Hasidic Tales: 7 Intriguing Polish Jewish Legends
The Jewish religious movement of Hasidism began in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and has been linked to Polish Jewish culture ever since. Here are seven Hasidic legends from the 1916 book ‘Legends of Polish Jews’, which tell us, among other things, about the power of toasting, reincarnation, and the expectations of river monsters.
In 1916, the Russian Jewish translator and author Alexander Eliasberg published a wonderful book in German titled Legends of Polish Jews. It is a compilation of fifty Hasidic legends which – in most cases – tell about miraculous deeds carried out by historical leaders of the Hasidic movement. Hasidism is, according to the website of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, ‘a Jewish religious movement which asserts God’s immanence in the world, incorporates popular mystical ideas and practices and emphasises the joyful worship of God.’ Hasidism was started by the Jewish mystic Ba’al Shem Tov, also known as the Besht, who lived in the 18th-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The movement spread widely through Eastern Europe and due to its place of origin for a long time was strongly associated with Poland.
It was due to this association that Eliasberg used the expression ‘Polish Jews’ in the title of his aforementioned book. To him the Hasidic legends, which he took from various Yiddish and Hebrew sources, were obviously linked to Poland. Today, after the tragedy of the Holocaust, Hasidism is no longer prevalent in Poland; its main centres are in the US and Israel. Nevertheless, Poland remains proud of its Hasidic legacy. Having gotten hold of a copy of the 2005 English-language edition, here’s a selection of seven legends from Eliasberg’s compilation that will surprise you and make you smile.
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‘Horse’ by Johann Elias Ridinger, before 1767, photo: National Digital Library Polona
We start off with a legend titled The Magic Horse which features Ba’al Shem Tov. In this story, a rabbi visits a stable owner in a small village and takes an interest in one of his horses. The Besht asks the owner if he could take the animal as a gift. The owner replies that the horse is his favourite as it’s capable of doing work that would normally require three horses and offers any of his other horses instead. Besht doesn’t comment on this and eventually asks the owner if he has any debtors.
The owner replies that he does and ends up giving a seemingly worthless bill of exchange to the rabbi. The signer of the bill had passed away leaving no way of getting the money back. Upon receiving the document the rabbi tears it to pieces, after which the horse he had chosen falls dead. The Besht explains that the hard-working horse was in fact an incarnation of the bill’s signer trying to pay off the debt from his former life:
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When you kindly gave me his bill of exchange and I destroyed it, his debt was annulled, and thus the poor man’s soul was freed. He has been redeemed!
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From ‘Legends of Polish Jews’ published in 2005 by Austeria
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Hasidim praying at the grave of tzaddik Biderman in Lelów near Częstochowa, photo: Daniel Pach / Forum
Your Horse Will Fail You is another legend from Legends of Polish Jews linked to a horse. Ba’al Shem Tov and Rabbi Eliyah of Zaklikow were praying together on the Sabbath when at a certain point the first started to repeat over and over again a verse from Psalm 33:17: ‘Your horse will fail you.’ To Eliyah of Zaklikow that verse didn’t seem especially noteworthy so he decided to discontinue the shared prayer in order to pray on his own. Later the two had a conversation about this situation and the Besht explained why kept reciting the said verse.
Apparently, while the two rabbis were praying, another Jewish man was caught by sundown in the fields he was travelling through. Following Sabbath rules, he had to stop travelling and spend the night outdoors. A local ruffian heard about it and set out on his horse to mug him. The Besht concluded his explanation by saying:
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When I started to pray zealously and to repeat ‘Your horse will fail you’, the thug suddenly lost his way and had roamed for so long that the Sabbath was over and the Jew could return home in peace.
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From ‘Legends of Polish Jews’
Here’s another legend about Ba’al Shem Tov, titled The Dangerous Birthday. After a man fathers a son, he shares the good news with the famed rabbi. But the Besht tells the man that on his 13th birthday his son will drown – unless the father keeps his son away from water throughout that day. The rabbi adds:
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In case you have forgotten my warning by then, I shall give you a sign: your son will put on two socks on one foot, and will try to find a third one to put on his other foot. This should remind you of the danger.
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From ‘Legends of Polish Jews’
On the day of his son’s 13th birthday, the father saw his son wearing two socks on one foot while looking for a third one. This reminded him about the rabbi’s warning which he’d since forgotten. As a result, he kept his son at home that day and away from water. But the boy eventually sneaked out to go to the river for a swim. Fortunately, the father managed to catch him before he got there and brought him back home where the boy stayed for the remainder of the day. That same day, people at the river said they saw a huge monster in the water that exclaimed ‘Argh, he hasn’t appeared!’ Thanks to the Besht’s warning, the father had saved his son from the awaiting monster.
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Young Jewish girls peer through a curtain to look over at newlywed bride Hann Rivka Hoffman, photo: Nati Shohat / Flash90 / Forum
Birthdays are important occasions but so are weddings. As it happens, our next legend, titled The Stolen Wedding Dress, is all about interrupted wedding preparations.
A bride’s wedding dress and trousseau were stolen from her family’s house just a few days before the wedding. Unsettled by this, the bride’s father went to Rabbi Levi Yizhak of Berdichev to seek advice. The rabbi told him to present his case to the judges at the Rabinnic Court. But when the man did that, the judges said they wouldn’t examine the case as it seemed too petty to them. The distressed man then came back to the rabbi who, having learned of the judges’ decision, opted to help the bride’s father out personally. Levi Yizhak gave the man a piece of paper with the phrase ‘Do not steal!’ written in each of its four corners.
