AJS Review 28:2 (2004), 217-248 THE MASTER OF AN EVIL NAME: HILLEL Ba‘AL SHEM AND His SEFER HA-HESHEK by Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern L INTRODUCTION: THE MANUSCRIPT Back in 1993, as senior librarian at the Vernadsky Library in Kiev, Ukraine, in charge of cataloguing a newly uncovered Judaica collection, I came across an enig- matic manuscript entitled Sefer ha-heshek. It did not match the bulk of the Judaica holdings.' Nor did it fit in Abraham Harkavy’s collection of medieval manu- scripts.? It was 100 Ashkenazic for Abraham Firkovich’s Karaite papers,’ and too Tam grateful to Arthur Groen and Jonathan Sarna, who have read previous drafis of this paper and generously shared with me their eritcism. I am especially grateful Ze" ev Gries and Moshe Ros- ‘man, whose invaluable comments helped me to improve the firal draft 1-On the fascinating fate and composition of tis collection, see Zachary Baker, “History of the Jewish Collections atthe Vernadsky Library in Kiev" Shofar 10 no. 4 (1992): 31~48; Binyamin Lukin, “Archive of the Historical and Ethnographic Society. History and Present Condition,” Jens in Eastern Europe, | no. 20 (Jerusalem, 1993): 45.61; Yohanan Petrovsky, "Zapisnye knigi evreiskikh fobshchestv na Ukraine. lz arkhiva A. Ia, Garkavi,” Novyt Krug 2 (Kiey, 1992): 274-288; Nikolai Senchenko and Irina Sergeeva, “Jewish Scholarly Insitutions and Library Collections in Kiev after 1917: A Brief Historical Sketch,” Soviet Jesisk Affairs 2 (1991): 45 ~50; Mykola Senchenko and Iry- ‘na Setheeva,“Z istori formuvannia kolektsi evreiskoi Iteratury Tsental noi Naukovoi Biblioteky im. \Vernatls koho Akademii Nauk URSR,” Swit. Chasopys Narocinoko Rukhu Ukrainy 2~3 (1991): 64-67, ‘The only in-depth description ofthe collection, together with 2 preliminary ist of some «wo hundred. ‘manuscripts, is given in Dov Walfish, *"Osef ha-sefarim ve-hitvei ha-vad be-siftiyat veraadsky be lew” Mada et ha-yahaut 34 (1999): 68-86. 2. Abraham Harkavy (Abram fakavlevich Garkavi, 1835-1919), the founder of Russian Ju- daica and Hebraica, was in charge of the Department of Oriental Manuscripts a the St. Petersburg ln perial Library, responsible for cataloguing and acquisitions. A follower of Wissenschaftdes Judentums, Hatkavy overlooked Kabbalistic works, concentrating chiefly on Spanish-Jewish literature of the Gold- en Age. On Harkavy’s manuscript colleetion, see Yohanan Petrovsky, “The Lost Chapter of Russian Judaica: Abraham Heskavy’s MSS in The Vernadsky Library collection.” Jews and Slavs 5 (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, 1996), 157-168. 3. Abraham Fickovieh (1786-1874), Karate communal leader, traveler, si generis historian of Karaism and author of the most well-known ninteenth-century manascript forgeries, amassed as nificant collection of Genizah fragments and Karate manuscripts. which he sold shortly before his death tothe St Petersburg Imperial Library. See V.L. Vikhnovich, Karaim Avraam Firkovich: evreiskie rukopisi,istoriia, pueshestviia (St, Petersburg: “Peterburgskoe vostokovedenie,” 1997). 217Yohanan Petrovsky-Shiern early for most of S. Ansky’s nineteenth-century folkloric materials.* The manu- script had a wooden cover, separate from the text, with a copper monogram Sefer hha-heshek in Hebrew (hereafter—SH7). SH’s title appears randomly as a running head; the author occasionally refers to the ttle of the manuscript.* Primarily be- cause of its size—411 folios, 23 of them blank, some 760 filled pages altogeth- et—and due to its magical contents, I discarded any attempts to identify the manuscript as a version of the well-known Sefer ha-heshek, a twenty-or-so-page Kabbalistic treatise on the names of the archangel Metatron attributed to Isaac Luria.® Also, since the manuscript is not a commentary on the book of Isaiah or Proverbs, it could neither be Solomon Duran’s nor Solomon ha-Levi’s Heshek she- lomoh.” ‘The manuscript is strongly reminiscent of a lost Yiddish book on practical Kabbalah and folk medicine entitled Sefer heshek, apparently written at the be- ginning of the eighteenth century by the doctor Wolf Binyamin ben Zevi Hirsch from Posen, who studied medicine at the University of Frankfurt am Oder and pur- portedly published his composition in 1727 in Hanau.* Like the Hanau book, the newly discovered SH drew heavily from popular Kabbalah and folk medicine. Yet, unlike the Hanau one, it was Hebrew, not Yiddish; it claimed a different authorship (not Wolf Binyamin); it was composed in East Europe and not in Germany; and it, seemed much more complex than its Hanau prototype. In addition, nobody has seen the Hanau book since the early eighteenth century? if indeed it ever existed as.a book. Shatzky, who himself never saw the Hanau SH, which is not listed ei- ther in the Friedberg, Benjacob, or Vinograd catalogues, reconstructed its contents through oblique references to its sources mentioned in Steinschneider, who did not see the book either. Though it is possible that the newly discovered S// in terms of its title and genre is somehow related to the lost Yiddish medical tractate, the com- 4. Semion Ansky (Shloyme Zanvl Rapoport, 1863~1920), Russian-Jewish and Viddish writer, populist, Kiiturireger, and ethnographer, amassed several hundred Judaica manuscripis during bis ex- pesto tothe Pale of Jewish Settement in Russia herween 1911 and 1914, On Ansky'k expedition and the matcralske collected, see V. Lukin, “Otnarudnichestva k narodu (S.A. Ansky-etnograf vestochino- evropeiskogo evteistva},” in Trudy po iudaite: istoria i etnografiia 3, ed. Dmitri Eliashevich (St Petersburg: Peterburgskii evreiskii universitet, 1993), 125-61; Aleksandr Kantsedikas and Irina Sergeeva, Album Khudezhesrvennolstariny Semtona An-skogo (Moscow and Jerusalem: Mosty kul tt y-Gesharim, 2001), Rivka Gonen, ed., Ba-hacurah la-“avurah, Ansky ve-ha-mishlaha ho-eonoyrafit ‘ha-yehudit 1912-1914 (Jerusalem: Suseon Israel, 1994), Avram Rekhtman, Yidishe cinograjte un Jolktor: zithroynes vegn der emografisher ekspedisie, angefirt fun Sh. Ansky (Buenos-Aites: Vidishe ‘wisnshuafilckier institut, 1958). See also the fortkcoming collection af articles Renween Twa Worlds: 259-251, 12. SH, £. th, 162, 2060, 216b, 3299, 355, 3892 13.57, {Th Hillis using a popular kabbalstc metaphor of 32 paths of wisdom that dates bank o Sefer Yer 1:1, Zohar, “Terumah 106; Pardes rimonin, sa’ a 12:2 Iwas also known to ‘the kabbalists of hug ha- iyun, see Mark Verman, The Boots of Contemplation: Medieval Jonish Mys- tical Sources (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992), 45 n. 43, $2, Tn, 103,75 n. 122, 132. 14, Apparently a concluding talmudic cliché [ad ka divrei Hillel. ST, f. 38. 15. See, for example, SH, £176, 182, 34b, 35a, 375-381, 47b, 85b, 894, 96a, 1124-1135, 1566, 204-205), The most amazing are the anthropomorphie amulets that establish the links beoween Kab: balistic abbreviations and members ofthe human body: see £.215b and 217b, The amulets and diae rams that appear in SHas well asthe linguistic strategies of Hillel will be diseussed elsewhere 16. Forthe comprehensive list of the Judaic amulets that includes the list of specific kabbalis 219Yohanan Peirovsky-Shtern Moshe Rosman, who saw SH (and encouraged me to write this essay) has dubbed it “the most extensive exposition of ba‘al shem techniques and experiences that | know of”"” It is common knowledge that ba‘a! shem stands for “master of the Names of God,” or, as Gershon Hundert suggested, “Manipulators of the Name,”'* and signifies a Jewish magician or healer, engaged in practical Kabbal- ah and able to use his mystical knowledge and theurgical powers to produce pro- tecting amulets that neutralize evil and restore psychological and social order among the healer’s clientele.'? The term became particularly popular after Israel ben Eliezer (ca. 1700-1760) adopted the name of Ba'al Shem Tov (the Besht), the Master of a Good Name, and eventually came to be seen as the founder of mod ern Hasidism. A number of books illustrating practices of ba‘alei shem were pub- lished before and after SH was written, yet SH exceeds all of them in terms of the historical, social, cultural, and theological data it contains.*° More astonishing was tie abbreviations, see Bli Davis and David Frenkel, Ha-kament ha.‘ivri (Jerusalem: Makhon le- smada’ei ha-yahadut, 1995) 17. Moshe Rosman, Founder of Hasidiam: A Ques for Historical Ba'al Stem Tov (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996), 217-218 n. 19. 18. Gershon David Hundert, Jews tn Poland-Lithuania in the Eighteenth Century: A Genealo- sv of Modernity Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2008), 142 19, For he analysis of intellctual and theological aspects of bali shem, see Immanuel Etkes, ““Magiyah w-va'aleishem be-yamav shel ha-besh,” in Ba’al ha-shem: ha-hesht -magiva, mistikah, ‘hanhogeh (Jerusalem: Merkaz Zalman Shazar, 2000), 15~53; idem, “Mekomam shel hasmagiyah u- va‘alet hassbem bachevrah ha-ashikenazitbesmifneh hacme’ot ha-yu-rayin—ha-yude.” Zion 60 (1995y: 69-104, For the enalysis ofthe gente ofthe books ascribed o various ba‘alet shem, soe Hag: it Matra, “Siftei sogulotu-refu’t be-‘vrit:tekhanim w-mekorot el pi ha-sefarim fa-rishonim asher yazs ior be-"eropan be-reshitha-me'ahha-18" (Ph.D. diss, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1997); Gedalyah Nigal focused on the folkloric aspect of the writings by haat sem im his Magic: Mn ism and Hasidism (Northvale, NJ and London: J. Aronson, 1994); Michal Oron enalyzed the sab- batean content of one of the most prominent ba'aiei shem in her “Dr. Samael Falk and the ipeschuetz-Eméen Controversy” in Mysticiom, Magic and Kabbaloh in Ashkenazi fudatsm: Interaa- tional Symposium held in Frankfurt AM. 1991, ed Karl Grbzinger and Joseph Dan (Bertin and New ‘York: Walter de Gruyter, 1995), 242-256. Oron also published important documents on nd ofthe Ba “al Shem from London. These include letters, description of ther books, ethical wills and diaries. See Michal Oron, Mi-*ha'al shed “le-“ha'al shem”shmuel flk,“ha-ba‘al shem miclondon” (Jerasalem: Mostd Biali, 2002) Ze'ev Gries eontexcualized popular Kabbalah books written by Fast European bat alei shem integrating them into the genre of regimen vitae (conduct literature tha regulates every= day behavioral patterns, prescribes attitudes and remedis, and establishes links between the tradition and papular customs, Gries also connected the popularization of practical Kabbalah with the rise of terest in hermeneutic studies and medicine triggered by the Florentine renaissance neoplatonic acade- ny. See Ze'ev Gries, Sifratha-hahugo: foldotels w-nickomah be-havei aside’ israel baal shemt tov (Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1990). For the most convincing sociocultural typology of the ba'alet -shom inthe context of social anthropology, see Rosman, Founder of Hastdism, 13-19, For the recent standard summary of the fale shem and the books they produced. see Hundert, Jens in Poland-Lidh- tania, 142-153. Ch: Encyclopedia Judaica (Jerusalem: Encyclopedia Judaica, 1972), 8. “Ba'alei shem”; Joshua Trachtenberg, Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Fotk Religion (Cleveland- Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1939) 20, Ch: Razt’el ha-mal “ake (Amsterdam, 1701), Shem tov katan (Sulzbach, 1706), Sefer kar~ navi (Zétkiew, 1709), Mif‘lot ‘elokim (Zétkiew, 1710, 1724 and 1725), Toldot “adam (Zitkiow, 1720), Keren ‘or Zatkiew, 1721), Zevah pesah (Zolkiew, 1722), Divret habhamim (Zétkiew, 1725). For the pioneering analysis of the genre of practical Kabbalah books, see Hagit Matras, “Sift segulot 220‘The Master of an Evil Name that Hillel Ba‘al Shem, unlike other ba’ alei shem known to date, coincided in time and space with the Besht: they traveled through contiguous areas (Hillel in Volhy- nia and the Besht in Podol), and sometimes almost the same arcas (Rovno district in Podol), and did so almost at the same time. Thus, the portrayal of Hillel Ba'al Shem against the backdrop of early-eighteenth-century East European itinerant healers, the comparison and the differentiation between the kabbalistic practices of Hillel Bo‘al Shem and those of the Baal Shem Toy, and a discussion of the re- lations between Hillel and his own clientele are in order. Methodological. this pa- per represents. slow reading of this eighteenth-century Kabbalah manuscript from the vantage point of the history of culture with special emphasis on the behavioral patterns of a ba’al shem vis-i-vis a Jewish community. This paper echoes the re- cent appeals to “reconsider the meaning of the 4a’al shem tradition in the devel- opment of early Hasidism”?! and to reassess such pivotal facets of the premodern East European cultural history as its popular kabbalistic subculture. ”? II, HiLLew’s CURRICULUM VITAE SH, our only source on Hillel, is a complex document. In it, first and fore- most, Hillel is trying to demonstrate his expertise in practical Kabbalah. He spends hundreds of pages discussing how to use holy names (shemor ha-kedushah) and impute names (shemor ha-tum’ah) in order to stop epidemics (14a, 20a); treat a