The History of Hasidism | In Conversation with David Biale on 'Hasidism, A New History' 

You can buy this very special book here: amzn.to/4d62h5L

You've quickly become one of my favorite interviewers. You have a very genuine style and an ability to put people at ease. Very interesting history. Could've listened for another hour.

Loving these interviews with such learned guests. You have evidently been working very hard! X

What a wonderful interview! I bought Dr. Biale’s book and can’t put it down. As a Charismatic Christian the spiritual experiences of the Besht are very familiar to me especially those described in Chapter 2. I am shocked to see how his experiences with the Spirit of God are so familiar to me. What is described as the Besht “falling into a trance” is what we call being “slain in the Spirit”. I am not surprised that historians have difficulty in identifying the adherents in the Besht’s circle. Charismatic movements tend to be loosely organized with many peripheral people who identify with the movement but don’t necessarily join. The book is such a delight to me. Frieda, your content is fantastic and may have broader appeal than you imagine. Please keep up the great work.

Frieda I love all your videos, and what makes them especially great to watch is how you do your interviews. You never interrupt, let people tell their stories, but also know when it is the right time to ask a question or gently touch on another subject. Thanks so much! 🍀

WOW!!! This was a FANTASTIC interview with an incredible scholar. Not only is he a great scholar, but he is a deeply humane Jew who loves and understands his people. That comes across so strongly. I am looking forward to reading the book and now all of professor Biale's books. Thank you!

Sad news . I learned today that David Biale passed away July 28, 2024 . He was 75. He will be missed but we are blessed to have his scholarship.

Learned so much from this interview. Very interesting. And so personable. As usual, your interviewing skills are so hamish and I feel as if you are sitting right in my living room. Thank you!

Thanks to both of you. Great intellectual experience, I very much appreciated.

Very nice interview. I learned so much from this and your work teaches us how Judaism has affected the world in so many ways. It's amazing. Keep up the good work!

Amazing interview!! 👏 You make a complex niche subject so interesting and accessible to outsiders. I’m going to try to read the book too. Thank you!

A groysn dank Frieda! It is quite remarkable the history of Hasidim. You are tearing down ignorance and prejudice with these wondeful and educational videos.

Great interview! I wonder to what extent the popular picture of Hassidim (especially maybe for Gentiles) has been shaped by authors like Isaac Bashevis Singer or Chaim Potok, or by painters like Marc Chagall. That would be another interesting topic for discussion.

Excellent interview. You do a great job with these:)

So sorry to hear of David Biale passing. He appeared to be a scholar and gentleman.

This was super interesting! As a SAHM of a one year old, I really appreciate having to use my brain a little more listening! 😂

Great interview Frieda!! Thanks for all your hard work. Continued success!

Frieda, thank you for doing this interview. And thank you for posting it.

Fascinating history. I hung on every word. Thank you so much for this excellent lecture/interview. 😊💜✡️

Very interesting! Thank you for these great interviews

Thank you AGAIN, Frieda! I love this interview, in part because I have been fascinated for decades by Hasidism, especially thru the stories of the early Hasids including the Besht . I am a Ger - converted reform but followed much of the Halakhah, married a now deceased Jewish partner decades ago and had a son who is finishing his last year in Pediatrics Residency at Kapiolani Medical Center U of Hawaii. Also have enjoyed your vids with Eli Benedict, especially since my route into Judaism is thru the people I have known. Ruth had it right.

You are so gifted at this and your guests are so good. Thank you!

Outstanding episode and interview! Thank you!

Frieda- what a fabulous and fascinating interview. You are a very skilled interviewer. Please consider more of this format if you can ( and more from Pearl if possible) Shkoyach!!

💥Thank you, Frieda, for inviting the brilliant Professor Dr. David Biale, Ph.D. ~ EXCELLENT interview ~ fascinating * * * Shalom ~ Violet Ada C. (Toronto ~ Australia) PS. Frieda, you are a gorgeous and gracious young woman😊 (I am old enough to be your grandmother 🐸🙉🦊)

Thank you Frieda for conducting a wonderful interview with David, who is a very likeable man.

This was great. One of my favorite chats from the many videos of yours I’ve seen.

Such an interesting video - thank you!

I finally got to listen to the 2nd half of this episode. I wanted to give it my full attention. Thank you so much for presenting it. So interesting. I hope, when I retire, to have enough time to read the book.

Very interesting! I love your long form interviews!

This was great! Thank you so much😊

Fascinating interview! I’ve had this book on my to-read list for a while now, but haven’t gotten around to it so far. I guess it’s time. :)

I love these interviews. I'm fascinated by this subject since I descend from vizhnitz chasidim. (But wasn't raised that way) Looking forward to reading the book! Ordering it asap.

I enjoy the interviews I like the interviews with people residing in Williamsburg I was so concerned when I heard about fires there over the weekend. I truly appreciate your time getting the information ready for us. Thanks ❤😊

Frieda, thank you so much! It was a fascinating interview and David did a great job. I’m a non-believer who is very interested in Religion of all kind and Judaism in particular for various reasons. I have had trouble understanding the different Hassidic branches but you and David gave me much more clarity than before. I also enjoyed your interview with Andrew Gold. I love your channel.

