Maggid
Encyclopedia
Maggid sometimes spelled as magid, is a traditional Eastern Europe
an Jewish religious itinerant preacher
, skilled as a narrator of Torah
and religious stories. A preacher of the more scholarly sort was called a "darshan", and usually occupied the official position of rabbi
. The title of "maggid mesharim" (= "a preacher of uprightness"; abbreviated) probably dates from the sixteenth century.
There always have been two distinct classes of leaders in Israel—the scholar and rabbi, and the preacher or maggid. That the popular prophet was sometimes called "maggid" is maintained by those who translate "maggid mishneh" Zech. ix. 12, by "the maggid repeats" (Löwy
, "Beqoret ha-Talmud," p. 50). Like the Greek sophists, the early maggidim based their preaching on questions addressed to them by the multitude. Thus the Pesiqta, the first collection of set speeches, usually begins with "yelammedenu rabbenu" (= "let our master teach us"). An excellent example is the Passover Haggadah, which is introduced by four questions; the reciter of the answer is called "maggid." When there were no questions the maggid chose a Biblical text, which was called the "petichah" (opening).
(main text of Rabbinic
Oral Torah
discussion). The Talmud relates that the people left the lecture-room of R. Chiyya, the darshan, and flocked to hear R. Abbahu
, the maggid. To appease the sensitive Chiyya, Abbahu modestly declared, "We are like two merchants, one selling diamonds and the other selling trinkets, which are more in demand" (Sotah
40a).Talmudic Sages like R. Meir
combined the functions of a darshan and a maggid (Sanhedrin
38b). When R. Isaac Nappacha was requested by one in his audience to preach a popular haggadah, and by another a halakic discourse, he answered, "I am like the man who had two wives, one young and one old, and each wishing her husband to resemble her in appearance; the younger pulled out his gray hair while the older pulled out his black hair, with the result that he became entirely bald." R. Isaac thereupon delivered a lecture that embraced both halakah and aggadah (B. Q. 60b).
, his son Joshua, and others were at the head of a regular school of rabbinical maggidim. R. Ze'era was opposed to their methods of twisting and distorting the Biblical verses to suit their momentary fancy. In Ze'era's estimation their works were of no more value than books on magic (Yer. Ma'as. iii. 9). In the Gaonic period and in the Middle Ages the principal of the yeshivah, or the rabbi, delivered a lecture before each festival, giving instructions in the laws governing the days of the festival. The maggid's function was to preach to the common people in the vernacular whenever occasion required, usually on Sabbath afternoon, basing his sermon on the sidra of the week. The wandering, or traveling, maggid then began to appear, and subsequently became a power in Jewry. His mission was to preach morality, to awaken the dormant spirit of Judaism, and to keep alive the Messianic hope in the hearts of the people. The maggidim's deliverances were generally lacking in literary merit, and were composed largely of current phrases, old quotations, and Biblical interpretations which were designed merely for temporary effect; therefore none of the sermons which were delivered by them have been preserved.
Maggidism reached a period of high literary activity in the 16th century. The expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 revealed a master maggid in Isaac Abravanel. His homiletic commentary on the Bible became an inexhaustible source of suggestion for future maggidim. In his method of explaining every chapter, preceded by a number of questions, he followed the early maggidim and sophists. His long argumentations in an easy and fluent style were admirably suited to the purposes of a maggid. Moses Alshech, a maggidic scholar, was one of a community of great Jewish spiritual figures who shaped Jewish thought, in the 16th century town of Safed
in the Galilee
. Others in his circle included the compiler of the Shulchan Aruch code, Yosef Karo, and the leading Kabbalists Moses Cordovero and Isaac Luria. In the mystical environment of this community, the Alshech preached every Sabbath before large audiences. Isaac Luria attended his expositions, which included Kabbalistic aspects. In his classic Biblical commentaries he followed closely the method of Abravanel. Alshech also became an authority for the maggidim, who quoted him frequently.
is considered the first Maggid of the Sabbatian Abraham Rovigo
in Modena. Perlhefter restored the Sabbatian theology after the death of the pseudo-Messiah, and advocate of mystical heresy, Sabbatai Zevi
(1626-1676).
, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, published his "Shebet' Musar", which he divided into fifty-two chapters, one for each week. This book caused him to be known as the "Terror Maggid"; he preached moral and religious conduct as a safeguard against the terrible punishments of the day of judgment. Dante could not picture the horrors of hell and the punishments awaiting the wicked more minutely than did the author of the "Shebet' Musar". It established a new "fire and brimstone" school of maggidim. Musar
("Admonishment") is a thread in traditional Jewish thought that seeks ethical inspiration, integrity or admonishment to motivate religious devotion. Classic texts of ethical guidance from the Middle Ages articulate spiritual and psychological levels to righteousness. The later 19th Century Musar movement sought to incorporate spiritual introspection and self analysis into the scholarly yeshiva curriculum. The Musar movement seeks to inspire spiritual advancement by discovering personal integrity and revealing the unworthiness of material temptations. Its spirituality does not always describe rewards and punishments, but admonishment can be a factor. It can draw ethical lessons from Jewish mysticism, but is often compared and contrasted with the mystical paths to inspiration of Kabbalistic dveikus (cleaving to God), and the popularisation of mystical fervour in Hasidism. Typically, Hasidism avoids rebuke of punishments, replacing it with shame and remorse from nullification of self awareness, before the omnipresent Divine presence that awakens joy.
Judah Rosanes
of Constantinople (d. 1727), in his "Parashat Derakim," combined the darshan with the maggid. He adopted a new method of harmonizing the acts of Biblical personages with the legal views of Talmudic scholars. For instance, Pharaoh, in refusing to release Israel from bondage, acted according to the contention of Abaye, while Moses insisted on Israel's release in accordance with the decision of Rabba. This farfetched pilpul
ism had many followers, some of whom asserted that Ahasuerus concurred in the decision of Maimonides, and that Vashti coincided with the opinion of RaBaD.
's method of explaining by parables and the incidents of daily life, such as the relations between the man of the city and the "yeshubnik" (village man), between the bride, the bridegroom, and the "mechuttanim" (contracting parents), and compared their relations to those between Israel and God. He drew also moral lessons from the "Arabian Nights" and from other secular stories in illustrating explanations of a midrash or a Biblical text. Moses Mendelssohn
named Kranz the "Jewish Æsop".
His most famous parable is about how he finds appropriate parables: Walking in the woods a man sees many trees with targets drawn on them. Each target with an arrow in the center, and a little boy with a bow. the little boy acknowledges that he had shot all the arrows. When further questioned he answers: 'First I shoot the arrow, then I draw the target'.
Kranz's pupil Abraham Dov Bär Flahm edited and published the Dubner Maggid's writings, and a host of other maggidim adopted this method. In the same period there were Jacob Israel of Kremnitz, author of "Shebet' mi-Yisrael," a commentary on the Psalms (Zolkiev, 1772); Judah Löw Edel of Slonim, author of "Afiqe Yehudah," sermons (Lemberg, 1802); Chayyim Abraham Katz of Moghilef, author of "Milchama ve-Shalom" (Shklov, 1797); Ezekiel Feiwel of Deretschin, author of "Toledot Adam" (Dyhernfurth, 1809) and maggid in Wilna (Levinsohn, "Bet Yehudah," ii. 149).
In modern times, a descendent of the Dubner Maggid, Moshe Kranc wrote down several parables of his, along with modern interpretations, in a book about business and Jewish stories: "The Hasidic Masters' Guide to Management" (The Dubner Maggid was not Hasidic, but followed Lithuanian Jewish Orthodox spirituality. There are stories of his relationship with the Vilna Gaon).
). He was among the "terror" maggidim of the "Shebet' Musar" school and preached to crowded synagogues for over fifty years in almost every city of Russian Poland. Another prominent maggid was Chayyim Tzedeq, known as the "Rumsheshker" (Gersoni, "Sketches of Jewish Life and History," pp. 62–74, New York
, 1873). The "philosophical" maggid is one who preached from Arama's "Aqedat" and Bachya's "Chobot ha-Lebabot" ("Duties of the heart"). Enoch Sundl Luria, the author of "Kenaf Renanim", on "Pirqe Shirah" (Krotoschin, 1842), was a noted philosophical maggid.
Meïr Leibush Malbim (d. 1880), in his voluminous commentaries on the Bible, followed to some extent Abravanel and Alshech, and his conclusions are pointed and logical. Malbim's commentaries are considered to offer the best material for the use of maggidim.
