Chassidism marked a moment of revolutionary change in Jewish life and spiritual engagement of the 18th century. Heavily influenced by the teachings of the Ari, early Chassidic thinkers explored and contributed to the development of Jewish mysticism. In this podcast episode, David discusses the lives and work of several early influential Chassidic figures, including:

- the Baal Shem Tov
- the Maggid of Mezricth
- Rebbe Nachman
- the Alter Rebbe.

David places these figures and their contributions in historical context and unpacks some of their fascinating and complex mystical ideas.

Other concepts discussed in this episode:

- chassidism
- chochma
- hitbonenut
- hitlahavut
- keter
- otiot
- tzimtzum
- kli
- sovev
- bina

Listeners who find this material new or challenging may wish to refer to the glossary of kabbalistic terms (with illustrative graphics) provided here https://davidsolomon.online/kabbalistic-terms/

Find part one of the series here https://youtu.be/DXH-kXxEMKg

Find part two of the series here https://youtu.be/bO7mz_izuLU

Find more of David Solomon's podcast, with dozens of lectures on Jewish history, the Bible, Jewish philosophy, and Kabbalah at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPZc8ZC7r568Er1pwL8ZiLbU1tV6PFf4L

For more lectures on Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPZc8ZC7r569DWkmJ1gf8otyANZU9pXLG

Learn more at davidsolomon.online

Support David's teaching at https://www.patreon.com/davidsolomononline

Images:

Kabbalistic Tree Kabbalistic Tree of Life (Sephiroth). Public domain.

Stephan Rohl under CC licensing https://www.flickr.com/photos/boellst...