T H E J E W I S H Q U A R T E R LY R E V I E W , Vol. 103, No.

3 (Summer 2013) 328351

Hasidism and Cemetery Inauguration

Ceremonies: Authority, Magic, and
Performance of Charismatic Leadership
G A D I S AG I V

H AY YI M H E Z E K I AH M E D IN I (18321904), who was born in Jerusalem, served as the rabbi of Karasubazaron the Crimean Peninsula
from 1867 to 1899. Addressing the topic of death and burial, he wrote
the following passage in Sede h.emed, his halakhic encyclopedia:
I have heard that it is customary in the towns of Ashkenaz to invite
one of the generations leading figures, a famous tsadik, to be present
when a cemetery is expanded, and if there is no famous tsadik in the
town they look for another tsadik and shower him with gold coins so
that he will come to them. But among us, the Sephardic Jews, I have
neither witnessed nor heard of such a custom, and I have never seen it
mentioned in any book, and I have no knowledge regarding the rationale or source for this . . . however, one does not question [established]
custom . . . and just recently, in the year 1877, in our neighboring town,
the community needed to add on to the cemetery and I was asked by
them how to proceed, and I responded with the process delineated by
the Gaon, the Shaagat aryeh1 . . . that they should declare a fast on
the gathering of the eve of the new moon of Sivan for at least ten
members of the burial society, and that was indeed what they did and
all the other members of the society who were unable to fast for the
entire day still fasted until almost midday and I too, the ignorant (hedyot), was there with them on that day and we recited the Morning
Prayer and many penitential prayers, and I enacted one prayer to be
I would like to thank David Assaf, Uriel Gellman, and Marcin Wodzinski for
their instructive comments on this essay.
1. Medini is referring to Aryeh Leib Ginzburg, Sheelot u-teshuvot shaagat aryeh
he-hadashot (Vilna, 1874), 122.
The Jewish Quarterly Review (Summer 2013)
Copyright ! 2013 Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies.
All rights reserved.

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recited at the cemetery and texts to be studied there and this continued
almost until midday.
A book entitled Kodesh hilulim happened to come into my possession
again, and I noted that in the section entitled Nofet tsufim the author
had written in the name of the hasid, the Besht [Baal Shem Tov], how
they should act in such a case, and I shall transcribe his words here.2
In this text, Medini describes a cemetery ceremony that was customary
among some Ashkenazic Jewish communities and gives evidence of a
specific performance of this ceremony in one Crimean community. Especially noteworthy is his testimony that it was customary to invite a
famous tsadikand he is clearly referring to a Hasidic tsadikto participate in the event, a service for which the tsadik was paid. According to
Medini, this ceremony is an undocumented Ashkenazi ritual, so when he
was asked to provide guidelines for performing it, he was uncertain about
the details. In the end, Medini recommended a set of penitential rituals
that he based on the teaching of Arie Leib Ginzburg, an eighteenthcentury East European rabbi who advised that a local burial society perform penitential rituals before acquiring new grounds for the local cemeterya slightly different case of the consecration or inauguration of the
new grounds. However, it seems that later he discovered a text attributed
to the Besht giving instructions specifically for expanding a cemetery.
In this essay, I will discuss these precepts and customs, which crystalized into a well-structured ritual of inaugurating a new cemetery or an
expansion of an old one in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Eastern
European Jewish communities. It was perceived to be Hasidic in origin,
and in some areas was performed only by Hasidic leaders.3 Beyond
2. Hayyim Hizkiah Medini, Sede h.emed (Brooklyn, 1950), vol. 4, Maarekhet
avelut, 1402 (Asifat dinim sede h.emed [Warsaw, 1896], 48). The passage that Medini
copied from Kodesh hilulim will be cited below (in the beginning of Section A)
from an earlier source.
3. On this rite, see Aaron Wertheim, Law and Custom in Hasidism, trans.
S. Himelstein (Hoboken, N.J., 1992), 34849; Meir Benayahu, Maamadot
u-moshavot (Hebrew; Jerusalem, 1985), 218; David Assaf, Untold Tales of the Hasidim: Crisis and Discontent in the History of Hasidism (Waltham, Mass., 2010),
13233; Gad Sagiv, The Chernobyl Hasidic Dynasty: Its History and Thought
from Its Beginning till the Eve of the First World War (Hebrew; Ph.D. diss.,
Tel Aviv University, 2009), 15458. Some of the sources discussed below are
mentioned in the Hebrew edition of Assafs book: David Assaf, Caught in the
Thicket: Chapters of Crisis and Discontent in the History of Hasidism (Jerusalem,
2006), 194, n. 47. For an anthology of halakhic sources pertaining to cemetery
consecration, see Gavriel Tsinner, Nitee GavrielHilekhot avelut, 2 (2nd ed.; Jeru-

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investigating an unexplored ritual, I would also like to exploit its characteristic as cultural performance that sheds light on nineteenth-century
Hasidism in general.
A . P O S S I B L E C O N T E X T S , SO U R C E S , AN D F U N C T I O N S

The ritual ascribed to the Besht that Medini found in the book Kodesh
hilulim might have been copied from an earlier book titled Ner yisrael,
attributed to the Hasidic tsadik R. Israel of Kozienice (d. 1814):
Copied from the Besht . . . following is the golden tongue of the Besht:
If it is necessary to add on to the cemetery, God forbid, perform the
following: first have no fewer than ten men circumambulate the new
area seven times. At the four corners of that area, they should recite
Psalms 102, 103, 104, and Isaiah 42, beginning with Sing to the Lord
a new song etc. (Is 42.10). And they should begin each circumambulation with the southeastern corner next to which they should recite from
Ps 102. And as they circumambulate, they should recite And let the
favor (Ps 90.17) until they reach the northeastern corner. And at this
corner, they should recite Ps 103. And as they proceed from this corner, they should recite And let the favor until they reach the northwestern corner. And at the corner, they should recite from Ps 104.
They should then circumambulate from this corner reciting And let
the favor until they reach the southwestern corner. And at this corner,
they should recite from Is 42, Sing to the Lord a new song etc. And
at the end of the first circumambulation, they should recite [the liturgical poem] Ana be-koah.,4 and they must concentrate on a divine name in
the first verse, and so they must do in each of the seven circumambulations. And after completing each one of the seven circumambulations,
they must recite Ana be-koah., concentrating on another divine name,
until they complete the seven names over the course of the seven circumambulations. And when they begin to enclose the additional area,
they should not commence with the northern side and they should also
salem, 2001), chap. 95, 70820, where I found many of the sources cited in this
essay.
4. Ana be-koah. is a liturgical poem traditionally attributed to Neh.uniyah ben
ha-Kanah. It includes a request for divine assistance. Read together in order, the
first letters of all the words compose what was believed to be the forty-two-letter
divine name. Some believed it had a power to fight evil forces, and there were
those who recited it before the death of an individual. On this poem, see Moshe
Hallamish, Kabbalistic Customs of Shabbat (Hebrew; Jerusalem, 2006), 22124,
and the bibliographical references there.