From the "terror", or "Musar
", maggid developed the "penitential" maggid, who, especially during the month of Elul and the ten days of penitence between New-Year's Day and Yom Kippur
, urged the wicked to repent of their sins and seek God's forgiveness. One of these "penitental" preachers was Jacob Joseph
, chief rabbi of the Russian Jews in New York (d. 1902), formerly maggid of Wilna, and a student of the Musar movement. In the middle of his preaching he would pause to recite with the people the "Shema koleinu", and the "Ashamnu," raising the audience to a high pitch of religious emotion. The maggid usually ended his preaching with the words. "u-ba le-Tziyyon goel," etc. (a redeemer shall come to Zion speedily in our days; let us say "Amen"). Some of the wandering maggidim acted also as meshullachim (collectors of money for institutions). The yeshivot in Russia and the charitable institutions of Jerusalem, especially the Va'ad ha-Kelali, sent abroad meshullach-maggidim. The resident maggid who preached at different synagogues in one city was called the "Stadt Maggid", as in Wilna and other large cities in Russia. The modern, or "maskil
", maggid was called "Volksredner" (people's orator), and closely followed the German "Prediger" in his method of preaching. Tzebi Hirsch Dainow (d. 1877) was the first of the modern type of maggid, which soon developed into that of the "national," or "Zionistic," maggid. Tzvi Hirsch Masliansky and Joseph Zeff, both of New York, were representatives of the latter class. See Homiletics
.
internalised the abstract theological system of the earlier Kabbalah
, by relating it to man's inner psychological awareness. This saw Divine omnipresence in everything, and brought this into personal dveikus (cleaving) through joyful fervour in daily life. This new teaching had popular appeal to the common folk, but also attracted great scholars who saw its deeper significances and philosophical depths. The Baal Shem Tov opposed the admonishing methods of the "musar" maggidim, which criticised and demoralised, as well as motivated, the community. His mysticism saw the inner holiness of each person. He would often illustrate to his disciples the preciousness in God's eyes of the simple sincerity of the unlearned Jewish folk. In the biographical hagiography
of stories about the Baal Shem Tov, his encounters and "conversions" of admonishing preachers are recounted, as well as his encounters with the isolated, ascetic scholars, whose practices he also opposed.
His personal model of the Hasidic Master Rebbe
was passed to the subsequent Hasidic Masters in the new Hasidic interpretation of the Tzaddik (saintly leader), who channels Divine blessing to the world. The microcosmic Messianic redemption offered by a Hasidic Rebbe, gave a new form of teacher and leader to the Jewish community, combining public mystic and redeemer, along with the traditional notions of darshan and maggid. Some Hasidic leaders are known with the name of "maggid", sometimes gained from before their adherence to Hasidism. The continual regard of this title to them, indicates a new interpretation of the traditional notion of a maggid, incorporated into the Hasidic role of Rebbe. The mystical revival of Hasidism elevated hagiographic storytelling about the Masters to a new degree in Judaism, reflecting the importance of the mystical adherence to a Tzaddik. The popular titles of each Master therefore reflect personal endearment and reverence.
Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezeritch (דוב בער ממזריטש) (1704/1710?-1772) is known as the Maggid ("Preacher" or literally "Sayer") of Mezritsh
after being the Maggid of the town of Rovne
. After initially being opposed to the Baal Shem Tov's new ideas, he became a disciple and member of the Baal Shem Tov's close inner circle. After the passing of his Master, the disciples appointed Dov Ber to become his successor, leading the new Hasidic movement in the early years of its establishment. Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezeritch or "Great Maggid", is regarded as the first exponent of the philosophical system within the Baal Shem Tov's new teachings and doctrines, and one of its most important propagators. He became the architect of the new movement, devoting his attention to developing an academy of leading scholars and future leaders (the "Chevra Kaddisha"-Holy Society) to spread Hasidism across each of the regions of Eastern Europe after his passing. His teachings appear in the volume Magid Devarav L'Yaakov. His inner circle of disciples included Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk
, Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev
, Rabbi Aharon (HaGadol) of Karlin
, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk
, and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi
.
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an Jewish religious itinerant preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
, skilled as a narrator of Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
and religious stories. A preacher of the more scholarly sort was called a "darshan", and usually occupied the official position of rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
. The title of "maggid mesharim" (= "a preacher of uprightness"; abbreviated) probably dates from the sixteenth century.