sick child (23b); prevent epilepsy, dizziness, craziness, headache, and night fear (24a-b, 159, 279b); treat fever, wounds, pollution, diarrhea, insomnia and bad smell from the mouth (117a, 145b, 254a, 255b, 260a~b, 295a,); expel evil forces from the house (31b, 296b-297b); protect a feeding (32a-b, 267a), cure a barren woman (166a, 1782-b), regulate menstruation (168-169, 2626-264) and heart- beating (274b-275a, 2782); prevent evil forces from harming a newly born child (270a); keep healthy dietary laws (107b); stop girls’ hair from growing (145b); pro- tect an individual and his habitat from an evil eye (156b, 293b, 3856), thieves (174a-b), fire (188b), bandits (293b), Lilith (329b); identify a thief through talk- ing to a homunculus in a bottle (163a~164a); and other things indispensable in iwi" (Ph.D dis, Hebrew University Jerusalem, 1997) and Haviva Pedaya,“Le-hi she ha-degem ha-hevrat-dat-kalkalba-hasidar:ha-pidyon,ha-havurah, veha"aiyah leregl."in Dar ve-taialal: yahaseégomtin, ed. Menahem Ben-Sasson (Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar, 1998), 311-373, “Most recent discoveres corroborate the fact thot SH oecupies& unique place among soventeenth- and eighteenth-century East European writings on practical Kabbalah. Thus, or instance, in 1996, Moshe Rosenfeld from Jerusalem (the author of a numberof took catalogues on early Hebrew print briefly introduced me to an united manuscript apparently written by the bu‘al shen from Tomashpol (Ukraine). The size of the manuserpt id not excood 80 pages. Its content to some extent resembled the content of SH. However, unlike the often used SH. the clean white paper and tke overall physical centon of that manuscript (especially edges and corners of the pages). testified to its rare se by the owner or its readers. n addition, the amount of practical Kabbalah information includ inthe manu- script ofthe ba'al shew fiom Tomashpo! falls short in cornparison with SH. 21, Kael Grozinger, “sad and Ba'al Shem in East European Hasidisen” Plin 1S 2002): 162. 22. Moshe Rosman.*A Protegorenon othe Stady of Jewish Cultural History" JS (Jeni Studies, an internet Journal) [Bar-Ilan University] 1 (2002): 126, See htip//wwe.biv.aei!JS!ISU! 1-2002/ Rosman pa (accessed 11/7104). 221Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern practical life, Also, Hillel shows his profound knowledge of chiromancy and meto- poscopy (70b—73a, 200b-201a); exorcism (192b, 197a-198b); witchcraft (194a— 197b); origins of evil (302b~310a); levitation (312a); and horoscopy (247b-25 1a). Proving he is pious and observant Jew, Hillel demonstrates his knowledge of ma~ jor kabbalistic concepis, which he consistently tries to connect to various Jewish practices such as daily prayer (168b), confessional prayer (169b), healing prayer (347b-348a), bed-time prayer (369b-370a), philanthropy (150a), family purity (174a--b), observing Shabbat laws (30Sa), celebrating secondary holidays such as Hanukah (247b~250a), giving oaths (314b) and Torah study (181a, 184b, 186a— 187b). Particularly significant is that in SH Hillel provides—though not abun- danily and not consistently—the details of his life, his career and its ups and downs, his modus operandi, his connections to the world of rabbis and doctors, his attitudes to colleagues, his feedback to the popularization of Kabbalah and kab- balistic bookprint, his personal modus vivendi., and the attitude of his contempo- raries toward him. What follows is a tentative reconstruction of Hillel's life based. on data scattered throughout the manuscript Slavic words in his lexicon”? as well as Yiddish permeated with Slavicisms™* ‘would suggest that perhaps the author of SH was born in Eastern or Central Poland. Since he started to be active as a practical kabbalist and a healer around the 1730s, Lassume he was either five to ten years older or younger than the Besht, born ca. 1700, or was of his age and was born most likely between 1690 and 1705. SH con- tains no reference to his birthplace or to the name of his father. Given Hillel's at- tempt to tell his own life story and demonstrate his mastery of kabbalistic arts, his reticence in regard to his origins is noteworthy. Perhaps Hillel was trying to, as Os- car Wilde put it, “reveal the art and conceal the artist” Apparently, Hillel had good reasons to do this, Perhaps at the end of the 1720s and in the early 1730s, when he began his career as a professional healer, magician, and Kabbalist, Hillel called himself the Ba‘al Shem, the Master of Name (I doubt he needed the name, indicative of his pro- fession, before that time). Apparently he came from a lower-middle-class Polish- Jewish family unable to provide him with full-time rabbinic education. Unlike the famous Jewish doctor and kabbalist Tobias ha-Cohen (ca. 1652-1729) and the scions of prominent Polish Jewish families,?® Hillel did not study medicine at 23. He refers to Slavic. mostly o Ukrainian and Polish, to describe herbs (pany tablan, Ta; max Jery borsch, 98; krapiva, 1474; gorchitsa, 1824), birds or reptiles (voroni, 22b; piavke, 1476; zoculi, ‘204a), He also uses lengthy Polish- Ukrainian incantations transcribed in Hebrew letters, see 3622— 364b, See, for instance, the following incantation in Polish (I retain Hebrew spelling}: Zive baze, pom ‘mozni, pomoki ten ohon obnishi | orrust, ou slain, od lov, ack jad beloko kosti. od chervoni krev (Living God [my Helper, help to take out] that poisoning fire of fites, out of [his/her] strength, out ‘of [his/her] head, out of [his/her] eyes and white bones, 368a-369a). 24, See his Yiddish amulets and “dialogues” with the dybbuhs, 166a—168b, 139-241, 349u-b. 25. See Abraham Levinson, Tayyah ha-rof’ ve-sjio ma‘aseh ravya (Berlin: Rimon, 1924), 26, See “Lekarze Zydowscy w dawne} Rzcczypospolite” in Zvdsi w Polsce odrodsone): dzi- atalnoié spoleczna, gospodarscza, oswiatowa kalturaina, ed. \gnacius Schiper etal, 2 vols (Warsaw: “Zydzi w Polsce osrodzone}.” 1932-33), 2:289— 303, 222‘The Master of an Evil Name the University of Padua or in one of the German universities. Yet, avid for the knowledge of medicine, he apprenticed with various professional doctors in Poland. Among his teachers Hillel refers once to Dr. Simhah,2” twice to the great sage and doctor Rabbi Ya‘akov Zilon (Zahaloni} and more than a dozen times to Isaac Fortis, “the great Rabbi and a great sage in all the countries of Poland.” Abraham Isaac Fortis (dubbed also Hazak), a professional doctor from an Italian and Polish family of doctors and rabbis, probably studied at the University of Mantua.*° He also spent some time learning Kabbalah under the famous Moshe Zakut (1620-1697).*" He returned to Poland in the last decade of the seventeenth century, settled first in Lwéw and later in Rzeszéw, and established himself as a court doctor to two of the five wealthiest Polish noble families, Lubomirski and Potocki. Between 1726 and 1730 he held a position of the highest prestige when elected parnas at the Council of the Four Lands? Hillel claimed he had learnt un- der Fortis, consulted his books and manuscripts, and copied Fortis's amulets and remedies.*? He learned from Fortis rules of hygiene, bath personal and public, par- ticularly important in the context of the late 1730s epidemic of cholera in Podo- 27. Simmbah Menahem ben Yohanan Barukh de Yons thrown as Emanuel de Jona, d.1702)—a court doctor of the king Jan Il Sobieski, Between 1664 and 1668, he studied medicine atthe Univer sity of Padua lived in Zotkiew and Low, and helped to solve communal disputes. He was accused of allegedly poisoning Jan 11, but was found not guilty. His name, as well as remedies and amulets as- cribed to him, are mentioned in a number of practical Kabbalah books, including Mat‘aseh tea Toldot ‘adam, Mif alot ‘elokim and Zevah pesal. See, for cxzmple, Mif alot ‘elokim, simenim 9,51, 52, 169, 297, 337, 346, 410, and 416. On Dr. Simhah, see Salornon Buber, Kirvah nisgavah (Cracow, 1908), 76; Schiper, Zvdsi Polsce Odrodzone), 298-299; Natan Mikhael Gelber, “Toldot yehulei zlkin” in Sefer zolkiv(Zotkiew]: Kiryah nlsgavah, Natan Mikhael Gelber and Israel Ben-Shem (Jeru- salem; enzikiopedivah shel galuvot, 1969), 43-45, 28. Most probably Dr. Ys‘akow Zahalon, a Jewish physician and rabbi from Rome, graduate fiom the Univesity of Rome, and the autor of an important seventeenth-contury popular Hebrew “handbook for medical treatment” Ozar ha-hayim (Venice, 1683). On Zahalon, see David Ruderman, Science, Medicine. and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Europe. Spiegel Lectures in European Jewish History (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv Univesity, 1987),9, 15, andthe bibliography he assembled on p. 280. 20; idem, “Medicine and Scientific Thought: The World of Tobias Cohen,” in The Jews of Early Modern Voie, ed. Robert C. Davis and Benjamin Ravid (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001), 194-98; idem, Jewish Thought and Scienific Discovery in Early Modern Europe (Now Hoven and London: Yale University Press, 1995), 232-235 and bibliography on p. 232 n. 10. Signifi- cantly “Dr. Ys‘akow Zahalon, is also mentioned tn Zever pesch [3b]. Forthe references to Zevah pe- sah vse the only extant copy ofthis book at the rarebook Judaica division of New York Public Library. Jam grateful to Dr. Leonard Gold for his assistance. 29, SH,f. 12b, 13b,2Sa, 46a, 183b. Hillel says, for example: seguiah mi-rofe muomhek he-nikra hhacravryithak fortis, 46a; od Kiba min roe hazak, 1830. 40. Moshe Rosman, The Lard’ Jews: Megnate-Jewish relaiion in the Polish-Littuanian Com- ‘monwealth during the Eightcenik Century (Cambridge, MA: Hacvard University Press for Harvard Ukrainian Research Institue, 1990), 148 and bibliography he assembled in n. 20; Schiper, Zvdzi w Police Odrodzone), 299-300 31, See Eneyelopedia Judaica, s. “[srael] Hellpern]” 32. Ii. 3. Hillel was not unique inthe reverent attitude to Fotis. For other references to Fors reme- dies and anmlets, see Mi ‘lat ‘elati, sian 379; Tldor ‘adam, sian 101 223Yohanan Peirovsky-Shtern lia.24 Medical references in SH, which exceed medical references in books by oth- er ba‘alei shem, substantiate Hillel's claim that he was an expert healer.>> Hillel seems to be familiar not only with kabbalistic texts and manuscripts but also with the pietistic rites of the kabbalists, perhaps even with Italian kabbal- ists. While describing tikkun ley! shabbat, a midnight pietistic liturgy canonized by Lurianic kabbalists, he mentions it as part of “the customs of my friends in ‘Venice and Prague” and urges others to follow it.?” However, unlike the case of his medical contacts, he mentions no names of his fricnds-in-Kabbalah. This is yet an- other mysterious pattern of Hillel's writings. It appears as if he wanted to conceal their names. The 1720s were the years ofa fierce battle against crypto-sabbateans from Altona to Prague and Z6tkiew.>* As a number of scholars have demonstrat- ed, sometimes it was not feasible to draw the line separating regular kabbalists from erypto-sabbateans.*? Was Hillel hinting at his proximity to the sublime mystical 34, Recommendations on public hygiene appear in SH on f, 134-15b, 208-225, See the story shout the 1654 (in fact, 1686—see Rkkermanfewish Thoght ond Scienfie Discovery, 232) epiemic in Rome which Hillel ascribed to Fortis, SH, f. 12b. Some primary knowledge of medical Latin, which Hillel demonstrates, may also have come fom Forts. 35. For example, when Hillel discusses diferent ways of preparing amulets or herbal remedies 1o eat melancholy (marah shehorah) he says that he learned this is from “professional dociors in the ‘country of Poland” 6a—b: when he explains what should be done to a sick person, he recommends en- ‘ema with milk and sugar and makes a double reference to Doctor Simhah and Doctor Zilon [Zahalon], 230; he claims he lead from Deetor Fortis hoo protect human body from evil spins, 258; he says that Dector Zan (7) taught him what measures to take inorder to completely recover afer having drunk a poison (sam maved) 108 26 Inthe second half ofthe seventecath century aly bocameaperamount Europea comer oF Kabbalah learning. I sufies to mention Moshe Zakt ad his cirle. For se analyss of Italian Kab- blah, see Moshe Ide, “Major Curens in talisn Kabbalah Fetween 156-1660," alia Judaica ft (1986): 243-262; Robert Boni, Rais and Jewish Conumuntes in Renaissance Hal (Onford Vi versity Press for the Littman Library, 1960), 280-298: idem, “Change in the Cultura Pattee of Jewish Society Cris; Kalan Jeary atthe close of the sixtoenth centr.” Jewsh History 2-3 1988) 11-30; Moshe Halamish, “Od le-toldot ha-pulmus al ha-kabalah be-Htaliyah be-teshit ha-me”ah ha. 17” Peterburg eveski universitet, 9 vol. 3 (1986): 101-106 37. SHE 187a. The question of whether lll was in direct contact with Italian (Venicien) kab Dalits must be let open due othe thin evidence. 