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not begin burying on that side. They should also not bury a kohen first.
And may it be his will that death be swallowed up forever, speedily in
our days. Amen. Selah.5
This text describes a ceremony entailing seven circumambulations of the
grounds to be added to the cemetery. Each circumambulation must move
counterclockwise from the southeast corner. In each corner a chapter
from Psalms is recited and as each side is traversed And let the favor is
to be recited. After each circumambulation, a successive line from the
seven lines comprising the liturgical poem Ana be-koah. is to be recited,
and during each circumambulation the participants must concentrate on
the divine name alluded to by the letters in that line. The warning in the
text against burying the first individuals on the northern side may indicate a desire to distance oneself from the forces of evil, which Jewish
sources (especially kabbalistic ones) traditionally link to the north.6
The allocation of new grounds for a cemetery is part of a rich fabric of
rituals performed in cemeteries in postbiblical Judaism.7 This ceremony
would seem to be a routine event, no cause for concern, as natural population growth demands occasional expansion. However, in times of plague or
war, when the death rate increased quickly, the need to expand a cemetery
grew pressing, and such expansion was often associated with communal
distress. A custom of visiting cemeteries during times of drought in order
to pray for rain was already mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (bTaan
16a).8 Entreating those buried in a cemetery to intervene for the benefit of
people also subtends the well-known practice of visiting the graves of the
righteous (kivre tsadikim), which was done particularly during times of
5. Israel of Kozienice, Ner yisrael, Vilna [erratum: Lvov, 1840], 21a. This text
also appears in at least two more works that have apparently been erroneously
attributed to Pinhas of Korets (172691): the end of Devarim neh.madim (Czernowitz, 1859); Kodesh hilulim, Nofet tsufim (Lemberg, 1864), [43b]. However, several
of the rabbis who transmitted this ceremony (see section B below) based their
words on these works.
6. For example, Gershom Scholem, Origins of the Kabbalah (Philadelphia,
1987), 14851.
7. On the topic of cemeteries in the culture of Eastern European Jews, as well
as for references to scholarship, see Avriel Bar-Levav, Death and the Dead, in
YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, ed. G. D. Hundert (New Haven,
Conn., 2008), 1:39699.
8. For various opinions about this custom, see Elliott Horowitz, Speaking to
the Dead: Cemetery Prayer in Medieval and Early Modern Jewry, Journal of
Jewish Thought and Philosophy 8 (1999): 30317.

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distress.9 In Ashkenazi communities there were communal processions to

cemeteries, on such occasions as the eve of the new moon, the period prior
to the high holy days, and the Ninth of Av.10
Ritual circumambulations are common in many religions,11 and the
practice of consecrating cemeteries through ritual circumambulations also
appears outside Judaism.12 Ritual circumambulations, especially performed seven times, can also be found elsewhere in Jewish culture.13
Circumambulation rituals sometimes have a function of sanctifying space.
The expansion of the Temple courtyard and the borders of Jerusalem
mentioned in the Talmud called for ritual circumambulation that was evidently for that purpose.14 At the same time, circumambulation rituals
often have a magical function of human intervention with regard to the
circumambulated space, or with regard to something this space symbolizes. Such intervention is most visible in the story of the fall of the walls
of Jericho (Josh 6).
Circling the dead prior to or during the course of the funeral is performed as part of some Jewish burial customs.15 However, this ritual was
9. On the ritual of visiting the graves of the righteous, see Elchanan Reiner,
Pilgrims and Pilgrimage to Eretz Yisrael, 10991516 (Hebrew; Ph.D. diss.,
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1988), 217320; Ephraim Shoham-Steiner,
For a prayer in that place would be most welcome: Jews, Holy Shrines, and
Miracles: A New Approach, Viator 37 (2006): 36995; Yechezkel Shraga Lichtenstein, Consecrating the Profane: Rituals Performed and Prayers Recited at Cemeteries
and Burial Sites of the Pious (Hebrew; Tel Aviv, 2007).
10. Sylvie Anne Goldberg, Crossing the Jabbok: Illness and Death in Ashkenazi
Judaism in Sixteenth- through Nineteenth-Century Prague, trans. C. Cosman (Berkeley, Calif., 1996), 13942; Lichtenstein, Consecrating the Profane, 25871.
11. Diana L. Eck, Circumambulation, in The Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. M.
Eliade (New York, 1987), 3:50911.
12. Helen Gittos, Creating the Sacred: Anglo-Saxon Rites of Consecrating
Cemeteries, in Burial in Early Medieval England and Wales, ed. S. Lucy and A.
Reynolds(London, 2002), 195208.
13. Paul B. Fenton, The Symbolism of Ritual Circumambulation in Judaism
and Islam: A Comparative Study, Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 6
(1997): 34569. In this essay, Fenton noted interesting parallels and suggested
explanations for mutual influences between circumambulations in Judaism and
Islam. He also noted that Lurianic Kabbalah established circumambulation ceremonies at such life-cycle events as weddings and funerals.
14. See bShev 15a16a, and for a connection between the remarks therein
and cemetery consecration, see Moses Shik, Sheelot u-teshuvot Maharam Shik,
Yoreh deah (henceforth YD) (Mukacevo, 1881), 357, 120a. See also Fenton,
Ritual Circumambulation, 53.
15. Benayahu, Maamadot u-moshavot, 105227; Goldberg, Crossing the Jabbok,
13335. See also Henry Abramovitch, The Jerusalem Funeral as a Microcosm

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performed in the context of funerals for individuals; it was not communal;

and it did not include any circumambulation of the cemetery.
In Ashkenazi communities circumambulations of the entire cemetery
were performed in two major contexts. One is the aforementioned custom
of occasional processions to cemeteries on holy days, which seem to have
been communal and to have included fasting, recitation of penitential
prayers (selih.ot), and giving charity.16 The other context is a womens
ceremony of encircling the entire cemetery with threads (from which candles were made for Yom Kipur), while reciting supplicatory prayers (tekhines).17
Although it is unclear to what extent these customs were communal
rituals performed by the entire community qua community, they seem
antecedents of the cemetery allocation ceremony. Moreover, we can point
to an attempt to concatenate some of these rituals into a genealogy of the
cemetery inauguration ceremony. Following a case described in tractate
Semah.ot,18 a custom of circumambulation of a cemetery was mentioned in
the mid-fourteenth-century book Sefer ha-aguda.19 Following Sefer haaguda, Zechariah Mendel of Belz (author of a part of the Baer heytev on
the Shulh.an arukh; died after 1707), was more specific:
In tractate Semah.ot the case [is recorded] of a woman whose son fell ill
and they circumambulated the Temple courtyard. It appears that the
custom of circumambulating the cemetery was based on this (See Sefer
ha-aguda), and from this [foundation] the custom spread of measuring
the circumference of the cemetery with threads and afterwards using
them to produce wax candles and donating it [sic] to the synagogue.
And this is all a proper custom.20
The Baer heytev suggests that the custom of encircling the cemetery with
threads is a contemporary expression of an ancient magical practice performed in the Temple. The kabbalist Eliyahu Guttmacher (17961874),
of the Mismeeting between Religious and Secular Israelis, in Perspectives on
Israeli Anthropology, ed. E. Herzog et al. (Detroit, 2010), 51819.
16. For the tekhines, see Eliezer Lieberman of Prague, Maane lashon im ivri
teitsh (Prague, 1615; New York, 1930), 2, 920.
17. Chava Weissler, Voices of the Matriarchs: Listening to the Prayers of Early Modern Jewish Women (Boston, 1998), 13346. In particular, see the references cited
in nn. 3638.
18. Masekhet semah.ot, ed. Higger (New York, 1931), 134.
19. Alexander Zuslin HaKohen, Sefer ha-agudah (Krakow, 1571), 172a.
20. Baer heytev on the Shulh.an arukh, YD 376, n. 4.