There always have been two distinct classes of leaders in Israel—the scholar and rabbi, and the preacher or maggid. That the popular prophet was sometimes called "maggid" is maintained by those who translate "maggid mishneh" Zech. ix. 12, by "the maggid repeats" (Löwy
Lowy
Lowy is a surname, and may refer to:*Frederick Lowy*Frank Lowy*Isaac Lowy ,*Louis Lowy Professor at the School of Social Work, Boston University...
, "Beqoret ha-Talmud," p. 50). Like the Greek sophists, the early maggidim based their preaching on questions addressed to them by the multitude. Thus the Pesiqta, the first collection of set speeches, usually begins with "yelammedenu rabbenu" (= "let our master teach us"). An excellent example is the Passover Haggadah, which is introduced by four questions; the reciter of the answer is called "maggid." When there were no questions the maggid chose a Biblical text, which was called the "petichah" (opening).
Popularity of the Maggid
The greater popularity of the maggid as compared with the darshan is instanced from aggadic (homiletical or narrative material, as opposed to legal halachic material) stories in the TalmudTalmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
(main text of Rabbinic
Rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term...
Oral Torah
Oral Torah
The Oral Torah comprises the legal and interpretative traditions that, according to tradition, were transmitted orally from Mount Sinai, and were not written in the Torah...
discussion). The Talmud relates that the people left the lecture-room of R. Chiyya, the darshan, and flocked to hear R. Abbahu
Abbahu
Abbahu was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel, of the 3rd amoraic generation , sometimes cited as R. Abbahu of Caesarea . His rabbinic education was acquired mainly at Tiberias, in the academy presided over by R. Johanan, with whom his relations were almost...
, the maggid. To appease the sensitive Chiyya, Abbahu modestly declared, "We are like two merchants, one selling diamonds and the other selling trinkets, which are more in demand" (Sotah
Sotah
Sotah deals with the ritual of the Sotah - the woman suspected of adultery as described and prescribed in the Book of Numbers in...
40a).Talmudic Sages like R. Meir
Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation . According to legend , his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is...
combined the functions of a darshan and a maggid (Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.The Great Sanhedrin was the supreme court of ancient Israel made of 71 members...
38b). When R. Isaac Nappacha was requested by one in his audience to preach a popular haggadah, and by another a halakic discourse, he answered, "I am like the man who had two wives, one young and one old, and each wishing her husband to resemble her in appearance; the younger pulled out his gray hair while the older pulled out his black hair, with the result that he became entirely bald." R. Isaac thereupon delivered a lecture that embraced both halakah and aggadah (B. Q. 60b).
In the Gaonic period and the Middle Ages
Levi ben SisiLevi ben Sisi
Levi ben Sisi or Levi bar Sisi was a Jewish scholar, disciple of the patriarch Judah I, and school associate of his son Simeon Levi ben Sisi or Levi bar Sisi (Sisyi, Susyi, Hebrew: לוי בר סיסי) was a Jewish scholar, disciple of the patriarch Judah I, and school associate of his son Simeon Levi ben...
, his son Joshua, and others were at the head of a regular school of rabbinical maggidim. R. Ze'era was opposed to their methods of twisting and distorting the Biblical verses to suit their momentary fancy. In Ze'era's estimation their works were of no more value than books on magic (Yer. Ma'as. iii. 9). In the Gaonic period and in the Middle Ages the principal of the yeshivah, or the rabbi, delivered a lecture before each festival, giving instructions in the laws governing the days of the festival. The maggid's function was to preach to the common people in the vernacular whenever occasion required, usually on Sabbath afternoon, basing his sermon on the sidra of the week. The wandering, or traveling, maggid then began to appear, and subsequently became a power in Jewry. His mission was to preach morality, to awaken the dormant spirit of Judaism, and to keep alive the Messianic hope in the hearts of the people. The maggidim's deliverances were generally lacking in literary merit, and were composed largely of current phrases, old quotations, and Biblical interpretations which were designed merely for temporary effect; therefore none of the sermons which were delivered by them have been preserved.
Maggidism reached a period of high literary activity in the 16th century. The expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 revealed a master maggid in Isaac Abravanel. His homiletic commentary on the Bible became an inexhaustible source of suggestion for future maggidim. In his method of explaining every chapter, preceded by a number of questions, he followed the early maggidim and sophists. His long argumentations in an easy and fluent style were admirably suited to the purposes of a maggid. Moses Alshech, a maggidic scholar, was one of a community of great Jewish spiritual figures who shaped Jewish thought, in the 16th century town of Safed
Safed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
in the Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
. Others in his circle included the compiler of the Shulchan Aruch code, Yosef Karo, and the leading Kabbalists Moses Cordovero and Isaac Luria. In the mystical environment of this community, the Alshech preached every Sabbath before large audiences. Isaac Luria attended his expositions, which included Kabbalistic aspects. In his classic Biblical commentaries he followed closely the method of Abravanel. Alshech also became an authority for the maggidim, who quoted him frequently.
