Gadi Sagiv, Hasidism and Cemetery Inauguration Ceremonies

T H E J E W I S H Q UA R T E R LY R E V I E W, Vol. 103, No. 3 (Summer 2013) 328–351

Hasidism and Cemetery InaugurationCeremonies: Authority, Magic, and

Performance of Charismatic LeadershipG A D I S AG I V

HAYYIM HEZEKIAH MEDINI (1832–1904), who was born in Jerusa-lem, served as the rabbi of Karasubazar—on the Crimean Peninsula—from 1867 to 1899. Addressing the topic of death and burial, he wrotethe following passage in Sede h. emed, his halakhic encyclopedia:

I have heard that it is customary in the towns of Ashkenaz to inviteone of the generation’s leading figures, a famous tsadik, to be presentwhen a cemetery is expanded, and if there is no famous tsadik in thetown they look for another tsadik and shower him with gold coins sothat he will come to them. But among us, the Sephardic Jews, I haveneither witnessed nor heard of such a custom, and I have never seen itmentioned in any book, and I have no knowledge regarding the ratio-nale or source for this . . . however, one does not question [established]custom . . . and just recently, in the year 1877, in our neighboring town,the community needed to add on to the cemetery and I was asked bythem how to proceed, and I responded with the process delineated bythe Gaon, the Sha’agat aryeh1 . . . that they should declare a fast onthe gathering of the eve of the new moon of Sivan for at least tenmembers of the burial society, and that was indeed what they did andall the other members of the society who were unable to fast for theentire day still fasted until almost midday and I too, the ignorant (hed-yot), was there with them on that day and we recited the MorningPrayer and many penitential prayers, and I enacted one prayer to be

I would like to thank David Assaf, Uriel Gellman, and Marcin Wodzinski fortheir instructive comments on this essay.

1. Medini is referring to Aryeh Leib Ginzburg, She’elot u-teshuvot sha’agat aryehhe-hadashot (Vilna, 1874), 122.

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HASIDISM AND CEMETERY INAUGURATION—SAGIV 329

recited at the cemetery and texts to be studied there and this continuedalmost until midday.

A book entitled Kodesh hilulim happened to come into my possessionagain, and I noted that in the section entitled Nofet tsufim the authorhad written in the name of the hasid, the Besht [Ba‘al Shem Tov], howthey should act in such a case, and I shall transcribe his words here.2

In this text, Medini describes a cemetery ceremony that was customaryamong some Ashkenazic Jewish communities and gives evidence of aspecific performance of this ceremony in one Crimean community. Espe-cially noteworthy is his testimony that it was customary to invite ‘‘afamous tsadik’’—and he is clearly referring to a Hasidic tsadik—to partic-ipate in the event, a service for which the tsadik was paid. According toMedini, this ceremony is an undocumented Ashkenazi ritual, so when hewas asked to provide guidelines for performing it, he was uncertain aboutthe details. In the end, Medini recommended a set of penitential ritualsthat he based on the teaching of Arie Leib Ginzburg, an eighteenth-century East European rabbi who advised that a local burial society per-form penitential rituals before acquiring new grounds for the local ceme-tery—a slightly different case of the consecration or inauguration of thenew grounds. However, it seems that later he discovered a text attributedto the Besht giving instructions specifically for expanding a cemetery.

In this essay, I will discuss these precepts and customs, which crystal-ized into a well-structured ritual of inaugurating a new cemetery or anexpansion of an old one in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century EasternEuropean Jewish communities. It was perceived to be Hasidic in origin,and in some areas was performed only by Hasidic leaders.3 Beyond

2. Hayyim Hizkiah Medini, Sede h. emed (Brooklyn, 1950), vol. 4, Ma‘arekhetavelut, 1402 (Asifat dinim sede h. emed [Warsaw, 1896], 48). The passage that Medinicopied from Kodesh hilulim will be cited below (in the beginning of Section A)from an earlier source.

3. On this rite, see Aaron Wertheim, Law and Custom in Hasidism, trans.S. Himelstein (Hoboken, N.J., 1992), 348–49; Meir Benayahu, Ma‘amadotu-moshavot (Hebrew; Jerusalem, 1985), 218; David Assaf, Untold Tales of the Hasi-dim: Crisis and Discontent in the History of Hasidism (Waltham, Mass., 2010),132–33; Gad Sagiv, ‘‘The Chernobyl Hasidic Dynasty: Its History and Thoughtfrom Its Beginning till the Eve of the First World War’’ (Hebrew; Ph.D. diss.,Tel Aviv University, 2009), 154–58. Some of the sources discussed below arementioned in the Hebrew edition of Assaf’s book: David Assaf, Caught in theThicket: Chapters of Crisis and Discontent in the History of Hasidism (Jerusalem,2006), 194, n. 47. For an anthology of halakhic sources pertaining to cemeteryconsecration, see Gavriel Tsinner, Nite‘e Gavriel—Hilekhot avelut, 2 (2nd ed.; Jeru-

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investigating an unexplored ritual, I would also like to exploit its charac-teristic as cultural performance that sheds light on nineteenth-centuryHasidism in general.

A. POSSIBLE CONTEXTS, SOURCES, AND FUNCTIONS

The ritual ascribed to the Besht that Medini found in the book Kodeshhilulim might have been copied from an earlier book titled Ner yisrael,attributed to the Hasidic tsadik R. Israel of Kozienice (d. 1814):

Copied from the Besht . . . following is the golden tongue of the Besht:If it is necessary to add on to the cemetery, God forbid, perform thefollowing: first have no fewer than ten men circumambulate the newarea seven times. At the four corners of that area, they should recitePsalms 102, 103, 104, and Isaiah 42, beginning with ‘‘Sing to the Lorda new song’’ etc. (Is 42.10). And they should begin each circumambula-tion with the southeastern corner next to which they should recite fromPs 102. And as they circumambulate, they should recite ‘‘And let thefavor’’ (Ps 90.17) until they reach the northeastern corner. And at thiscorner, they should recite Ps 103. And as they proceed from this cor-ner, they should recite ‘‘And let the favor’’ until they reach the north-western corner. And at the corner, they should recite from Ps 104.They should then circumambulate from this corner reciting ‘‘And letthe favor’’ until they reach the southwestern corner. And at this corner,they should recite from Is 42, ‘‘Sing to the Lord a new song etc.’’ Andat the end of the first circumambulation, they should recite [the liturgi-cal poem] Ana be-koah. ,4 and they must concentrate on a divine name inthe first verse, and so they must do in each of the seven circumambula-tions. And after completing each one of the seven circumambulations,they must recite Ana be-koah. , concentrating on another divine name,until they complete the seven names over the course of the seven cir-cumambulations. And when they begin to enclose the additional area,they should not commence with the northern side and they should also

salem, 2001), chap. 95, 708–20, where I found many of the sources cited in thisessay.

4. Ana be-koah. is a liturgical poem traditionally attributed to Neh. uniyah benha-Kanah. It includes a request for divine assistance. Read together in order, thefirst letters of all the words compose what was believed to be the forty-two-letterdivine name. Some believed it had a power to fight evil forces, and there werethose who recited it before the death of an individual. On this poem, see MosheHallamish, Kabbalistic Customs of Shabbat (Hebrew; Jerusalem, 2006), 221–24,and the bibliographical references there.