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who served as a rabbi in Gratz on the Polish-German border, discussed

the inauguration ceremony in two of his responsa.21 Basing his position
on the aforementioned remark in the Baer heytev, Guttmacher explicitly
linked the custom of encircling the cemetery with threads and the cemetery inauguration ceremony; in both a circumambulation is performed
with magical intent, designed to ward off harmful forces.22
The cemetery inauguration ritual probably also resulted from the convergence of various sources of influence, each of which was a product of
its own particular and variegated circumstances. However, Guttmachers
remarks are still valuable because he explicitly mentioned the consecration of space, which he linked to prophylactic magic. He declared that
designating grounds for a cemetery is similar to preparing grounds for
Temple use, and since in the process of any sacred rectification there is
certainly the need to first banish the influence of the kelipot [husks, i.e.,
the forces of evil], the circumambulation ceremony should be understood as protection against these kelipot.
In addition to Guttmachers analysis, a discussion of the inauguration
ceremony can be found in the notes of the Russian Hasidic tsadik R.
Yehoshua Heschel Rabinowitz of Monastyrishche (18601938).23 Rabinowitz provided a copy of the service from the Ner yisrael volume, as well
as an explanation of the ritual.24 Particularly, he gave reasons for why
specific psalms were chosen for the ceremony: Psalm 102 speaks about
the baseness of man, whereas Psalms 103 and 104 emphasize the greatness of God. Like Guttmacher, Rabinowitz mentioned two components:
magic and the sanctification of space. However, while Guttmacher associated the cemetery with the ancient Temple, Rabinowitz linked the cemetery and the land of Israel, arguing that the borders of the Holy Israel
are effectively expanded through this act of consecration. This border
expansion will spare the deceased from having to roll through the subterranean tunnels, as all those buried in the Diaspora must, before being
resurrected (see GenR 96.5).
New burial grounds were often allocated when the old grounds could
not accommodate new corpses, so the inauguration ceremony was associated with actual deaths and followed by digging new graves. The expansion ritual might be a means for resolving this tension between the need
21. Eliyahu Guttmacher, Aderet eliyahu, (Jerusalem, 1984), YD 12425,
43641.
22. Ibid., 440.
23. Yehoshua Heschel Rabinowitz, Erkhei yehoshua (2nd ed.; Jerusalem, 1996),
18587.
24. The explanation is cited in the name of his father, the tsaddik Yitshak Yoel
of Kantakuzova (184085).

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to allocate new grounds for the cemetery and a natural recoil from deathrelated matters. Such recoil is often anchored in kabbalistic-magical
notions pertaining to the aforementioned fear of allowing demonic and
harmful forces (mazikim) to wreak havoc.25 Circumambulation might be
an attempt to quarantine death and so distance it from the living. In this
context, it is relevant to note other magical customs or rituals that help
people cope with their fear of cemeteries, but do not necessarily include
circumambulations. Such rites include ritually slaughtering a rooster
without reciting the blessing, and then burying it in the first empty grave
dug in the new section. Burying the rooster symbolized interring the
divine power of judgment (midat ha-din) and thereby weakening it.26 Also,
the aforementioned warnings against burying the first bodies in the
northern side are similar to warnings in other texts against digging new
graves except for immediate use.27
B . R E C E P T I O N AN D D I S S E M I N AT I O N

From Rabinowitzs text mentioned in the previous chapter one can learn
also about the rituals reception, as he wrote: I found the entire service
recorded there in the old record book (pinkas) of the burial society in the
25. Gershom Gerhard Scholem, On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism (New York,
1965), 154.
26. And in the name of R Yehuda he-Hasid they wrote that it is good to bury
a rooster, which is referred to by the appellation gever, in an empty grave. Perhaps in so doing the power of judgment will be interred and weakened since it is
under the influence of the side of the angel Gabriel who is called gever(Aharon
Berakhyah of Modena, Maavar yabok [Mantua, 1626; Vilna, 1860], Sfat emet,
chap. 11, 202). See also the following passage: in the town of Reggio in the year
1685 . . . Menahem the son of . . . Azriel Levi, of blessed memory, passed away
and they buried him in a cemetery [literally, the houses of the living] in which no
one had ever been buried yet and they ritually slaughtered a rooster, without
reciting the blessing, and they buried it with him at his feet (Yitshak Lampronti,
Pah.ad Yitsh.ak, Part 1 [Venice, 1710], s.v. beyt kvarot, 23a.).
27. For instance, R. Yeruham wrote in the name of R. Yehuda he-Hasid that
one should not dig a grave unless one wishes to inter the dead immediately, and
we have already written that no one should provide Satan with the opportunity
to open his mouth; they meant by this that no one should cause Satan to open his
mouth by cursing himself or others (Maavar yabok, Sfat emet, chap. 11, 202);
When the forces of impurity see an open grave at night they take this opportunity to accuse, and sometimes there is a death without a trial (ibid., chap. 11,
203). The very act of digging the grave, that is to say, opening the grave, may
have alluded to the opening of Satans mouth. For an approach that does not
recoil from acquiring grounds for a new cemetery in advance, see Ginzburg,
Shaagat aryeh, 122.