Relation to Messianic fervour
The persecutions of the Jews brought forth a number of maggidim who endeavored to excite the Messianic hope as a balm to the troubled and oppressed Jewry. The new articulation and cosmic doctrines of redemption in Kabbalah, taught by Isaac Luria in the 16th Century, inspired a new mystical awareness and focus on Messianism. Messianic messengers and potential candidates sought to advance the Messianic quest in Judaism. Asher Lemmlein preached in Germany and Austria, announcing the coming of the Messiah in 1502, and found credence everywhere. Solomon Molko preached, without declaring the date of the advent, in both Italy and Turkey, and as a result was burned at the stake in Mantua in 1533. R. Höschel of Cracow (d. 1663) delighted in the elucidation of difficult passages in the midrash known as the "Midrash Peli'ah" (= "wonderful" or "obscure" midrash). H. Ersohn's biography of Höschel, in his "Chanukkat ha-Torah" (Pietrkov, 1900), gives a collection of 227 "sayings" gathered from 227 books by various writers, mostly Höschel's pupils. These sayings became current among the maggidim, who repeated them on every occasion. Some maggidim copied his methods and even created a pseudo-Midrash Peli'ah for the purpose of explaining the original ingeniously in the manner initiated by R. Höschel. Behr PerlhefterBehr Perlhefter
Beer Shmuel Issachar Leyb ben Judah Moses Eybeschuetz Perlhefter was a Jewish scholar and rabbi. His educated wife Bella bat R. Jakob Perlhefter , corresponded in Hebrew and wrote the preface on the Yiddish book “Beer Sheva”...
is considered the first Maggid of the Sabbatian Abraham Rovigo
Abraham Rovigo
Abraham Rovigo Abraham Rovigo Abraham Rovigo (born ca. 1650 in Modena, died 1713 in Mantua was a Jewish scholar, rabbi and kabbalist. He studied in Venice under the chair of Moses Zacuto and devoted himself to study the Kabbalah. He was one of the main supporters of the moderate wings of Sabbatai...
in Modena. Perlhefter restored the Sabbatian theology after the death of the pseudo-Messiah, and advocate of mystical heresy, Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi, , was a Sephardic Rabbi and kabbalist who claimed to be the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. He was the founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement...
(1626-1676).
Motivation and admonishment
Elijah b. Solomon Abraham of SmyrnaSmyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
, in the beginning of the eighteenth century, published his "Shebet' Musar", which he divided into fifty-two chapters, one for each week. This book caused him to be known as the "Terror Maggid"; he preached moral and religious conduct as a safeguard against the terrible punishments of the day of judgment. Dante could not picture the horrors of hell and the punishments awaiting the wicked more minutely than did the author of the "Shebet' Musar". It established a new "fire and brimstone" school of maggidim. Musar
Musar literature
Musar literature is the term used for didactic Jewish ethical literature which describes virtues and vices and the path towards perfection in a methodical way.- Definition of Musar literature :...
("Admonishment") is a thread in traditional Jewish thought that seeks ethical inspiration, integrity or admonishment to motivate religious devotion. Classic texts of ethical guidance from the Middle Ages articulate spiritual and psychological levels to righteousness. The later 19th Century Musar movement sought to incorporate spiritual introspection and self analysis into the scholarly yeshiva curriculum. The Musar movement seeks to inspire spiritual advancement by discovering personal integrity and revealing the unworthiness of material temptations. Its spirituality does not always describe rewards and punishments, but admonishment can be a factor. It can draw ethical lessons from Jewish mysticism, but is often compared and contrasted with the mystical paths to inspiration of Kabbalistic dveikus (cleaving to God), and the popularisation of mystical fervour in Hasidism. Typically, Hasidism avoids rebuke of punishments, replacing it with shame and remorse from nullification of self awareness, before the omnipresent Divine presence that awakens joy.