Ah! Pearl's joy has very deep roots. I'm still finishing your interview with Naomi, and now I can move between these two and savor them both. Thank you. I'm sure I'll be commenting more at various points.

Great job, keep up the good work!

Another very interesting interview! Thank you.

Fascinating! Wonderful guest and excellent, thoughtful questions from Frieda (as always). Thank you!

What a wonderfully informative and enjoyable interview, thank you Frida and David! I'm looking forward to reading the book. Warm wishes from Ireland ☘💗

Brilliant, more please!

The professor is just about the best speaker and I have purchased his book about the Hasidim and it is very clear and accessible, like this interview

Thank you for this. So interesting to hear about people’s histories.

What a wonderful talk.

Fantastic Fantastic this was a brilliant interview, I am a hasdic Jews and I really found this interview very interesting thank you

This is so interesting. Thank you!

This is so interesting and there isn’t much in the way of documentaries on the topic. I started following you because you give a first hand experience to us who are interested. I will make sure to look up this book. Compelling topic, I look forward to more. Thank you

Thank you Frieda 😁👍🏼

This is fascinating. I love studying history. I am immersing myself in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish history (even though I am a Christian). The school system I went to here in Ohio was around 40-50% Jewish when I went there and some of our teachers and their parents were Holocaust survivors. I picked up some Yiddish because some of our teachers were native speakers. There is a small Hasidic community here with two groups that are offshoots of the Nadvorna dynasty. We also have Chabad congregations.

What a great Interview. I learned so much. I am christian so learning about the Jewish faith is so interesting.

Thanks!

Nice to see David Biale PhD from UCDavis west of us, as a guest. LOVE ❤ deep conversations like this. Am curious how someone can seek out mystics when the Torah forbids such behavior? Am thinking of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

Love the look

Thank you. I had to really pay attention.

Love your haircut

Hasidism today is different than the way it started out. Rabbis have much more influence There is a difference between Torah laws, rabbinic laws and customs. Each Hasidic group is different ex Satmar vs Lubavitch I do not know if the Baal Shem Tov would recognize many of today's different groups Conservative and Reform Judaism is also relatively new on a historical timeline.

The ‘’God wants us to be joyful instead of pietistic’’ (quotation marks mine) espousal reminds me of the paradigm shift that occurred in Catholicism when the scholar Matthew Fox refuted the doctrine of original sin with his seminal book, Original Blessing.

Very interesting account of history of Hasidim

Something not mentioned by either of you in the segment on how Hasidism was able to regroup in new places and rapidly increase after the Shoah: Torah command to be fruitful and multiply. The traditional practice of early marriage and many children has continued in Hasidism (while a lot of the rest of the world has largely adopted the use of birth control, later marriage, and contracted families). During the same modern period, medical science and agricultural science (including refrigeration, storage, and transport of food) had greatly improved maternal and infant/child survival rates, From the 1700s to the beginning of the 1900s, maternal deaths and infant/child death rates were very high. Availability and consistency of better nutrition, antibiotics, vaccines, and other medical/surgical techniques have greatly reduced those deaths. Where once a woman of 18 could look forward to having only about half of her 8-10 children living to adulthood, if she herself did not die in childbirth; however since World War II, she can expect that she and all her children survive. In two generations, 20 Hasidic couples could have as many as 1300-2000 descendant grandchildren. If they and all their children had 8-10 children.

A good entry to Chassidic study is a book entitled "Sparks Beneath The Surface" by R.Kushner and R. Olitzky. It provides insights for the weekly parsha.

As a Shlucha and proudly chabad, I am happy to say that we not only consider ourselves chassidim of the Rebbe but we are essential chassidim of the Rebbe. We have strong roles. Not only on shlichus but within our communities and seminaries. Our girls strongly identify as chabad Lubavitch!

Interesting stuff. Your piano model has a squint front leg. The left one as viewed on the video.

Most interesting.

Hi regards from Montreal

Very interesting!

We need the book.

I watched the whole thing, and I must say that this was actually a respectful interview. A lot of what he said were actually things I had read in Chabad sources plus what we were told however, with some differences and nuances. For example it wasn't that the Baal Shem Tov was leading a rebellion of the ignorant/uneducated Jews, rather he was arguing that the Talmidei Chachamim shouldn't ignore the masses and have their own minyanim. Another thing that I heard Henry Abramson say about why he used the name Baal Shem Tov was because there were a number of Baal Shems (as discussed in this episode) and a lot of them were frauds, and he added the term Tov to distinguish himself. I don't know that I would have called the Baal Shem Tov a shaman. I guess I say that based on my own upbringing. Also, the circle that the Baal Shem Tov came from definitely didn't ascribe to the ascetic piety, and that was noted in this interview. I think that the whole talk about the Baal Shem Tov's wanderings refer to the times before he settled in Mezibuzh. I mean what was he doing before then? He wasn't born in Mezibuzh, and it took time before he settled there. Going back to the ascetic piety that apparently was rampant, we were taught that the Maggid of Mezritch engaged in this kind of behavior before he became a Chossid. The quote we used to hear about what he said about these things was: "ah kleine lekhel in guf, iz a groise lukh in neshama" (sorry for not writing this with the Alef Bais).

