essay

The charismatic leader of the Hasidic community: the ZADDIQ, the REBBE

New world Hasidim : ethnographic studies of Hasidic Jews in America • Albany, N.y. • Published In 1995 • Pages: 257-275

By: Poll, Solomon.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document

According to Poll, 'Hasidism is maintained and preserved by the community's charismatic leader -- the Rebbe' (p. 247). This article presents a detailed study of the role of the rebbe in Hasidic society, with special emphasis on his status as a ZADDIQ or righteous person, possessed of great intellect and ability, with great spiritual powers in obtaining heavenly guidance in directing and regulating the lives of his congregation. In addition to his charismatic leadership role, Poll discusses various relationships between rebbes, ideological divisions among Hasidic groups, and how the rebbe is perceived in his own Hasidic community. Throughout the discussion the reader is made constantly aware of the importance of the rebbe in providing the binding force holding the community together.

SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF

Personality traits

Status, role, and prestige

Priesthood

cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)

North American Hasidic Jews

HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document

1996

RegionThe area the document pertains to

North America

Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region

Regional, Ethnic and Diaspora Cultures

Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs

essay

Evaluation

Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.

Sociologist

Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.

5: Excellent Primary Data

AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection

John Beierle ; 1995

Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document

no date

Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to

variable

Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)

United States

NotesAdditional notes

Solomon Poll

Includes bibliographical references (p. 275)

LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number

94000300

LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings

Jews