Page 16 - HaMizrachi Yom Yerushalayim - Shavuot 5782 USA

Chassidut

and Zionism

One of the unique personalities of the twentieth century, Rabbi Yaakov Friedman of
Husiatyn–Tel-Aviv (1878–1956) was a Chassidic Rebbe who actively supported the
Mizrachi movement. A great-grandson of the holy Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin, Rabbi
Friedman was a passionate Religious Zionist who moved with his family to Israel
in 1937. Many of his powerful sermons in support of Religious Zionism, delivered
between 1937 and 1956 in Tel Aviv, are collected in his sefer Ohalei Yaakov.

Now translated into English for the first time, the following essay by Rabbi Friedman was
originally published in Hebrew in Warsaw in 1919, in the fifth edition of HaMizrachi.

n Jewish tradition, the word remained in constant contact, always
Chassidut originally meant caring for their welfare.
the desire to attach oneself to The number of those who followed
IHashem by observing Torah and the ways of the Chassidim grew ever
mitzvot and through the purification greater. The leaders became known
of one’s character traits and thoughts. as tzaddikim while the followers were
The chassid goes beyond the letter of called Chassidim. Following the ways
the law in order to reach his goal, of the Ba’al Shem Tov, the tzaddikim
treating the mundane as if it were tried always to draw those who were
holy to train himself to be sensitive far from the ways of Torah closer. Even
to holiness. if they saw a Jew drawn by his evil
The Chassidut of the Ba’al Shem Tov inclination to extreme temptation and
was fully aligned with this classical sin, they refused to give up hope. With
definition, with one difference: the a deep understanding of psychology
Ba’al Shem Tov and his students and the inner workings of man, they
were not satisfied with pursuing the worked hard to find the good in every
wholeness of their own souls but also Jew. They did not disgrace, reject or
believed that they had an obligation separate from any Jew. A spark of Rabbi Yaakov Friedman
to bind every Jew to the Source of goodness in the heart of a Jew, even
eternal life, each person according to if it is weak and flickering, is worthy (simply translated as “A little longer
his level. These Chassidim went down of the attention of the tzaddik, who and there will be no wicked man; you
to the nation, which was groaning will work with all of his strength and will look at where he was – he will be
under a terrible burden of suffering wisdom to fan the spark into a healthy gone”). What is the true meaning of
and despair, drew close to them in flame. this verse? If you look at a man who
love, brotherhood and friendship, The response of the holy tzaddik still has “ט ַע ְמ,” who still has a little
strengthened their faith, purified of Ruzhin to one of his Chassidim bit of good in him, “ע ָ ׁש ָר ןי ֵא ְו,” and he
their character traits and through the is typical of the approach of the is not yet completely evil, “ ָּ ת ְנ ַנֹו ּ ב ְת ִה ְו,”
light of their holiness dispelled their tzaddikim: “You wonder why I work you should think carefully and say to
darkness. And for those Jews who so hard to be melamed zechut, to judge yourself, “ּוּנ ֶני ֵא ְו ֹומֹוק ְמ-ל ַע,” if I were in
lacked the strength to walk themselves even great sinners positively? It is this wicked person’s place I wouldn’t
on “the path that goes up from Beit written in Tehillim: “;ע ָ ׁש ָר ןי ֵא ְו ,ט ַע ְמ דֹוע ְו possess even the little bit of good that
El” without constant guidance, they ּוּנ ֶני ֵא ְו ֹומֹוק ְמ-ל ַע ָּ ת ְנ ַנֹו ּ ב ְת ִה ְו” (Tehillim 37:10) he has!”

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