“A heart crushed into a thousand pieces, yet full of joy”: the hybrid emotional ideal for approaching suffering and grief in the Hasidic commentary to the Zohar

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the Hasidic interpretation of the Zohar, focusing specifically on the genre of Hasidic commentaries to the Zohar. Hasidic interpreters positioned themselves within the Kabbalistic continuum, drawing upon earlier commentaries while infusing modern Hasidic hermeneutics. However, the classification of these commentaries as distinctly “Hasidic” remains underexplored in academic scholarship. This article addresses this gap by analysing a lesser-known Hasidic commentary on the Zohar: Damesek Eliezer, authored by Eliezer Zvi Safrin (1830-1898), the third Rebbe of the Kamarno dynasty. Despite its significance, this seven-volume commentary has received limited attention in academic discourse. The study delves into the motivation and methods in writing the commentary, and its hermeneutical approach, focusing on a unique emotional ideal imparted to Hasidim: the fusion of a broken heart with joy. This emotional hermeneutics, offering psychological interpretations of Lurianic Kabbalah, is a defining characteristic of Hasidic texts. The elevation of suffering, sorrow, and affliction as a means to commune with the Shekhinah in her state of suffering is exemplified by a recommendation for nightly ritualistic performance. Through an analysis of Damesek Eliezer, this study sheds light on the emotional dimensions of Hasidic interpretation within the broader context of Kabbalistic tradition.