438, Elisheva Carlebach, The Parsut of Heresy” Rabi Moshe Hagiz andthe Sabbarian Contra verses (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990), 172-185, Gelber, “Tldotyehuikizalkis 96~ 10; Geshom Scholem. Sabbata Sv: The Mystical Messiah, 1526-1676 (Prnectn: Princeton Univer sity Press, 1973), 78-83; Moshe Are Prlmuter, Ho-rav yehonataneybeschuczve.yahasoleshabia't (Jerusalem: Schocken Publishing House, 1947), 26-29, 42-49; Yehuda Liebes,“Ketavim badeshim ‘be-kabalah shabia’it mi-hugo shel r. yehonatan cybeschucg,” in Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Thought, a, Yoset Dan (Jerusalem: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1986), 141-349. For broader context oF the crypto Sabbateaniam, see Mortimer J. Cohen, Jocob Emden’ a man of conoversy (Philadelphia: Dropsie College, 1937) and Jacob Schacter, "History and Memory of Sethe Autobiography of Raby bi Jacob Emden in Jewish History and Jewish Memory Essay in Honor of Yosef Havin Yershal ed. Blisheva Carlebach et al. (Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 1998), 428-452, A wseful sum- ‘mary isto be fourd in Michal Galas, “Sabbateanim in the Seventeenth Century Polish thuanisn Commonseatth: A Review of Sources,” in The Sahbatian Movement and es fiermath: Messantsm. Sabbatianism and Frankisra, ed. Rachel Elior (Jerusalem: The Institute of Jewish Studies, Hebrew Uni- versity of Jerusalem, 2001), 251-63, 39. Carlebach, Parsi of Heresy U1, V71=172 224‘The Master of an Evil Name knowledge while simultaneously hiding his personal relations with those who bal- anced on the brink of heresy’ Be this as it may, before Hillel became a practicing du‘al shem, he traveled through Bohemia, Romania, and Bukovina, He claims to have visited Tiraspol,*? Vissa.*" and Rozhnu.? He recollects his sporadic meet- ings with an anonymous kabbalist from Rozhnu and claims he studied the manu- scripts of a certain Efraim, a renowned preacher (mageid mesharim) and prominent kabbalist from Vissa (Bessarabia). Hillel was lucky to land under the wings of his tutor, Zevi Hirsh from Meze- rich (Migdzyrzec Podliaski) 4 Rabbi Zevi Hirsch (d. 1724), the head of the rab- binical court in Mezerich, could boast an impressive pedigree and learning. He was the son of R. Alexander and the grandson of Zevi Hirsch, the head of the rabbinic court in the same locality, who is mentioned in seventeenth-century response and ‘who himself is the author of the volume of responsa Torat havim (Lublin, 1708 and 1724); R. Zevi Hirsch was also the son-in-law of Rabbi Mordekhay, the head of the rabbinic court in Brisk (Brest of wania) and the father of Mordekhay and Avishal, who eventually became rabbis of Lissa and Frankfurt, respectively.‘ Hi Je! asserts that he spent a certain period of time under Zevi Hirsch copying his man- uscripts, talking to him, and learning from him the secrets of amulets and holy names.* Hillel’s assertion is revealing from two perspectives. First, even if he did not mention how long he stayed in Mezerich, the mere fact that he studied under such an authority as Zevi Hirsch—in addition (o Fortis—testifies to his thorough 40, Southeast from Jassy (Bessarabia), nowadays in Moldewa, 188, 41. lassy District (Bessarabia), now in Moldova, 199a, 42. Bukovina, now in Ukraine, 189, 43. Perhaps the travels of Hillel Ba'al Shem were part ofa larger phenomenon of Jewish wan- derers salient among Fast European Jews in the late-seventeenihcentury and frst half ofthe eighteen century. Ze'ev Gries brings important references to the records of the council of Jews in Lithuania that specified types of beggars and vagabonds who were a burden for the Jewish communities in eastern Poland (Pinkas modinat lta p. 33 sect. 130, p. 38 sect 164, p. $3 sect. 2805 p, 76 sect. 378; p. 133 sect 559; p. 14 sect, $96). Depicting itinerant Jews, Gries includes in his list regular beggars 2s well as sab- bbatean and hasidic preachers and “prophets.” regular vagabond teachers, fundeaisers for Erets Yisrael preachers of penitence (rebukers, mokhihim, and exorcist. See his review essay of Mare Sapersie Jonish Preaching 1200-1809, An Anthology (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), in The Jour nal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 4 na. 1 (1984): 113-122, exp. 117-119. 44, Hillel identifies him as ha-rav ha-gadoi he-asid hu-mefursam u-mekubal Aavod moreyna ve-rabeinu zevihirsh ben ha-rav ha-gado! moreymu ha-rav avrams hu avraham av bet din be kehillah Kedoshah mezirich be-medinat podlasye ha-samuth brisk de-lita ve-kehillah kedoshah tkiin ve-ku fharan rt-ravha-gadol de-brisk kavod moreymu ha-rav mordothay Hillel claims that Rabbi Zevi Hirsch ‘was the highest authority in both revealed anc esoteric law inthe whole Podlasie area, In addition, Hil lel refers to him as often as to Forts. Se, for example, St, f.63b, 107a, 174a, 358a~b. Hillel is accu rate even in the way he refers to R. Zevi Hirsch’ father, R. Abraham, the author of Torat havi: the later signed his endorsement of ‘Olar pichak (Frankfurt a/Main, 1692) with the following formu quran: hu avrafiam, See Meir Eelboym, Di yidn-shiot Mezrich (Busnes-Aires: Mezricherlanslayt- fareyn in Argentina, 1957), 295, 45. Forthe discussion of R, Zevi Hirsch (Junior, Hillel's mentor) pedigree, see Edelboym, Di ¥dn-shtot Argentina, 294-297, 46. Hillet repeatedly cits his learning under Rabbi Zevi Hirsh: “And [stayed with him and in ‘my thirst I drank the words ofthe great Rabbi until I understood ltl by litle the smaller face [of God) (mi-z¢pr “anpin) of his saered writings and eopied them.” SH, f. 118 225,Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern preparation for his career. Second, Hillel’s claim that he had copied amulets and temedies from Zevi Hirsch implies that practical Kabbalah had already become part and parcel of general Jewish culture—even prominent rabbis were engaged in it, to say nothing of itinerant healers, well-established doctors, and ba‘alei shem.? Thus, with medical and kabbalistic experiences gained under Fortis and Zevi Hirsch, in the 1730s Hillel took to the road. From Mezerich he moved to Podolia and Volynia, and, at the end of the 1730s, to Lithuania.** It was in Galicia and Vol- hynia that he started his career of a ba‘al shem. In 1731 he performed an exorcism in the town of Shinave (Pol: Sieniawa, near Przemys’!).49 Between 1731 and 1733 he was active as ba‘al shem in Olik (Olyka), and in 1733 he came to Ostrah (Os- 116g) and later to Tutchin.°° During his trip to the north, Hillel came to Shklov.*! In 1739 he reached Keidan.*? Apparently, at that time he was married and had at least two daughters. Between 1739 and 1741 he moved westward, heading prob- ably to Posen (Poznaii), where he started writing his manuscript, which, he be- lieved, would change his life for the better.5* IJ, Hie Ba‘ac SHEM AND THE Jewish CoMMUNITY The beginning of Hillel’s career was promising. He visited important Jew- ish communities in Volynia and Podolia and was commissioned as ba‘al shem. His success in Ostrah, the third place he visited in his itinerary, was pivotal. In the 1730s, Ostrah was an important private Polish town. Itboasted a huge Polish palace and fortress, one of the busiest annual fairs in Poland, a beautiful, big sixteenth- century, fortress-shaped synagogue, more than 20 smaller synagogues and prayer houses, and illustrious rabbis, some of them descendants of the disciples of Ma- haral (Rabbi Yehudah Lowe ben Bezalel of Prague, 1525 ~1609).*> Hillel came to 447, Thus SH provides additional suppot tothe argument that by the 1720s Kabbalah captured minds of East European Jens, see Fikes, Baal ha-shem, chap. 1; Hundert, Jews in Poland-Lithuania, ‘chap. 6; Rosman, Founder of Hasidism, chap. 1. On the spread of practical Kabbalah in East Europe see Ze'ev Gries’s“He-“atakal ve-hadpasat sffei Kabbalah ke-makorle-limudab,” Mahanayim 6 (1994): 208-211, 48, SH, 38b, 1254-1274 49, Galicia/Red Ruthenia, now in Eastern Poland. 50. All three localities were in the samo Rovne district of Podelia and some of them were re peatedly mentioned in the stories about Ba'sl Shem Tov collected in Shivher ha-beshr. Seo, For exam. ple, stories nos. 26, $9 and 67 for Ostrah (Ostrog) and 204 for Olyka S1.SH£. 2098, ‘52. SH, £ 35b; Pol: Kigjdany, near Kovno, Lithuania. 53, See Hillel's complaints of his bad luck inthe family context, 5H, f. 746, ‘54, This assumption is based on Hille’s attempts to please German lews (sehuder Ashkenaz) at the expense of Polish Jews (yeiude Palin). Hillel refers to the former as to his potential readers and, he hopes, his future employers: “As I have observed indifferent communities in Poland, Podol, and Vol hyn, they [the Jews] pray in their houses of learning (bafei midrash) in such a loose way, that only some of them will oto Paradise. Itis because of that {loose prayer} that the Redemption is not caming. How- ever, I praise the [Jews in the] countries of Ashkenaz, let them see the Redemption!” SHH, f 80a. ‘55. Yitzhak Alperowitz and Hayyim Finkel, eds, Sefor astra, volin: mazevet sharon le-kohi Jah kedashah (Tel Aviv: “Irgun yorei osttah be-yisrvel, 1987), 37-38, 58-59. 226‘The Master of an Evil Name the town of Ostrah and stayed at the home of the rabbi of the lov, who was the son of the chief rabbi of the town. Either Hillel could not prove his pedigree and learning and was not allowed into the Aloyz, an elitist prayer house of East Euro- pean kabbalists, or the Aioyz did not fit Hillel's immediate interests.°° At any rate, Hillel spent two or three days in a special room of the local bei midrash. Indeed, he learned that there was an incident in the community—a woman had an evil spit- it (dybbuk) who refused to leave her body—and he waited until the elders of the city commissioned him to perform the exorcism. Apparently, there was some con- sternation among the elders, who were cither reluctant to rely on the powers of an itinerant ha‘al shem or mistrusted Hillel personally, or both, This is how Hillel de- scribes the episode: ‘One evening the evil spirit [rua] sent for the honorable man, the former bea dle [shamash] of the Rabbi, a great hasid and the Kabbalist Naftali Kohen ede. of blessed memory.*7 The spirit instructed him that he should immedi- ately find Reb Hille! Ba’al Shem, who had just come to their community. “He [Reb Hillel Ba‘al Shem] will put an end to my day's withthe help of holy names inthe synagogue. He might be able to find a kind of remedy for me.” And that rman [the beadle] did not want to listen to the spirit and started to talk in pub- lic, Later, the demon told the beadle from the body of the woman: “If you do not go to the Ba‘al Shem, you will be sorry, for it will definitely be too late."** From this episode one may lear, first, that Hillel was not a famous ba‘al shem Second, he did his best to prove he was well known—if nat among local Jews, than at least among the otherworldly inhabitants. Hillel used the dybbuk, a tepresenta- live of the evil powers, to establish his reputation. Third, local dwellers treated Hil- lel harshly despite his desire to help them.5? They mistrusted Hillel and in all likelihood mocked him in public—hence the reluctance of the beadle to resort fo Hillel’s help. The case Hillel encountered in Ostrah was not an easy one.“ The confes- $6. In connection to the individual mystics active before the Ba‘al Shem Tox, Hundert mentions that “[iJn some towns, there were groups of Hasidim who prayed separately in their own Kloyzen (prayer rooms”), or study alls, and were thought to benefit the community that supported tem by their specialties to Heaven.” See Hundert, Jews in Poland- Lithuania, 120 and references he brings in 1. 5. The importance of the Ky: (and not Bet midrash) as the center of study of East European kab- bliss before the Besht has been in the facus of Joseph Weiss’ fundamental essay, "A Circle of Preu- matics in Pre-Hasidism,” in Studies in East European ewish Mysticism and Hasidism (London and Portland: The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 1997), 27-42. ‘57. To some extent the details provided inthe text corroborate the veracity ofthe whole story. The late Naftali Cohen Zedek, meationed by Hillel Ba'al Shem, was most likely Rabbi Naftali ben Yizhak Kaz, the head of the rabbinical court and the chief rabbi ofthe province. After Ostrah he held the position ofa chief rabbi in Posen and Frankfurt am Main. He passed avay in Turkey hile travel ing tothe Land of Israel, See Sefer astra, 38 58. SH, 1262, ‘59. Hillel thus describes the treatment be received in Osirab: “They brought me {by force] from the ritual bth before the morning prayer” “they opened their mouths against me...” SH, f.126a- 160. My analysis of the socio-psychological reality of exorcism is based on the methodology 227Yohanan Peirovsky-Shtern sion obtained from the woman/dybbuk under the threat of excommunication re- vealed that a certain Jew took a non-Jewish concubine and had children with her. For unknown reasons he was later involved in a murder casc. Jews tried to arrest and prosecute him but he converted to Greek Orthodoxy (be-’emunat yavan) and circumvented punishment. Finally, he died a terrible death. Since he was possibly not buried properly (a posthumous punishment for a criminal and an apostate), af- ter several years he apparently became an evil spirit (ruah). He settled in a tree in Ostrah, not far from the town's big synagogue, waiting for a victim.