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town of Linitz [in the Kiev province].28 The cemetery inauguration service
also appears in the record book of the Ladyzhins burial society (located in
the Podolia province), which even states that the service was sent to them
by R. Levi Yitshak of Berdichev in 1790.29 If that is the case, then R.
Levy Yitshaks instructions are the first occurrence of the ritual I have
encountered. Moreover, this source does not only predate the text quoted
above from Ner yisrael; it also informs what will be typical in the nineteenth
century: that knowledge of this ritual was considered the domain of the
Hasidic masters, and that it was requested by a local burial society.
The prominent Galician rabbi Yoseph Shaul Nathanson reports a performance of the ceremony in 1855, probably in Lwow.30 Nathanson
writes that the ceremony had to be performed because the current cemetery was blocked (presumably, full or congested) and eight bodies were
still to be buried. The ceremony performed was based on the instructions
found in the previously cited Ner yisrael, but incorporated slight changes.
The customs dissemination can be inferred from several responsa written during the second half of the nineteenth century in which major rabbinic eastern European rabbis are asked how to consecrate a cemetery.
The rabbi and tsadik, Hayyim of Sanz (17991876) contributed to the
rituals dissemination in Galicia by including the relevant passage from
Ner yisrael in his published responsa. His own responsum was cited by
other rabbis in Galicia and Hungary, who may have also sometimes copied the passage directly from Ner yisrael, notwithstanding the apparent
difficulty in obtaining this work.31 Moses Shik (180779) contributed to
the ceremonys dissemination in Hungary, where it was practiced until
the outbreak of the Second World War.32
28. Rabinowitz, Erkhe yehoshua, 186.
29. MS Moscow-Ginzburg 1362 (Signature in the National Library of Israel
in Jerusalem: F8440), 3b. This manuscript is a copy of the original record book,
wherein the service had originally been printed on p. 49a. The passage was
printed in Mismakh histori: Heetek pinkas h.evra kadisha de-ir ladyzhin beukraina, Kovets nah.alat tsvi, 8 (1993): 148.
30. Yoseph Shaul Nathanson, Divre shaul ve-hu sefer yosef daat: h.idush dinim vehalakhah le-maaseh al shulh.an arukh, YD, part 1 (Lemberg, 1879), 280.
31. Hayyim Halbershtam of Sanz, Sheelot u-teshuvot divre H.ayim (Lvov, 1875),
Part 2, YD, 135, 81. For instances in which his ruling was relied upon in Galicia,
see Yaakov Schor, Sheelot u-teshuvot divre Yaakov (Kolomyya, 1881), 13, 10b
11a; Yitshak Yehudah Shmelkes, Sheelot u-teshuvot bet Yitsh.ak, YD, Part 2
(Przemysl, 1895), 156, 127b. For an instance of Halbershtams influence on
Hungarian rabbis, see Moshe Greenwald, Sheelot u-teshuvot arugat ha-bosem al
shulh.an arukh, YD (Svalava, 1926; New York, 1980), 253.
32. Shik, Sheelot u-teshuvot Maharam Shik, YD 357, 120a. Regarding Hungary, see also Shlomo Yehuda Tabak, Erekh Shai on YD (Sighet, 1897), 362,
129b. (He notes that the ceremony was a received tradition from the Baal Shem

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On more than one occasion, the rabbis were forced to admit that they
were unfamiliar with this custom. Notwithstanding this lack of familiarity, they realized that such a ceremony was indeed being performed and
ruled that since it had been established, it should not be annulled. The
rabbis had to find a liturgy for this ceremony and did not leave their
questioners empty-handed, providing them with one that was usually
based on that in Ner yisrael. The frequent citation of the ritual from
that workwhere it is attributed to the Beshtattests to the prevailing
notion that he innovated the ceremony, and to the association of the ceremony with early Hasidism.33 The result was that even if not all those
who spread the custom were identified with Hasidism, the rabbis who
transmitted the ritual were in effect disseminating a Hasidic custom
throughout areas of Central and Eastern Europe, and even affixing its
image as Hasidic.
Although not all decisors provided the same guidelines for performing
the cemetery inauguration ceremony, it is still possible to delineate several
common characteristics: the local burial society was responsible for performing the ceremony, which was preceded by the recitation of penitential prayers and a fast; the ceremony itself included the circumambulation
procedure described in the Ner yisrael; oftentimes the ceremony was either
preceded or followed by a sermon; and the entire event was accompanied
by the giving of charity, which was considered both a substitute for fasting and a means to nullify harsh decrees.34
C . A CA SE S T U D Y : C E M E T E R Y I NAU G U R ATI O N
IN KOLOMYYA, 1893

In order to provide a concrete example of the cemetery inauguration ceremony, I will present it as it was performed in 1893 in Kolomyya, Galicia
(now Ukraine) by the local rabbi, Jacob Teomim (18331908), who was
close to the tsadikim of Belz Hasidism.35 Several years earlier, when he
Tov.) Hungarian rabbis also mentioned this ceremony during the first half of
the twentieth century: Tsvi Hirsh Shapira, Sheelot u-teshuvot tsvi tiferet, (Mokacevo, 1912), 24, 42a; Eliezer Hayyim Deutsch, Dudae ha-sadeh (Seini, 1929),
86, 30a.
33. For example, R. Yehoshua Heschel Rabinowitz asserted that it makes
sense for this ceremony to be performed by Hasidim, since the ceremony is
ascribed to the Besht (Rabinowitz, Erkhe yehoshua, 186).
34. For kabbalistic functions of charity, see Moshe Hallamish, Kabbalah in
Liturgy, Halakhah and Customs (Hebrew; Ramat-Gan, 2000), 383400.
35. Hayyim Tsvi Teomim, Zikkaron la-rishonim (Kolomyya, 1914), 2528. In
this text, the Hebrew and Gregorian dates do not match. However, since R.
Teomim did not arrive in Kolomyya until 1891 (according to Meir Wunder,
Meore Galitsiyah [Jerusalem, 1997], 5:677), the Gregorian year should apparently
be 1893.

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had presided as rabbi of Tarnogrod in Congress Poland, Teomim had

approached Hayyim of Sanz, who had presented him with the service
and even given him a copy of the relevant passage from Ner yisrael.36
The event was planned for the eve of the new moon of the month of
Heshvan, which confirms the impression noted earlier that the inauguration ritual was a variation of the custom of visiting cemeteries on the
eves of new months. On the appointed day, the burial society members
assembled in the main synagogue and, after prayers, recited penitential
prayers; R. Teomim then gave a sermon.37 The next day, some important
rabbis from other eastern Galician towns came to take part in the ceremony. Teomim wrote:
Everyone from the town, men, women, and children, in their hundreds and thousands, assembled in the place designated for the new
cemetery and each of them was provided with a sheet printed with the
customary procedures [to be performed] during the circumambulation
of the cemetery, which the rabbi . . . and his rabbinical court had
decreed. The burial society circumambulated the cemetery . . . Almost
everyone from the town, its leaders and its dignitaries . . . were present
during the circumambulations. The push of the crowd was tremendous,
and each and every person gave twelve kreutzers38 to the charity fund,
and many gave substantial sums to the community chest. The guest
rabbis . . . and Teomim . . . delivered sermons on aggadic themes and
overwhelmed the hearts of their audience. The president of the community at the time, Dr. Trachtenberg,39 gave a speech in German and the
heads of the community distributed hard liquor and sweet delicacies,
and in the evening the philanthropic (gemilut hasadim) society provided
a feast . . . and the community leaders and rabbis, as well as justices of
the rabbinical court came, and they feasted and conversed on Torah
36. Teomim, Zikaron la-rishonim, 2627. R. Hayyims response contains a version similar to the aforementioned one that he had given several years earlier to
another request.
37. Ibid., 25.
38. The original Hebrew has the abbreviation tsadi lamed, which probably
means tselamim, a nickname given to the Austrian kreutzer, a coin that had a
tselem, that is to say, a cross, embossed on it.
39. This was probably Dr. Maximilian Trachtenberg, a local lawyer who was
the mayor of Kolomyya (as well as the head of the community) from 1878 until
1895 and a member of the Galician Sejm from 1896 until 1900 (Pinkas Hakehillot:
Encyclopaedia of Jewish Communities. Poland, vol. 2, Eastern Galicia, ed. D. Dabrowska, A. Weiss, A. Wein [Hebrew; Jerusalem, 1980], 467).

