the Lurianic Kabbalah, from the observation that the letters of the word, when transposed, form the word hakalah, “the bride,” meaning the Shekhinah. The observances ordained by the Torah are the adornments of the celestial bride, rendering her attractive to those who love her. But the ultimate purpose is the consummation of the “marriage,” in which the adornments are removed, having fulfilled their purpose.
Because of that attitude, the hasidim preferred to perform the mitzvot in a spirit of mystical fervor, influenced very strongly by the ideas read into the performances by the Kabbalah. Moreover, certain of the mitzvot—the seder on Passover, the Sabbath, tefillin, the wearing of the tallit, the blowing of the shofar on Rosh HaShanah, and the sukkah and lulav on Tabernacles—which lend themselves more readily to mystical interpretation, were stressed more than others. Again the emphasis on mystical fervor led the hasidim to conclude that in some ways the preparations for the performance of the mitzvot are more important than the actual performance.
Only in rare instances did the hasidic approach result in deviations from the standard halakhah, but it did have such a result in the following instances.
- Believing that the prayer book compiled by the great kabbalist R. Isaac Luria was based on the Sefirotic map on high—its very letters and their order corresponding to the various combinations of divine names—the hasidim, to the consternation of the mitnaggedim, departed from the Ashkenazic custom and adopted that prayer book. The anti-hasidic polemics on this question accuse the hasidim of halakhic offense in that it is forbidden, according to the halakhah, for an Ashkenazi to follow the Sephardic rite or one based on it. Some of the hasidic masters tried to defend the departure on halakhic grounds, but it is clear that the halakhic justification here is extremely dubious. When the halakhah came into conflict with the hasidic preference, it was the former that had to yield. (For a fuller discussion of the question from the hasidic point of view, see R. Hayyim Eleazar Shapira’s Responsa Minhat Eleazar, Part I, no. 11, and the same author’s Hamishah Maamarot (Jerusalem, 1962), pp. 159-186.
- The Talmud and the Codes lay down strict rules regarding the times of prayer. Many hasidim, however, from the earliest times, tended to disregard those rules, offering various defenses of their deviation, for example, that the preparations for prayer precluded strict attention to the rules or that the essence of prayer was its spontaneity. Awareness that this was a departure from the Halakhah is expressed in the oft-repeated hasidic tale of the tzaddik who said that he knew he would have to go to hell for disobeying the halakhah about the times of prayer but he preferred to be in hell with the tzaddikim than to be in heaven with the ordinary folk who did keep the rules but had no fervor in their prayers. A further justification, obviously non-halakhic, was that the times of prayer were only for those bound by time, not for the tzaddikim and their followers, who endeavored to reach in their prayers the world of eternity beyond time. Nevertheless, some hasidic groups in a later period did revert to the tradition and observed scrupulously the laws regarding the proper times of prayer.
- As an aid to spiritual progress, the hasidim introduced the practice of regular immersion in the mikveh, especially before prayer. That this is not demanded by the halakhah cannot be construed as a departure from the law, but the hasidim went further and immersed themselves in the mikveh even on the Sabbath, a practice that is halakhically questionable.
- According to the Shulhan Arukh (Orah Hayyim 136), when the Torah is read, it is the third aliyah that is especially significant and that should be allotted to the most scholarly and pious member of the congregation. Following the Kabbalah, the hasidim attached greater significance to shishi, the sixth aliyah (according to the Kabbalah the sixth of the lower Sefirot is called the tzaddik!).
- Once matzah has been adequately baked, it cannot become leaven and there is consequently no halakhic objection to soaking or boiling this matzah. But the hasidim—in their fear of offending against the most remote possibility of the laws of leaven, since the Kabbalah is similarly strict—universally refuse to eat “soaked matzah” (sheruyyah) except on the last day of Passover.
- According to the Talmud (Nedarim 12a) and the Codes (Shulhan Arukh, Yoreh De’ah 402:2), the anniversary of the death of a parent (yahrzeit) is a period of mourning. Hasidism, on the contrary, sees it as a time for rejoicing, because each year, on the anniversary, the soul of the departed is said to rise to ever-greater heights. Consequently, the hasidim gather together on such an occasion and drink a toast, praying for the soul’s ascent. Especially the anniversary of the death of a famous tzaddik is an occasion for rejoicing (hillula). The tahanun prayers of supplication are not recited on this day by the hasidim. Reuben Margaliout has published a booklet that lists for this purpose the dates on which the saints died (Hillula DeTzaddikayya, Lemberg, 1939).
- Although the halakhah frowns on dancing and clapping the hands on Sabbaths and Festivals (Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim 339:3, Magen Avraham 669), the hasidim could not easily forgo the demands of mystical joy expressed by dancing on the sacred days. Consequently, it is the universal custom of the hasidim to permit this (see the attempt at halakhic justification in Minhat Eleazar, 1, 29).
In addition to the general practices binding upon all Jews, the customs developed among the various hasidic dynasties were adopted by their followers so that a kind of hasidic halakhah developed, even a halakhah of particular dynasties. The conduct of the tzaddikim was closely studied, and when it seemed intended to set the pattern for all the hasidim of the particular group, it was recorded as a guide to practice. All this resulted in what virtually amounted to a totally different way of life for the hasidim. The earlist sources produced by the mitnaggedim refer, in fact, to the hasidim as a kat (sect). It is fairly obvious that it was their adherence to the halakhah that kept the hasidim within the traditional fold and prevented Hasidism from becoming the victim of sectarianism.
Some of the hasidic masters were themselves halakhic authorities, although it is perhaps significant that the two roles they fulfilled generally existed independently so that there is little indication that the halakhic works they produced were compiled by hasidic tzaddikim rather than by pure halakhists. R. Shneur Zalman of Liady compiled a code of Jewish law (Shulhan Arukh HaRav).
Halakhic responsa enjoying widespread authority were compiled by R. Moses Teitelbaum (Heshiv Mosheh), R. Abraham of Sochaczev (Avnei Nezer), R. Hayyim of Zans (Divrei Hayyim), R. Menahem Mendel of Lubavitch (Tzemah Tzedek), R. Hayyim Eleazar of Munkacs (Minhat Eleazar), and R. Yitzhak Meir of Ger (Teshuvot HaRim). Tzvi Hirsch of Munkacs wrote a widely used compendium of responsa to the Yoreh De’ah (Darkhei Teshuvah).
Outstanding halakhic commentaries were written by hasidic masters: R. Yitzhak Meir of Ger, Hiddushei HaRim; R. Abraham of Sochaczev, Eglei Tal, on the thirty-nine types of work forbidden on the Sabbath; and R. Gershon Henoch of Radzyn, Sidrei Tohorot.
Works by hasidic masters that attempt to combine the halakhah with kabbalistic and hasidic themes, are R. Tzvi Elimelekh of Dynov’s Derekh Pikkudekha and R. Yitzhak Eizik of Komarno’s code of law—Shulhan HaTahor.
A number of distinguished halakhists were hasidim, for example, R. Menahem Munish Babad, author of responsa Havvatzellet HaSharon, a hasid of Belz; and R. Menahem Zemba, a hasid of Gur.
Y. M. Gold, Darkhei Hayyim VeShalom (The Customs and Observances of Rabbi Hayyim Eleazar of Munkacs).
I. Z. Kahana, Mehkarim BeSifrut HaTeshuvot, pp. 408-420.
A. Wertheim, Halakhot VeHalikhot BaHasidut.