*' Once on Shabbat, when a pregnant woman was sitting under the tree inhabited by the spi it, the latter entered her body through her right eye, thus becoming a dybhuk.®? She lost sight in that eye. The same night the dybbué tortured the woman’s husband un- tilhe died. Soon the woman gave birth to a baby girl. Although the girl was healthy, the dvbbuk spent some seven years within the woman's body, growing stronger and causing her bitter sufferings until she became completely blind. At this point the community decided to search for a remedy. Further details of the story make us think that Hillel uses “evil spirit” (he avoids the word “dybbuk”) as a substitute for the issues of promiscuity and het- erodoxy. A certain woman from Ostrah had intimate relations with a convert out- side her wedlock. Her lover killed her Jewish husband but did not harm the daughter. Blindness was either metaphorical (she was the only one who did not un- derstand the results of her sickness) or real, inflicted by the harsh treatment of the Jewish woman by the convert, Perhaps the implications of heterodoxy made Hil- lel subsequently transfer the exorcism to outside the center of the town.®? The prox- laborated by Macion Gibson in "Witcheraf trials—how to read them” and “Deconstructing generic stories” in Reading Hitcher Stories of Farly European Witches (London and Nev York: Routledge 1999), 50-109. Its also supported by Christine Worobec' statement that cerain types of possess “representa sovialy understood illness as opposed to a medical disease” see Christine D. Worobes, Possessed: Women, itches, and Demons in Imperial Russia (DeKalb: Northern Wlinois University Press, 2001), 17. My approach finds support also in Yoram Bilv' statement: “The validation of the moral ascendancy of religious eaders trough the dybut idiom conuibuted to social contol... The ‘exorcist ritual constituted. conservative mechanism that facilitated the perpetuation ofthe traditional, status hierarchy in the community.” See Yoram Bilu, “The Taming of the Deviants and Beyond: An Analysis of Dybbuk Possession and Excorcism in Judaism" in Spirit Posesson tm orem: Cases and Context from the Middle dges tothe Presented. Matt Goldish (Desoit: Wayne State University Pres, 2003), A. 61. The motif ofan evil sprit or a spint of a deceased person siting ona tree and adcressing the vagabond appears already in Sefer hasdim. See Jehuda Wistinewki and Jacob Freimann, el, Se- Jer hasdin (Frankfurt a/M: Warhmann Verlag, 1924), 37 (siman 35): this book is based on Parma MS. Cf Reuven Margalit ed, Sefer Aasidim (Jerusalem: Mosad ha-Rav Kook, 1957), 176-178 (siman 170): this is based on Bologna MS. 62, According tothe evidence meticulously collected by Nigal, evil spirits and aibéukim pre: fer to enter homes cither through doors wot protecie ky mezuzor or through any part ofthe body of sick person, in particular pregnant women. Fora comprchensive list of the “preferred entrances” ofthe didbukim, see Gedalya Nigal, Sipurei‘dibbuk'besijru ioral (Jerusalem: Reuven Mas, 1983), 26 2 63. On a very similar case involving a Jewish woman and her husband, Jan Serafinowicz, who converted to Catholicism after being attended to by a ba‘al shem, see Meir Balaban, Le-toldat ha tennah ha.frankit (Te! Aviv: Devir, 1934), 57-58, On Serafinowic2, see Shimon Dubnow, Hisior) of 228The Master of an Evil Name imity of the “enemies of Israel” and of the “impure place” —oblique references to the nearby church—prevented Hillel from fully applying his powers. In addition, the local priests perhaps were aware of the incident and tried to resolve it by con- verting the woman. Very likely the exorcism led to confessions offensive to Christianity, and Hille! decided to transfer the operation elsewhere to avoid pub- licity. On the other hand, exorcism led to confessions on the part of the wornan that were offensive to the Jewish community at large. Nobody liked the fact that Hil- Jel made the Ostrah Jews wash their dirty laundry in public.°° Hillel portrays the exorcism in great detail, If SH presents it accurately, at least in regard to Hillel's modus operandi, one feature of Hillel’s practices becomes particularly salient. It was the dybbuk that instructed Hillel about the methods of exorcism, its time and place, the preparation it required, and its possible out- come.” The dybbuk allegedly told Hillel to bring seven Torah scrolls and seven pristine boys (‘who have not sinned”). He advised Hillel to take the boys, before the procedure, to the ritual bath and to the morning prayer. He purportedly indi- cated that Hille! should go to the town of Tutchin, not far from Ostrah (samukh le-kk ostrah), and finish the ceremony there. Finally, the dybbuk encouraged Hillel “And you, Rabbi, should not be scared and do not run away from me.”°5 In terms. of endorsement of his activities, Hille! briefly mentions the amulets of R. Zevi Hirsch ben Avraham, which he used forthe exorcism, yet, when itcame-to the proce- dure itself, his only spiritual instructor—his personal maggid—was the dybbuk © the Jens in Russia and Poland (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society. 1916~1920), 1:173; Israel Halporn, ed, Pinkas va'ad ‘arba‘arazo (Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1948) p. 265 par. $49; Hunde, Jews in Pofand-Litnuania, 75 and 141; Rosman, Lords Jens, 206-207. 64. Hillel resorted tothe dybuk’s assistance wo explain the reason for his own weakness: “You ace the Rabbi who has boca acting for already six days. You ave pronounced oaths against me and have tried to exorcise me using holy names. However, although you did net manage to do anything (shu _Peulah) against me, you have somewhat weakened the wicked forces which surround my soul, and you have harmed my members, sinews, nd bones. However, this isnot the right place tat allows applying, the holy names, because the stronghold of evi stands next to—distinguish! —the holy synagogue. [F you like to secomplish your work, you should better try a diffrent place” SH, f.12Sa 65, The woman/dybbuk warned Hillel about the possible impact of local priests: “These are the priests who give their bad advice that they derive from the powers ofeir tradition, Their advice comes froma their mouths fin the form of] fire and flames, and their words are nok tue. They will surrender io you, if God wants it” SH, 125b, Like ba'aleishem., both Eastern and Western Christian Churches re sorted to exorcism as to an eflectie ecclesiastical tual aimed at obtaining confession. See Stuart Clark, Thinking with Demons: The Fea of Witcheraft in Early Modern Furope (Ox‘oré: Clarendon Press, 1997), 428-434; Wowwbec, Aossesse, 23-25, 45-—AR, 66. lille discovered outrageous and by no means fattering fects about the community: “And he {the evil sprit] revealed publicly horrible end nasty things which had happened in that town among the Jews. And the Jews understood thatthe bird from heaven raised its voice, the time had come, and the «nd of all ends. All the seerets became known dc tothe powers of heavenly and earthly caths. All the secrets impossible to convey here that happened in that town were finally disclosed” SH, f. 1278 67. In addition, Hillel prior relinquished any responsiblity for the operation and burdens the dybbuk with it “The omly thing which I do not know is whether Iwill leave her body without her soul ‘or with it” confesses the dvbbuk. SH. £127 68. SH, £125, 69. On the dichotomy dybouk-magei, se the groundbreaking article by Yoram Bilu, *Dybbuk 229Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern Due to the “instructions” of the dvbbuk, who wanted the ba‘al shem to banish him, Hillel was a success, and socio-psychological order was restored: pronounced one great oath and one great petition in the presence of ten ap- propriate people and the Torah scrolls. Thursday, Elul, 549 [1733], the spirit Jef the body of that woman through the little toe of her left leg from under her little nail so that some blood came out of her toe.” After that she began see- ing a litte bit and she started going to the synagogue, to the cemetery, and 10 all other places as she found fit. However, she could not see at all through the only eye by which the spirit had entered her body.”! The Ostrah case suggests a clear-cut pattern of relations between the ba‘al shem, the communal (kehillah) authority, the ordinary Jews of the town, and the spirit. The ba‘al shem performed exorcism in the atmosphere of public contempt. Although mistreated by the inhabitants of the town, Hillel was still respected by the kahal, He depended completely on the decision of the local authority. He start- ‘ed to operate only when he obtained the official consent of the kaha! elders.”? The difference in attitudes to Hille! Ba‘al Shem manifests the interests of the commu- nal leaders who employed the ba‘al shem as an instrument to strengthen their pow- cer, While the kahal uscd Hille} to instill fear of promiscuity and restore social and psychological order in the community, Hillel used the dybbuk to instruct his audi- ence and instill some awe toward, if not belief in, the ba'al shem’s magic, As we will see, this pragmatic usage of the dybbuk for self-promotion was not atypical for Hillel's modus operandi. Paradoxically, the only creature in SH that acknowledged the wisdom and high status of Hillel Ba‘al Shem was the evil spirit, Hillel's alter ego."* The Ostrah dybbuk not only “helped” Hillel to understand the situation in the community but and Maggid: Two Cultural Patterns of Altered Consciousness in Judaism,” A/S Review 21 no. 2(1996): 341-366. 70. In this case Hillel Ba‘al Shem closely follows the advise of Haim Vital who in his Sha‘ar ‘ruah ha-kadesh in the name of Tsaae Luria strongly recommended that practical kabboalists make the ‘vil spirit Icave human body through a toe so that it does not harm the body. Eventually he lite we ‘on the lef foot became a “classical” place forthe exit of an evil pitt. For a comprehensive lis ofthe “preferred exits” of the dibbukim, see Nigal, Sipurei“dibbuk be-sifrut yisrael, $460. TL. SH, £1270 72. “And that man [beadle} went fo the parnas hachodesl and related to him the words of the spirit, And the parnas ha-hodesh sent the beadle for me and asked me on behalf ofthe whole commu nity to do some good for that woman,” SH, f, 126b. Generally, the Jewish community of Ostrah (Os- ‘og) is mentioned several times in Shivhet ha-besht. For instance, in story no. 26, a certain doctor from this town is referred to as a staunch opponent of the Besht who mocks his magic powers, Similarly, in ‘Sif te holy community of Osirah does not seem very hospitable to Hillel Ba’al Shem. They also mock ‘him, They openly mistrust him while he is working out ways to banish the dybbuk. They start to hate ‘him even more so when the community learns lot of nasty and revealing things sbout itself during the ‘exorcism, The gencral commotion caused by Tile! Ba’al Shem in the community is also quite obvi= ‘ous. CF, Bilu, “Taming of the Deviants." $559. 73. SH,F12Sa 230,‘The Master of an Evil Name also taught the Jews how to behave and serve God.”* Hillel’s assumption is clear: if the community did not trust Hillel Ba‘al Shem, let them listen toa dybbuk. In the Os- trah episode only the dybbu, the spirit of a dead Jewish convert, addressed Hillel as “hacrav.” It is inappropriate here to discuss the reliability of the evidence of early- cighteenth-century demons, yet SH clearly indicates that there was nobody else who respected Hillel: after the dybbuk “revelations” and successful exorcism, Hillel seems to have been left alone. Had there been some benign arrangement between him and the local Aahal, Hillel, who looked for a stable position in a community, ‘would have mentioned it. His reticence implies that, again, he was doomed to lone- liness, solitude, and wandering. Indeed, to make evil powers his only advocate was Hillel's clever ploy in the face of his situation. But the magician who was at home with dybbuks and evil powers was balancing on the brink of the permitted. Hillel did not realize he was causing his own failure—which was around the corner. IV. Ba’AL SHEM AMONG HIS COLLEAGUES Three factors caused Hillel's downfall: first, competition in the market of East European itinerant Kabbalists; second, the rise of publications of practical Kabbalah books: and third, the crisis of the profession of ha‘alei shem. His per- sonal failures, which caused his distress and depression, were simply the results of these overarching reasons.” Hillel suffered mostly because of his colleagues, pseudo-ba'alei shem, al- leged impostors, troublemakers, and unscrupulous competitors, who exacerbated the constraints in the market of practical Kabbalah. Hillel depicted them as “rob bers” and “false hasidim” (hasidim shakranim) who sacrilegiously introduced themselves as experienced kabbalists to the communal leadership.” Hillel com- plained that they never used Kabbalah for its own sake (/i-shemah); whatever they id, they did only for money. They obtained falsified endorsements from insignif- icant rabbis and produced bogus miracles that had nothing to do with the honest ‘opera sacra of a genuine ba'al shem."” They caused skepticism among Jews to- wards amulets and holy names and subsequently towards all those healers who carned their living honestly.”