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not begin burying on that side. They should also not bury a kohen first.And may it be his will that death be swallowed up forever, speedily inour days. Amen. Selah.5

This text describes a ceremony entailing seven circumambulations of thegrounds to be added to the cemetery. Each circumambulation must movecounterclockwise from the southeast corner. In each corner a chapterfrom Psalms is recited and as each side is traversed ‘‘And let the favor’’ isto be recited. After each circumambulation, a successive line from theseven lines comprising the liturgical poem Ana be-koah. is to be recited,and during each circumambulation the participants must concentrate onthe divine name alluded to by the letters in that line. The warning in thetext against burying the first individuals on the northern side may indi-cate a desire to distance oneself from the forces of evil, which Jewishsources (especially kabbalistic ones) traditionally link to the north.6

The allocation of new grounds for a cemetery is part of a rich fabric ofrituals performed in cemeteries in postbiblical Judaism.7 This ceremonywould seem to be a routine event, no cause for concern, as natural popula-tion growth demands occasional expansion. However, in times of plague orwar, when the death rate increased quickly, the need to expand a cemeterygrew pressing, and such expansion was often associated with communaldistress. A custom of visiting cemeteries during times of drought in orderto pray for rain was already mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (bTa‘an16a).8 Entreating those buried in a cemetery to intervene for the benefit ofpeople also subtends the well-known practice of visiting ‘‘the graves of therighteous’’ (kivre tsadikim), which was done particularly during times of

5. Israel of Kozienice, Ner yisrael, Vilna [erratum: Lvov, 1840], 21a. This textalso appears in at least two more works that have apparently been erroneouslyattributed to Pinhas of Korets (1726–91): the end of Devarim neh. madim (Czernow-itz, 1859); Kodesh hilulim, Nofet tsufim (Lemberg, 1864), [43b]. However, severalof the rabbis who transmitted this ceremony (see section B below) based theirwords on these works.

6. For example, Gershom Scholem, Origins of the Kabbalah (Philadelphia,1987), 148–51.

7. On the topic of cemeteries in the culture of Eastern European Jews, as wellas for references to scholarship, see Avriel Bar-Levav, ‘‘Death and the Dead,’’ inYIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, ed. G. D. Hundert (New Haven,Conn., 2008), 1:396–99.

8. For various opinions about this custom, see Elliott Horowitz, ‘‘Speaking tothe Dead: Cemetery Prayer in Medieval and Early Modern Jewry,’’ Journal ofJewish Thought and Philosophy 8 (1999): 303–17.

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distress.9 In Ashkenazi communities there were communal processions tocemeteries, on such occasions as the eve of the new moon, the period priorto the high holy days, and the Ninth of Av.10

Ritual circumambulations are common in many religions,11 and thepractice of consecrating cemeteries through ritual circumambulations alsoappears outside Judaism.12 Ritual circumambulations, especially per-formed seven times, can also be found elsewhere in Jewish culture.13

Circumambulation rituals sometimes have a function of sanctifying space.The expansion of the Temple courtyard and the borders of Jerusalemmentioned in the Talmud called for ritual circumambulation that was evi-dently for that purpose.14 At the same time, circumambulation ritualsoften have a magical function of human intervention with regard to thecircumambulated space, or with regard to something this space symbol-izes. Such intervention is most visible in the story of the fall of the wallsof Jericho (Josh 6).

Circling the dead prior to or during the course of the funeral is per-formed as part of some Jewish burial customs.15 However, this ritual was

9. On the ritual of visiting the ‘‘graves of the righteous,’’ see Elchanan Reiner,‘‘Pilgrims and Pilgrimage to Eretz Yisrael, 1099–1516’’ (Hebrew; Ph.D. diss.,Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1988), 217–320; Ephraim Shoham-Steiner,‘‘ ‘For a prayer in that place would be most welcome’: Jews, Holy Shrines, andMiracles: A New Approach,’’ Viator 37 (2006): 369–95; Yechezkel Shraga Lich-tenstein, Consecrating the Profane: Rituals Performed and Prayers Recited at Cemeteriesand Burial Sites of the Pious (Hebrew; Tel Aviv, 2007).

10. Sylvie Anne Goldberg, Crossing the Jabbok: Illness and Death in AshkenaziJudaism in Sixteenth- through Nineteenth-Century Prague, trans. C. Cosman (Berke-ley, Calif., 1996), 139–42; Lichtenstein, Consecrating the Profane, 258–71.

11. Diana L. Eck, ‘‘Circumambulation,’’ in The Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. M.Eliade (New York, 1987), 3:509–11.

12. Helen Gittos, ‘‘Creating the Sacred: Anglo-Saxon Rites of ConsecratingCemeteries,’’ in Burial in Early Medieval England and Wales, ed. S. Lucy and A.Reynolds(London, 2002), 195–208.

13. Paul B. Fenton, ‘‘The Symbolism of Ritual Circumambulation in Judaismand Islam: A Comparative Study,’’ Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 6(1997): 345–69. In this essay, Fenton noted interesting parallels and suggestedexplanations for mutual influences between circumambulations in Judaism andIslam. He also noted that Lurianic Kabbalah established circumambulation cere-monies at such life-cycle events as weddings and funerals.

14. See bShev 15a–16a, and for a connection between the remarks thereinand cemetery consecration, see Moses Shik, She’elot u-teshuvot Maharam Shik,Yoreh de‘ah (henceforth YD) (Mukacevo, 1881), §357, 120a. See also Fenton,‘‘Ritual Circumambulation,’’ 53.

15. Benayahu, Ma‘amadot u-moshavot, 105–227; Goldberg, Crossing the Jabbok,133–35. See also Henry Abramovitch, ‘‘The Jerusalem Funeral as a Microcosm

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performed in the context of funerals for individuals; it was not communal;and it did not include any circumambulation of the cemetery.

In Ashkenazi communities circumambulations of the entire cemeterywere performed in two major contexts. One is the aforementioned customof occasional processions to cemeteries on holy days, which seem to havebeen communal and to have included fasting, recitation of penitentialprayers (selih. ot), and giving charity.16 The other context is a women’sceremony of encircling the entire cemetery with threads (from which can-dles were made for Yom Kipur), while reciting supplicatory prayers (tek-hines).17

Although it is unclear to what extent these customs were communalrituals performed by the entire community qua community, they seemantecedents of the cemetery allocation ceremony. Moreover, we can pointto an attempt to concatenate some of these rituals into a genealogy of thecemetery inauguration ceremony. Following a case described in tractateSemah. ot,18 a custom of circumambulation of a cemetery was mentioned inthe mid-fourteenth-century book Sefer ha-aguda.19 Following Sefer ha-aguda, Zechariah Mendel of Belz (author of a part of the Ba’er heytev onthe Shulh. an ‘arukh; died after 1707), was more specific:

In tractate Semah. ot the case [is recorded] of a woman whose son fell illand they circumambulated the Temple courtyard. It appears that thecustom of circumambulating the cemetery was based on this (See Seferha-aguda), and from this [foundation] the custom spread of measuringthe circumference of the cemetery with threads and afterwards usingthem to produce wax candles and donating it [sic] to the synagogue.And this is all a proper custom.20

The Ba’er heytev suggests that the custom of encircling the cemetery withthreads is a contemporary expression of an ancient magical practice per-formed in the Temple. The kabbalist Eliyahu Guttmacher (1796–1874),

of the ‘Mismeeting’ between Religious and Secular Israelis,’’ in Perspectives onIsraeli Anthropology, ed. E. Herzog et al. (Detroit, 2010), 518–19.

