(CHASSIDISM).

Includes the historically important series of letters from R. Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk and R. Abraham of Kalisk in Eretz Israel to R. Shneur Zalman and other Chassidic leaders. Interestkingly, R. Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk is entitled throughout this manuscript as “Rambam” [= R. Menachem b. Moshe]. These fascinating letters which reflect both the sociological conditions of the early Chassidic movement, as well as interesting theological concerns have been published in a number of places with slight variances. Their first appearance in print was in Peri Haaretz (1814); others editions include Birkath Ha’aretz (1904) and Yesod Hama’alah (1982). R. Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk was one of the most prominent, elder disciples of the Maggid of Mehzritch and a colleague and mentor of R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi. In 1777, accompanied by R. Abraham of Kalisk, he emigrated to Eretz Israel, yet continued to guide his Chassidim who remained in Russia and maintained a voluminous correspondence with them. See Y. Heilprin, HaAliyoth HaRishonoth shel HaChasidim LeEretz Yisrael (Jerusalem, 1947); Y. Barnai, Igroth Chassidim, (Jerusalem, 1980); and for a revisionist analysis see N. Karlinsky, Historia She’keneged-Counter History, The Hassidic Epistles from Eretz Israel: Text and Context (Jerusalem, 1998).