Hasidic Judaism facts for kids

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Hasidic Judaism is a Jewish religious movement that was started by Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov. It began in Eastern Europe in the middle of the 18th century, and there are now Hasidic communities all over the world. The followers of Hasidism are called Hasidim.

Hasidism teaches about the importance of serving God with happiness and believes in Jewish mysticism. While Hasidim study the same books of Torah as the rest of Judaism, they focus on learning the hidden aspects of the text as well. Hasidic study also includes many of the teachings of Kabbalah.

Hasidism has strict laws about physical contact between the genders, Hasidic men will not even shake hands or make any physical contact with unrelated members of the opposite gender and Hasidic women will not make any physical contact with unrelated members of the opposite gender and also limit conversation.

Contents

Rebbe
Hasidic Groups
Images for kids
See also

Rebbe

Each Hasidic group has a leader who is called the Rebbe. The Rebbe is a man who is a Rabbi and is chosen by the hasidim to be their leader. Some of the jobs that he does are giving lectures on Torah and Chassidut and taking part in the different events of his Hasidim, like weddings and bris milahs.

Hasidic Groups

There are hundreds of different Hasidic groups. They all share similar characteristics but they also have individual customs. Some of the larger dynasties are Satmar, Chabad-Lubavitch, Bobov, Viznitz, and Belz.

Images for kids

A tish of the Boyan Hasidic dynasty in Jerusalem, holiday of Sukkot, 2009.
Rebuilt synagogue of the Baal Shem Tov. Rural shtetl life promoted awareness of the immanent Divine Presence in Nature
Rebbe Yisroel Hopsztajn, a great promulgator of Hasidism in Poland, blessing acolytes c. 1800. Hasidism gave the elite Tzadik a social mystical role
The Kaliver Rebbe, Holocaust survivor, inspiring his court on the festival of Sukkot
Kvitel requests for blessing piled on the graves of the last Lubavitcher Rebbes
Hasidic family in Borough Park, Brooklyn. The man is wearing a shtreimel, and either a bekishe or a rekel. The woman is wearing a wig, called a sheitel, as she is forbidden to show her hair in public.
Rabbi Moshe Leib Rabinovich, Munkacser Rebbe, wearing a kolpik
The Dorohoi Rebbe in his traditional rabbinical Sabbath garb
Sculpture of the Hasidic movement's celebration of spirituality on the Knesset Menorah
Israel ben Eliezer's autograph
Shivchei HaBesht (Praises of the Baal Shem Tov), the first compilation of Hasidic hagiographic storytelling, was printed from manuscripts in 1815
Palace of the Ruzhin dynasty, known for its "royal" mannerism, in Sadhora.
Belzer Rebbe Aharon Rokeach (depicted 1934), who was hidden from the Nazis and smuggled out of Europe.

See also

In Spanish: Judaísmo jasídico para niños

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