16. For the tekhines, see Eliezer Lieberman of Prague, Ma‘ane lashon ‘im ‘ivriteitsh (Prague, 1615; New York, 1930), §2, 9–20.

17. Chava Weissler, Voices of the Matriarchs: Listening to the Prayers of Early Mod-ern Jewish Women (Boston, 1998), 133–46. In particular, see the references citedin nn. 36–38.

18. Masekhet semah. ot, ed. Higger (New York, 1931), 134.19. Alexander Zuslin HaKohen, Sefer ha-agudah (Krakow, 1571), 172a.20. Ba’er heytev on the Shulh. an ‘arukh, YD §376, n. 4.

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who served as a rabbi in Gratz on the Polish-German border, discussedthe inauguration ceremony in two of his responsa.21 Basing his positionon the aforementioned remark in the Ba’er heytev, Guttmacher explicitlylinked the custom of encircling the cemetery with threads and the ceme-tery inauguration ceremony; in both a circumambulation is performedwith magical intent, designed to ward off harmful forces.22

The cemetery inauguration ritual probably also resulted from the con-vergence of various sources of influence, each of which was a product ofits own particular and variegated circumstances. However, Guttmacher’sremarks are still valuable because he explicitly mentioned the consecra-tion of space, which he linked to prophylactic magic. He declared thatdesignating grounds for a cemetery is similar to preparing grounds forTemple use, and since ‘‘in the process of any sacred rectification there iscertainly the need to first banish the influence of the kelipot [‘husks,’ i.e.,the forces of evil],’’ the circumambulation ceremony should be under-stood as protection against these kelipot.

In addition to Guttmacher’s analysis, a discussion of the inaugurationceremony can be found in the notes of the Russian Hasidic tsadik R.Yehoshua Heschel Rabinowitz of Monastyrishche (1860–1938).23 Rabi-nowitz provided a copy of the service from the Ner yisrael volume, as wellas an explanation of the ritual.24 Particularly, he gave reasons for whyspecific psalms were chosen for the ceremony: Psalm 102 speaks aboutthe baseness of man, whereas Psalms 103 and 104 emphasize the great-ness of God. Like Guttmacher, Rabinowitz mentioned two components:magic and the sanctification of space. However, while Guttmacher associ-ated the cemetery with the ancient Temple, Rabinowitz linked the ceme-tery and the land of Israel, arguing that the borders of the Holy Israelare effectively expanded through this act of consecration. This borderexpansion will spare the deceased from having to roll through the subter-ranean tunnels, as all those buried in the Diaspora must, before beingresurrected (see GenR 96.5).

New burial grounds were often allocated when the old grounds couldnot accommodate new corpses, so the inauguration ceremony was associ-ated with actual deaths and followed by digging new graves. The expan-sion ritual might be a means for resolving this tension between the need

21. Eliyahu Guttmacher, Aderet eliyahu, (Jerusalem, 1984), YD §124–25,436–41.

22. Ibid., 440.23. Yehoshua Heschel Rabinowitz, ‘Erkhei yehoshua (2nd ed.; Jerusalem, 1996),

185–87.24. The explanation is cited in the name of his father, the tsaddik Yitshak Yoel

of Kantakuzova (1840–85).

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to allocate new grounds for the cemetery and a natural recoil from death-related matters. Such recoil is often anchored in kabbalistic-magicalnotions pertaining to the aforementioned fear of allowing demonic andharmful forces (mazikim) to wreak havoc.25 Circumambulation might bean attempt to quarantine death and so distance it from the living. In thiscontext, it is relevant to note other magical customs or rituals that helppeople cope with their fear of cemeteries, but do not necessarily includecircumambulations. Such rites include ritually slaughtering a roosterwithout reciting the blessing, and then burying it in the first empty gravedug in the new section. Burying the rooster symbolized interring thedivine power of judgment (midat ha-din) and thereby weakening it.26 Also,the aforementioned warnings against burying the first bodies in thenorthern side are similar to warnings in other texts against digging newgraves except for immediate use.27

B. RECEPTION AND DISSEMINATION

From Rabinowitz’s text mentioned in the previous chapter one can learnalso about the ritual’s reception, as he wrote: ‘‘I found the entire servicerecorded there in the old record book (pinkas) of the burial society in the

25. Gershom Gerhard Scholem, On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism (New York,1965), 154.

26. ‘‘And in the name of R Yehuda he-Hasid they wrote that it is good to burya rooster, which is referred to by the appellation ‘gever,’ in an empty grave. Per-haps in so doing the power of judgment will be interred and weakened since it isunder the influence of the side of the angel Gabriel who is called gever’’(AharonBerakhyah of Modena, Ma‘avar yabok [Mantua, 1626; Vilna, 1860], Sfat emet,chap. 11, 202). See also the following passage: ‘‘in the town of Reggio in the year1685 . . . Menahem the son of . . . ‘Azriel Levi, of blessed memory, passed awayand they buried him in a cemetery [literally, the houses of the living] in which noone had ever been buried yet and they ritually slaughtered a rooster, withoutreciting the blessing, and they buried it with him at his feet’’ (Yitshak Lampronti,Pah. ad Yitsh. ak, Part 1 [Venice, 1710], s.v. beyt kvarot, 23a.).

27. For instance, ‘‘R. Yeruham wrote in the name of R. Yehuda he-Hasid thatone should not dig a grave unless one wishes to inter the dead immediately, andwe have already written that no one should provide Satan with the opportunityto open his mouth; they meant by this that no one should cause Satan to open hismouth by cursing himself or others’’ (Ma‘avar yabok, Sfat emet, chap. 11, 202);‘‘When the forces of impurity see an open grave at night they take this opportu-nity to accuse, and sometimes there is a death without a trial’’ (ibid., chap. 11,203). The very act of digging the grave, that is to say, ‘‘opening the grave,’’ mayhave alluded to the opening of Satan’s mouth. For an approach that does notrecoil from acquiring grounds for a new cemetery in advance, see Ginzburg,Sha’agat aryeh, 122.

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town of Linitz [in the Kiev province].’’28 The cemetery inauguration servicealso appears in the record book of the Ladyzhin’s burial society (located inthe Podolia province), which even states that the service was sent to themby R. Levi Yitshak of Berdichev in 1790.29 If that is the case, then R.Levy Yitshak’s instructions are the first occurrence of the ritual I haveencountered. Moreover, this source does not only predate the text quotedabove from Ner yisrael; it also informs what will be typical in the nineteenthcentury: that knowledge of this ritual was considered the domain of theHasidic masters, and that it was requested by a local burial society.

The prominent Galician rabbi Yoseph Shaul Nathanson reports a per-formance of the ceremony in 1855, probably in Lwow.30 Nathansonwrites that the ceremony had to be performed because the current ceme-tery was ‘‘blocked’’ (presumably, full or congested) and eight bodies werestill to be buried. The ceremony performed was based on the instructionsfound in the previously cited Ner yisrael, but incorporated slight changes.