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matters, and all the people were glad and rejoiced with trembling.
(Ps 2.11)40
On this particular occasion the ceremony had nothing to do with
mourning for a particular individual. In fact the opposite is true. This
ceremony was intended to obviate the need to mourn. The somber ceremony was thus transformed into a community festival. The ceremony
took on a theatrical character, as if it was performed on stage: there was
a stage (the new grounds), a director (R. Teomim), actors (the members
of the burial society), an audience (the towns inhabitants and invited
guests), and a script that was distributed to the audience. Presumably,
the ceremony could have been performed in a small forum. Therefore,
the decision to turn it into a public spectacle indicates that the event
itself had value beyond its narrow role of cemetery inauguration.
Apparently, the spectacle was in and of itself spiritually uplifting, perhaps because of a sense that death had been overcome. Likewise, the
participation of the entire communityincluding even the president of
the communitystrengthened the peoples sense of communal solidarity, the status of the burial society, and the very standing of R. Teomim.
Note should be taken of the changing role of charity, which originally
became part of the ritual in order to provide a substitute for fasting and
because giving charity was believed to help nullify harsh decrees. However, the charity given should also be understood within the context of
the custom of tossing coins when circumambulating the deceased. This
custom was sometimes explained in symbolic terms, as nullifying the
power of the evil forces by giving them their due, as well as an attempt
to rectify the deceaseds sins of seminal emission.41 In contradistinction to
these private functions, the cemetery inauguration ceremony became a
public event closely associated with fundraising, whether for the burial
society itself or for other additional communal institutions.
D. INAUGURATION O F CEMETERIES BY TSADIKIM
A ND SO C IA L RE L ATI O NS I N T H E SHTETL

While Medinis work, cited at the beginning of this essay, depicts the
prevailing circumstances in Crimea, the custom in which a burial society
40. Teomim, Zikaron la-rishonim, 2628. In one of the omitted passages, the
author detailed the procedure to be followed and the passages to be recited.
41. Daniel Sperber, Casting Seven Coins Next to the Deceased, The Jewish
Life Cycle: Custom, Lore and Iconography (Ramat Gan, 2008), 53137.

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invited a Hasidic tsadik to perform the inauguration ceremony was common throughout the southern Ukranian provinces of the Pale of SettlementKiev, Podolia, and Volhynia.42 Its proximity to death rendered the
cemetery inauguration ceremony dangerous. It seems that tsadikim were
considered the most suitable professionals for this risky task, especially
because the relevant text for the ritual was ascribed to the Besht. Moreover, tsadikim may have also been the only ones willing to perform this
ritual, as sources even note that some rabbis left the community while the
ritual was being performed.43
The inauguration ceremony became one of the activities incumbent
upon the tsadikim during times of crisis.44 They performed this ceremony
as part of a reciprocal relationship with the communities and burial societies in the southern Pale of Settlement. This cooperation should be understood in light of the progressive weakening of the Jewish communitys
autonomy in Eastern Europe; in Russia, the autonomous Jewish community council (kahal) was officially abolished in 1844. As the autonomy of
the Jewish community decreased, the power of the local religious societies (professional artisans guilds or societies for the study of Torah and
the performance of the commandments) and Hasidic courts increased,
for they assumed responsibility for functions previously shouldered by
communal institutions.45 In many cases, cooperation can be observed
between tsadikim and the local societies. When a core of society members
were adherents of a specific tsadik, that society was often associated with
that tsadik and seen as a branch of his court. This relationship allowed
the tsadikim to strengthen their hold on communities and provided societies with the honor of being associated with prestigious tsadikim.46 The
relations that developed between the Hasidic courts and the societies
were thus a means for both to amass power.
42. Most of the examples will highlight tsadikim who were members of the
Chernobyl dynasty. On that dynasty and its preeminence in nineteenth-century
Ukraine, see Sagiv, Chernobyl Hasidic Dynasty. Curiously, the ritual encircling of
the cemetery with a cord also seems to come from these same regions. See Weissler, Voices of the Matriarchs, 242, n. 36.
43. See the sources cited in Tsinner, Nitee Gavriel, 71213.
44. See, for instance, Ha-tsefirah, October 8, 1890, 864.
45. Isaac Levitats, The Jewish Community in Russia, 18441917 (Jerusalem,
1981), 6984; Israel Halpern, Eastern European Jewry: Historical Studies (Hebrew;
Jerusalem, 1968), 31332; Israel Bartal, From Corporation to Nation: Jewish
Autonomy in Eastern Europe, 17721881, Jahrbuch des Simon-Dubnow-Instituts 5
(2006): 811.
46. Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, Hasidism, Havurot and the Jewish Street,
Jewish Social Studies 10.2 (2004): 2054.

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The close relationship between the societies and Hasidic courts was
especially prevalent among burial societies and the societies for the study
of Mishnah, because these societies, by their very nature, were often concerned with the mystical notion of the rectification of souls, a concept
deeply rooted in a kabbalistic-Hasidic mindset. In particular, within
the communal rubric, burial societies fulfilled a vital role (unlike, for
example, Mishnah study societies, which were optional). Burial societies
wielded special power in Jewish communities; they were paid large
amounts of money and were populated by rich and prestigious members
of the community.47 Hence, more than other societies, a tsadiks senior
position in the burial society granted him a similar high status in the
community as a whole, as well as connections with rich and powerful
community members. Conversely, the tsadiks participation in an event
organized by the burial society also strengthened the societys social
standing as his prestige lent honor to the society. Namely, the cemetery
inauguration ceremony was an event in which the interests of the society
and that of the Hasidic court intersected. Both institutions were eager to
join in performing such a ceremony, for in so doing they expressed, as
well as deepened, their overall dominance in the community.
A tsadiks relationship with specific societies was only one way to
influence the community. He could achieve a far more pervasive effect
by signing contracts directly with the community as a wholecontracts
referred to as Ktav magidut (preaching appointment) or Ktav rabanut (rabbinic appointment). These contracts compelled the community to follow
the tsadiks rulings on all religious matters and compelled the tsadik to
provide the community with spiritual patronage, prayers for the community, and religious services.48 Cemetery inauguration was one of these
services, which became the exclusive obligation and right of the tsadik
who held the Ktav magidut.
Hasidic sources presented this ritual as complex and sometimes
referred to special spiritual abilities needed for its performance, thereby
reinforcing the stance that a tsadik should be requested to perform the
ceremony. For example, the tsadik David of Talne (180882), a scion of
the Chernobyl dynastywho, according to the traditions of Chernobyl,
performed the consecration ritual dozens of timesis claimed to have
presented the following spiritual requirements for performing the ritual:
47. See, for example, Francois Guesnet, A Tuml in the Shtetl: Khayim Betsalel Grinbergs Di Khevre-Kedishe Sude, Polin: Studies in Polish Jewry, 16: Jewish
Popular Culture and Its Afterlife (2003): 93106.
48. On Ktav magidut, see Assaf, Untold Tales, 13536; Sagiv, Chernobyl Hasidic
Dynasty, 14046.