I definitely consider myself a chassidista of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (while I sometimes disagree with specific choices within Chabad these days), and this is a rare moment where I agree with Sam Heilman. I would take exception to the idea that the concept of shluchim was somehow a way to keep people from coming to the Alter Rebbe. We have no end of stories in Chabad of chassidim coming to be with the Rebbe (of whichever generation), especially during Tishrei, and for that to be the "recharging" of inspiration for the year.

Hello Frieda 😊

I've read his book on kabbalah very informative

is there a way to listen to these lengthy interviews through a podcast medium?

Wondering whether the rise of rebbetzin is a modern phenomenon

אַן אינטערעסאַנטע דיסקוסיע וועגן חסידות און פֿאַרשיידענע אויסדרוקן דערפֿון. אַ דאַנק.

Does anyone know the title of the book alluded to at 50:40?

Good. I wish.

no question. just warm regards...

Why not use the word guild instead of court?

it's a very nice and interesting Interview i Must tell you and David doing a wonderful job . איין זאך וויאזוי האסטע פארגעסן אז סאטמר/ בני יואל האט אויך נישט קיין רבי אזוי ברסלב און ליובאוויטש😂

BTW I know the widow of the viznitzer rebbe. A very exceptional woman.

U have any answers.?

A lot of what he says matches up with the books of my childhood. They don’t really sell those anymore, especially not to kids.

Regarding if women are Hasidot. I believe it varies much from Court to Court and family to family. My mother used to say that Hasidisism is not meant for women. Meaning - women have no business with anything that Hasisidism has to offer.

What did he say at 33:24? Mara de'achra??

I have a hard time believing that Chabad said they wouldn't read the book bc its in English. Maybe he meant a different group? Chabad def mostly works in English circles

What a great interview ❤. Such negative comments you are holding your own very well…❤️😉

The woman in satmar community. U have a answer.

I have been, for somtime ben curious about hasidic people😮are they closest to the original tribes of lsreal?😂❤

‏‪34:55‬‏ A Chasid will say HAKOL L'TOVA- everything that g-d does is for the best. And will belive that the Rebbe did see whatever he saw, and that there was more to that, that we the ordinarily people don't see yet.

Interesting yet why is an interpretation/understanding of an orthodox history given by someone who is not perhaps a counter interview could be done with someone like dr a Branson after there are respectable orthodox historians

Not at all the point, but you look beautiful. Make up and hair is gorgeous.

שלום מתל אביב

🙄 so the learned professor is telling us that no- academics until now were wrong about chassidim and really the truth is EXACTLY what the chassidim themselves are saying about their history and their rebbes? Hard to believe! No chassid ever claimed the original rebbes were poor ignorant people. What they did say is that they respected and included the dispossessed. The poor, the earnest ignorant people and surprisingly, in some areas- women. (Read the memoir of the alter rebbe of lubavitch). I laughed to hear him say the gaon of villa was a hasid too. I well remember my history teacher in seminary, who was a descendant of the gaon of vilna. He taught the history of chassidism first (how did he manage without the scholarly book of this man? I wonder). After Chassidism he taught the history of the gaon of vilna. " he was a REAL chossid" he declared (to the outrage of the girls from chassidic homes). What is exceptional about being yaakov, BTW, is that it is a collaboration of the female chassidic founder (sara shnerir) and the German Jewish teachers. The German Jews were more open to the modernist movements and had experience with women's education. But beis yaakov had the feel of a chassidic court. Joy was a huge theme and so was love of G-d. And b.y girls are a different breed from chassidic girls from non b.y schools.

Here is Israel we have all the Hasidic sects that exist in Brooklyn. It would be interesting to know how the sect the same and different. For example in Israel only 50% of Hasidim are in the work force while it's much higher in the diaspora.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe for sure saw women as Chassids. Actually the first Chabad Rebbe,the Alter Rebbe, Schneur Zalman's daughter, Devorah Leah, gave up her life for her Father. Look up her story. Definitely a Chassid

Why Hebrew, and hassidic Jews are different.isralis are different then hassidic.

Trying to get back to Ukraine right?

Tell him go to Brooklyn Park. I saw all these hassidic woman riding bikes. Even Muslim girl.what he is talking .tell him to go out and see. I know William bug. Bricks by bricks. Tell him to grow.

This guy lost in translation.

For get about Poland. U r here.u r old enough . So now u r talking about eastern eorope. Oh u want phone. The hassidic phone. Now we need kosher phone.

Sect. I love people's opinions. No group. R u human or sectarian. I love all religion. No matter who u r. I know most of Jews. R very good. But there r bad 🍎.