The custom’s dissemination can be inferred from several responsa writ-ten during the second half of the nineteenth century in which major rab-binic eastern European rabbis are asked how to consecrate a cemetery.The rabbi and tsadik, Hayyim of Sanz (1799–1876) contributed to theritual’s dissemination in Galicia by including the relevant passage fromNer yisrael in his published responsa. His own responsum was cited byother rabbis in Galicia and Hungary, who may have also sometimes cop-ied the passage directly from Ner yisrael, notwithstanding the apparentdifficulty in obtaining this work.31 Moses Shik (1807–79) contributed tothe ceremony’s dissemination in Hungary, where it was practiced untilthe outbreak of the Second World War.32

28. Rabinowitz, ‘Erkhe yehoshua, 186.29. MS Moscow-Ginzburg 1362 (Signature in the National Library of Israel

in Jerusalem: F8440), 3b. This manuscript is a copy of the original record book,wherein the service had originally been printed on p. 49a. The passage wasprinted in ‘‘Mismakh histori: He‘etek pinkas h. evra kadisha de-‘ir ladyzhin be-ukraina,’’ Kovets nah. alat tsvi, 8 (1993): 148.

30. Yoseph Shaul Nathanson, Divre shaul ve-hu sefer yosef da‘at: h. idush dinim ve-halakhah le-ma‘aseh ‘al shulh. an ‘arukh, YD, part 1 (Lemberg, 1879), 280.

31. Hayyim Halbershtam of Sanz, She’elot u-teshuvot divre H. ayim (Lvov, 1875),Part 2, YD, §135, 81. For instances in which his ruling was relied upon in Galicia,see Ya‘akov Schor, She’elot u-teshuvot divre Ya‘akov (Kolomyya, 1881), §13, 10b–11a; Yitshak Yehudah Shmelkes, She’elot u-teshuvot bet Yitsh. ak, YD, Part 2(Przemysl, 1895), §156, 127b. For an instance of Halbershtam’s influence onHungarian rabbis, see Moshe Greenwald, She’elot u-teshuvot ‘arugat ha-bosem ‘alshulh. an ‘arukh, YD (Svalava, 1926; New York, 1980), §253.

32. Shik, She’elot u-teshuvot Maharam Shik, YD §357, 120a. Regarding Hun-gary, see also Shlomo Yehuda Tabak, ‘Erekh Shai on YD (Sighet, 1897), §362,129b. (He notes that the ceremony was a ‘‘received tradition from the Ba‘al Shem

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On more than one occasion, the rabbis were forced to admit that theywere unfamiliar with this custom. Notwithstanding this lack of familiar-ity, they realized that such a ceremony was indeed being performed andruled that since it had been established, it should not be annulled. Therabbis had to find a liturgy for this ceremony and did not leave theirquestioners empty-handed, providing them with one that was usuallybased on that in Ner yisrael. The frequent citation of the ritual fromthat work—where it is attributed to the Besht—attests to the prevailingnotion that he innovated the ceremony, and to the association of the cere-mony with early Hasidism.33 The result was that even if not all thosewho spread the custom were identified with Hasidism, the rabbis whotransmitted the ritual were in effect disseminating a Hasidic customthroughout areas of Central and Eastern Europe, and even affixing itsimage as Hasidic.

Although not all decisors provided the same guidelines for performingthe cemetery inauguration ceremony, it is still possible to delineate severalcommon characteristics: the local burial society was responsible for per-forming the ceremony, which was preceded by the recitation of peniten-tial prayers and a fast; the ceremony itself included the circumambulationprocedure described in the Ner yisrael; oftentimes the ceremony was eitherpreceded or followed by a sermon; and the entire event was accompaniedby the giving of charity, which was considered both a substitute for fast-ing and a means to nullify harsh decrees.34

C. A CASE STUDY: CEMETERY INAUGURATION

IN KOLOMYYA, 1893

In order to provide a concrete example of the cemetery inauguration cere-mony, I will present it as it was performed in 1893 in Kolomyya, Galicia(now Ukraine) by the local rabbi, Jacob Teomim (1833–1908), who wasclose to the tsadikim of Belz Hasidism.35 Several years earlier, when he

Tov.’’) Hungarian rabbis also mentioned this ceremony during the first half ofthe twentieth century: Tsvi Hirsh Shapira, She’elot u-teshuvot tsvi tif’eret, (Moka-cevo, 1912), §24, 42a; Eliezer Hayyim Deutsch, Duda’e ha-sadeh (Seini, 1929),§86, 30a.

33. For example, R. Yehoshua Heschel Rabinowitz asserted that it makessense for this ceremony to be performed by Hasidim, since the ceremony isascribed to the Besht (Rabinowitz, ‘Erkhe yehoshua, 186).

34. For kabbalistic functions of charity, see Moshe Hallamish, Kabbalah inLiturgy, Halakhah and Customs (Hebrew; Ramat-Gan, 2000), 383–400.

35. Hayyim Tsvi Teomim, Zikkaron la-rishonim (Kolomyya, 1914), 25–28. Inthis text, the Hebrew and Gregorian dates do not match. However, since R.Teomim did not arrive in Kolomyya until 1891 (according to Meir Wunder,Me’ore Galitsiyah [Jerusalem, 1997], 5:677), the Gregorian year should apparentlybe 1893.

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had presided as rabbi of Tarnogrod in Congress Poland, Teomim hadapproached Hayyim of Sanz, who had presented him with the serviceand even given him a copy of the relevant passage from Ner yisrael.36

The event was planned for the eve of the new moon of the month ofHeshvan, which confirms the impression noted earlier that the inaugura-tion ritual was a variation of the custom of visiting cemeteries on theeves of new months. On the appointed day, the burial society membersassembled in the main synagogue and, after prayers, recited penitentialprayers; R. Teomim then gave a sermon.37 The next day, some importantrabbis from other eastern Galician towns came to take part in the cere-mony. Teomim wrote:

Everyone from the town, men, women, and children, in their hun-dreds and thousands, assembled in the place designated for the newcemetery and each of them was provided with a sheet printed with thecustomary procedures [to be performed] during the circumambulationof the cemetery, which the rabbi . . . and his rabbinical court haddecreed. The burial society circumambulated the cemetery . . . Almosteveryone from the town, its leaders and its dignitaries . . . were presentduring the circumambulations. The push of the crowd was tremendous,and each and every person gave twelve kreutzers38 to the charity fund,and many gave substantial sums to the community chest. The guestrabbis . . . and Teomim . . . delivered sermons on aggadic themes andoverwhelmed the hearts of their audience. The president of the commu-nity at the time, Dr. Trachtenberg,39 gave a speech in German and theheads of the community distributed hard liquor and sweet delicacies,and in the evening the philanthropic (gemilut hasadim) society provideda feast . . . and the community leaders and rabbis, as well as justices ofthe rabbinical court came, and they feasted and conversed on Torah

36. Teomim, Zikaron la-rishonim, 26–27. R. Hayyim’s response contains a ver-sion similar to the aforementioned one that he had given several years earlier toanother request.

37. Ibid., 25.38. The original Hebrew has the abbreviation tsadi lamed, which probably

means tselamim, a nickname given to the Austrian kreutzer, a coin that had atselem, that is to say, a cross, embossed on it.

39. This was probably Dr. Maximilian Trachtenberg, a local lawyer who wasthe mayor of Kolomyya (as well as the head of the community) from 1878 until1895 and a member of the Galician Sejm from 1896 until 1900 (Pinkas Hakehillot:Encyclopaedia of Jewish Communities. Poland, vol. 2, Eastern Galicia, ed. D. Dabrow-ska, A. Weiss, A. Wein [Hebrew; Jerusalem, 1980], 467).