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In order to consecrate a cemetery, one must be knowledgeable in five

matters: (1) to connect the souls of the living with the souls of the dead;
(2) to be knowledgeable in the wisdom of Solomon; (3) to know how
to join higher wisdom with lower wisdom; (4) to be knowledgeable in
the kavanot (mystical intentions) that the high priest would intend in
the innermost sanctum; (5) to cleanse (literally, whiten) the children of
Israel of all their transgressions.49
Even if R. Davids exact meaning regarding each one of these conditions
is unclear to us, and even if he was not referring to some specific knowledge that ought to be acquired, these spiritual requirements seem to characterize images of Hasidic tsadikim. He might have even wanted to stress
that not every tsadik possesses these abilities.50
Hasidic sources also claim that learning how to perform this ceremony
was part of the training of tsadikim, as the kavanot involved were learned
from more experienced tsadikim, rather than from books.51 For instance,
a Hasidic story tells about how R. Yohanan of Rotmistrovka (181695),
a tsadik belonging to the Chernobyl dynasty, was at first forced to decline
a request to perform the consecration ceremony for a certain village. Having done so, he immediately sent a letter to his older brother, the tsadik
Aharon of Chernobyl (17841871), requesting instruction in how to perform the consecration. In the letter he explained that because he was
young when their father, R. Mordechai, died, he had not had the opportunity to learn the procedures for consecrating a cemetery. R. Aharon
sent his brother allusions, from which R. Yohanan deduced the procedure, and only then did he accede to the request.52 This story also provides us with insight into what mystical knowledge was necessary for
performing this ritual: R. Aharon instructed R. Yohanan to learn the Or
49. Mishkenot yaakov, 4 (1996): 4647. Although this source is part of a seemingly late hagiographical collection, it is a publication of a manuscript of stories
written by R. Davids daughter. So these sources (that include more stories about
cemetery inauguration ceremonies) are family traditions that were contemporaneous with their protagonists.
50. For example, Hasidic hagiography recounts the tales of tsadikim who had
second-sight. This ability sometimes led them to refrain from consecrating part
of the cemetery grounds, only to later discover that heretics were interred in the
area they had willfully excluded. For examples, see Mah.shevet nah.um (Jerusalem,
2004), 23435.
51. For a story about the training of R. David of Talnes grandson, see Shlomo
Zalmina Vineberg, Netsah. she-ba-netsah.: Toldot h.ayav u-foolo shel David mi-Talne
(Jerusalem, 1994), 22627; Kneset David (Jerusalem, 2005), 1023.
52. Mah.shevet Nahum, 23233.

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ha-h.ayims commentary on the Torah portion recounting the acquisition

of the cave of Makhpelah, because he could glean from that text all of
the relevant mystical intentions and customs. While Or ha-h.ayim (which
was very popular among tsadikim and Hasidim) makes no mention of the
ritual, I would postulate that these tsadikim must have perceived every
consecration ceremony for new cemetery grounds to be a reenactment
of this Torah portion. Ipso facto, paying the tsadik for performing the
consecration was thus justified, as this payment was not only an opportunity to provide the tsadik with a livelihood but also had intrinsic spiritual
value in allowing for a reenactment of Abrahams paying for the cave.53
The claim for a secret and complex ritual demanding kavanot beyond
those found in books (such as the version printed in Ner yisrael) is not
uncommon when discussing kabbalistic rituals. Concurrently, these claims
can also be read as their attempt to preserve a monopoly over the rituals
performance. Moreover, the fact that only tsadikim were considered
capable to perform the ritual may have generated additional demand for
their performance, even in places that used to perform the inauguration
without a tsadik.
Indeed, the cemetery inauguration ceremonys communal nature led to
its becoming the property of the one who possessed the communitys
Ktav magidut. When the tsadik was asked to perform the ceremony and
could not, it was every so often performed by other tsadikim. Sometimes
the community asked the tsadik who possessed their Ktav magidut for
permission;54 however, the tsadikim did not always view such a move
with equanimity, and there are even stories about tsadikim who took
offense when local adherents of other tsadikim invited their leaders to
perform the ritual.55 There are also stories about quarrels among the local
Hasidim as to who should perform the consecration.56 Sometimes, however, the authority granted the tsadik enveloped the entire community
53. According to this perspective, the payment for cemetery consecrations
may be viewed as a communal expression of the practice of pidyon nefesh (redemption of the soul), which was routinely performed for the sick and the deceased.
On pidyon nefesh, see Haviva Pedaya, Le-hitpath.uto shel ha-degem ha-h.evrati-datikalkali ba-h.asidut: Ha-pidyon, ha-h.avurah, ve-ha-aliyah la-regel, in Dat ve-Kalkalah,
ed. M. Ben-Sasson (Jerusalem, 1995), 31173.
54. Schocken Institute for Jewish Research (Jerusalem), Yerushalimsky
Archive, "2183.
55. For stories about tensions between the Chernobyl and Ruzhin groups
about the performance of this ritual, see Assaf, Neehaz ba-svakh, 194, n. 47; Mordechai Hayyim Slonim, Sipure maran ha-ramah. (Bnei Berak, 1989), 15859.
56. Ha-karmel, February 10, 1865, 126; Ha-melits, January 2, 1883, 98889.

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and thus dispelled disputes between the Hasidim and others in the community in cemetery-related matters.57
According to one late Hasidic story, when Aharon of Chernobyl was
unable to reach Berdichev to consecrate the cemetery, he asked the Hasidim to go the gravestones of two famous Berdichev rabbis buried
thereR. Levi Yitshak and R. Lieberand ask them to consecrate the
cemetery in his stead.58 In addition to R. Levi Yitshak being the most
famous Hasidic figure buried in the Berdichev cemetery, let us note that
the aforementioned procedure for performing the consecration that
reached Ladyzhin was attributed to him. This story also highlights the
relationship between the cemetery inauguration ceremony and the custom of visiting the graves of the righteous.
The maskilim (proponents of the Jewish enlightenment) expressed
opposition to performance of the inauguration ceremony by Hasidic
masters. They perceived it to be yet another excuse for tsadikim to visit
communities and raise monies from their adherents.59 The following
description of a cemetery consecration ceremony in Kiev in 1892, which
appears to have been written from a maskilic point of view, appeared in
Ha-melits:
And when the day arrived for the founding of the cemetery, the people
entered into deliberations: the hasidim said that only one of the tsadikim could do this, for only they know the secret of founding a cemetery
. . . But the Litvaks said that . . . it only being a matter of performing
the technique: to encircle a large area with seven circumambulations,
saying And let the favor seven times, and nothing more than this;
however, the burial society members took both opinions into account,
57. I recall that there was a debate in the community: should a fence be
erected around the grounds designated for the cemetery, given that the funeral
procession had to pass next to the Polish-Catholic cemetery. Apparently, they
had no choice but to purchase these grounds, but those who objected to purchasing these grounds calmed down when the Rebbe [Yaakov Aryeh Leib] of Trisk
. . . came personally to accept the field [the cemetery] (Bezalel Beller, Melnitsa, in Melnitsah [Yizkor Book], ed. Y. Lior [Tel Aviv, 1994], 54).
58. Menorat aharon (Bnei Berak, 2006), 46. The authenticity claim of the story
seems to be based on the fact that it was told by one of the grandsons of R.
Lieber.
59. The maskilim portrayed the tsadik David of Talnes trip to Odessa in this
fashion. See Paul I. Radensky, Hasidism in the Age of Reform: A Biography of
Rabbi Duvid Ben Mordkhe Twersky of Talnoye (Ph.D. diss., Jewish Theological Seminary, 2001), 1067.