* Asa result, when a real ha’ al shem arrived in a com- munity and provided valid endorsements from renowned rabbis, nobody would trust him.”® Therefore, from Hillel’s vantage point, it was absolutely pivotal to 74.""The only thing I would tell you through my stories and the deeds of my wicked hands — {is that people should learn from me and through me how to serve the blessed Name" SH, . 12S 75. Hille] complains: “I should not say morc inthe time of my distress and distess of my daugh- ters, yet [failed and got up and not let my foes rejcice ever me [Ps 30). fled several times in sev- eral nasty places involved with evil forces...” See SH, f. 74, 76, SH. 319b. 77. For Hille's repeated complaints of pseudo-bu'alei-shem, see SH, f.95a, 172, 276b-277a, 321b, 78, SH, f. 299-300, 79. Kahana provides 2 number of ceses proving that at the beginning ofthe eighteemth century the itinerant ba’ ale shent or practical kabbaliss were often identified with and treated as erypto-sab- bateans. See David Kahana, Toldor ha-mekubalim, ha-chabra‘im ve-ha-hasidin (Odessa: Moriah, 1914), 18-19. Kahana seems to follow ¥a‘akow Emden's sharp criticism of ha’alei sem, most of whom 231Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern distinguish between a real ba‘al shem and a charlatan. Hillel suggested that the community should investigate, if not interrogate, any ba'al shem to verify his knowledge of Kabbalah books, his understanding of holy names, his haskamot (whether they were written by ordinary or well-known rabbis), and finally, his per- sonal behavior (how he prays, fasts, performs ritual ablutions, etc.).°° Hillel was deeply concerned that charlatans had undermined the trust of com- ‘mon folk in the magic of the ba‘al shem. Skepticism and disbelief of the ordinary Jews towards the kabbalists, according to Hillel's oblique references, had sabbatean implications. Hillel illustrated the spiritual damage caused by itinerant sabbateans through a peculiar incident that happened in the county of Pokuta in Bukovina Province in the town of Tismenits (Tysmienica), some 70 miles west of Chernovitz ‘A wicked man who was a seribe and renowned Kabbalist came into town. He stayed there for several weeks until he entered the house of the great hasid and Kabbalist Yosef Hols, of blessed memory, who passed away leaving behind a kosher and sacred Torah scroll. The above man went to [Rabbi Hols) widow to [inspect] the scroll and found it perfect. Later he forged a cut (hakikah) [in the scroll] and demonstrated it in public. Then he demonstrated the mistake of the [late] Rabbi to the most illustrious people in the town, The next night Rab- bi [Hols] appeared [10 someone] in a dream and revealed everything that this scribe had committed, including the time, the book, the chapter, and the col umn in which the scribe had made his forgery, prohibiting him to disclose this information to the scribe. Soon afterwards the scribe stepped on a slippery path. He was banished and went to another country, to Little Poland! In this peculiar episode, a scribe and kabbalist whose reputation was in good standing abused the credibility of the community, He inserted certain misspellings into a Torah scroll with the aim of denigrating the former spiritual authority. The forgery was not a simple misspelling (fisaron or yeter); otherwise it would have been casy to correct. The scribe demonstrated the mistake in public because it was impossible to correct it according to Judaic scribal laws (hilkhot STAM) ®? For rea- sons of self-censorship, Hillel preferred to make oblique allusions without actual- ly spelling out the “mistake.” But in the context of early-eighteenth-century East Emden, by no means unbiased, identified as sabbateans, Sec, for exemple, the treatment of Eliyahu ‘Ulianov, Shmuel Essingen, and Moshe Prager in ¥a‘akov Emiden Scfer hit abla 28; idem. Torat ha 4in'aor 118-119, However, Scholem convincingly proves the sabiutean origin ofthese practical heal- crs, sce Gershom Scholem, Mehkarin w-mekorot le-toldotha-shabla', ed Yehuda Licbes (Jerusalem: Zalman Shazar, 194), 110-11. However, assessing the spread of pitistic doctrines and mystical ideas in eighteemth-century Foland, Hundert nots that some of the pitists “were undoubtedly also adher: nis of Shabbateanism, but others were not” He also argues that the horder separating olstye (ore- Beshtian) pictists and crypto-sabbateans was biurred. See Hundect Jews i Poland-Lithuania, 121— 122,152. 80. S14, £1730, 81. SH, £ 94h. 82. Sce Kuntres Mishnat softim on Mishnak Berurah, 36 and Mishaah Berarat on Shulkan “Aruth ‘Orakh Hayim 32:20. On the seribal laws related to mistakes in the Torah scroll, see Yizhak Shiner and Yizbak Goldshtein, Dine: sejer torah she-rimzoh bo taut (Jerusalem: OT, 1984). 232‘The Master of an Evil Name European erypto-Sabbateanism an uncorrectable “mistake” implied perhaps one and the same notorious trick: The followers of Sabbatai Tsevi, scribes in the first place, were known to insert the name of the pseudo-Messiah instead of the tetra- grammaton into sifrei STAM—phylacteries, mezuzas, and Torah scrolls. ‘One may want to compare Hillel’s description with the following testimony of Rabbi Moshe Hagiz, Hillel's contemporary, known as a persecutor of crypto- sabbateans par excellence. The text is taken from his Gebiat ‘edue, translated by Elisheva Carlebach: In Poland one witness testified to a different sort of profanation of the sacred: R. Nathan, head of the study hall, had a Torah seroll from which the name of God was omitted. Instead, he inscribed the name of Sabbatai Zebi. There were ap- proximately fifly souls who knew of this, R. Hayyim of Zholkiew among them, and they did the same with phylacteries. When they investigated them, he tear- fully confessed; when it was all found to be tue, they burned the scroll ané the phylacteries. The communal seribe had contaminated many people with these phylacteries, and the communal leaders exposed him and whipped him... *° Apparently Moshe Hagiz and Hille! Ba‘al Shem depict identical behavioral pat- terns, which Hagiz. traced to crypto-sabbateans and Hillel to false ba‘alei shem. It would be tempting to reinterpret Hillel's references to the predominance of char latans among Jewish East European healers in the context of the crypto-sabbatean schism.4 This might be particularly important in view of the paraliel Hillel traced between pscudo-magicians and the dybbuks. As if sharing common knowledge, sometimes the contemporary Jewish community did perceive crypto-sabbateans as possessed by dybbuks.** In this context, the rapid explosion of the population of itinerant ba‘alei shem was perhaps a response not only to the growing number of those possessed by dyhbuks and needing exorcism, but also to the expansion of crypto-Sabbateanism into Poland and the necessity to identify, neutralize, or ex- communicate the harbingers of heresy.*® 83. Carlebach, Pursuit of Heresy, 184-5; Zvi Mark, “Dybbuk and Devel in the Shave ha- Beshr Toward a Phenomenalogy of Madness in Early Hasidism.” in Spirit Posession in Judaism: Ca es and Comtet from the Middle Ages to the Present, ed. Matt Goldish (Dettvit: Wayne State University Press, 2003), 274-280. 24. Cf. Scholem’s portrayal of Sabbatai Rafael from Mistra (Misithra) the first to combine prac- tical Kabbalah with sabbatean propaganda. Scholem, Sabbaiai Sevi,783~789. 85. Bilu,“Dybbuk and Maggid” 352, Scholem, Sabbatai evi, 606: cf literary reflection ofthis parallel in Isaac Bashevis Singer, Satan in Gonay, Trans, Jacob Sloan (New York: Avon Books, 1955), chap, 13, For the analysis of sabbatean underpinnings in Singer's novel, see Bezalel Naor, Post Sabba- tian Sabhatianism: Study of am Underground Messianic Movement (Spring Valley, NY: Orot. 1999), 98-103; for more literary variations on this topic, see Robert Alter, After the Tradition (New York: E, P. Dutton, 1969), 61-75, 86. Inthe sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Protestants and Catholics also identified heretics as demons or possessed; see Clark, Thinking with Demons, 387-88, 534-37, and esp. 385~88, One may see oblique evidence ofthis parallel inthe reverse taking place in Western Europe inthe eighteenth century, when, due to growing religious tolerance, the number of witeh-hunting cases radically dimin- ished. See Marijke Gijswijt- Hofstra, Brian Levack, and Rey Porter, Witcheraft and Magic in Europe: 233,Yohanan Peirovsky-Shtern Hillel was not unaware of the righteous healers among his colleagues. He describes them with one of his favorite words, cana’ (modest), which in SH indi- cates the highest level of spiritual purity and personal righteousness.” Only zanua’, a modest person, is able to produce a truly effective amulet (kameya’ mumbeh)** Among the teal wonder-workers Hillel mentions a number of righ- teous magicians®® such as Eli{yahu] Ba‘al Shem,°? Joel Ba‘al Shem,?! Naftali Kaz, Rabbi Yekovsky [possibly Jenowski] Ba‘al Shem,?? Perez Ba‘al Shem,™ The Eighteenth und Nineveenth Centuries (London: Athione Press, 1997), 42. On the other hand in «ightoonth-century Russia, due to the Nikon schism and persecutions ofthe Old Believers (perosived as witohes), witeh-bunting cases were on the se, especially between 1690 end 1739, See, for exam- ple, the fundamental research by Aleksandr Lavrov, Koldenstun #religiia v Rossi, 1700-1740 (Mos- con: Drevlekhranilisiche, 2000). 347-354 87. In Judaic tradition the usage ofthe notion zanua' is inseparable from the sceret knowfedze The tweve-teter Name of God, or example, was transmitted by the sages to zon she-bi-kebuna that is, the “discrete (modest) among the priests” Also, the secret forty-twovltter Name of God, ac- cording to R. Yehuda ha-Nasi, was transmitted only to a “diserete (modest) one" ein musrim ow ela le-mi she zarwa’, See B. Kiddushin 71a 88, SHH £ 193a, Razielta-malakh makes the same claim end uses the same word, zanua’. See Sefer Razielha-mal'akh, 8a and 33a (Medzhybozh, 1819). £89, First four fa all shem-Si, £27 7a; second 1w0~SH, f.155a, ‘90. Eliyahu bar Aaron Yehuda Mehalem (b 1550), the head ofthe rabbinic court in Chelm, stud {ed in Lublin at the yeshivah of R. Shlomoh Luria. See Etkes, Ba’ al ha-shem, 18 and 33. In SH Hilal reproduces in greater detail one ofthe famous stories about Eliyahu Ba‘al Shem that appeared also in Toldot ‘adam, siman 86. Cf, SH. £ 4b, 91, Joel ben Uri Heilperin (Hilpern) from Zamosé, the famous bal shew: and grandson of Joe! bar Izhak Ayzik Heilpern, Baal Shem from Zamoie (ca. 1690-ca. 1755), was one of the most well {Known practical abblistsof his time, He endorsed and penned a number of famous books on praet cal Kabbala, among them Zevalpesait (1722), MYf‘alo‘elokim (1710), end Totdor ‘adam (1720), See {cetailed discussion of him in Meshe Hill, Ba’ alei smn (Jerusalem: Makhon Brey Issakhar, 1993), 54-64, 90-119; Etkes, Ba‘al ha-shemt, 41-50; Matas, “Sifrei segulot” 141-143; and Hundert, Jes {in Foland-Lithuamia, 150-152. On the importance of practical Kabbalah books inthe development of carly Hasidism, sce Haviva Pedaya, “Ho-egem hechevratiati-alkali be-hasidut” in Zadik ve-"edu, cd, David Assaf (Jerusalem: Merkaz Zalman Shazat, 2001), 424-397, exp. 364-366, ‘92, Rabbi Naftali ben Vizhak he-Kohen (Kaz) from Posen (Pozna, 1649-1719},one of the lead ing authorities in practical Kabbalah, was known for his wonderful amulets and successful exorcisms, ie endorsed many books on practical Kabbalah, including Mif “ator elokim (sometimes even ascribed 'o him—see, for example, Lemberg edition, 1872). He personally knew the famous dual skem Bin- yaamin Beinish of Krotoszyn and endorsed his Amtahat binyarnin (Willclmsdorf, 1716), See the éi cussion in Mares, “Siffei segulo;"n. 11 on pp. 2-3 of the supplement berwoen pages 141-142. On Katz see Gedalyah Nigal,““Al rav matali kez mi-poma,” Sinai 92 (1983) 91-94: Ariel Bar-Levay, “tla-mavet be“‘clamo shel ha-mckubal naftali ha-kohen kez” (Ph.D. Hebrew University Jerusalem, 1990); Yehuda Liebes, “A Profile of R. Naphtali Katz From Frankfurt and His Attitude Towards Sab bateanism,” in Grézinger and Dan, Msticism, Magic and Kabbalah in Ashkenazi Judaism, 208-222 and Rachel Elior,“R, Nathan Adler and the Frankfurt Pietists: Pietist Groups in East and Central Eu- rope during the Eighteenth Century” in Jidische Kultur in Frankfurt are Main vor den Anfingen zur Gegenisart,ed. KatlErich Grozinger (Wiesbaden: Harrassowite, 1997), 135-177 93, Most likely Yaakov ben Moshe Kaz from Yanow (Pol.:Janow, therefore, Yanovski), the au thor of Minhai ya’ akov soles (Wihelmsdoxf, 1731), the book on practical Kabbalah, amulets and reme- dics. See Etkes,Ba‘alha-skem, 43, 46 83, Ya akov b. Moshe'sbook was endorsed by Joel Baal Shem from Zamose, see Moshe Hillel, Ba’ lei sem, 164 {94,1 was not able to identity him. 234The Master of an Evil Name and Heshel Ba‘al Shem. The conduct of these ba‘ale’ shem seems to correspond to Hillel's high standards of personal purity and asceticism established in SH. Hil lel did not hesitate to copy from their books and reproduce their amulets. To use his own parlance, these wonder-workers and experts in practical Kabbalah were true basidim—in contrast with the false hasidim, charlatans, and fake ba‘alei shem, However, even these righteous ba‘alei shem troubled Hillel. Their immacu- late conduct notwithstanding, Hillel felt deeply hurt by the fact that they began to publicize secret mystical knowledge and put their books on practical Kabbalah to press. There is nothing else in S77 that troubles him as much as the publication of books of ba‘alei shem.