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matters, and all the people were glad and ‘‘rejoiced with trembling.’’(Ps 2.11)40

On this particular occasion the ceremony had nothing to do withmourning for a particular individual. In fact the opposite is true. Thisceremony was intended to obviate the need to mourn. The somber cere-mony was thus transformed into a community festival. The ceremonytook on a theatrical character, as if it was performed on stage: there wasa stage (the new grounds), a director (R. Teomim), actors (the membersof the burial society), an audience (the town’s inhabitants and invitedguests), and a script that was distributed to the audience. Presumably,the ceremony could have been performed in a small forum. Therefore,the decision to turn it into a public spectacle indicates that the eventitself had value beyond its narrow role of cemetery inauguration.Apparently, the spectacle was in and of itself spiritually uplifting, per-haps because of a sense that death had been overcome. Likewise, theparticipation of the entire community—including even the president ofthe community—strengthened the people’s sense of communal solidar-ity, the status of the burial society, and the very standing of R. Teomim.

Note should be taken of the changing role of charity, which originallybecame part of the ritual in order to provide a substitute for fasting andbecause giving charity was believed to help nullify harsh decrees. How-ever, the charity given should also be understood within the context ofthe custom of tossing coins when circumambulating the deceased. Thiscustom was sometimes explained in symbolic terms, as nullifying thepower of the evil forces by giving them their due, as well as an attemptto rectify the deceased’s sins of seminal emission.41 In contradistinction tothese private functions, the cemetery inauguration ceremony became apublic event closely associated with fundraising, whether for the burialsociety itself or for other additional communal institutions.

D. INAUGURATION OF CEMETERIES BY TSADIKIM

AND SOCIAL RELATIONS IN THE SHTETL

While Medini’s work, cited at the beginning of this essay, depicts theprevailing circumstances in Crimea, the custom in which a burial society

40. Teomim, Zikaron la-rishonim, 26–28. In one of the omitted passages, theauthor detailed the procedure to be followed and the passages to be recited.

41. Daniel Sperber, ‘‘Casting Seven Coins Next to the Deceased,’’ The JewishLife Cycle: Custom, Lore and Iconography (Ramat Gan, 2008), 531–37.

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invited a Hasidic tsadik to perform the inauguration ceremony was com-mon throughout the southern Ukranian provinces of the Pale of Settle-ment—Kiev, Podolia, and Volhynia.42 Its proximity to death rendered thecemetery inauguration ceremony dangerous. It seems that tsadikim wereconsidered the most suitable professionals for this risky task, especiallybecause the relevant text for the ritual was ascribed to the Besht. More-over, tsadikim may have also been the only ones willing to perform thisritual, as sources even note that some rabbis left the community while theritual was being performed.43

The inauguration ceremony became one of the activities incumbentupon the tsadikim during times of crisis.44 They performed this ceremonyas part of a reciprocal relationship with the communities and burial socie-ties in the southern Pale of Settlement. This cooperation should be under-stood in light of the progressive weakening of the Jewish community’sautonomy in Eastern Europe; in Russia, the autonomous Jewish commu-nity council (kahal) was officially abolished in 1844. As the autonomy ofthe Jewish community decreased, the power of the local religious socie-ties (professional artisans’ guilds or societies for the study of Torah andthe performance of the commandments) and Hasidic courts increased,for they assumed responsibility for functions previously shouldered bycommunal institutions.45 In many cases, cooperation can be observedbetween tsadikim and the local societies. When a core of society memberswere adherents of a specific tsadik, that society was often associated withthat tsadik and seen as a branch of his court. This relationship allowedthe tsadikim to strengthen their hold on communities and provided socie-ties with the honor of being associated with prestigious tsadikim.46 Therelations that developed between the Hasidic courts and the societieswere thus a means for both to amass power.

42. Most of the examples will highlight tsadikim who were members of theChernobyl dynasty. On that dynasty and its preeminence in nineteenth-centuryUkraine, see Sagiv, Chernobyl Hasidic Dynasty. Curiously, the ritual encircling ofthe cemetery with a cord also seems to come from these same regions. See Weis-sler, Voices of the Matriarchs, 242, n. 36.

43. See the sources cited in Tsinner, Nite’e Gavriel, 712–13.44. See, for instance, Ha-tsefirah, October 8, 1890, 864.45. Isaac Levitats, The Jewish Community in Russia, 1844–1917 (Jerusalem,

1981), 69–84; Israel Halpern, Eastern European Jewry: Historical Studies (Hebrew;Jerusalem, 1968), 313–32; Israel Bartal, ‘‘From Corporation to Nation: JewishAutonomy in Eastern Europe, 1772–1881,’’ Jahrbuch des Simon-Dubnow-Instituts 5(2006): 8–11.

46. Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, ‘‘Hasidism, Havurot and the Jewish Street,’’Jewish Social Studies 10.2 (2004): 20–54.

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The close relationship between the societies and Hasidic courts wasespecially prevalent among burial societies and the societies for the studyof Mishnah, because these societies, by their very nature, were often con-cerned with the mystical notion of the rectification of souls, a conceptdeeply rooted in a kabbalistic-Hasidic mindset. In particular, withinthe communal rubric, burial societies fulfilled a vital role (unlike, forexample, Mishnah study societies, which were optional). Burial societieswielded special power in Jewish communities; they were paid largeamounts of money and were populated by rich and prestigious membersof the community.47 Hence, more than other societies, a tsadik’s seniorposition in the burial society granted him a similar high status in thecommunity as a whole, as well as connections with rich and powerfulcommunity members. Conversely, the tsadik’s participation in an eventorganized by the burial society also strengthened the society’s socialstanding as his prestige lent honor to the society. Namely, the cemeteryinauguration ceremony was an event in which the interests of the societyand that of the Hasidic court intersected. Both institutions were eager tojoin in performing such a ceremony, for in so doing they expressed, aswell as deepened, their overall dominance in the community.

A tsadik’s relationship with specific societies was only one way toinfluence the community. He could achieve a far more pervasive effectby signing contracts directly with the community as a whole—contractsreferred to as Ktav magidut (preaching appointment) or Ktav rabanut (rab-binic appointment). These contracts compelled the community to followthe tsadik’s rulings on all religious matters and compelled the tsadik toprovide the community with spiritual patronage, prayers for the commu-nity, and religious services.48 Cemetery inauguration was one of theseservices, which became the exclusive obligation and right of the tsadikwho held the Ktav magidut.

Hasidic sources presented this ritual as complex and sometimesreferred to special spiritual abilities needed for its performance, therebyreinforcing the stance that a tsadik should be requested to perform theceremony. For example, the tsadik David of Talne (1808–82), a scion ofthe Chernobyl dynasty—who, according to the traditions of Chernobyl,performed the consecration ritual dozens of times—is claimed to havepresented the following spiritual requirements for performing the ritual:

47. See, for example, Francois Guesnet, ‘‘A Tuml in the Shtetl: Khayim Bet-salel Grinberg’s Di Khevre-Kedishe Sude,’’ Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry, 16: JewishPopular Culture and Its Afterlife (2003): 93–106.

