Studying Hasidism

How much Knowledge?

Abstract

There are many debates about the beginnings of Hasidism, which can be arranged on the scale from kabbalistic system to religious experience. This article does not deal with this question and does not attempt to suggest an approach concerning these debates. Rather, it claims that these approaches are based on a language. There is no doubt that this language is a kabbalistic one, nor that it is based on Lurianic Kabbalah. This article claims that clarifying this kabbalistic language is a necessary tool for studying Hasidism and supplies a few examples concerning zimzum and creation in order to prove this methodology.