°* ‘A number of prominent eighteenth-century rabbis, among them Yonatan Eybeschuetz and Ya‘akov Emden, did not welcome the dissemination of books on practical Kabbalah and opposed the whole idea of their publication.%” It does not seem strange that Hillel Ba‘al Shem was also unhappy, even deeply depressed, be- cause of their publication. Hillel’s own reasons, however, were different from those of Ya‘akov Emden. First, being published, esoteric secrets lost their secrecy; any- ‘one was able to copy an amulet from a newly published kabbalistic book and use it at his own discretion, Second, published books nullified the importance of Hil- lel’s knowledge of the secret techniques he used to write and apply the amulets, Third, Hillel cites an authoritative warning against publishing books on Kabbalah: Mystical books should not be published, and if published, should not be used for the sacred work of a ba‘al shem.?® Hence, Hillel’s indignation: Jn our generation, many books with holy names and amulets, all of them se- cet, were published. Do not use them—not in this world nor in the world to come, for they help the wicked. Someone purchases © book for himself 95. is tempting to inentify Heskel Ba’al Shem from SH with Heschel Zore, a erypto-sab- hatean, whom Gershom Scholem identified with Rabbi Adam the mystical teacher of the Besh. See Ia Praise ofthe Ba‘al Shem Tov. The Earliest Collection of Legends about the Founder of Hasiism, trans. and ed. Dan Ben-Amos and Jerome Mintz (Blecmington: Indiana University Press, 1970), 15— 18, 31-32; the discussion of Rabbi Adam as Heschel Zoref in Gershom Scholem,“Ha-navi ha-shab- tayit hese zaret-—r. “adam baal shem,” in is Melsoreichabiont, ed. Yehues Liebes (Jerusalem: Am “oved, 1991), 579-399; for erticism of Scholem' identification see Moshe Hillel, Baal shem, 305 316. Rosman rejects Scholem’sidcmification and strongly supports the viewpoint of Chone Shmerk, \who identified Rabbi Adam as the legendary late-sintooth-contary figure from Prague, reeeting thas any connection between him and Heshel Zoret. See Rosman, Kowder of Hasidism, 144-145, For bet- ter understanding of Hillel Ba"al Sher i is smporant that despite his sabhatean reputation, Heschel Zexcf was tolerated by such kabbalists as Zevi Hirsch Kaidanover, sce Hundrt, Jews in Polond-Lithee aia, 125, 96, Fora list of books on practical Kabbalah print in Zotkiew, see Yeshayahu Vinograd, hhasefer havi 2 vols. lerusalem: ha-maknon le-bbliograia mermishevet, 1993), 2:306—W8. 97. Moshe Ide, Hasidsm: Between Ecstasw and Magic (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995), 34, 36. 95, Hillel consti reverates his criticism: “I have found in several books of great Kabbaliss of previous generations who warned against the usage of mystical books.” SH. f.172a-b, And again, “Ina couple of small books published in Zholkya they issued several amulets (segulor and letsfames (chemin) yet everything was printed without any sense (bli taam); one should not rely on them. 188 235Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern [such as] Toldor,? Zevah pesah,!? and Po'et gevurot'?! printed in Zholkva [Zotkiew), These books never reveal seerets but only confuse people, One should reveal secrets only to the modest (zamua’).'0? According to Hillel, the unserupulousness of certain ba‘alei shem is the most im- portant reason against the publication of books on practical Kabbalah, Printed ‘books found their way easily into the hands of impostors who did not behave them- selves in accord with the pietistic requirements, thus obtaining an easy opportuni- ty to cheat.'° That is why, claims Hillel, the publication of practical Kabbalah books has corrupted his generation." In addition, Hillel stresses the intellectual problem: The recipients of the newly published Kabbalah books do not understand the intrinsic mechanisms of the amulets and do not know how to produce new amulets on the basis of the published ones, Indeed, implies Hillel Ba’ al Shem, the printed Kabbalah kills while the oral revives. Further, in order to understand how touse a handwritten or published amulet, what its connection with the Torah is, and in what cases it might be effective, one needs Hille!s oral explanation or clarifica- tion. Ultimately, Hillel is trying ex post facto to win a lost battle: He fights against publication of practical Kabbalah books and democratization of the kabbalistic knowledge since real knowledge for him is oral, elitist, and manuscript-based.'°S 99, Todor ‘adam (Zélkiew, 1720) 100. Zithiew, 1722 101. There was no such book published in Zétkiew or elsewhere. Most likely, Hillel refers to if ‘aiot“vlokim (Zotkiew, 1710 and 1724), but confuses the tile 102. SH, £ 172a, 103. Zifkiew books on practical Kabbalah were printed in pocket-size format, Zevah pesah i «icates this characteristic on its ttle page. The publication of small-size books allowed Zolkion, first, te produce a cheap product and reach cut to a wider Jewish audience, and, second, to put to press more books than the maximum 700 annual kuntrsiny (in this case, Book copies), permitted to Zotkiew print- ing press by the Council of Four Lands asa result of the fierce competition between Lublin, Ztkiew, and Cracow printing presses atthe very end of the seventeenth century, For the decisions of the Coun- cil, see Shlomo Buber, Kink nisgavah: hi hair Zolkiv (Cracow: Bi-defuso she Y. Fisher, 1903), 104— 105. For a brief history of the Zélkiew printing press, see Meir Balaban, “Batei defus yehudiim be. zolkiv." in Gelber and Ben-Shem, Sefer 2ofkiv, 215-224; Haim Daw Friedberg, Toldor ha-defis be- olanyah (Tel Aviv: Barukh Pridberg, 1950), 62-68: Israel Halpern, Yehudi ve-vahadue be-mizrah ropa: mehkarim be-toldotchem (Jerusalem: Magness, 1968), 83-84 104. “In our generation everyone buys a book Toldor ‘adam for himself. The book, which is a waste of ink and paper, everyone buys very cheap and becomes ha’ al shemor. Yet, those who buy it, do ‘not know anything about this world and about the world to come. They even do not behave according, fo the good behavior described in that small book oldor “adam.” SH, f. 155a-b. 105. Mention should be made of the similarity between Hillel’, Jonathan Eybeschuetzs, and. Jacob Emden’ critcisn of the publicizing of the Kabbalah books, see lel, Hasidism, 35-36. On the dichotomy “books vs. manuscripts” in the context of a demonopolization of the elitist knowledge ard. democratization process in East European Jewish culture, sec Elchanan Reiner, “The Ashkenazi elite at the Beginning of the Modern Era: Manuscript versus Printed Book,” Polin 10 (1997): 8594; Moshe Rosman, “Le-toklotay shel makor histor.” Zion 58 (1993). 175-214, For the more general discussion ‘of “manuscript vs. printed took dichotomy,” see Ze'ev Gries, Ha-Sefer he-sokhen tarbut: ba-shanim 460660 (1700-1900) (el Aviv: ha-kibbuts ha-meuhad, 2002), 12-13 and bibliography he assembles innotes S and 6, 236‘The Master of an Evil Name Not only do books deny his manuscript; they reject the indispensability of Hillel's personal involvement implied in SH." The impact of the false and genuine ba‘ afei shem on Hillel's career was that rank-and-file Jews became skeptical about the magical powers of all healers. Com- mon disbelief in the ba‘al shem contradicted the very core of the healing process, which, according to Hillel, required strong belief in the magical powers of the ba- ‘al shem. Even a professionally made amulet would not operate if one did not be- live in it, argues Hillel.!°” Hillel provides dreadful stories that illuminate the fatality of such disbelief. In one case, which took place in Keidan, Lithuania, in 1739, a woman refused to follow the advice of her relatives to get rid of the amulet. She kept it and managed to save herself from the evil Lilith.'* Her husband took his amulet off, but Hillel does not share with his reader what happened next. In an- other case, which took place in Wilkowysk, Grodno Province, the dvbbuk had been banished from a body of a woman, yet, because she had taken her protecting amulet from her neck and allowed skeptical relatives to open it, the spirit returned and destroyed all the efforts of the Ba‘al shem.'® It is very likely that one or both of these episodes depict the failures of Hillel. The chronological juxtaposition of HilleY’s failures with the beginning of his work on the SH manuscript (around 1739) ‘makes one surmise that Hillel decided to restore his reputation demonstrating that he is a knowledgeable, well-connected, reputed, and pious ba‘al shem. His so- civeconomic position was precarious. Hillel considered writing a book as his last chance. Hillel makes it clear that on several occasions his performance as ba‘al shem was a complete failure,''© As the result of his failure he was either banished from a number of localities or put under temporary herem. It is evident, however, that he could not continue practicing as ha‘al shem.'" He had lost his reputation. Hil- lel's attempt to assimilate with scribes, preachers, slaughterers—“secondary in- telligentsia”—and to establish himself as a healer and kabbalist, that is to say, an 106. People bought [printed books on practical Kabbalab— FP] so that they came into the hands of riff raff who don't know or understand any book or wiséom: only whatover is in these litle books. They don’t know how things oceur, and they don't even perform a proper practice a its pre- scribed. Obviously, they don't knew the origins or functions of the names, for tbey Jo not have the slightest knowledge even ofthe exoterie part of the holy Torah” SH £119. 107. SH, £2778. 108. Porhaps the origin ofthis amulet tobe found among the popular medieval tales of Ben Sira that connect the desmuctve functions of Lilith tothe circumstances of the creation of the fst ‘woman and that require from a healer responsible for writing the amulet special spiritual and physical aquatics. See Elias Sine ben sira be-yemeiha-beynayim Jerusalem: Mognes Press 1985},23| 234, 109. SH, £.34b, Sb-35a, This episode happened after the 1725 incident when an amulet on a ‘woman was discovered containing sabbatean symbols purportedly written by R. Eybeschuetz. The sim- ilarty of these episodes suggests thatthe Jewish community mistrusted the production of bu’ ale shem (on the grounds of their alleged involvement in heresy. See Perlmuter, Ha-rav vehanatan evbeschuez, 37-42; Scholem, Mehkerey shabia'ut, 228-230, 707-733, 10, Sit. 74. L1L“The only thing fam secking is ¢ nice place to whieh I could come and repain my profes- sion.” See SH, F. 746, 237Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern “official” baal shem in a particular Jewish locality ended up in fiaseo.""? Perhaps Hillel expected that his manuscript, Sf, would prove that he was a great healer, that he was aware of new developments in practical Kabbalah and deserved better treatment, Hence, he conceived SH as an encyclopedia of practical Kabbalah in general and as his expanded résumé in particular.''? Due to this twofold purpose, SH combined the vademecum of a practical kabbalist and a personal confession V. HILLEL'S VADEMECUM Following the tradition of Sefer ha-zohar and Razi‘el ha-maYath, Hille] claims that SH is a holy book.''* He identifies two reasons for this. First, SH com- prises a wealth of holy names, quotations from sacred kabbalistic sources, and amulets—in fact, SH itself may be regarded as a talisman, the holiness and effec- tiveness of which is undeniable. Second, Hillel argues that essentially SH is much older than any printed book on practical Kabbalah. He claims that all the printed books had been merely copied from SH, which remained unknown until Hillel Ba‘al Shem obtained the privilege to disclose it. However, Hillel did not have a ‘maggid—a mystical teacher; a double, like Yosef Karo’s maggid mesharim!! to secretly convey to him the contents of the book. Instead of cleaving to esoteric celestial wisdom through the maggid, Hillel reaches out to it through pseu- doepigrapic mediators secret kabbalistic books and teachings."!6 ‘Two legends cover the origins of SH. According to the first, Ashmodai, king of demons, revealed secret knowledge to King Solomon, who recorded it, titled it SH, and hid it in the Western Wall of the Temple.""