48. On Ktav magidut, see Assaf, Untold Tales, 135–36; Sagiv, Chernobyl HasidicDynasty, 140–46.

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In order to consecrate a cemetery, one must be knowledgeable in fivematters: (1) to connect the souls of the living with the souls of the dead;(2) to be knowledgeable in the wisdom of Solomon; (3) to know howto join higher wisdom with lower wisdom; (4) to be knowledgeable inthe kavanot (mystical intentions) that the high priest would intend inthe innermost sanctum; (5) to cleanse (literally, whiten) the children ofIsrael of all their transgressions.49

Even if R. David’s exact meaning regarding each one of these conditionsis unclear to us, and even if he was not referring to some specific knowl-edge that ought to be acquired, these spiritual requirements seem to char-acterize images of Hasidic tsadikim. He might have even wanted to stressthat not every tsadik possesses these abilities.50

Hasidic sources also claim that learning how to perform this ceremonywas part of the training of tsadikim, as the kavanot involved were learnedfrom more experienced tsadikim, rather than from books.51 For instance,a Hasidic story tells about how R. Yohanan of Rotmistrovka (1816–95),a tsadik belonging to the Chernobyl dynasty, was at first forced to declinea request to perform the consecration ceremony for a certain village. Hav-ing done so, he immediately sent a letter to his older brother, the tsadikAharon of Chernobyl (1784–1871), requesting instruction in how to per-form the consecration. In the letter he explained that because he wasyoung when their father, R. Mordechai, died, he had not had the oppor-tunity to learn the procedures for consecrating a cemetery. R. Aharonsent his brother allusions, from which R. Yohanan deduced the proce-dure, and only then did he accede to the request.52 This story also pro-vides us with insight into what mystical knowledge was necessary forperforming this ritual: R. Aharon instructed R. Yohanan to learn the Or

49. Mishkenot ya‘akov, 4 (1996): 46–47. Although this source is part of a seem-ingly late hagiographical collection, it is a publication of a manuscript of storieswritten by R. David’s daughter. So these sources (that include more stories aboutcemetery inauguration ceremonies) are family traditions that were contempora-neous with their protagonists.

50. For example, Hasidic hagiography recounts the tales of tsadikim who hadsecond-sight. This ability sometimes led them to refrain from consecrating partof the cemetery grounds, only to later discover that heretics were interred in thearea they had willfully excluded. For examples, see Mah. shevet nah. um (Jerusalem,2004), 234–35.

51. For a story about the training of R. David of Talne’s grandson, see ShlomoZalmina Vineberg, Netsah. she-ba-netsah. : Toldot h. ayav u-fo’olo shel David mi-Talne(Jerusalem, 1994), 226–27; Kneset David (Jerusalem, 2005), 102–3.

52. Mah. shevet Nahum, 232–33.

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ha-h. ayim’s commentary on the Torah portion recounting the acquisitionof the cave of Makhpelah, because he could glean from that text all ofthe relevant mystical intentions and customs. While Or ha-h. ayim (whichwas very popular among tsadikim and Hasidim) makes no mention of theritual, I would postulate that these tsadikim must have perceived everyconsecration ceremony for new cemetery grounds to be a reenactmentof this Torah portion. Ipso facto, paying the tsadik for performing theconsecration was thus justified, as this payment was not only an opportu-nity to provide the tsadik with a livelihood but also had intrinsic spiritualvalue in allowing for a reenactment of Abraham’s paying for the cave.53

The claim for a secret and complex ritual demanding kavanot beyondthose found in books (such as the version printed in Ner yisrael) is notuncommon when discussing kabbalistic rituals. Concurrently, these claimscan also be read as their attempt to preserve a monopoly over the ritual’sperformance. Moreover, the fact that only tsadikim were consideredcapable to perform the ritual may have generated additional demand fortheir performance, even in places that used to perform the inaugurationwithout a tsadik.

Indeed, the cemetery inauguration ceremony’s communal nature led toits becoming the ‘‘property’’ of the one who possessed the community’sKtav magidut. When the tsadik was asked to perform the ceremony andcould not, it was every so often performed by other tsadikim. Sometimesthe community asked the tsadik who possessed their Ktav magidut forpermission;54 however, the tsadikim did not always view such a movewith equanimity, and there are even stories about tsadikim who tookoffense when local adherents of other tsadikim invited their leaders toperform the ritual.55 There are also stories about quarrels among the localHasidim as to who should perform the consecration.56 Sometimes, how-ever, the authority granted the tsadik enveloped the entire community

53. According to this perspective, the payment for cemetery consecrationsmay be viewed as a communal expression of the practice of pidyon nefesh (redemp-tion of the soul), which was routinely performed for the sick and the deceased.On pidyon nefesh, see Haviva Pedaya, ‘‘Le-hitpath. uto shel ha-degem ha-h. evrati-dati-kalkali ba-h. asidut: Ha-pidyon, ha-h. avurah, ve-ha-‘aliyah la-regel,’’ in Dat ve-Kalkalah,ed. M. Ben-Sasson (Jerusalem, 1995), 311–73.

54. Schocken Institute for Jewish Research (Jerusalem), YerushalimskyArchive, "2183.

55. For stories about tensions between the Chernobyl and Ruzhin groupsabout the performance of this ritual, see Assaf, Ne’ehaz ba-svakh, 194, n. 47; Mor-dechai Hayyim Slonim, Sipure maran ha-ramah. (Bnei Berak, 1989), 158–59.

56. Ha-karmel, February 10, 1865, 126; Ha-melits, January 2, 1883, 988–89.

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and thus dispelled disputes between the Hasidim and others in the com-munity in cemetery-related matters.57

According to one late Hasidic story, when Aharon of Chernobyl wasunable to reach Berdichev to consecrate the cemetery, he asked the Hasi-dim to go the gravestones of two famous Berdichev rabbis buriedthere—R. Levi Yitshak and R. Lieber—and ask them to consecrate thecemetery in his stead.58 In addition to R. Levi Yitshak being the mostfamous Hasidic figure buried in the Berdichev cemetery, let us note thatthe aforementioned procedure for performing the consecration thatreached Ladyzhin was attributed to him. This story also highlights therelationship between the cemetery inauguration ceremony and the cus-tom of visiting the graves of the righteous.

The maskilim (proponents of the Jewish enlightenment) expressedopposition to performance of the inauguration ceremony by Hasidicmasters. They perceived it to be yet another excuse for tsadikim to visitcommunities and raise monies from their adherents.59 The followingdescription of a cemetery consecration ceremony in Kiev in 1892, whichappears to have been written from a maskilic point of view, appeared inHa-melits:

And when the day arrived for the founding of the cemetery, the peopleentered into deliberations: the hasidim said that only one of the tsadi-kim could do this, for only they know the secret of founding a cemetery. . . But the Litvaks said that . . . it only being a matter of performingthe technique: to encircle a large area with seven circumambulations,saying ‘‘And let the favor’’ seven times, and nothing more than this;however, the burial society members took both opinions into account,

57. ‘‘I recall that there was a debate in the community: should a fence beerected around the grounds designated for the cemetery, given that the funeralprocession had to pass next to the Polish-Catholic cemetery. Apparently, theyhad no choice but to purchase these grounds, but those who objected to purchas-ing these grounds calmed down when the Rebbe [Ya‘akov Aryeh Leib] of Trisk. . . came personally ‘to accept the field [the cemetery]’ ’’ (Bezalel Beller, ‘‘Mel-nitsa,’’ in Melnitsah [Yizkor Book], ed. Y. Lior [Tel Aviv, 1994], 54).

58. Menorat aharon (Bnei Berak, 2006), 46. The authenticity claim of the storyseems to be based on the fact that it was told by one of the grandsons of R.Lieber.

