As Chassidism spread throughout Eastern Europe, its followers encountered a very strong opposition movement from the majority of the more traditional rabbis. They were called the Mitnagdim (contrarians). The leader of the Mitnagdim was undoubtedly Rabbi Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon (1720-1797), a brilliant scholar. He wrote around 70 works on various religious and secular subjects. Born in Vilna, the capital of Lithuania, the Gaon demonstrated extraordinary talent from childhood. By the age of twenty, rabbis were consulting him to resolve difficult halachic problems. Although he was unable to do so, he did succeed in getting a group of his students to make aliyah and settle in the Land of Israel.

When Chassidism came to Vilna, the Gaon, along with other rabbis, confronted it by issuing a decree of excommunication, “cherem,” against the Chassidim (1777). Bitterness and animosity ran deep in the two camps. Each group attended its own synagogue, had its own teachers, and generally only intermarried.

The Gaon was concerned that the Kabbalistic part of Chassidism would bring about the advent of another false messiah like Shabbetai Zvi. He also resented the Chasidic concept that God is in everything, making everything equally holy. He regarded the exaggerated veneration of the Rebbe or the Tzaddik as idolatry. And he was concerned that they did not devote themselves to deep Torah study. Chassidism was made up mostly of poorly educated Jews, and he feared that scholarship would be replaced by dancing and singing. A religion that for him was the synthesis of heart and mind could become pure heart with no mind at all.

These differences lasted for more than 30 years. Seen from a historical perspective, the battle against the Hasidim was a complete failure. Not only did Hasidism not disappear, but it spread even further throughout Europe. Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, the Gaon’s most prominent disciple, finally admitted that the Hasidim were not heretics and that the differences were more conceptual and in the way of educating. Rabbi Chaim himself founded the Yeshiva of Volozhin in his hometown, which revolutionized the way of studying the Torah. It moved away from the traditional informal way of studying, creating a structured system of learning, with well-prepared teachers. What began as opposing movements ended up sharing the same values.

By: Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: The Jewish Encyclopedia and other sources.