04.02.2012 11.Schwat. 5772 Beschalach
Judentum:
Hassidic masters were not cut of one cloth and, over the 250 years of Hassidism’s history, some masters adopted ascetic practices.
The Hassidism of Rabbi Yisrael Ba’al Shem Tov (known as the Besht) and his disciples is rightly associated with a rejection of an ascetic lifestyle as the primary spiritual avenue. Nevertheless, hassidic masters were not cut of one cloth and, over the 250 years of Hassidism’s history, some masters adopted ascetic practices. It would therefore be inaccurate to ignore this fact when describing Hassidism.
One such master was Rabbi Meir Yehiel Halevi Halstock of Ostrowiec (1852-1928). Meir Yehiel was brought up in hassidic home and from an early age he visited the hassidic masters of Congress Poland….