59. The maskilim portrayed the tsadik David of Talne’s trip to Odessa in thisfashion. See Paul I. Radensky, ‘‘Hasidism in the Age of Reform: A Biography ofRabbi Duvid Ben Mordkhe Twersky of Tal’noye’’ (Ph.D. diss., Jewish Theologi-cal Seminary, 2001), 106–7.

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for they requested of the tsadik R. Yohanan of Rotmistrovka to dis-patch (of course, for a fee) the verses appropriate for this. But thetsadik, who was also wise and was aware of the situation facing himdid not send the verses in writing, lest the cunning Litvaks use theseverses later; therefore, he sent the verses with one of those loyal to hiswelfare, who was close to him, [instructing him] to transmit theseverses orally to the members of the burial society; and on MondayAugust 24, 1892, the grounds were consecrated as a cemetery. Earlyin the morning, the rabbis of our town, the administrative officials(gabaim) of the burial society, along with all the burial society workers,and many other people gathered in the square. The rabbis and all whowere gathered began to circumscribe the ground in the figure of asquare. They began their circumambulation from the south-easterncorner reciting ‘‘And let the favor’’ and Ana be-koah. and several otherverses, and in each corner they stopped for a moment. From the begin-ning of their procession, they began to demarcate the grounds with arope which was fastened to stakes that had been driven into the groundearlier.60 Some of those gathered were afraid to walk within the areacircumscribed by the rope, as they were afraid of the tradition whichrecounts the great danger awaiting one who walks within the roped-off area. After the circumambulations were completed, the rabbi of theLitvaks of our town gave a nice sermon fitting for the matter at hand,and the ceremony proceeded in this manner until the fourth hour aftermidday. The assembled fasted for this entire period.61

The writer seems to be mocking the disputes that arose between thosewho were Hasidic and those who were not, the so-called Litvaks. Therewas no dispute, however, regarding the ceremony’s necessity or basicformulation; however, for Hasidim the cemetery consecration ceremonywas not only a matter of technique; kabbalistic meanings were essentialto it and therefore certain verses and mystical intentions (kavanot) werenecessary. The tsadik Yohanan of Rotmistrovka seems to have main-tained a close relationship with the burial society in Kiev and was consid-ered an authoritative source of knowledge. The writer stresses that thetsadik chose not to send written instructions so as to maintain his exclu-sive ability to perform the ritual in the future.

It is not entirely clear why ‘‘the verses appropriate for this’’ were

60. Of course, the demarcation with a rope is similar to the ritual encirclingof the cemetery with a rope discussed above.

61. Ha-melits, November 21, 1892, 2.

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treated so secretively; after all, these verses from Psalms are identified inthe aforementioned Ner yisrael (although, as noted above, this work maynot have been readily available). Perhaps the author is actually referringto other verses that were associated with this ritual, or to esoteric kavanotthat accompanied the biblical verses. The tsadikim may have even feltthat the precise details of a magic ritual dedicated to combatting theforces of judgment should remain hidden. In any case, the author criti-cized the tsadikim for using its esoteric nature to safeguard their ownpower over the community.

While most of the rituals performed by the tsadik took place in hiscourt or in front of his congregation, the cemetery inauguration ceremonywas performed in the public sphere and was thus seen also by others,including even non-Jews. It became symbolic of the institution of thetsadik, not only in the eyes of his adherents and the maskilim but alsothose of the authorities, who, influenced by maskilim, came to see thetsadikim as fanatics, likely to undermine efforts to acculturate the Jewishpopulation. Hence, Russian authorities sometimes prohibited tsadikimfrom performing cemetery inauguration ceremonies. Hasidic masters whocontinued to perform this ceremony did so at the risk of imprisonmentand banishment from the community.62 From the middle of the nineteenthcentury, the Russian authorities began to harden their stance towardtsadikim. The most drastic step taken was the 1865 decree prohibitingtsadikim from traveling among the communities.63 This decree, enforceduntil 1896, diminished the tsadik’s ability to perform the cemetery conse-cration ceremony altogether and might have been the reason for some ofthe cases mentioned above of tsadikim who could not accede to a commu-nity’s request to perform this ceremony. According to an article in Ha-melits, communities that wished to have this ceremony performed wouldsend a representative to the tsadik’s court who would pay the tsadik infull to purchase the instructions and kavanot necessary for the ceremony.64

E. VISIBILITY, PUBLIC MAGIC AND CHARISMA

The theatrical effect of the inauguration ceremony intensified when atsadik performed the circumambulation himself. In such cases, the burialsociety members became ‘‘producers’’ and the tsadik was the lead actorwho brought the script with him. The performance was dramatic. Thefear associated with performing this rite is also reflected in the stories

62. Radensky, ‘‘Hasidism in the Age of Reform,’’ 105.63. Assaf, Untold Tales, 130; Sagiv, Chernobyl Hasidic Dynasty, 178–82.64. Yehiel Zeev Zatulavvski, Ha-melits, January 2, 1893, 3.

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about tsadikim who in the midst of performing the ritual were seized byterror, suddenly experienced weakness, stumbled, or fell.65 The circum-ambulation was hence perceived as a struggle against death and demonicforces.

An example of the inauguration ceremony as a public event isdescribed in a Ha-melits article, detailing how David of Skvira (1848–1919) performed the ceremony for an expansion to the cemetery inBelaya Tserkov during the summer of 1898.66 This description, whichalso attests to the acceptance of the procedure published in Ner yisrael, isquite similar to the aforementioned inauguration ceremony that tookplace in Kolomyya—both in terms of the procedure to be followed andthe constitution of attendees, who comprised not only Hasidim and theburial society members but also the town’s rabbis and even non-Orthodox, enlightened individuals. In this article, the author explicitlydescribed the occasion as theatrical.67 On this occasion, the ceremonybecame a fundraising event, both for the cemetery (in this, the interestsof the burial society were reflected) and for a local charity fund (Kemah.‘aniyim). The tsadik not only provided the kabbalistic-religious dimensionof the event; he also gave it a prestige that made subsequent fundraisingeasier.

The circumambulation performed in the ceremony was a visible act ofacquiring the cemetery and, by expansion, the entire communal sphere.In addition to symbolizing the tsadik’s social control, the processionaround the new burial grounds should also be understood as a magicalsymbolical practice: by encircling the new burial grounds, the tsadik tookit under his protective wings. As Medini wrote, the community paid acertain sum to the tsadik to perform the ritual. The community receivedin return a magical barrier that protected them from harmful forces. Thisforcefield was very visible, at least during the performance at the ceme-tery. Hence, the cemetery consecration provided a concrete enactment(albeit in the context of death) of the Ktav magidut.

Even though the role magic played in Hasidism’s early years can bedebated, there is no doubt that many nineteenth-century tsadikim wereasked by their adherents to use their supernatural powers to provide their

65. Kneset David, 100–1; Yohanan Twersky, He-h. atser ha-pnimit (Tel Aviv1954), 26; Sipure maran ha-ramah. , 156.

66. Ha-melits, June 14, 1898, 4–5.67. ‘‘The desolate field of death, which overlooks an expansive plain and fields

covered by grain was transformed into a viewing-stage and thousands of menand women from all the segments of the population crowded in to see the play’’(Ibid., 4).