Judah Rosanes
Judah Rosanes
Judah ben Samuel Rosanes was Rabbi of Constantinople and son-in-law of Abraham Rosanes I. His teachers in Talmud and rabbinics were Samuel ha-Levi and Joseph di Trani. On account of his knowledge of Arabic and Turkish he was appointed by the government as chief rabbi of the Ottoman empire...
of Constantinople (d. 1727), in his "Parashat Derakim," combined the darshan with the maggid. He adopted a new method of harmonizing the acts of Biblical personages with the legal views of Talmudic scholars. For instance, Pharaoh, in refusing to release Israel from bondage, acted according to the contention of Abaye, while Moses insisted on Israel's release in accordance with the decision of Rabba. This farfetched pilpul
Pilpul
Pilpul refers to a method of studying the Talmud through intense textual analysis in attempts to either explain conceptual differences between various halakhic rulings or to reconcile any apparent contradictions presented from various readings of different texts.Pilpul has entered English as a...
ism had many followers, some of whom asserted that Ahasuerus concurred in the decision of Maimonides, and that Vashti coincided with the opinion of RaBaD.
The Dubner Maggid
Jacob Kranz of Dubno, the Dubner Maggid (d. 1804), author of "Ohel Ya'aqob", adopted the MidrashMidrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
's method of explaining by parables and the incidents of daily life, such as the relations between the man of the city and the "yeshubnik" (village man), between the bride, the bridegroom, and the "mechuttanim" (contracting parents), and compared their relations to those between Israel and God. He drew also moral lessons from the "Arabian Nights" and from other secular stories in illustrating explanations of a midrash or a Biblical text. Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn
Moses Mendelssohn was a German Jewish philosopher to whose ideas the renaissance of European Jews, Haskalah is indebted...
named Kranz the "Jewish Æsop".
His most famous parable is about how he finds appropriate parables: Walking in the woods a man sees many trees with targets drawn on them. Each target with an arrow in the center, and a little boy with a bow. the little boy acknowledges that he had shot all the arrows. When further questioned he answers: 'First I shoot the arrow, then I draw the target'.
Kranz's pupil Abraham Dov Bär Flahm edited and published the Dubner Maggid's writings, and a host of other maggidim adopted this method. In the same period there were Jacob Israel of Kremnitz, author of "Shebet' mi-Yisrael," a commentary on the Psalms (Zolkiev, 1772); Judah Löw Edel of Slonim, author of "Afiqe Yehudah," sermons (Lemberg, 1802); Chayyim Abraham Katz of Moghilef, author of "Milchama ve-Shalom" (Shklov, 1797); Ezekiel Feiwel of Deretschin, author of "Toledot Adam" (Dyhernfurth, 1809) and maggid in Wilna (Levinsohn, "Bet Yehudah," ii. 149).
In modern times, a descendent of the Dubner Maggid, Moshe Kranc wrote down several parables of his, along with modern interpretations, in a book about business and Jewish stories: "The Hasidic Masters' Guide to Management" (The Dubner Maggid was not Hasidic, but followed Lithuanian Jewish Orthodox spirituality. There are stories of his relationship with the Vilna Gaon).
Philosophical Maggidim
The most celebrated maggid during the nineteenth century was Moses Isaac ben Noah Darshan, the "Kelmer Maggid" (b. 1828; d. 1900, in LidaLida
Lida is a city in western Belarus in Hrodna Voblast, situated 160 km west of Minsk. It is the fourteenth largest city in Belarus.- Etymology :...
). He was among the "terror" maggidim of the "Shebet' Musar" school and preached to crowded synagogues for over fifty years in almost every city of Russian Poland. Another prominent maggid was Chayyim Tzedeq, known as the "Rumsheshker" (Gersoni, "Sketches of Jewish Life and History," pp. 62–74, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, 1873). The "philosophical" maggid is one who preached from Arama's "Aqedat" and Bachya's "Chobot ha-Lebabot" ("Duties of the heart"). Enoch Sundl Luria, the author of "Kenaf Renanim", on "Pirqe Shirah" (Krotoschin, 1842), was a noted philosophical maggid.
Meïr Leibush Malbim (d. 1880), in his voluminous commentaries on the Bible, followed to some extent Abravanel and Alshech, and his conclusions are pointed and logical. Malbim's commentaries are considered to offer the best material for the use of maggidim.