As the man was returning home through a forest, he noticed a package wrapped in a white sheet. Inside he found all the things stolen from his house. He brought them back home and the next day the wedding took place, bringing about much joy. Later the father asked the rabbi about how this fortunate turn of events had occurred. Levi Yizhak explained that he had known that the thieves had buried their loot in the forest, hoping to come back for it later. When the Rabbinic Court refused to pass judgement on the case, he came up with his own verdict which he wrote on the piece of paper. The rabbi said that the verdict forced the ground to give up the missing items:
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The earth had to abide by it, and spat out the stolen things. […] That was how you were helped. It was no miracle, but simply the enactment of a resolution formulated on the basis of the Torah because all creation, including the earth, is subject to the law of the Torah.
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From ‘Legends of Polish Jews’
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The coffin of Rabbi Josef Dunner who died on 1st April 2007 is surrounded in the Adath Yisroel synagogue, Stamford Hill, London, photo: Pictures Ltd. / Corbis via Getty Images
Like weddings and birthdays, funerals are important occasions as well. The next legend on our list, titled Reb Mosh Leib’s Funeral Music, revolves around a funeral.
Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sasov was known for his appreciation of music. One time he had married off a young couple and at their wedding party he heard a happy tune performed by a band of musicians. He liked the melody so much that he said he wanted it to be performed at his funeral. However, by the time he had passed away, his wish had already been forgotten.
But on the day of his funeral, the same band that had played at the aforementioned wedding was travelling by carriage near to the cemetery where the rabbi was going to be buried.
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Suddenly the horses, with their carriage, went berserk and galloped wildly for a few miles through fields and valleys, and would not be stopped until they came to a halt in front of a cemetery.
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From ‘Legends of Polish Jews’
Moshe Leib’s funeral was taking place at that very cemetery. When the mourners attending the ceremony noticed the musicians, they remembered the rabbi’s wish. The musicians were asked if they could perform the tune from the wedding and, naturally, they agreed!
The opposite of death is life. The next legend on our list has as its title the traditional Hebrew toast ‘Le-Chaim!’ which means ‘To life!’
A young man decided to leave his house and travel to Lublin to visit Rabbi Yaakov Yizhak on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. He arrived in Lublin before the holiday and went to see the rabbi. But when he encountered Yaakov Yizhak, the rabbi told him that he must quickly return home. The man wasn’t happy about this but listened to the advice. On his way back, he stopped at an inn where he met a group of Hasidim travelling to Lublin to meet the rabbi.
The Hasidim were drinking vodka and invited the man to join their party. They made merry and on numerous occasions the Hasidim toasted to him, saying ‘Le-Chaim!’ The next day they all went to Lublin together and saw Yaakov Yizhak. The rabbi was surprised to see the man but this time did not send him away. Yaakov Yizhak explained that earlier he had seen with his mind’s eye that the man was destined to die in the near future. Therefore the rabbi advised the man to go back home so that he’d spend his last moments with his family. But thanks to the Hasidim’s joviality the man’s fate had been changed.
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[…] Thanks to the Hasidim having drunk to the man’s health and their wishing him a long life and good fortune, that heavenly resolution was taken back, and the young man’s life was prolonged.
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From ‘Legends of Polish Jews’
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Chef Michelle Bernstein shares an untraditional approach to Jewish new year celebrations. Here, a honey cake, photo: Bill Hogan / Chicago Tribune / Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The last legend on our list, titled The Prayer for a Meal, takes place near Lublin, in the town of Annopol. After his morning prayer, Rabbi Zusya of Annopol would always enjoy a piece of honey cake and a glass of vodka. However, he’d never directly ask his servants to bring him the meal, instead he’d say:
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Oh, Creator of the World! Zusya is hungry. Have his meal served to him.
Author
From ‘Legends of Polish Jews’
One day his servants decided to rebel and not bring the rabbi his meal unless he’d explicitly ask them for it. If the rabbi didn’t ask them directly – they figured – the Creator of the World could serve him instead. That day, as Zusya was walking through town before his morning prayer, an unknown man pushed him so that he fell into some mud in the street. The stranger, who didn’t know that Zusya was a rabbi, had done it simply for his own amusement. When later the man proudly described his malicious deed at a local inn, the innkeeper, who knew Zusya, told the man that he had in fact disrespected a rabbi.
The stranger was frightened by this news and decided to apologise. He asked the innkeeper how he could do right by the rabbi. The innkeeper told him that every morning Zusya enjoys cake and vodka after his prayer and that the stranger should bring the rabbi those things at the appropriate time. The man then went to the rabbi’s house bringing the meal with him. When Zusya finished his morning prayer he asked for his snack in his usual way. The conspiring servants, however, didn’t respond. But to their astonishment, the said stranger entered the rabbi’s room, bringing honey cake and vodka and asking for forgiveness. Zusya accepted the apology and the bewildered servants never again disobeyed the rabbi.
We hope this list has satisfied your appetite for Jewish legends. However, if you’re still hungry for more, check out our On the Trail of the Polish Golem article.
Written by Marek Kępa, Sep 2020
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