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Hasidim with ‘‘progeny, longevity, and sustenance’’ (baney h. ayey u-mezoney).They responded to these appeals in various fashions, such as by mention-ing the appellants in their prayers and by providing them with amulets.The masters who performed the consecration ceremony did so within theframework of their community visits. These visits allowed the tsadik tooffer his services to his adherents, many of whom could not afford toleave their families or livelihood in order to travel to the tsadik for severaldays. However, even these visits did not enable the tsadik to meet withall of his followers personally and provide them his services. Still, theprophylactic import of the cemetery consecration ceremony, protectingthe community from death, was germane to all its members. Therefore, Iwould like to propose that the inauguration ceremony functioned asmagic for the masses, enabling the tsadik to provide magical services formany in one fell swoop.

As a magic ritual designed to prevent death, the inauguration ceremonyhad unambiguous criteria for determining its success—decreasing themortality rate.68 Plagues made the allocation of new burial grounds forthe cemetery necessary69—stopping a plague constituted the ritual’s con-crete proof of success. In one of his sermons, R. David of Talne offersan explanation for the ceremony that stresses its magical and symbolicaspects.70 In the midst of discussing the ideal of communion with God, R.David stresses the need to be attached to the right-hand side of the deity,which is the aspect of grace (h. esed). Encircling the cemetery from theeast, and proceeding from south to north, is thus portrayed as drawingthe right onto the left and in so doing bringing longevity and a divineoverflow of sustenance to the members of the community. Even thoughthese concepts are conventional, R. David’s mention of longevity in this

68. Menorat aharon, 46; Sippurei maran ha-Ramah. , 155–156 (the communityagrees to pay a hefty fee to Mordechai of Chernobyl for consecrating the ceme-tery only after he proves that he has the ability to prevent further deaths in thecommunity); Mishkenot ya‘akov 4 (1996): 45 (David of Talne stops deaths inBelaya Tserkov).

69. See, for example, ‘‘And when it was necessary to expand the burialgrounds they sent burial society administrative officials (gabaim) from here[Odessa]—with the consent of the rabbi and the Court of Jewish Law (beytdin) and the distinguished citizens of the city—of those who were affiliated withHasidism to call their Rabbi [Aryeh Leib] from Bender to lay the foundations forthe fence so that the city would be saved from the plague’’ (Alexander Tseder-baum, Keter kehuna [Odessa, 1867], 139).

70. David Twersky of Talne, Magen david (First edition: Zhitomir 1852; BetShemesh, 2000), 398–400. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only Hasidicteaching or sermon that gives an account of this ritual.

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context reinforces the impression that the success of the ritual was deter-mined by a reduction in the mortality rate. Another point of interest isthe sermon’s performative context. The sermon’s title is ‘‘What the RavSaid at the Festive Meal after He Had Established the Grounds for theCemetery.’’ In addition to R. David’s fundamental assumption that theritual guaranteed economic prosperity, his words should also be under-stood in the specific context in which they were uttered. From this per-spective, the circumambulations and the festive meal become a part ofthe spiritual process that has just taken place: the results of that specificconsecration ritual, which nullified the power of evil and thereby enabledthe overflow of the abundance were symbolized and concretized by thefood being eaten at that specific festive meal. Thus, R. David’s sermonwas a reflexive sermon that provided the key for comprehending theoccasion on which it was given.

One of the primary questions addressed by the study of Hasidism isthe question of how Hasidism was able to enthrall the masses, especiallyin the nineteenth century. Scholarly consensus maintains that the Hasidictsadikim were charismatics; however, the concept of ‘‘charisma’’ is vague.It is unclear what in particular in the tsadik’s behavior or appearancegave his adherents the sense that he was divinely inspired. In keepingwith several theoretical approaches, I would argue that charisma shouldnot be understood solely as an ontological principle, a vague entity lodgedwithin the figure; rather, it can be better understood when seeing it as abehavioral category. Charisma is not only present; it is also performed.71

The magical-theatrical dimension of the inauguration ritual can help usunderstand how the tsadik’s ‘‘charisma’’ was generated in practice. Fromthis perspective, the cemetery consecration ritual should not be conceivedand studied as an expression of the charisma originally present in thetsadik, as a function of his magical abilities. Rather, this ceremony itselfconstitutes the charisma. Even if the holy Names were omitted, the spec-tacle of the circumambulating tsadik is a live show, wherein holinesswards off death, ostracizing it and banishing it from the town. This spec-tacle was in and of itself an act of true revelation, an act of charisma.

F. CONCLUSION

The general tension between the need to allocate new grounds for ceme-teries and the recoil from the world of death was partially resolved byHasidism, which played a dual role in this respect. From a cultural per-spective, the text that was the basis for the service was ascribed to the

71. For further discussion, see Sagiv, Chernobyl Hasidic Dynasty, 32–35.

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350 JQR 103.3 (2013)

Besht and considered Hasidic. The formulators of the text in Ner yisrael(be it the Besht or not) probably amalgamated kabblistic traditions withexisting Ashkenazi rituals of cemetery circumambulations, and Hasidicmasters provided the resulting text to communities in need. From a socialperspective, because tsadikim were professional magicians who, unlikeother leadership figures, were not afraid or could not avoid confrontingdemonic forces, they were considered the experts in performing this rit-ual. The fact that the service was considered Hasidic made them evenmore preferable, as they were believed to possess the secret wisdomrequired for the performance.

This ceremony was but one out of a wide repertoire of services per-formed by the tsadik for his flock. Just as the Besht was ‘‘A Person ofHis Time,’’ a kabbalist and healer who held an important spot in thefabric of his community,72 the tsadik in the nineteenth century also playedan important role as a professional kabbalist who was asked to providevarious spiritual services for the community and its members. He did soespecially in communities he controlled using the aforementioned Ktavmagidut and its variants, but also in communities in which the tsadik wasnot dominant, via relations with the local burial society, in which distantmasters were often honorable members.

The inauguration ceremony may not be a Hasidic innovation, butHasidic figures took advantage of two of its special characteristics. First,it was a crucial communal activity that many recoiled from performing.Second, it was a cultural performance that could have replaced personalengagements with specific people. So, from the perspective of the tsadik,this ritual enabled him to provide indispensable support to the membersof a community and in turn gain a supreme status.

Tsadikim and rabbis who were close to Hasidism provided the servicesupon demand, and as professional magicians, tsadikim that performed theservices indeed fulfilled a need that emerged from the communities. Bydisseminating this ritual as well as perhaps others, Hasidism contributedto the ongoing ritualization of Jewish life in Europe that can be discernedas early as the seventeenth century and was related to the popularizationof Kabbalah.73 Concurrently, the need for ritual and their easy adoptionhelped the dissemination of Hasidism. Tsadikim contributed to the image

72. Murray Jay Rosman, Founder of Hasidism: A Quest for the Historical Ba’alShem Tov (Berkeley, Calif., 1996), 173–86.

73. Avriel Bar-Levav, ‘‘Ritualisation of Jewish Life and Death in the EarlyModern Period,’’ Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook 47 (2002): 69–82; Gershon DavidHundert, Jews in Poland-Lithuania in the Eighteenth Century: A Genealogy of Modernity(Berkeley, Calif., 2004), 119–30.

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that only they possessed the wisdom required to perform the ceremony.This image may have increased the demand for their personal attendance,where their charisma was manifested and performed. Thus, the inaugura-tion ceremony contributed to the dissemination of Hasidism and gaveexpression to how nineteenth-century Hasidism transformed from anelite phenomenon to a popular one.

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Documents

Gadi Sagiv, Hasidism and Cemetery Inauguration Ceremonies