From the "terror", or "Musar
Musar
Musar, may refer to* the Hebrew word for “ethics"* Musar literature, Jewish moral literature* the Musar movement, a Jewish religious ethical, educational and cultural movement* Château Musar, Lebanese winery...
", maggid developed the "penitential" maggid, who, especially during the month of Elul and the ten days of penitence between New-Year's Day and Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
, urged the wicked to repent of their sins and seek God's forgiveness. One of these "penitental" preachers was Jacob Joseph
Jacob Joseph
Jacob Joseph served as chief rabbi of New York City's Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, a federation of Eastern European Jewish synagogues...
, chief rabbi of the Russian Jews in New York (d. 1902), formerly maggid of Wilna, and a student of the Musar movement. In the middle of his preaching he would pause to recite with the people the "Shema koleinu", and the "Ashamnu," raising the audience to a high pitch of religious emotion. The maggid usually ended his preaching with the words. "u-ba le-Tziyyon goel," etc. (a redeemer shall come to Zion speedily in our days; let us say "Amen"). Some of the wandering maggidim acted also as meshullachim (collectors of money for institutions). The yeshivot in Russia and the charitable institutions of Jerusalem, especially the Va'ad ha-Kelali, sent abroad meshullach-maggidim. The resident maggid who preached at different synagogues in one city was called the "Stadt Maggid", as in Wilna and other large cities in Russia. The modern, or "maskil
Maskil
Maskil :* A Hebrew literary musical term occurring in the heading of some psalms.* Title of honor, meaning "scholar" or "enlightened man," used by Isaac Israeli ben Joseph in the 14th century to refer to his Italian Jewish colleagues....
", maggid was called "Volksredner" (people's orator), and closely followed the German "Prediger" in his method of preaching. Tzebi Hirsch Dainow (d. 1877) was the first of the modern type of maggid, which soon developed into that of the "national," or "Zionistic," maggid. Tzvi Hirsch Masliansky and Joseph Zeff, both of New York, were representatives of the latter class. See Homiletics
Homiletics
Homiletics , in theology the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific department of public preaching. The one who practices or studies homiletics is called a homilist....
.
Hasidic Maggidim
The founder of the Hasidic movement, Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov (Besht)(1698-1760), awakened a new stage and revival in Jewish mysticism. Hasidic philosophyHasidic philosophy
Hasidic philosophy or Hasidus , alternatively transliterated as Hassidism, Chassidism, Chassidut etc. is the teachings, interpretations of Judaism, and mysticism articulated by the modern Hasidic movement...
internalised the abstract theological system of the earlier Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, by relating it to man's inner psychological awareness. This saw Divine omnipresence in everything, and brought this into personal dveikus (cleaving) through joyful fervour in daily life. This new teaching had popular appeal to the common folk, but also attracted great scholars who saw its deeper significances and philosophical depths. The Baal Shem Tov opposed the admonishing methods of the "musar" maggidim, which criticised and demoralised, as well as motivated, the community. His mysticism saw the inner holiness of each person. He would often illustrate to his disciples the preciousness in God's eyes of the simple sincerity of the unlearned Jewish folk. In the biographical hagiography
Hagiography
Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...
of stories about the Baal Shem Tov, his encounters and "conversions" of admonishing preachers are recounted, as well as his encounters with the isolated, ascetic scholars, whose practices he also opposed.
His personal model of the Hasidic Master Rebbe
Rebbe
Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
was passed to the subsequent Hasidic Masters in the new Hasidic interpretation of the Tzaddik (saintly leader), who channels Divine blessing to the world. The microcosmic Messianic redemption offered by a Hasidic Rebbe, gave a new form of teacher and leader to the Jewish community, combining public mystic and redeemer, along with the traditional notions of darshan and maggid. Some Hasidic leaders are known with the name of "maggid", sometimes gained from before their adherence to Hasidism. The continual regard of this title to them, indicates a new interpretation of the traditional notion of a maggid, incorporated into the Hasidic role of Rebbe. The mystical revival of Hasidism elevated hagiographic storytelling about the Masters to a new degree in Judaism, reflecting the importance of the mystical adherence to a Tzaddik. The popular titles of each Master therefore reflect personal endearment and reverence.