? It was uncovered in the times 112, It was Yosef Weiss who put forward and elaborated the concept of “secondary intelli genisia” (he called it ha-nadeder, vagabond; me-maadregah shnivah, seconrank, and ha-bil-rashii, non-official) that comprised wandering ethical teachers. preachers, healers, ct. and that socially ce- ‘mented the rising hasidic movement. Sec his “Reshit zemuihatah shel ha-derekh ha-hasidit,” Zion 16 (1951): 49-56. For the critique of Weiss, see Haim Lieberman, Ohel rahe “i (New York: H. Lieberman, 1980), 35. 113. Hillel perceives his writing of SFT asa pious act and his perception resembles the atticude to writing among hasidei ashkenaz. Soe Colette Sirat et al La conception du livre cho: les pidtstes ashkenazes au moyen age (Gendve: Dro2, 1996), 143. 114, “Sefer ha-kadosh ha-zeh," SH, £1942, 314a, and throughout Cf “ta-sefertackacsh a- ch." “mictiokhunat ha-sefer hackadosh le-zch,” reiterated ten times atthe beginning of Sefer ruzi‘l (Amsterdam, 171), £3a-4b, On tradition of @ sacred book in the European Jewish pietistic tradition, see Sirat, La conception du livre, 37-63. 115, SeeR. J. Zi Werblowsky, Joseph Karo: Lawyer and Mystic (London: Oxford University Press, 1962), 116. In addition to pseudoepigraphic sources, SH contains references to such well-known kab- baltic souroes as Sefer yeszirah (346, 3182}; Sodio of Nachmanides (15b, 324~-b); Sefer ha-zohar(171a, 1874-Pehudei, 302a, 3026, 303b, 3050, 306b-Rereshit): THkkunei zohar (84a): Lurianic Kabbalah (4a, 16b, 236, 30a, 70H), Natan Neta Hannever’s Lurianie siddur Sha‘ are zion (73b, 1863-1876); ‘Sefer ha-pandes (20a); Emtek ha-melebh (20a); Ma‘asel ‘loki: (350); Sefer raziel [ha-mal ak (625, 1174); Toldot ‘adam (4b, L0Sb, 1SS2-b); Korba shabat (3273); Zevah pesah (both 1722) 117. SH. 1ITD-119b. Apparently the literary wots of this legend date back t the encounter between King Solomon and Ashmodai, King of Demons, whom Solomon captured, incarcerated, and ‘made reveal the secrets of shamir, a wondrous worm instrumeatal in cutting the stones indispensable forthe building of the Temple, depicted in B. Gitun. However, the idea ofa secret book ix absent from 238The Master of an Evi] Name of the Sanhedrin and transferred through generations until it eame into the hands of Hillel. According to the second legend, Hillel himself discovered “the old book SH” and drew heavily from it.'"® Yet, Hillel’ legend is not consistent: In a num- ber of places, for example, Hillel notes SH and the writings of his mentor Tsevi Hirsch as two different texts, whereas elsewhere he claims that SH was either writ- ten by Zevi Hirsch or belonged to him.'"9 By the same token Hillel also attributes SH w his friend Rabbi Efraim from Vissa. '?° Evidently Hillel does not have a clear- cut version of his own versus the esoteric tradition. Intellcetually he is too shy. In a similar situation, the Besht also maintains that he was in possession of unique manuscripts—in his case, of an enigmatic Rabbi Adam Ba‘al Shem, However, the Besht takes the decisive step towards spiritual appropriation of his mystical man- uscript. He claims that besides him and the Patriarchs perhaps nobody else ever knew the contents of the manuseript: “They were in the hands of Abraham the Pa- triarch, may he rest in piece, and in the hands of Joshua, the son of Nun, but I do not know who are the others”?! Hillel Ba‘al Shem would not dare make such a bold statement. Direct connection to the secret celestial library (Liebes) is some- thing he cannot afford. The gravity of his magic grounded him.!22 SH depicts a world split into two parts. Living beings inhabit its first part; spiritual powers inhabit the second, Each part is divided into two subsequent realms. This world, ha-‘olam ha-zek, has a border separating Jews from gentiles. The other world is split into the realm of holy names and angels, skemot ha- kedushah, and evil names and powers, shemot ha-rum’ah, Each of these four parts has a pronounced hierarchy of values and is integral per se. That is why SH starts with the extensive explanation of this parallelism: And here are 32 rules that match 32 paths of wisdom as front and back. As they operate, thank God, in the upper [spheres] —we will be able to operate in the lower ones. As there are ten evil sephirot matching ten holy sephirot, there are holy names and there are foul names, there are celestial angels and there are angels of the earth (malakhey de—ara).!?* this source. See B. Gittin 682-, It appears only n Sefer ha-zohar, which lists four books that Solomon. received ftom Ashmodai, namely: the book containing magical material, the book of the wisdom of Solomon. the book on physiogniomy, and the book on the knowledge of precious stones. See Sefer ta zolrar 3:194b, 3:193b, 2:70a, 1:225b. For more detail, see Louis Ginzberg, The Legends ofthe Jews, 6 vols, (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of Ameriea, 1968), 6:301-302 n. 93, 118. SH, 90a, 119. For example, he says “Thus I heard fom the great rabbi and he showed to me in his book ‘Sefer ha-heshek and | copied several pages” SH, £.173b. 120, For example, Hillel recollects seeing an amulet inthe book "Sefer ha-heshok [itt by the great rabbi, renowned hasid and kabbalist Eftaim, maggid mesharim ftom Vissa” 121. She’ ha-hesht, no. 187. See Ben-Amos and Mintz, fu Praive of the Bu'al Shem Tov. 196-97. 122. [tis interesting to compare Hille!’ manipulations with the holy names and the interpreta- tion of magic/mystical in Yosef Karo: “The difference berween legitimate and illegitimate use of Holy Names is therefore not of pure (spiritual) versus selfish (magical) intentions... but between formulae of ascent and formulae of descent.” See Werblowsky, Joseph Karo, 73. 123. SH, £. Ib. 239Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern The same reflection characterizes both realms; Ten heavenly emanations are repeat- ed in ten impure emanations, whereas the angels of heavens are negatively paralleled by the angels of earth. All elements oppose each other and mirror each other. Holy sefirah keter (the Crown) is paralleled by an abominable sefirah karet (literally “cut off by God”); good angel Katrie/ (literally “the Crowned Lord”) is overshadowed by a corrupt angel Kariiel (the Destroyed Lord), However, the dividing borders be- ‘tween them are not impenetrable. A Jew can become an apostate; a demon can ap- pear to the Jews disguised as a scribe or even as a ba‘al shem; good angels become evil as a result of a mere change of the order of letters in their names. SH is full of antitheses and, to use the parlance of Roman Jacobson, negative parallelism.'?° The permeability of the antithetical realms represents 2 constant threat to simple folk. As in the case of Macbeth’s witches, it is difficult, ifat all possible, to distinguish between fair and foul in Hillel's shamanic beliefs. The threat of an erup- tion of evil powers into the matters of this world makes life dangerous and people suspicious. Hence, the importance of the ba‘al shem. He functions as a mediator between the four realms. He controls them semiotically through their signs and names. He knows how to differentiate between them and how to transform the pow- ets of one into the powers of another. Finally, the ba‘al shem reestablishes the bal- ance between them. Who, if not the ba‘al shem, is able to identify evil powers in the guise ofa kabbalist or a scribe? And who can exorcise these powers. if not the ba‘al shem? In the language of social anthropology, SH introduces the ba‘al shem asa shaman with a pronounced mediatory function to restore cosmic, theological, societal, and psychological order.'?° Thus, the ultimate goal of SH, informing i style and genre, is to clarify to a reader—whether communal authority or wealthy protector —the indispensability of the ba‘al shem. To justify his mission, Hillel de- picts the complexity and danger of the spiritual worlds. According to Hillel, sitra’ “ahra’ (the evil power) and its wicked heirs, the demons, are ubiquitous. 2” The number of amulets prescribed in SH testifies to the astonishing ability of sé#ra” “ahra to adapt to any environment.'?* To keep it under 124, SH, f.298a, Inthe traditional kabbalistc texts, Ketriel (Akhtar!) is part ofthe celestial dichotomy KatrilMetatron, and not ofthe Manichean dichotomy Katriel/Kartel. See the discussion in Arthur Green, Keter:the Crown of God m Early Jextsh Mysticism (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), 62-65. 125, See Roman Jacobson, Selected Works (The Hague: Mouton, 1979), 5:311-312. 126, Rosman was the fist to insightfully place ho‘afeiskem inthe context of shamanism, which he explained in the terms of Mircea Bliade’s social anthropology and which has become standard since his 1996 book on the historical Besht. See Resman, Founder of Hasdism, 13-15, 17-19. 127. Demons follow the commandment to multiply much better than do human beings (83b). “They are not afraid of and cannot be stopped by sire: STAM [94b). Neither the great rabbinic author- ity such 28 the head of a rabbinical court and rosh yeshivah. noe the learning fervor of the omen can stop them (107). They prefer newly built houses (293). A special prayer is zequired to prevent their appearance (466-47. If the prayer does not help, special secret names have to be pronounced te ban- {sh the evil (341b). Sometimes damaation is required to put evil under control (344), 128. Hillel prescribes protective armlets that should be placed on the front door (since amczuca would aot help, {88a, 297), above the threshold (103b), and over each of the doors ofthe house (2972), and still dgitional amulets are required against fire (1886, 3172), thieves (156b, 173b), evil eye (41), {demons (2912), evildoers (1946-195a), and dybbuts (1986, 1326-135). 240,‘The Master of an Evil Name control, Hillel extensively employs the names of abomination (shemot ha-rum ah) that cover in Sia separate chapter; he even establishes an immediate dialogue with evil powers.'2? Hillel not only designs amulets against the powers of kelipah (here: evil), but also makes kefipah instrumental in achieving practical purposes. SH in- cludes amulets that allow observing evil powers in corpore (36a). [t offers amulets that disable people (195b), induce sleep (196a), interrupt rest (212b, 293b), bring evil powers into a house (196b), prevent successful copulation between a husband and a wife (197), and revive the dead in a dream (310a). It also offers effective imprecations against enemies. S// offers one of these curses among its amend- ments to the Eighteen Benedictions prayer, including it, quite surprisingly, in the petition of health and recovery (reféreni): May the name of Ploni ben Ploni be cursed according to the words of the Holy ‘One, blessed be he, duc to the permission to fight the Christians." God of Yisrael, may the sons of this man become orphans and his wife a widow and ‘may all the discases and punishments recorded in this Torah befall him. For he is the trustworthy and merciful King...) Therefore SH is not only a Kabbalistic book but also a witchcraft primer. It is ob- sessed with kelipor, forces of evil, and it seems not to be interested in nez0z01, di- vine sparks, Hillel is ready to use his magic to protect an individual or individuals from evil, but he is not ready to uplift an individual or individuals resorting to his, mystical worldview. To paraphrase Moshe Ide], SH oscillates between mysticism and magic, but gravitates towards magic." Hence SH sharply contrasts with the bulk of Central European books of practical Kabbalah and resembles East Euro- pean ones such as Zevah pesah, Toldot ‘adam or Mifa‘alot “elokim. Yet its unpar- alleled neeromantic nuances, absent in Zevah pesah or Mifa‘atot ‘elokim, firmly place the book in the context of eighteenth-century Polish and Russian koldovstvo (witchcraft). The significant amount of Slavie words and entire passages of Slav- 129, Hillel applies the “names of abomination” extensively 9a, 33b, $86~59, 606~62a, L114, 354, 3806—381b). He interacts with the dvbbuks (125a~127b, 1356-1 38b, 2350, 2384, 239). a his teractions with evil powers, Hillel was not particularly innovative: evil mes appeared in the kab bualistclitereture long before the spread of Lurianic Kabblah. Writen ca. 1488 and 1504 in Morve- 0, Sefer ha-meshiv contained descriptions of evil names (shemor ha-turah), demonologic references, as well as description of methods to neutralize evil power. See Gershom Seholem, “Le-ma'sse r yosst ella rena,” Meassef von 5 (1933): 126-127; idem. “Le-ma’aseh r” yoset della rena.” in Stadies in Jenish Religious and Intellectual Hisiory. Presented t Alexander Altmana on the Occasion of His Sev- ‘ntith Birthday, e6. Siegfried Stein, Raphael Loews (University: University of Alabama Press; Lon don: Institute of Jewish Studies, 1979), 101-109. 130, Tentative translation of two consecutive abbreviations: RF'EL. [raskur pituah “omar Jahimah] Y1IN"H [Yeshua ha-Noist (ha-mekulal?)] (BL. Sf. 68a, 132 del diseusss differences and similarity between mystical and magic elements in Hasidisma and argues that ystical-magie mode! i prevalent in the entre corpus ofthe hasidic literature. See lel, Hesidism, 82-112. For Hillel, however, magical and mystical are two poles of the dichotomy that care rot be synthesized: Mysticism is a privilege of a kabbalis, whereas magic is forthe popular con- sampiion. 241Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern ic incantations and imprecations in SH, 10 be discussed elsewhere, testify to the fundamental commonality between the practices and worldview of a Slavic znakhar’ (herbal healer) and a Jewish ba‘al she." VL Hiueev's ID Who was Hillel Ba‘al Shem? Obviously, he was not a charlatan who cyni- cally exploited and preyed on the most pagan prejudices of simple folk, like ba’ alei shem depicted by Joshua Trachtenberg.'34 Suffice to mention that the ba‘al shem and large segments of the community shared the same values and belief®. Nor was Hillel a halakhic authority, a rabbinic scholar, or a rabbi, as those ba‘aley shem portrayed by Immanuel Etkes.!3° Rather, Hille!’s worldview and his tragic fate re- semble those itinerant ba'alei shem, vagabond shamans, members of the com- munal “secondary intelligentsia” and practical kabbalists, thirsty for some social leadership and a permanent position in the community, as described by Gedalyah Nigal,!°6 Michal Oron,!2” and Moshe Rosman.'?* Hillel could do nothing but dream of the status of Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschuetz or Joel Heilperin-junior. The former practiced the art of ba‘al shem and occupied the lucrative position of a town rabbi in Prague, and the latter was a community-sponsored practical kabbal- ist in Zamos¢. Hillel could not claim, like the charismatic and very authoritative Naftali Kaz from Pozna, that he personally had met the Angel of Death; he did not have the necessary positive charisma to counterbalance this encounter. Rather, Hillel must be compared to Binyamin Beinish from Krotoszyn: both Hil- lel and Binyamin Beinish complained of the vicissitudes of an itinerant life; they both were self-taught kabbalists who knew Lurianic sources and the Zohar; but both failed to establish themselves in the community. Indeed, striking stylistic and 153. This commonality is manifested inthe significance for both the Slavic zaathar ane the Jewish ‘a! sem alike ofthe phenomena of popula religion,” thats, magical manuscripts combin- ing prayers and healing remedies (Rus: “Travnik "and "Trebnik "black magic, and the unity of payer and incantation, See Lavrov, Koldovséo i relia v Rosi 75M, 92-93, 127. Luse ete the Slavic a0- thon znakar only to ge an addtional East European lar to Moshe Rosman's shrewd defiition of the baal shem as shaman, See Rosman, Founder of Hasuism, 1319. 134, Teachenberg, Jewish Mgic and Superstiion, 79, 1, 196, 200. 135. fmmanal Eth, “Mekomam shel ha-magiyah u-va li ha-shem be-bevrah ha-askenac+ it be-minch ha-meotha-yud-zayin—ha-yud-ho," Zion LX (1995) 87-89 136, Nigal, Magic Mfstotam, and Hastder,10~ 12, Nigal highlight the dualistic function of &ha‘a she: “io personalities are capable of dwelling within the same person: the personality ofthe Rex-Philosophcr-Leader (and even poset) and the personality of a wondet-notking ba al-shem. Ap- parently, noone in thet period thought that these two personalities were in any way contradictory; to the contrary, all believed that they could exist harmoniously within the same person,” ibid, 20-21 137- Ime article on Rabbi Samuel Falk know as Baal Sher from London, Oron accurately highlights the bu‘ shem’'sconstent seve for social leadership and his desire to use his magie prac tices with the aim of establishing himself socially. See Michal Oron, “Dr. Samuel Falk and the Eibeschuetz-Emden Controversy.” 242-245, Also see Uren, Mi- "baal shed "e-"bafal sem 138, Resmandefines the common denominator of belt shem a their“abiity toemploy mag- ical techniques for manipulating the name or nannes of God to achieve practical effects in everyday life” and oftheir practice of “what was termed practical Kabbalah” Rosman demonstrates the presence of ‘ali shem at various levels of society. See Rosman, Founder of Hasidism, (3-15, 17-19, 242‘The Master of an Evil Name thematic parallels exist between Binyamin Beinish’s Sefer shem tov katan and Hil- lel’s Sefer ha-heshek that deserve separate discussion. On the other hand, although ‘he was not a town rabbi, Hillel resembles Hirsh Frankl from Shwabach (1662- 1740), Like Frank], Hillel suffered from persecutions and was deprived of the right to operate as ba‘al shem. Frankl’s book did not survive persecution, yet from its German rendering it is obvious that both Hillel and Frankl shared Manichean worldviews, were at home with evil powers, and were inclined to black magic and witchcraft.!°° Ultimately, Hillel resembles Israel ben Eliezer, the Besht, before the latter settled down ca. 1740 in Migdzyboz. as a kahal-supported mystic and ma- gician.'*° Hillel and Israel Besht both were itinerant healers and practical kab- balists, neither was a rabbinic figure, and both were looking for a tenured position. We will speculate later whether the differences between them stemmed only from the fact that one (the Besht) was more successful in the communal market than the other (Hillel). Like most of the East European kabbalists, referred to in Sas hasidim, Hil- Tel Ba‘al Shem was a classical pre-Beshtian hasid. He belonged to the generation of late- seventeenth and early-eighteenth-century mystics, who, as Gershom Scholem indicates, combined learning Kabbalah and practicing asceticism. Nei- ther the Kuty kabbalistic circle nor the A/oiz of Brody were mentioned in SH, yet Hillel’ rigorous behavioral requirements seem to correspond fully with the pat- terns of personal conduct adopted by hasidim in Kuty, Brody, and other groups of Fast European pietists.!4! Moreover, SH may be used as a source for the pre-Besht- ian Hasidism that provides detailed descriptions of hasidic mystical practices (hanhagot).'*? Hillel reiterates that ritual purity (tevilah, tefilah ve-taharah) is indispensable for a kabbalist engaged in holy work. Hillel meticulously describes when it is forbidden or allowed to write amulets. He introduces his peculiar cal- endar of “clean” and “unclean” days for those who are “modest.” He designs a spe~ cial calendar for oaths and damnations. He stresses that a person cannot be a true healer, ba‘al shem, unless he is a true kabbalist, ba‘al sod,'* According to Hillel’s rites, a healer should pray with profound kavanah, alone, not necessarily with a quorum.'** A week of abstinence and daily ritual 139, Gadalyah Nigal, Ba‘at-shem le.ma‘asar ‘olam: Gorale ha-tragi shel hacraw hirsk frank! (Ramat Gan; Bar Tan University Press, 1993), 11-16. Meation should be made of the dramatie dif ference between Hille’s Manichoan usage of the evil powers and the idea ofthe transcended evil in LLurianic Kabbalah. See Isaish Tishby, Forat har ve-ha-kolipah be-kabalat ha-"ar (Jerusalem: Mifal hha-shikhpul, 1962) 140. Rosman, Founder of Hasidisma, 63-82. 159-170. 141, See Yaakov Hisday, “Eved ha-shem—be-doram shel avot ha-hasidut”” Zion 47 (1982p: 253-292; Hundert, Jews in Poland-Lithuanta, 119142; Joseph Weiss, “Pneumatics in Pre-Hosidism,” 27-42; Rivka Shatz Uffenheimer, Hastdism as Mysticism: Quierstic Elements tn Eighteenth Concury Hasidic Thought (Princeton: Princeton University Press; Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1993), 111 143; Abraham J. Hesheel, The Circle ofthe Baa! Shem Tov: Studies in Hasidiom., ed. Samuel Dressner (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1985), esp. 4-14, 45-56, 113-151 142. For an in-depth discussion of the books on hasidic behavioral patiemns, see Gries, Sirus harkas tagot 143. SH, f. 2a, 105b, 153a, 1540, 3146, 144. SH, £626. CE the personal conduct of the Besht who was reported to pray in the loneli- 243Yohanan Peirovsky-Shtern ablutions are required for particular amulets. Writing the amulet requires pietisti conduct and a tranquil environment, The kabbalist should prepare an amulet in a clean room. He must be alone in this room. He should write an amulet on a fine parchment. There should be nobody else in the house: no ritually unclean women, no charlatans suspected of making forgeries, and, amazingly, no repentant sinners, ba‘alei teshuvah."5 Indeed, deliberate self-restraint from physical pleasures, the application of kavvanot and fasting before and after the performance make Hillel's conduct particularly close to the members of the pneumatic circles, predecessors of the Beshtian Hasidism.'#° However, in vain would one look in SH for such no- tions of the Beshtian Hasidism as devekur.'” Nor does SH require concentration ‘on the letters of the amulets.'4* Nor does one find in SH—except in traditional formulaic statements—an indication of its author's strong concern with commu- nal redemption, Divine sparks have no place in the dark realms of SH—pethaps this is one of the reasons that in S// there are no traces of a joyous spirituality so characteristic of Beshtian Hasidism, VIL. Coxciusions Hillel was both a typical and an atypical ba‘al shem. He was deeply im- mersed in a Manichcan universe inhabited by powerful demons, evil spirits, dyb- buks, and devils.'“° In his mind, these powers were ubiquitous, as in the Weltanschauung of the famous kabbalist Shimshon of Ostropolie (d. 1648), to ‘whom Hillel refers, and in his nephew Yaakov ben Pesah’s Zevah pesah (Ztkiow, ness ofthe Corpathian woods, See Shivkei ha-besh, stories nos. & and 9; Ben-Amos and Mintz, Jn Praise ofthe Ba‘ Shem Tox, 1-23 145. SH,£ 1540, 2266-2272, 331b Hillel itenprets literally the famous statement “in the place ‘of the ba’aleéteshuvah the righteous zaddikim are not able to stand” His interpretation follows Yohanan and not R.Avahu, see Berakhot 34b and Rashi ad loc. Interestinely encugh, as ina number of other eases, ere, to, Hillel seems o be arguing ageinsterypto-sabbatean reading of elasical sources, in this case, ofthe gemara See, for instance, the sabbatean interpretation of BeruXhor 34b that m= Dhasizes the superiority of aAa‘alreshural over zadaié gamur. in Nao. Post Sabbatian Sabbatianism, 22-25. However, n other cases Hillel inclines toward sabbatean ideas. Thus, for instance, he resors © a sabbatean interpretation of the planet Saturn, which for the sixteenth-century kabbollist symbolized six profane days ofthe week and not Shabbat but for Shatloetai Tsevi and his followers came to sym- bolize Shabbat and Jubilee Year. See Elliot K. Ginsburg. The Shabbat inthe Classicat Kabbalah (State University of New York Press, 1989), 198 and 240-241; Moshe Iéel, Messianic Mostics (Yale: Yale University, 1998), 192-196; Scholem, Sabbaiai Sev, 430. Atthis point I think the question of Hillel's inconsistent erypto-Sabbateanism has to be left open. 146, The Besht was also stringent about rules of writing amulets. Cf. Shivfe hacbesit no. 187, Ben-Amos and Mintz, In Praise ofthe Ba'al Shem: Tov, 196-197 143, On the importance of devetut in Hasidism, see Gershom Sckolem,“Devekut as Commu rion with God" in The Messianic Idea in Judatsm (New York: Schocken Books, 1971), 186~191, 206~ aun 148. On the importance of contemplative and ecstatic practices in Hasidism, see Idel, Hasidism, 45 and 75. 149. It will be fuitul to compare (and differentiate) the worldview of Hillel and that of Abra hham Yagel(1552-ca, 1623), an Itaian-Jewish doctor. magician, and kabbalist who resorted tothe work of Aristotle to prove the physical reality of demons, See David B. Ruderman, Kabhaiah, Magic, and Science (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988), 43-58. 244,The Master of an Evil Name 1722), which Hillel often quotes.'° Hillel's familiarity with and closeness to this world informs the second meaning of his title that I propose: the Master of an Evil Name. Hillel starts with making a dybbuk his only respectable interlocutor and ends by making evil powers predominant in his thinking. Hillel says, for instance, that any operation (pe‘ulah) that resembles a burnt offering (ketorer) should be for- bidden because burnt offerings nurture demons; any imitation of the burnt offer- ing will benefit evil powers.'°' To be on the safe side, one should not disturb evil, Hillel scems to argue. But should evil appear, Hillel’s knowledge of how to con- trol its advance would be crucial ‘Again, the contrast with the Besht is illuminating, Having been rebuked for smoking his pipe, the Besht is reported to have replied that while smoking he thinks about the incense (keforct) in the Temple. Through a kavanah mechanism he spir- itualizes a suspicious habit, imagining himself serving God in the Temple and thus achicving a higher status of devekut (cleaving to God).!*? Besht came to be per- ceived as a pietist who mystically transforms evil, elevating human souls trapped int In contrast, Hillel either engages with evil or keeps it at bay, but always is bound by evil names or an Evil Name, with which he magisterially operates and, perhaps, whose victim he becomes. '# 150. On Shimshon and his worldview, sce Yehuda Licbes,“Hatom a-me'ut:le-demuto shel hha-kaosh ha-mekubalr.shimshon mi-ostropose,”Zariz $2 (1982): 83-109. See SH, £42b. 151, 229a. A paricular predisposition of demons to the smell of incense is mentioned in various Jewish sources. For instance. ina Yiddish est on Yosef dela Reyna written in Amsterdam by

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