Towards a Progressive neo-Hasidism
A neo-Hasidic "Starter Pack"
We put together this “starter pack” (made up of lectures, interviews, and podcasts) as an alternative to solely the written word. It is meant to give a brief overview of what neo-Hasidism is/was/can be and not a comprehensive history. Our hope is that once folks are equipped with this background, they will get more out of Gashmius and can go on to do their own learning.
Gashmius Staff
The founders of Gashmius Magazine are interviewed by Judaism Unbound about how "progressive Neo-Hasidism has the potential to uplift and heal the Jewish community and the world." They discuss the term "gashmius," tell Hasidic stories, talk about God, and much more.
Rav James Jacobson-Maisels
Central to engaging with neo-Hasidism is to learning traditional Hasidic texts. Rav James takes us through three central concepts (pantheism, ayin-dekevus, and avodah b'gashmius) in short snippets that pull from primary sources and give us a taste for Hasidic text study.
Dena Weiss
In this Hadar Institute podcast series called The Tisch, Dena Weiss teaches five short tastes from the early Hasidic rebbe Menahem Nahum of Chernobyl and makes them relatable to the modern day life.
Raza
Chana Raskin grew up in Chabad-Lubavtich community and just released an album called Kapelya under the name RAZA. It is "a deeply moving recording of twenty-two women singing Hasidic nigunim, [and] is a love letter to the songs Raskin grew up with, and an inspired addition to the wild and sacred history of efforts to preserve and expand Hasidic musical traditions."
Rabbi Noam Lerman
This interview explores the practice of tkhines, which were traditionally recited by Ashkenazi women and "men who were like women" (this traditionally meant illiterate men, but Noam Lerman argues that this includes gender non-conforming people). Tkhines is one of the central avenues through which we can learn about the spiritual lives of non-male Hasidim, since most of their lives were not recorded and are therefore integral to an egalitarian neo-Hasidism.