Rabbi Dov Ber of Mezeritch (דוב בער ממזריטש) (1704/1710?-1772) is known as the Maggid ("Preacher" or literally "Sayer") of Mezritsh
Mezhirichi
Mezhirichi is a village in the Korets Raion of the Rivne Oblast, Ukraine. It is located in western Ukraine, 13 miles W of Korets, 27 miles E of Rivne.- Names :Mezhirichi is also known as , , .- Jewish life in Mezhirichi :...
after being the Maggid of the town of Rovne
Rivne
Rivne or Rovno is a historic city in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Rivne Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Rivne Raion within the oblast...
. After initially being opposed to the Baal Shem Tov's new ideas, he became a disciple and member of the Baal Shem Tov's close inner circle. After the passing of his Master, the disciples appointed Dov Ber to become his successor, leading the new Hasidic movement in the early years of its establishment. Rabbi Dov Ber, the Maggid of Mezeritch or "Great Maggid", is regarded as the first exponent of the philosophical system within the Baal Shem Tov's new teachings and doctrines, and one of its most important propagators. He became the architect of the new movement, devoting his attention to developing an academy of leading scholars and future leaders (the "Chevra Kaddisha"-Holy Society) to spread Hasidism across each of the regions of Eastern Europe after his passing. His teachings appear in the volume Magid Devarav L'Yaakov. His inner circle of disciples included Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk
Elimelech of Lizhensk
Elimelech Weisblum of Lizhensk , a Rabbi and one of the great founding Rebbes of the Hasidic movement, was known after his hometown, Leżajsk near Rzeszów in Poland...
, Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev
Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev
Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev , also known as the Berdichever, was a rabbi and Hasidic leader. He was the rabbi of Ryczywół, Żelechów, Pinsk and Berdychiv, for which he is best known...
, Rabbi Aharon (HaGadol) of Karlin
Karlin (Hasidic Dynasty)
Karlin-Stolin is a Hasidic dynasty originating with Rebbe Aaron the Great of Karlin in present-day Belarus. Karlin was one of the first centres of Hasidim to be set up in Lithuania....
, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk
Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk
Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk , also known as Menachem Mendel of Horodok, was an early leader of Hasidic Judaism. Part of the third generation of Hasidic leaders, he was the primary disciple of the Maggid of Mezeritch...
, and Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi , also known as the Baal HaTanya, , was an Orthodox Rabbi, and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi, Imperial Russia...
.
Notable Maggidim
- Hillel Noah Maggid (Steinschneider), Lithuanian genealogist and historian, a descendant of the family of Saul WahlSaul WahlSaul Wahl was a wealthy and politically influential Polish Jew. According to legend, he was king of Poland for a single day, August 18, 1587...
(http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=41&letter=M) - Glusker Maggid (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=276&letter=G), see also Abba Glusk Leczeka (http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=135&letter=A), a poem by Adalbert von Chamisso
- Jacob ben Wolf Kranz of Dubno, der "Dubner Maggid" (1741-1804)
- Dov Ber of Mezeritch (about 1700-1772), the propogator of the early Hasidic movement
- Moses Isaac of Chelm, der "Kelmer Maggid"
- Zev WolfZev WolfZev Wolf of Zbaraz was the third son of Rabbi Yechiel Michel of Zlotshov, known as "The Maggid of Zlotshov"....
of ZbarazhZbarazhZbarazh is a city in the Ternopil Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zbarazh Raion , and is located in the historic region of Galicia....
and Zloczow - Sholom SchwadronSholom SchwadronSholom Schwadron was a Haredi rabbi. He was known as the "Maggid of Jerusalem" for his fiery, inspirational mussar talks. Some of the stories he told about the character and conduct of Torah leaders and tzadikim of previous generations were incorporated in the "Maggid" series of books by Rabbi...
(d. 1997), the "Maggid of Jerusalem" - Tzvi Hirsch Masliansky, American preacher
- The Kozhnitser (Kozienizer) Magid : Yisroel Hopsztajn (c. 1733 - 1814), author of the classic Avodas Yisroel. Rebbe Yisroel Hopsztajn, the founder of the Kozhnitz dynasty, and one of the three "patriarchs" of Polish Hasidism, was a disciple of Rebbe Elimelech of LizhenskElimelech of LizhenskElimelech Weisblum of Lizhensk , a Rabbi and one of the great founding Rebbes of the Hasidic movement, was known after his hometown, Leżajsk near Rzeszów in Poland...
(Rabbi Elimelech Weisblum of Lizhensk), author of Noam Elimelech. The Rebbe Elimelech was a disciple of the Rebbe Dovber, the Maggid ("preacher") of Mezeritch, the primary disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism.