German Pietism and Sixteenth- and Early Seventeenth-Century Polish Rabbinic Culture

Abstract

Although Sefer Hasidim (henceforth SH) is well out of my pur view, its influence on Eastern European Jewry in sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries is tied to my field of endeavor. It is this aspect of Haym Soloveitchik's essay Piety, Pietism and German Pietism: Sefer Hasidim I and Influence of Hasidei Ashkenaz, published in these pages in 2002, that I would like to address.1 Soloveitchik (p. 465) discusses long-term influence of Hasidei Ash kenaz and notes that beyond movement's rituals of penance, the radi cal and idiosyncratic doctrine of that movement awakened little interest, found very few followers, and to all appearances, had little to no cultural resonance. In Appendix I he stretches this point further both chronolog ically and geographically and suggests that Hasidei Adhkenaz had no influ ence in east and that R. Joel Sirkes's claim that Polish Jewry was heir of Hasidei Adhkenaz was more a pious self-image than a real cultural heritage.2