Last Tuesday, Isru Hag of the festival of Shavuot, an exhibition was opened at the central library of Lubavitch, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, N.Y. celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of Rabbi Yisrael Ba’al Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism.
According to a Habad tradition, the Ba’al Shem Tov was born on Hai Elul in the year 5458 (1698) and revealed himself to our people on Hai Elul of the year 5494 (1734). Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyady was also born on Hai Elul in the year 5505 (1745). On Hai Elul Habad Hasidim celebrate the birthday of both the Ba’al Shem Tov and of Rabbi Shneur Zalman, the “Alter Rebbe.”
The exhibit was arranged by Rabbi Shalom Dovber Levine, who has been in charge of the central library of Lubavitch for the past 20 years. He is the author of a variety of books, including three large illustrated volumes describing the histories of the Habad movement in Russia, America and the Land of Israel respectively. He has also been the editor of Iggerot Kodesh, letters of the Ness’im of Habad, of which so far 42 volumes have appeared.
About five years ago he published Sifriyat Lubavitch, a story of the Lubavitch library. The library was built by the leaders of the Habad movement, notably by Rabbi Sholem Baer, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak and Rabbi Menachem Mendel, who were great collectors of Sefarim.
One chapter in the book is devoted to the location and recovery in 1977 of a large collection of manuscripts which remained in Warsaw when the Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzhak left Poland for the United States during World War II. Another chapter describes the efforts– in which Rabbi Levine was involved– to retrieve the books of the Rebbe, Reb Sholem Baer which were confiscated by the Communist authorities and incorporated into the V.I Lenin library of Moscow (now the Russian State Library).
Pictorial material displayed at the exhibition include photographs of the grave of the Ba’al Shem Tov in Mezhibezh, of the tombstone of the Ba’al Shem’s mother in Tluste, a a townlet near Chortkov in Eastern Galicia (now Western Ukraine) and photographs of various Hasidic leaders – not only of Habad- Such as Rabbi David of Tolno, Rabbi David Moshe (Friedmann) of Chortkov, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach of Belz and Rabbi Mordechai Alter of Ger. One group picture shows the rabbis and students of Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim in Warsaw, another shows the participants in the conference of rabbis of the Ukraine which was held in Korosten in 1926.
Much interest will be aroused by a photocopy of a letter (with envelope) written by the Ba’al Shem Tov to his disciple Rabbi Ya’akov Yosef of Polonnoye, admonishing him not to engage in fasting and in asceticism. The original letter — which is probably the only authentic piece of writing in the hand of the Ba’al Shem to have survived is in the possession of the Lubavitch library.
The library also possesses the original Siddur of the Ba’al Shem. Much has been written about this Siddur, especially about the variant reading in the ‘Grace after Meals,”: Le Yadkha HaMamele’a Hagedusha instead of Hakedusha. At the exhibit are shown photocopies of some pages of the Siddur. On the page which contains the benedictions of Shome’a Tehilla are visible the signatures of several disciples of the Ba’al Shem, who asked their master to have them in mind during his prayers.
The exhibition was not intended to tell about the life of the Ba’al SHem, but to illustrate the growth of Hasidic literature.
“Despite the Ba’al Shem Tov’s holiness, popularity and the large increase in the number of followers, not one Sefer of Hasidic thought was printed throughout his 25 year reign from 1734 to1760,” Rabbi Shalom Dovber Levine writes in the exhibition catalog. “Neither was there any printed work produced by the Hasidic movement under the helm of his successor, the Mezricher Maggid, in the period spanning the years 1760 to 1772.”
The first Hasidic book to appear in print was Rabbi Yaakov Yosef’s Toledot Yaakov Yosef. It was printed in Koretz in 1780. In his writings Rabbi Yaakov Yosef quoted and explained the teachings of the Ba’al Shem. In Korets were also printed his Ben Porat Yosef (1781) which contains the famous letter the Ba’al Shem Tov wrote to his brother-in-law and Zafenat Paneah (1782).
Between 1780 and 1810 more than 100 Sefarim by Hasidic masters were printed. The great majority of these were Hasidic books, but there were also some on Halakha or Kabbala. More than 80 of these books are shown at the exhibition, whose official name is “Hassidism on display.”
Only a few of these can be mentioned here. Only 12 years after the printing of the first Hasidic Sefer, selections from the Ba’al Shem Tov’s teachings began to appear in print. Likuttim Yekarim (Lvov, 1792; Mezirov, 1794), Keter Shem Tov, part I Zolkiev, 1794 part II, ibid, 1795. Tzava’at HaRivash was printed in Zolkiev in 1795, Rabbu Dov Baier of Mezritch’s Maggid Devarav LeYa’akov was printed five times between the years 1781 and 1806. Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev’s Keduashat Levi was first printed in Zolkiev in 1806. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyady’s Tanya appeared six times between the years of 1797 and 1806. Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav’s Likkutte MoHaran was first printed in 1806. It was reprinted a year later.
“Hasidism on Display” is the sixth exhibition held at the central library of Lubavitch in the course of the last five years. The exhibit will be open until next Hai Elul (Sept. 9, 1998).
Before I left, the head of the library, Rabbi Sholem Dovber Levine, presented me with his latest two books. A volume about the arrest and subsequent release of the Mitteler Rebbe (Rabbi Dov Baer) by the Tzarist authorities, based on documents which were recently discovered in Russian archives, and a biography of Rabbi Avraham Hayyim Rosenbaum who came to the United States from Russia about 100 years ago and became the leader of Habad Hasidim in this country.
The Jewish Press, Friday, June 12, 1998