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for they requested of the tsadik R. Yohanan of Rotmistrovka to dispatch (of course, for a fee) the verses appropriate for this. But the
tsadik, who was also wise and was aware of the situation facing him
did not send the verses in writing, lest the cunning Litvaks use these
verses later; therefore, he sent the verses with one of those loyal to his
welfare, who was close to him, [instructing him] to transmit these
verses orally to the members of the burial society; and on Monday
August 24, 1892, the grounds were consecrated as a cemetery. Early
in the morning, the rabbis of our town, the administrative officials
(gabaim) of the burial society, along with all the burial society workers,
and many other people gathered in the square. The rabbis and all who
were gathered began to circumscribe the ground in the figure of a
square. They began their circumambulation from the south-eastern
corner reciting And let the favor and Ana be-koah. and several other
verses, and in each corner they stopped for a moment. From the beginning of their procession, they began to demarcate the grounds with a
rope which was fastened to stakes that had been driven into the ground
earlier.60 Some of those gathered were afraid to walk within the area
circumscribed by the rope, as they were afraid of the tradition which
recounts the great danger awaiting one who walks within the ropedoff area. After the circumambulations were completed, the rabbi of the
Litvaks of our town gave a nice sermon fitting for the matter at hand,
and the ceremony proceeded in this manner until the fourth hour after
midday. The assembled fasted for this entire period.61
The writer seems to be mocking the disputes that arose between those
who were Hasidic and those who were not, the so-called Litvaks. There
was no dispute, however, regarding the ceremonys necessity or basic
formulation; however, for Hasidim the cemetery consecration ceremony
was not only a matter of technique; kabbalistic meanings were essential
to it and therefore certain verses and mystical intentions (kavanot) were
necessary. The tsadik Yohanan of Rotmistrovka seems to have maintained a close relationship with the burial society in Kiev and was considered an authoritative source of knowledge. The writer stresses that the
tsadik chose not to send written instructions so as to maintain his exclusive ability to perform the ritual in the future.
It is not entirely clear why the verses appropriate for this were
60. Of course, the demarcation with a rope is similar to the ritual encircling
of the cemetery with a rope discussed above.
61. Ha-melits, November 21, 1892, 2.

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treated so secretively; after all, these verses from Psalms are identified in
the aforementioned Ner yisrael (although, as noted above, this work may
not have been readily available). Perhaps the author is actually referring
to other verses that were associated with this ritual, or to esoteric kavanot
that accompanied the biblical verses. The tsadikim may have even felt
that the precise details of a magic ritual dedicated to combatting the
forces of judgment should remain hidden. In any case, the author criticized the tsadikim for using its esoteric nature to safeguard their own
power over the community.
While most of the rituals performed by the tsadik took place in his
court or in front of his congregation, the cemetery inauguration ceremony
was performed in the public sphere and was thus seen also by others,
including even non-Jews. It became symbolic of the institution of the
tsadik, not only in the eyes of his adherents and the maskilim but also
those of the authorities, who, influenced by maskilim, came to see the
tsadikim as fanatics, likely to undermine efforts to acculturate the Jewish
population. Hence, Russian authorities sometimes prohibited tsadikim
from performing cemetery inauguration ceremonies. Hasidic masters who
continued to perform this ceremony did so at the risk of imprisonment
and banishment from the community.62 From the middle of the nineteenth
century, the Russian authorities began to harden their stance toward
tsadikim. The most drastic step taken was the 1865 decree prohibiting
tsadikim from traveling among the communities.63 This decree, enforced
until 1896, diminished the tsadiks ability to perform the cemetery consecration ceremony altogether and might have been the reason for some of
the cases mentioned above of tsadikim who could not accede to a communitys request to perform this ceremony. According to an article in Hamelits, communities that wished to have this ceremony performed would
send a representative to the tsadiks court who would pay the tsadik in
full to purchase the instructions and kavanot necessary for the ceremony.64
E. VISIBILITY, P UBLIC MAGIC AND CHARISMA

The theatrical effect of the inauguration ceremony intensified when a

tsadik performed the circumambulation himself. In such cases, the burial
society members became producers and the tsadik was the lead actor
who brought the script with him. The performance was dramatic. The
fear associated with performing this rite is also reflected in the stories
62. Radensky, Hasidism in the Age of Reform, 105.
63. Assaf, Untold Tales, 130; Sagiv, Chernobyl Hasidic Dynasty, 17882.
64. Yehiel Zeev Zatulavvski, Ha-melits, January 2, 1893, 3.

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about tsadikim who in the midst of performing the ritual were seized by
terror, suddenly experienced weakness, stumbled, or fell.65 The circumambulation was hence perceived as a struggle against death and demonic
forces.
An example of the inauguration ceremony as a public event is
described in a Ha-melits article, detailing how David of Skvira (1848
1919) performed the ceremony for an expansion to the cemetery in
Belaya Tserkov during the summer of 1898.66 This description, which
also attests to the acceptance of the procedure published in Ner yisrael, is
quite similar to the aforementioned inauguration ceremony that took
place in Kolomyyaboth in terms of the procedure to be followed and
the constitution of attendees, who comprised not only Hasidim and the
burial society members but also the towns rabbis and even nonOrthodox, enlightened individuals. In this article, the author explicitly
described the occasion as theatrical.67 On this occasion, the ceremony
became a fundraising event, both for the cemetery (in this, the interests
of the burial society were reflected) and for a local charity fund (Kemah.
aniyim). The tsadik not only provided the kabbalistic-religious dimension
of the event; he also gave it a prestige that made subsequent fundraising
easier.
The circumambulation performed in the ceremony was a visible act of
acquiring the cemetery and, by expansion, the entire communal sphere.
In addition to symbolizing the tsadiks social control, the procession
around the new burial grounds should also be understood as a magical
symbolical practice: by encircling the new burial grounds, the tsadik took
it under his protective wings. As Medini wrote, the community paid a
certain sum to the tsadik to perform the ritual. The community received
in return a magical barrier that protected them from harmful forces. This
forcefield was very visible, at least during the performance at the cemetery. Hence, the cemetery consecration provided a concrete enactment
(albeit in the context of death) of the Ktav magidut.
Even though the role magic played in Hasidisms early years can be
debated, there is no doubt that many nineteenth-century tsadikim were
asked by their adherents to use their supernatural powers to provide their
65. Kneset David, 1001; Yohanan Twersky, He-h.atser ha-pnimit (Tel Aviv
1954), 26; Sipure maran ha-ramah., 156.
66. Ha-melits, June 14, 1898, 45.
67. The desolate field of death, which overlooks an expansive plain and fields
covered by grain was transformed into a viewing-stage and thousands of men
and women from all the segments of the population crowded in to see the play
(Ibid., 4).

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Hasidim with progeny, longevity, and sustenance (baney h.ayey u-mezoney).

