Mysticism Substitutes: A General Model for the Theological Development of Hasidism in the Nineteenth Century Abstract During the 19th century, Hasidism underwent a deep ideological transformation. From a small circle with more or less common mystical ideals, it became a decentralized movement in which various personalities and groups had a range of different religious ideals, the vast majority of which were not mystical. In this article, I would like to present a general thesis claiming that these ideals acted in the Hasidic groups that developed them as “mysticism substitutes”. The article examines seven samples of 19th century Hasidic ideals. I show how each ideal demonstrates the direct connection between the late ideal and the early-Hasidic mystic value from which it originated and was “transformed”. The concluding chapter explains the phenomenon of mysticism-substitutes as follows: After Hasidism adopted a traditionalist character, it could no longer preserve its original values; however, it also could not discard them altogether. Therefore, the "natural" compromise was to transform them. Once developing into a conservative movement it became entangled in a paradox: the values it inherited were revolutionary, and the shift to traditionalist values required a change, which was, in turn, opposed to conservatism ("the paradox of conservatism"). Hasidism opted for "translating" the old mystic concepts into traditionalist ones, or turning practices that served as a medium for the mystical experience into ends in and of themselves. Hence, the mystic energy was not lost entirely, but rather became "conserved" in new forms that rendered a variety of non-mystic religious challenges.

In this (non-academic) paper I discuss the popular recent Hasidic work Netivot Shalom of the late Rebbe of Slonim. I discuss its strengths, but also point to certain aspects of his perspective that concern me as a radical departure from my understanding of the original Hasidism of the Baal Shem Tov.