The Faith of the Mithnagdim1997

The Faith of the Mithnagdim is the first study of the theological roots of the Mithnagdic objection to Hasidism. Allan Nadler's pioneering effort fills the void in scholarship on Mithnagdic thought and corrects the impression that there were no compelling theological alternatives to Hasidism during the period of its rapid spread across Eastern Europe at the turn of the nineteenth century. Nadler recovers the work of Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon, Gaon of Vilna; Rabbi Phinehas ben Judah, Maggid of Polotsk; and other figures who established Mithnagdism as an influential movement in Jewish religious thought. Their extensive writings on religious ethics, philosophy, and exegesis make it clear that the Mithnagdim were much more than negative, narrow critics of the Hasidim. In Nadler's account; Mithnagdism emerges as a highly developed religious outlook that is essentially conservative, deeply dualistic, and profoundly pessimistic about humanity's spiritual potential - all in stark contrast to Hasidism's optimism and aggressive encouragement of mysticism and religious rapture among its followers.