They responded to these appeals in various fashions, such as by mentioning the appellants in their prayers and by providing them with amulets.
The masters who performed the consecration ceremony did so within the
framework of their community visits. These visits allowed the tsadik to
offer his services to his adherents, many of whom could not afford to
leave their families or livelihood in order to travel to the tsadik for several
days. However, even these visits did not enable the tsadik to meet with
all of his followers personally and provide them his services. Still, the
prophylactic import of the cemetery consecration ceremony, protecting
the community from death, was germane to all its members. Therefore, I
would like to propose that the inauguration ceremony functioned as
magic for the masses, enabling the tsadik to provide magical services for
many in one fell swoop.
As a magic ritual designed to prevent death, the inauguration ceremony
had unambiguous criteria for determining its successdecreasing the
mortality rate.68 Plagues made the allocation of new burial grounds for
the cemetery necessary69stopping a plague constituted the rituals concrete proof of success. In one of his sermons, R. David of Talne offers
an explanation for the ceremony that stresses its magical and symbolic
aspects.70 In the midst of discussing the ideal of communion with God, R.
David stresses the need to be attached to the right-hand side of the deity,
which is the aspect of grace (h.esed). Encircling the cemetery from the
east, and proceeding from south to north, is thus portrayed as drawing
the right onto the left and in so doing bringing longevity and a divine
overflow of sustenance to the members of the community. Even though
these concepts are conventional, R. Davids mention of longevity in this
68. Menorat aharon, 46; Sippurei maran ha-Ramah., 155156 (the community
agrees to pay a hefty fee to Mordechai of Chernobyl for consecrating the cemetery only after he proves that he has the ability to prevent further deaths in the
community); Mishkenot yaakov 4 (1996): 45 (David of Talne stops deaths in
Belaya Tserkov).
69. See, for example, And when it was necessary to expand the burial
grounds they sent burial society administrative officials (gabaim) from here
[Odessa]with the consent of the rabbi and the Court of Jewish Law (beyt
din) and the distinguished citizens of the cityof those who were affiliated with
Hasidism to call their Rabbi [Aryeh Leib] from Bender to lay the foundations for
the fence so that the city would be saved from the plague (Alexander Tsederbaum, Keter kehuna [Odessa, 1867], 139).
70. David Twersky of Talne, Magen david (First edition: Zhitomir 1852; Bet
Shemesh, 2000), 398400. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only Hasidic
teaching or sermon that gives an account of this ritual.

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context reinforces the impression that the success of the ritual was determined by a reduction in the mortality rate. Another point of interest is
the sermons performative context. The sermons title is What the Rav
Said at the Festive Meal after He Had Established the Grounds for the
Cemetery. In addition to R. Davids fundamental assumption that the
ritual guaranteed economic prosperity, his words should also be understood in the specific context in which they were uttered. From this perspective, the circumambulations and the festive meal become a part of
the spiritual process that has just taken place: the results of that specific
consecration ritual, which nullified the power of evil and thereby enabled
the overflow of the abundance were symbolized and concretized by the
food being eaten at that specific festive meal. Thus, R. Davids sermon
was a reflexive sermon that provided the key for comprehending the
occasion on which it was given.
One of the primary questions addressed by the study of Hasidism is
the question of how Hasidism was able to enthrall the masses, especially
in the nineteenth century. Scholarly consensus maintains that the Hasidic
tsadikim were charismatics; however, the concept of charisma is vague.
It is unclear what in particular in the tsadiks behavior or appearance
gave his adherents the sense that he was divinely inspired. In keeping
with several theoretical approaches, I would argue that charisma should
not be understood solely as an ontological principle, a vague entity lodged
within the figure; rather, it can be better understood when seeing it as a
behavioral category. Charisma is not only present; it is also performed.71
The magical-theatrical dimension of the inauguration ritual can help us
understand how the tsadiks charisma was generated in practice. From
this perspective, the cemetery consecration ritual should not be conceived
and studied as an expression of the charisma originally present in the
tsadik, as a function of his magical abilities. Rather, this ceremony itself
constitutes the charisma. Even if the holy Names were omitted, the spectacle of the circumambulating tsadik is a live show, wherein holiness
wards off death, ostracizing it and banishing it from the town. This spectacle was in and of itself an act of true revelation, an act of charisma.
F. CON CL U SI O N

The general tension between the need to allocate new grounds for cemeteries and the recoil from the world of death was partially resolved by
Hasidism, which played a dual role in this respect. From a cultural perspective, the text that was the basis for the service was ascribed to the
71. For further discussion, see Sagiv, Chernobyl Hasidic Dynasty, 3235.

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Besht and considered Hasidic. The formulators of the text in Ner yisrael
(be it the Besht or not) probably amalgamated kabblistic traditions with
existing Ashkenazi rituals of cemetery circumambulations, and Hasidic
masters provided the resulting text to communities in need. From a social
perspective, because tsadikim were professional magicians who, unlike
other leadership figures, were not afraid or could not avoid confronting
demonic forces, they were considered the experts in performing this ritual. The fact that the service was considered Hasidic made them even
more preferable, as they were believed to possess the secret wisdom
required for the performance.
This ceremony was but one out of a wide repertoire of services performed by the tsadik for his flock. Just as the Besht was A Person of
His Time, a kabbalist and healer who held an important spot in the
fabric of his community,72 the tsadik in the nineteenth century also played
an important role as a professional kabbalist who was asked to provide
various spiritual services for the community and its members. He did so
especially in communities he controlled using the aforementioned Ktav
magidut and its variants, but also in communities in which the tsadik was
not dominant, via relations with the local burial society, in which distant
masters were often honorable members.
The inauguration ceremony may not be a Hasidic innovation, but
Hasidic figures took advantage of two of its special characteristics. First,
it was a crucial communal activity that many recoiled from performing.
Second, it was a cultural performance that could have replaced personal
engagements with specific people. So, from the perspective of the tsadik,
this ritual enabled him to provide indispensable support to the members
of a community and in turn gain a supreme status.
Tsadikim and rabbis who were close to Hasidism provided the services
upon demand, and as professional magicians, tsadikim that performed the
services indeed fulfilled a need that emerged from the communities. By
disseminating this ritual as well as perhaps others, Hasidism contributed
to the ongoing ritualization of Jewish life in Europe that can be discerned
as early as the seventeenth century and was related to the popularization
of Kabbalah.73 Concurrently, the need for ritual and their easy adoption
helped the dissemination of Hasidism. Tsadikim contributed to the image
72. Murray Jay Rosman, Founder of Hasidism: A Quest for the Historical Baal
Shem Tov (Berkeley, Calif., 1996), 17386.
73. Avriel Bar-Levav, Ritualisation of Jewish Life and Death in the Early
Modern Period, Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook 47 (2002): 6982; Gershon David
Hundert, Jews in Poland-Lithuania in the Eighteenth Century: A Genealogy of Modernity
(Berkeley, Calif., 2004), 11930.

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that only they possessed the wisdom required to perform the ceremony.
This image may have increased the demand for their personal attendance,
where their charisma was manifested and performed. Thus, the inauguration ceremony contributed to the dissemination of Hasidism and gave
expression to how nineteenth-century Hasidism transformed from an
elite phenomenon to a popular one.

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