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Hasidism
Dance

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From the beginning of Hasidism, teachers associated with

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the movement considered dance, along with music, an
About this Article avenue of worship. In Hasidic thought and literature,
Historical Overview dancing is both an expression and a stimulator of joy, and
Teachings and Literature as such has a therapeutic effect. It purifies the soul and
produces spiritual uplift, unites the community, and
Everyday Life Tańczący chasydzi (Dancing Hasidim). Maurycy
enhances social relationships; the tsadik’s dance may even
Music Gottlieb, ca. 1875. Pencil on paper. (Jewish
encourage repentance.
Historical Institute, Warsaw)
Dance

Occasions for Dance Although some scholars associate the value assigned to
Forms of Dance dance with the central role of rejoicing in Hasidic lore, the
various genres of Hasidic literature present a more
Suggested Reading
variegated picture. The most important feature of dance is Dance: Traditional Dance
Author
understood to be the theurgic aspect, which sees dance—
Translation and especially the mystical acts performed by great
tsadikim as they danced (among them, Aryeh Leib, the
Zeyde of Shpole; Levi Yitsḥak of Barditshev; Mosheh Leib
of Sasov; and Ḥayim of Kosov)—as having an effect on the heavenly worlds. This aspect, rooted in
Find more information about
Kabbalah, figures in works by both early and later Hasidic masters (Ya‘akov Yosef of Polnoye; Dov
Ber, the Magid of Mezritsh; Naḥman of Bratslav; and, more recently, Aharon Roth, author of Shomer Hasidism
emunim) and is recounted in Hasidic stories; it undoubtedly influenced the idea of dance as a form at the Center for Jewish History:
of worship.
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Written evidence, especially that emanating from opponents of Hasidism, reprovingly describes
dancing during prayer by early generations of Hasidim. It is not known, however, whether it was NOTE: you will be redirected
disdain in external sources or self-criticism that substantially eliminated dance from Hasidic prayer to the Web site for the

itself. Today dancing is part of prayer only in a few dynasties (such as Sandz, Klausenberg, and
Vizhnits—in the latter even when the rebbe is absent) and only occurs during the last verse of
Lekhah dodi (Come, My Beloved), sung on Sabbath evenings. More frequent is dancing on Friday
nights after the service, or between the welcoming of the Sabbath (Kabalat Shabat) and the evening Other Sites of Interest:
service on festival Sabbaths. Bratslav Hasidim dance after each morning and evening service, on YIVO/Touro Conference Recording:
weekdays as well as on Sabbaths and holidays. Rabbis and Rebbes, Artists and Intellectuals:
Roundtable Conversations on the Culture of Eastern
European Jewry, 19th-20th Century (9 March 2008);
Occasions for Dance see Session 1, "Rabbinic Cultures"

Hasidic sources almost invariably refer to dancing on holidays and other festive occasions. Dancing
has played a central role on Sabbaths and festivals, at events such as Tikun Ḥatsot (a midnight
service instituted by the Safed kabbalists of the sixteenth century) and Kidush Levanah
(sanctification of the moon), at life-cycle events, at the tsadik’s tish, and during community
celebrations, such as a dedication of a synagogue. According to some sources women danced only
during the nuptial meal either in front of the bride or with her. In some cases, such as Simḥat Torah,
Kidush Levanah, and life-cycle events, dancing itself was never an innovation, having been
associated with these occasions long before Hasidism. The change was mostly one of emphasis—of
the meaning ascribed to the dance.

One substantial innovation was the practice among early Hasidim of engaging in processional
circuits around the synagogue (hakafot) on the night of Shemini ‘Atseret and not only, as is
customary, on Simḥat Torah, based on the Zohar and other mystical texts. In Israel (where Shemini
‘Atseret and Simḥat Torah are conflated into a single day), this observance became the so-called
“second hakafot,” held by Hasidim on the evening after Simḥat Torah. The significance of dancing on
this particular festival is highlighted in Hasidic tales. One story describes the Besht dancing with a
Torah scroll; when he continued without the scroll, a disciple said that he had “put aside the physical
Torah and taken up the spiritual Torah.” Tsadikim would pick a specific hakafah of particular mystical
significance for dancing, most frequently the seventh—the symbol of the unification of the sefirot
(10 aspects or emanations of God)—or the sixth, the symbol of the sefirah of yesod (foundation),
which for the kabbalists symbolizes both the divine virile power and the essence of the human
tsadik (based on Prv. 10:25, “ve-tsadik yesod ‘olam,” and the Zohar). Hasidic stories describe
tsadikim dancing in spite of sickness or even while mourning for their own family members; some
ordered their Hasidim to dance at their deathbeds, or when mourning for other tsadikim.

Forms of Dance

The most common form of dance in Hasidic society is the round dance. Lubavitch and Slonim
Hasidim have their own dance steps. Younger Hasidim will often leap into the air with fervor; at
weddings, they may form concentric circles, break out in lines and rows, form snake-like
processions, or dance with each dancer placing his hands on the preceding dancer’s shoulders; all of
these movements are expressive of joy. Hasidim have also preserved at least one East European
dance, known as the patsh tants.

The so-called mitsve tants, performed today as the final ceremony of a Hasidic wedding, is
particularly important because of its mystical significance. In the presence of the family (at
weddings of the rebbe’s offspring [including grandchildren], the whole Hasidic congregation), male
members of the two families are invited to dance in turn with the bride. Each dancer holds one end
of a sash whose other end is held by the bride; after a brief dance, he retires but continues to dance
with a group of Hasidim. The last dancer is the groom, who actually holds the bride’s hand.

In modern Israel at weddings, the tkhies hameysim tants (“resurrection of the dead dance,” a
pantomime for two, partly based on the Diasporabroygez tants) is specially choreographed and has
become an integral part of Hasidic dance tradition. As for the dances of tsadikim in Israel, we have
information only about the hakhnoe tants (dance of submission), attributed to Elimelekh of Lizhensk
and known in Israel also as shmoyne shrotsim (“eight insects”)—an East European line dance
featuring couples passing under “gates” formed by the other dancers. At weddings, some tsadikim
used to perform dances in fancy dress. Such dances as performed by ordinary Hasidim are seen
today at weddings only in the month of Adar.

Unique genres that show the influences of Eastern (oriental) dances and gestures have emerged
from the festivities at Meron. These include the debka—a group dance with solo acrobatic elements
—and vituoso solo performances. Both take place at weddings as well.

Suggested Reading

Michael Fishbane, “The Mystery of Dance According to Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav,” in The Exegetical
Imagination: On Jewish Thought and Theology, pp. 173–184, 226–231 (Cambridge, Mass., 1998);
Tsevi Fridhaber, Ha-Maḥol be-am Yisra’el (Tel Aviv, 1984); Me’ir Shim‘on Geshuri, Ha-Nigun veha-
rikud ba-ḥasidut, 3 vols. (Tel Aviv, 1954/55–1958/59); Betsal’el Landoi, “Ha-Maḥol veha-rikud ba-
tenu‘ah ha-ḥasidit,” Maḥanayim 46 (1960): 56–62; Ya‘akov Mazor, Masoret ha-klezmorimbe-Erets
Yisra’el (Jerusalem, 2000), musical score, introduction and notes in Hebrew and English; Ya‘akov
Mazor and Moshe Taube, “A Hassidic Ritual Dance: The Mitsve Tants in Jerusalemite Weddings,”
Yuval 6 (1994): 164–224; Yesha‘yah Meshulam Faish ha-Levi Rottenberg, Zamru li-shemo
(Jerusalem, 1996).

Author

Yaakov Mazor
Translation

Translated from Hebrew by David Louvish

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